Zeroing in on skills
Cutting recruiting costs isn't the onlyâ€"-or even the primary-â€"attraction of e-recruiting for some organisations, however. Sutter Health, for example, wanted a way to affordably and quickly deliver qualified candidates for jobs at the network's affiliate hospitals and doctor's offices. After spending six months evaluating 12 other similar services, Sutter Health in July signed a deal with Recruitsoft, which is hosting the careers section of the Sutter Health Web site (so far, hosting listings for jobs at 26 of the 42 offices of the network's 27 affiliate agencies). Recruitsoft provides a centralised database for candidate information and helps the network prioritise candidate leads by asking candidates detailed questions online, Vencel said. The latter feature has so far proved the biggest benefit.
"The skill-based questions are the key feature," he said. "Each candidate completes questions about their job experience, specific achievements and soft skills, and they're ranked in sequence from the least to the most qualified for a given position."
Candidates who aren't a perfect match for one job are automatically encouraged to apply for other jobs if the system finds a better match, Vencel said.
Pricing for the service ranges from US$250 to US$500 for each candidate hired, depending on the quantity of hires made in a given month, along with a US$1,000 monthly Web site hosting fee, a Recruitsoft representative said.
After several months of using the hosted service and with a rollout to the rest of the network's affiliates under way, Vencel said, the efficiency gains the network has realised have been significant even though the service hasn't yet resulted in recruiting cost savings. "We're spending the same amount of money on recruitment now as a couple of years ago, but this avenue is more targeted and is leading to some better candidates," he said.
Some 1,200 job candidates are listed in Sutter Health's Recruitsoft database now, along with listings for 1,600 open jobs. Most important, Vencel said, the network is receiving more than 30 résumés per week that meet every qualification for certain open jobs, far more than it received in a given week before. In addition to the increase in highly targeted job applications, the system allows the network's human resources managers to respond to those job seekers much more quickly, since they're not wasting time evaluating inappropriate applications, Vencel added.
The next goal is to integrate Recruitsoft into the network's Lawson Software HR management system, a project Sutter Health plans to complete early next year, Vencel said.
Even while Sutter Health is increasingly satisfied with its e-recruiting efforts, the organisation isn't giving up on traditional methods, including local television, newspaper and online advertising, along with employee referrals.
This multipronged approach is the best way to go, experts say, at least until e-recruiting ASPs improve and prove their return on investment.
