Candidate database: Keeping it healthy

In my last post on candidate databases "Review your candidate database", we talked about the Johari window and how candidates have a tendency to slip into a black hole and the database becomes non productive.

Here are a few pointers on countering this tendency and keeping the candidate database healthy

1. Strategize and Plan
First and foremost activity is to have clarity on what you want in your database and Why i.e. Identify the need for having a database. This will ensure that your database gives you ROI.
Pool your manpower forecasting to determine your need to identify current and future Candidate requirements
Perform a skill gap analysis to ascertain where your database is shallow and where it is effective

2. Identify info criticality
Parsing is a major pain when capturing candidate details and parsers will miss out on a lot of information. Manual entry of all the information is not feasible due to the time it takes. It is essential that you identify “MUST FILL” info and “GOOD TO FILL” info. The meaning of MUST FILL could change with each stage of the selection and screening process. Ideally by the time the candidate reaches the second round all the information should be captured

3. Assign responsibility
Break the task of updating candidate records. It will be too much for one person.
Candidate: Allow him to update his personal details, qualifications, work history. Give them a login.
Sourcer/recruiter: While qualifying the candidate for a job, the sourcer/recruiter can fill the candidate summary sheet, defining the candidate. Will make it easy to search candidates.
Interviewer: Skill Ratings in a predefined format. Will get appended to candidate summary sheet

4. Track and review
a. Periodic reviews: Periodically review the database for its relevance to current and prospective openings. A concentrated third party effort would be advisable.
b. Track deviations: Set candidate record quality standards within the system and flag deviations.

5. Engage and Involve
a. Make it interactive. Don’t just give a form to candidates for filling in. give them a system which is interactive. A system that can tell them the status of their application, jobs matching their profiles, Interview dates and venue. Some tips on guidance and counseling will be the extra mile
b. Respond: Never ever hide behind workload and not respond to a candidate. Always communicate. Use templates, if required but keep the candidate informed.

6. Keep it relevant
a. Rank/Rate: Systematically rating a candidate on a particular skill, job or domain is required if you want to keep the database relevant. Else, you will never know. If the candidate, sourcer/ recruiter and interviewer, play their roles this is possible assuming your database supports such ranking
b. Let go: your size of database is only as big as the number of relevant candidates you have in it. Remove candidates that are not relevant.

7. Keep it feasible
a. Automate: Without automation, it just won’t be feasable for you to keep your database healthy, no matter what your volume.
b. Recruiters mindset: Recruiter/Sourcer doesn’t like to fill forms or sheets. He is better of searching and speaking to candidates. Try to keep the data filling part to the minimal and tune the workflow of the system to the workflow of the recruiters. You will need their support to make the system work. Sell them the value of the database.
c. Search tool: Ensure that the system has a decent search tool, tuned towards the fields or data that your team is filling in.
d. Budget: There is a lot that can be done... And overdone. Ensure that you keep a tab on the cost and the ROI.

8. Ensure use
Use strategies to ensure usage
i. Make people aware:
ii. Establish and publish process
iii. Review use
iv. Enforce/Coerce

The most important aspect of keeping a database healthy is to continue using it…. If not in use, will not be useful!!

Links
Candidate Database System: A perspective?
Review your candidate database

Lifecycle of a candidate record in a database

If you don’t have a candidate database, you should have one quickly. If you have a database, you need to make the most of it. With the speed with which it can become decadent, you need to keep an eye on it all the time.

Candidates entering the system have got two status
• Application status
• Database Status

Application status: Refers to the status of the candidate against a particular job. Eg : Screening, LI, L2, Candidate Reject, Offer etc. Most of the times, this status will be updated and majority of candidate activity will be updated.
Database status: Refers to the status of the candidate within the overall database. It is the stage in the lifecycle of a candidate. Taken as a whole this essentially reflects the usefulness of the database and the responsiveness of the candidates

The Candidate Lifecycle

The Candidate Lifecycle stages
Cold stage: In this stage the candidate has either not been engaged or has become unresponsive for period of more than a year’s time. Most of the candidate records sourced by sourcers/recruiters would ideally enter the system in this stage. The dead log or unproductive candidate records should be weeded out from this stage as part of periodic cleansing

Warm stage: Advert responses coming directly into the system, candidates through career portals, referrals and vendor profiles would enter the system at this stage. These are interested candidates. They will remain in this stage till they become irresponsive, are not relevant to any current or near future requirement, irrespective of they being selected to move ahead for the requirement, they have been sourced for.

Hot stage: This stage candidates have been spoken to, are keen to be assessed for a specific requirement which currently exists within the system

Hold stage: In this stage the candidate is not to be contacted by the Sourcer/Recruiter. It could be due to certain escalations in terms of validity of record (time, manual flag), candidate debarred, no poach agreement…

The candidate record will fluctuate through these lfecycle stages. It is equally important to remove candidates, as it is to keep them updated.

Related Links
Candidate Database System: A perspective?
Review your candidate database

Review your Candidate database

Having a massive pool of relevant candidates at hand is becoming critical and all recruiters/sourcers ideally work towards building this goldmine. I am sure you will agree

Lets look at this database as a system which has negative inertia and will have the tendency to deteriorate over time. what use is a candidate, who has not been contacted for more than 6 months?

To ensure that the database is healthy and appropriate and relevant continual and systemic interventions are required. The following model gives a perspective on how to look at your datbase and determine how your networks/companies candiate pool stands

Database system can be reviewed along the following parameters

Availability: Access to the relevant people
Searchability: Ease of retrieval by the relevant people
Relevance: value of the record to the relevant people.
Completeness: the amount of relevant information available
Credibility: The accuracy of info available. It will erode over time

The following illustration depicts how the candidate pool will get slotted in different stages depending on availability and searchability.





The candidate pool can be segregated in 4 parts depending on Availability and Searchability
1) Open: this part of the database is the most active and productive. It constitutes of candidate records that are publicly available to all relevant parties and easily searchable against a given requirement.
2) Hidden: This part is most of the time outside a Common database and limited to excel sheets, emails, notepads and social networks and accessible to an individual as his personal network. Nobody else is either aware or has access to this pool. There is a greater likelihood of these candidates to slip into the Black hole depending on how structured, searchable and relevant the record is to ongoing needs.
3) Blind: This part of the system is similar to the hidden part with the only exception that this is somebody else’s personal network and not accessible to the user. If the candidate record is not searchable for a relevant requirement due to incomplete or inaccurate data or lack of search capability, the record will fall under this category.
4) Blackhole: It is the natural tendency of a record to slip into the Black hole. A proactive process and approach needs to be in place to prevent this from happening. The Blackhole can’t be measured, but is essentially an inverse reflection of our ability to close candidates with respect to time.

Points to remember
A database should be continually tracked for candidates slipping away from Open stage and proactive and reactive steps taken.
You should never have all the candidates always in the Open stage. This indicates your pipeline is not healthy enough for future requirements, or the candidates are not relevant enough to be closed.
The Blind candidates are the easiest block to be moved to an Open Database. Success in moving this block will also indicate the level of user buy-in towards using the system
The Unknown candidates are your biggest risk. The fact that you don’t know them, gives your competition and advantage over you
The Hidden candidates are your treasure trove. They are candidates with whom ether is already an established relationship/contact. Mining them systematically will be the key to success.

Related Links
Candidate Database System: A perspective?
Lifecycle of a candidate record in a database

Candidate Database System: A perspective?

A candidate database system is a system that will help you manage candidates and requirements. Primarily it serves the following purpose
1) Storing candidates
2) Searching candidates
3) Tracking candidates against job
4) Tracking candidate communication and employability status
The last point is rarely the focus of attention and primarily the system is used for search, store and track.

Activities
The system primarily has two interrelated sets of activity
1) Requirement management: Involves searching, assigning, tracking, and managing the best applicants for each open requisition
2) Candidate Management: Involves methodologies, systems, and practices designed to acquire, engage track and maintain candidates in the system

These activities would include the following actions
1) Add – Candidate records, requirement and activities
2) Update – Candidates records, requirement and activities
3) Delete– Candidates records, requirement and activities
4) Assign – Candidates to Requirements
5) Track- Candidates against requirements, Candidates against activity and status

.

Objective of the system

Increase Database utilization
Reduce turnaround time in searching relevant candidates
Quick access to data on the most relevant candidate.
Structured database around skills, location, industry etc

Increase Database quality
Automatic sorting and filing of candidate information.
Churn out old and irrelevant candidates
Candidate information stored in a structured manner, easy to retrieve
Keep candidate information updated on a regular and periodic basis

Increase database volume
Identify sourcing channels that could feed candidates into the system
Integrate the sourcing channels into the system

Company branding
Quick response management
Quality emails – (informative and effective)

Improve Hiring decision
Capture information about the candidate at each stage.
Provide a complete view of the candidate by assimilating the captured information
Reduce candidate cost through candidate pool leveraging


Primary Players involved

Candidate:
Somebody who may or may not be looking for a new Job and may or may not be suitable for current or future job requirement within a company
Sourcer:
Searches for candidates from within and outside the database and is the first point of contact to the candidate. Promotes the company and job to the candidate, profiles the candidate, evaluates initial job fit and captures candidate aspirations. After ascertaining a match of interst and profile, he passes the candidate to the Recruiter
Recruiter:
Manages the selection process and coordinates with the candidate and respective parties involved in the process. Closes the deal with the candidate based on the information generated in the entire sourcing and selection process keeping in mind the candidates aspiration
Client:
Could be the practice head or the BD team or any other requirement owner.
Vendor:
External agency supplying candidates on requests provided by the sourcing team
Internal referrer Employee, who refers candidates to the company. The referral doesn’t need to be for a specific position .
All the players and their activities contribute to the level of accuracy and relevance of the database. The system has negative inertia and will have the tendency and will deterriorate over time.

Related Links
Review your candidate Database
Lifecycle of a candidate record in a database