Maintaining Your Managerial Focus in the Office

Posted on May 18, 2023February 16, 2023 by SourceBreaker

An office environment can be conducive to both a negative and a positive focus, depending entirely on how you navigate your circumstances and your team. Times have changed and the way we perceive communication has changed, especially since the lockdown.

Leaders and managers will notice this more than ever as the migration back to the office in the last few forced them to navigate a dense propensity of office-based workers who were no longer accustomed to seeing their colleagues daily.

But with the channels for communication having been closed for extended periods of time, it’s no wonder colleagues will want to catch up and collaborate – it’s just about managing your environment in a way that’s productive for everyone.

So how do you retain focus?

How can you make sure you’re helping those who need it, whilst still actually getting your own job done?

“Have you got a minute?”

Never just a minute, is it? And stating that, isn’t the best look for office harmony.

If you’re not careful you’ll become over-stressed, overworked, with no time for yourself and even less time for your job.

Our CRO Adam Dale talked about this very recently on a podcast. I suggested his job title stood for Constant Response Officer. Which went down well…

Still, it’s the poisoned chalice of leadership. The higher up the chain you climb, the more reports you have, the more responsibility you gain.

And the more questions you field from those desperate for guidance.

Going to ignore their calls for help?

Course not, you’re a leader, not a shirker.

But then you’ve got Slack clicking away, email, someone’s on the phone for you, meetings, meetings, meetings about meetings, face time with clients, quick chats and that’s before we get on to wellbeing or personal time or even, dare I suggest it, time for thinking.

It’s your job to be available

Ever had a conversation with someone who’s only half there?

They’re looking you in the eyes, but it’s like their soul’s in a totally different place. They nod, even grunt a few yeses, but then say…

“Sorry mate, say that again for me?”

This is the danger of over-offering yourself. You can’t physically or mentally be in two places at once. And so, whilst it’s admirable to make yourself available to those who need it, you’re not really doing them a favour.

You’re actually doing them a disservice. They’re not getting the whole you.

How do you change this? Well, ironically, not being available is a pretty good strategy.

But let me explain.

The Science Between Stress & Time

There’s a study in psychology called the Time Pressure Illusion. It’s based on the stress associated with time. You know how you never seem to have enough time? Well… not everyone agrees. In fact, being rushed or under pressure is something totally of your own making. And I know that sounds harsh, but stick with me…

Basically, it boils down to this… if you’re more stressed, it feels like you have less time.

When, obviously, that’s not actually true. It’s the same thinking that has people take meetings in a plank.

Time goes SLOWLY when you’re watching the clock under physical pressure. And the opposite is true when you’re having fun and preoccupied. Do you actually have less time? Course not. “Time waits for no man” they say. And the same can be said about speeding it up or slowing it down.

Take this for example, a study of 2,500 employees at a Tech company found those who were more passionate about their work weren’t as rushed as others. Despite being under the same time constraints, their attitude was a lot more relaxed. And they actually got more done.

What can managerial focus teach us?

It tells us, actually, given the right amount of strategy, you needn’t be stressing about the lack of time.

What’s actually the issue is your attitude towards time. And that with the right management, you can crack your diary a lot more efficiently. And therefore give people the time they need.

Saying ‘yes’ to too many things can be a major pitfall, leading to a lack of focus, reduced efficiency, and decreased productivity. One way to maintain focus is by identifying and focusing on your core market.

By saying ‘no’ to companies and roles that are not part of your core offering, you can avoid getting bogged down in tasks that don’t align with your strengths and expertise.

In fact, according to SIA data, 71% of companies will be narrowing their focus in the event of a recession to maximize success for each candidate they work with. This means that recruiters who focus on their core market and specialize in a particular area have a greater chance of placing candidates, which ultimately saves time and leads to greater success.

It’s important to resist the temptation to take on too much and instead focus on doing a few things really well. By prioritizing your time and energy, you can maintain your managerial focus and achieve your goals with greater efficiency and ease.

Leveraging Tech for Improved Organization & Management

As a manager in the recruitment industry, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details and lose focus on the big picture. One way to maintain your managerial focus is by using tools like Google’s Focus feature.

By setting aside uninterrupted blocks of time in your calendar, you can prioritize important tasks and avoid unnecessary distractions. In addition to delegating work, it’s important to be specific about expectations and timelines.

When faced with a heavy workload, remember that it’s okay to ask for help and to prioritize tasks based on their level of importance and urgency. Trusting your team to complete tasks without micromanaging can free up valuable time and energy for you to focus on high-level strategy and decision-making.

With a clear plan in place, you can maintain your managerial focus and achieve your goals with greater efficiency and ease.

Downtime when Focusing is Crucial

“Oh, you’re gonna tell us to focus more, that’s original.”

Well, yeah, I am. Only there’s a difference here. Because not that long ago, you could focus on your own whim. And no one was able to physically stop that. To reach over the desk. Or shout over the office.

Sure, they could call you. But not being in the same building means you could ignore it.

So now we’re back in ‘office conditions’, you need to reaffirm how you focus. And really think about how, and when that happens.

Because by halting your availability at certain times of the day, you open yourself up fully in the times you’re free.

Confidence & Certainty

And here’s the most important part.

You need to be really firm with those both below and above you in the chain.

You need to have clear, concise and perhaps even physical barriers between you and other people.

So you could buy DO NOT DISTURB lights for your office desks. Or you could have focus pods. Or just a cafe you go to. Everyone focuses differently.

But making sure everyone knows you can’t be contacted at some parts of the day is absolutely crucial. And then gives you, and them, the focus they need when you are available.

Those around you will already understand the importance of focus, because they’re in the same battle.

The Importance of Improved Managerial Focus

Better focus means being a better leader, employee, manager and boss. But it takes practice and a firm hand. And sure, sometimes it won’t be possible.

But as we regain our independence in the world, making sure that translates to office life is a battle you can’t lose. Get planning and get ahead.

Interested in booking a demo? Click here.

TL;DR Key Takeaways

To maintain focus and help colleagues in the office, it’s important to manage the environment productively.
Saying “yes” to too many things can lead to overstress, overwork, and less time for yourself and your job.
By prioritizing your time and energy and avoiding tasks that don’t align with your strengths, you can maintain your managerial focus and achieve your goals with greater efficiency and ease.
Recruiters who focus on their core market and specialize in a particular area have a greater chance of placing candidates, which ultimately saves time and leads to greater success.
Leveraging tech tools like Google’s Focus feature and setting aside uninterrupted blocks of time in your calendar can help you maintain your managerial focus and prioritize important tasks.

The Impact of Human-Technology Partnerships on Recruitment Productivity & Profitability

Posted on April 20, 2023February 16, 2023 by SourceBreaker

Did you know human-technology partnerships can unlock new levels of productivity and profitability across your recruitment agency?

The world’s best recruiters often seem to have a ‘sixth sense for connecting talent with market opportunity. They know who’s hiring, who’s about to hire, and which candidates they need with lightning speed that the rest of the market can’t match.

Time after time, they join the dots between hiring teams and talent pools, picking up roles and sourcing candidates with apparent ease. In reality, however, this uncanny ability to match-make at a rapid pace isn’t only down to talent and hard work.

It’s built on a system – and it’s a system that can be deconstructed and put in the hands of recruiters at all levels, making consistent, profitable revenue generation an immediate reality.

The role of automation in recruitment

‘Automation’ is a buzzword with a wide range of connotations. For some people, it’s a scary term that implies using imperfect technology to ‘replace’ humans – resulting in a worse outcome all around.

But true automation doesn’t take away from valuable human interactions, it increases them – both in terms of volume and quality.

SourceBreaker’s recruitment automation tools take care of workflow steps that humans would do anyway, but where the time taken by humans to carry out those steps is of limited value.

With these recurring tasks handled by smart technology, time is freed up for recruiters to have more conversations with quality clients and candidates.

And – even more importantly – those conversations are each of greater value, as they’re built on valuable information, context and timing provided by the automation platform.

What SourceBreaker automation delivers

The simplest way to evaluate the impact of SourceBreaker’s automation technology is to look at the outcomes it creates. These include:

More time spent speaking with clients and candidates

This is where recruiters are in their ‘golden zone’, at their most valuable. They’re building relationships, asking questions, qualifying opportunities… and managing recruitment processes to successful outcomes.

SourceBreaker users report an additional 1-2x hours per day created for high-impact conversations as a result of automating their workflows.

More interviews per active candidate

The SourceBreaker platform matches candidate profiles to live employer job leads, sourced directly from their careers pages.

This means more chances to place active job-seekers, with up to 3x more interviews per active candidate, maximising the probability of a success fee for every engagement.

More exclusive engagements and high-growth clients

SourceBreaker’s Intel Centre provides up-to-date data on funding and investment news, allowing recruiters to engage companies about to commence a growth and hiring spurt.

Armed with this insight, recruiters can sign up new clients before they go public with their recruitment needs, securing exclusive work with well-funded, high-potential customers.

Faster speed to market

By running powerful semantic searches across all sourcing platforms simultaneously (CRM, job boards and LinkedIn) and leveraging saved searches and alerts, SourceBreaker users have super-fast access to the most relevant, placeable candidates in their markets – at their fingertips, at all times.

This means out-pacing competitors, and building both consistent revenue streams and durable client relationships.

Faster rookie ramp time

New hires trained with SourceBreaker kick off their recruitment careers with a continual pipeline of candidates and job leads, making it easy to connect the two and create placements.

They also have deep, pre-built search queries to source candidates like an expert from their first day in the job.

More Consistent Scale & Team Growth

By leveraging the full feature set of the SourceBreaker automation platform, recruitment agencies hugely reduce the inconsistency in recruiter performance as they scale their teams.

New desks and divisions can be pre-prepared with the relevant candidate and client opportunity pipelines, eliminating the dependence on individual employee structure and time management skills to be successful.

And, as teams grow, insights, search queries and best practices can be easily shared across the business, ensuring every recruiter can imitate the workflows proven to generate consistent results.

The Future Of Recruitment

Automation software is already powering the most successful companies in human history, from Amazon’s industry-changing digital commerce platform to innovators across technology, transport, manufacturing, investment, banking, healthcare and thousands of other markets.

In each case, the goal is the same – allow humans to spend more time on growth and revenue-generating tasks, and leverage powerful automation tools to augment their work.

Future-proof Your Business

In recruitment, as in any other industry, those able to deliver the best quality work at the fastest pace and with the highest level of consistency are already winning – and automation is their secret weapon.

Interested in finding out more about SourceBreaker? Click here to book a demo.

TL;DR Key Takeaways

Human-technology partnerships can increase productivity and profitability in recruitment agencies.
The world’s best recruiters use a system that can be deconstructed and implemented by recruiters at all levels.
True automation in recruitment increases valuable human interactions in terms of volume and quality.
SourceBreaker’s automation technology frees up time for recruiters to have high-impact conversations and matches candidate profiles to live employer job leads, resulting in more chances to place active job-seekers.
SourceBreaker’s Intel Centre provides up-to-date data on funding and investment news, allowing recruiters to engage companies about to commence a growth and hiring spurt.
By running powerful semantic searches and leveraging saved searches and alerts, SourceBreaker users have super-fast access to the most relevant, placeable candidates in their markets.
New hires trained with SourceBreaker have a continual pipeline of candidates and job leads, making it easy to connect the two and create placements.
SourceBreaker automation tools can be leveraged to reduce inconsistency in recruiter performance as recruitment agencies scale their teams.
Automation in recruitment is the future and can future-proof your business.

Traditional Recruitment vs. Modern Recruitment

Posted on March 23, 2023February 16, 2023 by SourceBreaker

The world of recruiting has come a long way since its humble beginnings. From the traditional recruitment methods of placing an advertisement in the local newspaper to the advent of modern-day digital recruitment, the evolution of recruitment is nothing short of fascinating.

With traditional recruitment methods giving way to digital recruitment and recruitment technology, it’s important to understand the benefits and challenges posed by both.

Join us as we take a deep dive into traditional recruitment methods, how they’ve evolved, and how they compare to modern recruitment strategies.

Traditional Recruitment: A Brief History

While traditional recruitment methods have been around for centuries, dating back as far as the Mediaeval period when candidates would seek employment through their local town crier; it wasn’t actually until the 20th century that the recruitment industry as we know it started to take shape.

Until the early 2000s, recruitment strategies such as classified ads and headhunting were considered the norm and while these methods were effective in their day, they don’t work as well now.

During this time, job seekers would rely on classified ads in newspapers, job boards, and word of mouth to find job opportunities; with recruiters spending hours sifting through resumes and conducting in-person interviews to find the right candidate for the job.

Gradually, these methods evolved, and companies started using recruitment agencies to help them find the right candidates but, despite the advances in technology, traditional recruitment methods have remained largely unchanged at their core.

The Challenges of Traditional Recruitment

Traditional recruitment methods have served companies well for many years, but that’s not to say they didn’t come with several challenges. For example, traditional recruitment methods are insanely time-consuming and often result in long, drawn-out processes that could take anywhere from weeks to years.

Additionally, the limited pool of candidates can also make it difficult for recruiters to find the right person for the job and traditional recruitment methods can also be quite expensive, which can put a considerable strain on a company’s budget.

Modern Recruiting: In the Now

Fast forward to today, and we are living in a digital world where everything has the potential to be streamlined and optimised for maximised productivity and revenue. While traditional recruitment methods are still used, modern recruitment strategies offer a plethora of benefits that can’t be ignored, including increased efficiency, improved productivity, and a larger pool of candidates.

In Thrive My Way’s Artificial Intelligence & Automation Statistics and Trends for 2022, this is evidenced by their reports that 54% of companies that use AI report increased productivity and 80% of business leaders believe there is potential for further productivity gains.

And with the correct tech adoption strategy, we can put to rest the rumours that rectech is here to replace recruiters and demonstrate how AI can be used to empower teams looking to supercharge their recruitment efforts.

The Benefits of Modern Recruitment

Despite this change being welcomed by many, some remain sceptical about the benefits of modern-day recruitment but did you know it doesn’t only benefit recruiters but candidates and agencies too? In fact, in comparison to its traditional counterpart, modern recruitment has several advantages.

Talented, Diverse, & RelevantCandidate Pools

Using recruitment technology and digital recruitment allows recruiters to reach a much larger pool of candidates, thereby increasing their chances of finding the right person for the job.

Because the digital world has opened up the recruitment landscape, it’s now significantly easier for recruiters to connect with candidates from all over the world; this is especially true with the advent of social media and other digital platforms that allow recruiters to reach out to candidates on a global scale.

High Productivity, Low Cost

By leveraging the latest recruitment technologies, recruiters can streamline their workflows, reduce the time it takes to fill a vacancy, and increase their productivity. In fact, 44% of businesses that have implemented AI technologies have reported a reduction in operating costs.

Team Insights & Progress Monitoring

But the benefits don’t stop there, they extend from the recruiter straight up to senior leadership. By leveraging RecTech solutions like SourceBreaker, agency owners and managers can receive insights into how their recruiters are working; this increased visibility and data-driven approach has allowed companies to make better decisions, improve productivity, and reduce operating costs.

The Future of Recruitment

While traditional recruitment methods have served companies well for many years, it is clear that modern recruitment is the way of the future. As the world continues to move forward, the future of recruitment is likely to be dominated by technology.

Many recruitment agencies have already started licensing new technologies, but because of the newness of it all, sometimes those technologies aren’t leveraged to their maximum potential.

Remember, technology is only as powerful as the human using it, so make sure to really embrace the tech you invest in; it’ll guarantee improved productivity and organisation across your team(s).

Future-proofing with RecTech

So, for companies that want to stay ahead of the game, it’s time to invest in your tech stack and remember, it’s never too late to embrace the latest recruitment technologies and reap the benefits that come with AI-assisted rectech.

Interested in finding out how to drive tech adoption within your own company? Check out some additional SourceBreaker articles.

TL;DR Key Takeaways

Traditional recruitment methods have been around for decades, but it wasn’t until the 20th century that the recruitment industry as we know it started to take shape.
Traditional recruitment methods, such as classified ads and headhunting, were effective in their day, but they are time-consuming, have a limited pool of candidates, and can be quite expensive.
Modern recruitment strategies offer a plethora of benefits that can’t be ignored, including increased efficiency, improved productivity, and a larger pool of candidates.
Modern recruitment technologies can streamline workflows, reduce the time it takes to fill a vacancy, and increase productivity.
By leveraging RecTech solutions, recruiters and companies can receive insights into how their recruiters are working and make better decisions, improve productivity, and reduce operating costs.
The future of recruitment is likely to be dominated by technology, and companies that want to stay ahead of the game should invest in their tech stack and embrace the latest recruitment technologies.

Recruitment SAAS & Its Impact on Hiring

Posted on February 16, 2023March 1, 2023 by SourceBreaker

Demand generation and retention are among the most important strategies for any business in today’s competitive market and by leveraging a suite of Recruitment SaaS (Software as a Service) tools, you can exponentially maximise your marketing efforts impact.

Software as a Service (SaaS) – What is it?

Simply put, Software as a Service is software offered over the internet and consumed by the end user.

For an organisation to sell software as a service, they need to licence the software via a subscription or usage model (some choose to charge a flat annual fee). The service provider will then administer, host and manage the software on their servers.

Traditionally, recruiters spend a lot of their time sourcing and hiring candidates as well as finding time to manage their new staff.

From building strong candidate networks to lead generation and to-the-minute news updates, SaaS solutions enable businesses to automate parts of the recruitment process and offer real-time market insights.

Key Drivers Behind SaaS Solutions in Recruitment

Because of this, several key drivers have led to the creation of SaaS solutions for recruitment, specifically to maximise recruiter productivity and streamline processes.

Firstly, there are increasing demands for quality candidate data to improve the matching process. As more prospects enter the recruitment process, companies feel more pressure to hire only the best candidates for the job.

Search platforms and tools for organisations can now serve up both quantitative and qualitative candidate attributes, including the skills required, engagement, compensation history, and even cultural fit.

By looking for this data, recruiters can use the matching algorithm to prioritise and connect the best candidates to the roles best suited to them rather than wasting time on unsuitable candidates.

SaaS solutions in the recruitment sector have successfully delivered on sourcing candidates, lead generation, securing candidate meetings, onboarding new staff and developing a rewarding culture.

The Future Of Recruitment Technology

The recruitment technology market is still very much in its infancy.

However, many established players in the space, including Microsoft, IBM, SAP and LinkedIn, have made a concerted effort to bring their services to market, with cloud technology hailed as the latest ‘killer’ feature.

In recent years, SaaS has dominated the market for software delivery services based on the cloud platform. This trend will likely continue as businesses seek new ways to streamline their processes.

With 80% of businesses believing data security is the top barrier to adopting SaaS in recruitment, many firms have invested heavily in data centres and security experts to use the latest cloud technology safely.

By enabling candidates to view and filter their applications, recruiters can use these tools to show off their company culture, from opening hours to company photos to candidates.

Future-Proofing Your Recruitment Process with SaaS

SaaS will play a vital role in streamlining the recruitment process and give businesses a means of staying competitive in a market that is becoming increasingly saturated. Due to these technological advances in recent years, recruiters should be making the most of these technologies to improve their effectiveness and efficiency.

These technologies can help recruiters offer a more transparent, efficient and consistent process that will be more likely to stand out in a world where job-seekers have increasing access to personal data.

Gartner and Microsoft have released a report, The Future of Work: Informed by Intelligent Technology, which provides further guidance to organisations and C-level executives on how to put SaaS technology to use to achieve their business goals.

Key findings of the report include that 37% of organisations were already using some form of intelligent technology, 30% were considering adopting it but needed assistance, and 32% wanted to know more.

Organisations are looking for advice and guidance on how to take the next step in their intelligent technology journey.

By taking this next step, they will increase their organisation’s productivity by, for example, giving recruiters more time to spend meeting job applicants and giving them the flexibility to use time more efficiently.

Another key finding of the report, entitled Intelligent Technology: A game changer for the future of work, was that one-in-three organisations felt they were at risk of being disrupted by the introduction of intelligent technology.

But, by investing in the technology, they are likely to benefit from greater agility, creativity, collaboration, and the opportunity to adapt to changing market conditions and attract the best talent.

SaaS solutions can help streamline the entire recruitment process by reducing the time spent doing mundane, labour-intensive, but necessary tasks. They can also make recruitment more accessible to candidates through an online application process that is easily accessible to prospective candidates and are quick and easy to use.

What are the benefits of leveraging SAAS technology?

Thinking about how to leverage technology to reduce the time taken for the recruitment process, and make the process more efficient for your team, are a great place to start.

Accessible From Most Devices

Because most platforms typically operate on several devices, you can access and manage the recruitment process anywhere and at any time.

You can see candidate applications, respond to messages and set up interviews with them from the comfort of your office while providing access to your team should you need to assist.

It’s also incredibly simple to transfer applications to the candidate’s devices, making it easy for them to sign up for an email account and communicate with you.

Driven by AI and Machine Learning

A great way to minimise the time it takes to manage the process is to use intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimise the performance of a critical system.

This is because machine learning software can adapt to how the market changes over time by considering the new jobs available and taking the best route to fill them.

Cost-effective

By leveraging SaaS technology, you can reduce your operational costs, which will in turn, reduce the cost of recruitment. You can also choose your company’s brand and language, work directly with your clients, and ensure that you meet their needs by providing high-quality, user-friendly software.

Easy to Use

No one wants to have to download or re-download software onto their laptop, tablet or phone or constantly get in touch with IT to make changes to their document. Instead, everything you need to monitor leads and manage candidates is centralised in an easy-to-use platform.

A far more intuitive and accessible way to manage your entire recruitment process, your whole team can simply log on to a single portal, wherever they are in the world, and access all the information on your candidates’ profiles.

Improving the Recruitment Process

By combining a raft of online services, SaaS solutions can improve the overall recruiting process. So, for example, if you’re struggling to recruit in your own area, a reliable provider will grant access to the latest employment opportunities and all relevant information on the market.

Frequent Updates

Once you’ve signed up for a SaaS solution, it will automatically be updated with the latest changes in the market so that you never miss a thing. What’s more? You’ll get support from a fully-professional team that can help you tackle any issues that may arise when you need a helping hand.

Saves Time

One of the most commonly cited benefits of a SaaS solution is that it allows your team to spend less time on tedious tasks like scheduling and categorising tasks.

Increased Sales

By simplifying the recruitment process and making it much more user-friendly, you can enable your team to focus on the recruitment process and leave guessing passwords or switching platforms in the past.

Guaranteed Data Integrity

Security is paramount for the security of your company’s data, and an all-encompassing cloud-based system provides you with the protection you need. With a cloud-based solution, you can relax knowing that the information entered is always secure.

Is SAAS right for you?

So, if your business wants to leverage more powerful recruitment processes, switching to a SaaS solution could be the answer.

A great way to kickstart your recruitment process is by choosing the right software for your business, but with so many different tools and platforms on offer, you’ll need to decide which one best suits your needs.

If you’re looking for a flexible and cost-effective recruitment solution that will help you to increase your recruitment efforts, SourceBreaker’s got you covered.

SourceBreaker: The SaaS Solution for Recruiters

SourceBreaker is a recruitment platform designed to automate, enhance, and personalise your lead generation process and perfect candidate-to-job matches. In other words, it helps you track the progress of every lead you receive and enables you to adapt the process to match your team’s priorities and requirements.

SourceBreaker works on desktop or mobile to give instant access to your entire recruitment team, no matter where you are. Because it offers full integration with other third-party apps, you can source hidden candidates that you would’ve otherwise missed.

You can easily monitor the success of each recruiter, with automated reports that make it easy to see how effective your team has been in particular areas.

Still not convinced? Book a demo and see the platform in action!

TL;DR Key Takeaways

Software as a Service (SaaS) refers to software offered over the internet and consumed by the end user. SaaS solutions in the recruitment sector enable businesses to automate parts of the recruitment process and offer real-time market insights.
Several key drivers have led to the creation of SaaS solutions for recruitment, specifically to maximise recruiter productivity and streamline processes. These include increasing demands for quality candidate data to improve the matching process, as well as search platforms and tools for organisations that can serve up both quantitative and qualitative candidate attributes.
SaaS will play a vital role in streamlining the recruitment process and give businesses a means of staying competitive in a market that is becoming increasingly saturated. These technologies can help recruiters offer a more transparent, efficient, and consistent process that will be more likely to stand out in a world where job-seekers have increasing access to personal data.
Gartner and Microsoft have released a report that provides further guidance to organisations and C-level executives on how to put SaaS technology to use to achieve their business goals. The report shows that 37% of organisations were already using some form of intelligent technology, 30% were considering adopting it, and 32% wanted to know more.
SaaS solutions can help streamline the entire recruitment process by reducing the time spent doing mundane, labour-intensive, but necessary tasks. They can also make recruitment more accessible to candidates through an online application process that is easily accessible to prospective candidates and are quick and easy to use.
The benefits of leveraging SaaS technology include accessibility from most devices and being driven by AI and machine learning to optimise the performance of a critical system.

Data Hygiene: Is the Data In Your Internal CRM Healthy?

Posted on January 19, 2023February 21, 2023 by SourceBreaker

Data hygiene is a phrase many people aren’t familiar with, or in most cases, have heard of it but don’t know what it means.

So what is data hygiene?

When discussing data hygiene, you’ll want to look primarily at your internal marketing CRM (customer relationship management). At the most superficial level, this means reviewing your data from your contacts, such as customers, subscribers, and leads, from click counts and open rates to campaign conversions.

Data hygiene is the best way to prevent any loss of information, whether internal theft, tampering by third parties, or some more obscure but equally damaging type of corruption.

What are the indicators of healthy data?

Data hygiene is often divided into three categories: data validity, data integrity, and data provenance. Within each of these areas, there are several indicators that you can follow to ensure that you are using the data in your database in the most efficient way possible.

Indicators of healthy data are:

●Integrity

●Provenance

●Validation

Data Integrity

Data integrity essentially means that the data within your database is correct, updated within the accurate timeframes, and remains unmodified unless necessary.

Data Validation

The process of checking the data you’re storing is correct, up-to-date, and relevant; for example, updating a candidate’s address and contact details.

Data validity requires your data to be consistent, coherent and provided in a format understandable by your systems. For example, if you entered ‘25000’ as a candidate’s salary, the CRM automatically returns the value in the correct format (£25,000).

Data Provenance

Data provenance involves tracing the data journey through your systems from when a user entered it into the database, the channel it was sourced from, and by whom.

The more specific your tracking, the more likely you find any relevant discrepancies. In some cases, it is possible to trace specific pieces of information from point to point through your data.

Why are data quality and healthy data important in recruitment?

When evaluating the quality of your candidates, the most valuable thing you have to start with is their CV.

So, when scanning the CV of potential applicants, what do you look for? Do you have candidates whose profiles are either missing vital information or haven’t been updated? Do you have duplicate candidates within the same applicant pool?

Essentially, a recruiter’s role is to source a candidate, qualify them against leads and prospective jobs, and accurately assess the candidate’s suitability to fill the role. With unhealthy data, it’s considerably more complicated to conduct searches efficiently.

What are the leading causes of data problems?

Every organisation and industry is different, but most problems stem from a single source; unhealthy data.

Insufficient Data

If there’s no information, how can you assess the candidate? With insufficient data, it becomes difficult to handle. A candidate profile can contain incomplete or potentially misleading information. On the flip side, the absence of data in some cases can make it challenging to understand the application and candidate performance.

A more structured approach guarantees you only collect the data you need and want while still providing an optimal candidate experience.

Lack of Organisation

Perhaps you have multiple databases that store the same information or your current database stores random datasets that are irrelevant to your recruitment issues.

These issues are commonly a result of poor workflows and inadequate documentation, all of which can be solved by producing training materials and correctly onboarding team members.

What are the main ways in which you can tackle this?

Suppose you use tools like AI and machine learning for boolean searches or to build candidate profiles. In that case, you must train recruiters to leverage tech correctly if you hope to drive maximum tech adoption and ensure you get the most out of your databases.

For example, in order to maximise SourceBreaker’s impact, we have a dedicated customer success team who work to inform, update, and support you on your digital growth journey.

Offering strategic initiatives to drive adoption, onboard agents, track success, and maximise platform impact, SourceBreaker provides customers with ongoing training sessions, workshops, and a monthly management check-in to ensure the insights we’re providing you are healthy but maximising success.

Leveraging AI in Recruitment: How Tech Layoffs Create Opportunity

Posted on January 12, 2023March 1, 2023 by SourceBreaker

In light of the recent tech layoffs, recruiters (and therefore candidates) have been presented with a unique opportunity to leverage AI-powered recruitment technology to assist laid-off candidates in landing their dream roles and supercharge their search by empowering their team(s) with lightning-quick results.

Tech Layoff in Numbers

According to stats compiled by layoffs, 50,000+ employees across 185+ tech companies have been laid off in January alone, with tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft laying off a total of 10,000 – 12,000 employees each in the last few months.

However, while this can be an overwhelming and difficult experience for those affected, it also provides those candidates with the opportunity to break into fresh roles that are more suited to their skill sets, cultural expectations, and align more with their current lives.

What Mass Layoffs Mean for Recruiters

According to a report published by NashSquared, 52% of respondents expect tech budgets to increase in 2023, a positive sign for the recruitment industry, as it suggests that companies will be looking to hire and invest in new people and tech.

But how does this benefit recruiters?

It’s because AI-powered recruitment technology, like our all-in-one SourceBreaker platform, can help recruiters take advantage of this influx of job-seekers through streamlined sourcing, automated lead generation, and informed candidate outreach.

By allowing your team(s) to source candidates at lightning-quick speeds, you’ll be sure to beat your competition to new sales opportunities, stay ahead of the curve, and ensure you capitalise on the layoffs.

Not only is this beneficial for recruiters, but it also ensures that candidates are paired with lucrative roles that match their skill sets – all of which is especially important in today’s economy, where candidates may be tempted to take any job they can find out of desperation.

RecTech a Solution to Tech Layoffs

Rectech assists recruiters in sourcing candidates quickly and efficiently but also helps improve the overall recruitment process. Recruiters can use AI to automate tasks such as resume screening, scheduling interviews, and conducting initial candidate assessments – saving your team(s) significant time and resources while still effectively screening candidates.

Another major benefit of SourceBreaker – or any recruitment technology – is its ability to use algorithms and data to make decisions instead of relying on human judgement, therefore reducing unconscious bias and promoting a fair and equitable recruitment process for all candidates alike.

Moreover, these technologies can also provide laid-off candidates with a more personalised job search experience. With SourceBreaker, recruiters can receive targeted job recommendations based on their candidate’s skills and qualifications, with real-time updates on the status of their applications.

This streamlines the candidate’s job search process and improves the chances of securing them the right role, something incredibly important to someone who’s just been laid off and may be in a difficult position.

Layoffs Don’t Have To Be Terrifying

In summary, the tech layoffs present candidates with a chance at a fresh start somewhere more suitable for them and recruiters with an opportunity to source top talent quickly and efficiently, and AI-powered recruitment tools provide an effective way to take advantage of this situation. By streamlining tasks, reducing bias, and providing a personalised job search experience, AI-powered recruitment tools can help recruiters to find the best candidates for open roles, more quickly and efficiently.

TL;DR Key Takeaways

●Tech layoffs have created new opportunities for recruiters to find top talent

●AI-powered recruitment technology can help recruiters take advantage of the influx of job-seekers

●AI can reduce bias in the hiring process and provide a more personalised job search experience for candidates

●AI-powered recruitment tools can help companies find the best candidates more quickly and efficiently, leading to improved retention rates and a better candidate experience.

Business Development for Recruitment Agencies in 2022/23

Posted on December 22, 2022March 2, 2023 by SourceBreaker

Business development for recruitment agencies is crucial in 2023. Agencies who lack the skills and strategy to elevate themselves from the bottom tier of recruitment suppliers are living on borrowed time, fighting each other for the dregs of the market.

Having ‘lots of jobs on’ is no longer a badge of honour – it’s a potential red flag signalling a lack of commercial precision. Smart agencies are learning to work fewer and better-qualified jobs, sending their close rates and fee income soaring.

With SourceBreaker data showing a 22% reduction in jobs per company since the start of the year, here’s why recruitment and staffing agency owners should be championing business development to stay ahead of the curve.

Recruitment markets worldwide have witnessed new levels of talent demand in recent years, with high-quality candidates driving hiring dynamics like never before.

It’s been a boom time for many agencies who’ve been able to supply these sought-after profiles, barely needing to engage in traditional ‘sales’ activities when their candidates alone were enough to win them access to roles, interviews and placements.

But recent market trends show a significant slowdown in new vacancies published by employers – an indication that placeable candidates may not be the golden ticket they once were to guarantee steady fee income.

And, as the balance between client and candidate-led shifts, here are three key reasons why business owners should prioritise business development to secure the future of their recruitment agencies.

Not all opportunity is equal

Just because recruiters have ‘active jobs’ doesn’t mean they’ve got access to the best opportunities in the market.

There may be new companies hiring for similar candidate profiles to their current searches with faster hiring timescales, a better candidate experience or more attractive pay packages.

Top recruiters know this – and they work tirelessly to find the best fit between their candidate pools and the employment market by continually expanding their client base.

By always prioritising business development, they put themselves in the right place and the right time more often than other recruiters, specifically because they don’t limit their activities to their existing network.

In contrast, recruiters who settle for reactively serving their current client base have no visibility into what other opportunities are out in the market – who is hiring for their candidate specialism, in what volumes, and what types of requirements and timescales they may be working to.

A perfect client with 10x the hiring budget may be just around the corner – only BD-focused recruiters will find out.

Rookie recruiters can’t rely on candidates forever

The recent recruitment market has introduced thousands of rookie recruiters to a candidate-focused workflow, built around in-demand CVs as the most valuable commodity in recruitment.

For many agencies, this has created a whole generation lacking the skills to win new clients and roles without a placeable candidate profile to market to talent-starved customers.

But as the market dynamic shifts, so too will the ability of agencies to support junior consultants who rely exclusively on this tactic to create placement fees.

Agencies who focus on and invest in business development, however, give their teams a rounder skillset with which to consistently replenish the sales pipeline with new opportunities – using a range of techniques and market intelligence technology to source leads, and ensuring that their recruiters are equipped with multiple tools in their toolbox to generate new client relationships.

Stop selling people, start selling solutions

To move up the staircase, business owners need to commit to a new way of positioning their agencies in the marketplace, and a new style of selling to clients.

By focusing everything on the sale of ‘people’ and CVs, recruiters trap themselves in a low-value box where they are little more than profile generators and scheduling assistants.

By learning advanced sales techniques – and incorporating these into job qualification strategies – agencies can offer their customers truly bespoke products and solutions, locking in revenue opportunities and widening the gap between themselves and their competitors.

Business development puts agencies on the front foot

Agency owners who shy away from a BD-focused game plan for H2 and beyond are effectively closing the shutters to the outside market and limiting the ability of their businesses to react and pivot in rapidly-changing conditions.

Whether it’s staying on top of evolving in-demand skill sets or changing employment frameworks, recruiters who routinely survey and prospect their markets have a front-foot advantage versus those who don’t.

BD-savvy owners see trends early, spot new emerging markets and catch talent patterns appearing, and are able to shape their brand, marketing, resourcing and training to follow the currents of demand in their industries and adjacent sectors.

By making business development a strategic focus, recruitment leaders don’t just ensure the ongoing success of their agencies in the near term, they also build in long-term protection and the ability to see market changes the moment they appear on the horizon.

To learn more about preparing your agency for changing market conditions, join SourceBreaker’s CRO, Adam Dale, and The Recruitment Network’s Co-Founder, James Osborne, as they discuss key market predictions and top tips for implementing a strong BD strategy to ensure you’re keeping ahead of the curve.

What’s the problem with most recruitment training?

It shows rookies how recruitment works, gives them the ABCs, and then leaves them to figure the rest out for themselves.

The gap between trainee and consistent biller can be huge. The time lag to make the transition can be years, and the cost to agency owners can be hundreds of thousands of pounds across their teams.

Knowing ‘how to do a job’ and how to do it expertly are two totally different things – and too much recruitment training settles for the former as an objective.

In few places is this more exposed than in guidance focused on job qualification.

With this vital area of training hurried through or neglected altogether, thousands of recruiters are never shown the way to lift themselves out of saturated, multi-agency contingent work – and spend their careers battling over the scraps of the market, wasting hundreds of hours on dead-end searches in the process.

The buyer staircase

Getting out of this rut involves a change in mindset and a fundamentally different approach to qualifying and picking up jobs in recruitment.

The ‘buyer staircase’ concept breaks down the different levels of client commitment agencies work on, each corresponding to different chances of fee success:

●Step 1 – getting a job, permission or access to send CVs to a role

●Step 2 – getting interview slots, or the chance to book candidate meetings in

●Step 3 – exclusive interview slots, or the chance to work without other agency competition

●Step 4 – retained search, or up-front fee commitment from the client

●Step 5 – bespoke solution

For decades recruiters have been encouraged – indoctrinated, even – to work their way up the staircase. Rookies are told to pick up some jobs, get some CVs out into the market, and gradually start fighting their way up the slope from the worst and hardest possible start point.

Business Development for Recruitment Done Right

Instead, flipping this approach upside down creates radically improved outcomes for agencies – train and equip rookies to engage and pitch to clients on the top step of the staircase, and work their way down (if needed) to settle on a better working partnership with clients.

TL;DR Key Takeaways

Recruitment markets have witnessed new levels of talent demand in recent years, but there is a significant slowdown in new vacancies published by employers, indicating a need for a business development strategy.
Focusing on business development and continually expanding client base puts recruiters in the right place at the right time to find the best opportunities.
Business owners should focus on business development to secure the future of their recruitment agencies and give their teams a rounded skillset to consistently replenish the sales pipeline.
To offer clients truly bespoke products and solutions and stand out from competitors, agencies need to learn advanced sales techniques and incorporate these into their job qualification strategies.
Business development puts agencies on the front foot, allowing them to stay on top of evolving in-demand skill sets and changing employment frameworks, and spot emerging markets and talent patterns early.

Success With SourceBreaker’s Location Radius Map

Posted on December 15, 2022March 2, 2023 by SourceBreaker

What is the Visual Location Radius Map?

A newer feature, the visual radius map was introduced in 2022 and offers a visual representation of the scope of a user’s search – allowing users to see exactly where their search is being executed and which areas it includes.

Value for Recruiters

As a recruiter, one of the most valuable tools you can have at your disposal is a visual location radius map. This simple tool can provide you with a quick and easy way to see where a candidate is located relative to the job opening.

Sometimes recruiters unintentionally include candidates outside of the location they’re trying to target or in some cases, incorrectly estimate the distance between locations. By enabling your team(s) to visualise the distance and location radius, you can ensure a quicker speed to market as they’ll only ever be targeting relevant candidates.

A visual location radius map can also give you valuable insights into a candidate’s commute time and potential commuting challenges, all of which are useful when assessing the eligibility of a candidate or lead.

Finding the Visual Radius Map

When executing a search or building a SourceBot, simply click on the small map icon on the right-hand side of the location input to bring up the visual radius map.

Refined Searches & Accelerated Accuracy

With SourceBreaker, adjusting the location is super simple but being able to visualise your radius guarantees you don’t miss out on potential candidates by displaying the areas you’re including.

By enabling recruiters to refine searches and quickly receive better quality results in real-time, you’ll optimise your recruitment workflows in no time — resting assured all relevant candidates are accurately targeted and at lightning speeds.

Optimised For Maximum Precision

In addition to being able to zoom in and out for better clarity, the location radius can be adjusted for precision by

●Selecting the area you’d like to target in the ‘Location’ input

●Adjusting the radius using the slider on the top right hand of the image

●Clicking and dragging the radius adjustment icon on the visual map

Visualising Success with SourceBreaker

Overall, incorporating a visual location radius map into your recruitment process can help you to make more informed decisions about which candidates to invite for interviews.

And because we want you to succeed, SourceBreaker comes with this feature built-in!

The Importance of Clean Data for Recruiters

Posted on November 24, 2022February 16, 2023 by SourceBreaker

With new technology and platforms coming out every year, it can be challenging for recruiters to keep up, especially when the tech used is incompatible with their datasets.

That’s because bad data can – and will – lead to frustration, or worse, mistakes and more expensive candidate acquisition cost… but good data? It can help keep costs low and streamline workflows.

What is Data Integrity in Recruitment?

Recruitment agencies generate a lot of data about their candidates, and clients but this data is sometimes too detailed and specific for the casual recruiter to look at.

As such, recruiters often rely on software to automate and manage their data which unfortunately puts them at a major disadvantage when it comes to knowing exactly what data is in their databases.

How do you measure the quality of data?

There are many ways to measure the quality of data. One way is to use a standard set of metrics developed by organisations such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Association For Data Quality, Governance and Analytics (IADQGA).

Core Aspects of Data Quality: Accuracy

Data could be collected without bias and validated by checking for potential errors but if the information was misinterpreted or was missing critical components, the results wouldn’t be accurate.

Core Aspects of Data Quality: Completeness

Completeness ensures all information entered into the database is correct and not missing information. For example, candidates must have a complete CV with accurate data for their application to be considered.

Completeness of data is essential because it ensures that the information entered into your recruitment technology stack is accurate.

Core Aspects of Data Quality: Consistency

Consistency means that all the parts of a dataset are aligned and make sense in relation to each other (e.g., different datasets should not contradict each other).

Consistency is achieved by ensuring that data is accurate and complete before it’s entered into a system or used to generate reports.

Core Aspects of Data Quality: Timeliness

Timeliness refers to how old the information is that you are working with; if it is more than one week old, then it will likely be out-of-date and, therefore, not very helpful in determining what would make a candidate successful in an opening you are trying to fill.

If your data is not up-to-date, it will lower its accuracy and be less useful as a resource for making decisions. Ensuring that your data is timely can help avoid this problem and ensure that you have accurate information when needed.

Core Aspects of Data Quality: Uniqueness

If data is not unique, there are duplicates somewhere else in the system, and they could disrupt various processes and cause miscommunication issues. If you do not have a precise representation of candidates and applicants, it will be challenging to find qualified candidates when they are needed.

Core Aspects of Data Quality: Validity

Validity means ‘the degree to which evidence and arguments are logically sound.’

It refers to how well a test measures what it set out to measure, so it’s important for employers when evaluating tools, software, platforms, and other innovations to take into account how well these new tools will measure their objectives before

How can recruiters maintain data integrity?

As a recruiter, you’ll need to work closely with a data verification service provider who can help you automate this process and when it comes to job seekers, you’ll want to look for third-party verification that the job seeker’s credentials are authentic.

An audit of all CV/resume data can tell you about a person’s skills, location, references and language. Check the CV for spelling, grammar and grammatical errors but most importantly, verify the candidate’s certifications and experience. This will give a high level of trust for the candidate and employers, ultimately making the recruitment process a lot smoother.

The importance of healthy data

Businesses need quality data to get the best results from the new software, tools, or platforms they leverage. The impact of high-quality datasets on productivity is evidenced by an increase in efficiency and accuracy when using new software, particularly recruitment tech.

Job-seekers need to trust that their information will be kept safe and employers need to know the data they’ve collected is accurate. To do this, it’s crucial recruiters clearly understand the quality and comprehensiveness of the data they are using and purge any damaged datasets.

How high-quality data maximizes ROI on recruitment tech

Healthy datasets maximise return on investment on your recruitment tech because artificial intelligence can source and display more accurate job descriptions, more efficient candidate searches, and better match candidates with employers.

With recruiting software, tools, and platforms, you can collect more data on your candidates and make better hiring decisions, saving time for both recruiters and agency owners. This free time also allows recruiters to focus on engaging with candidates and all the relevant information at their fingertips in an ease-of-use database.

The impact of high-quality datasets on productivity

A high-quality dataset is one of the most critical factors for a successful recruitment process. This includes collecting and storing data about candidates, job postings, and employer relationships. Without high-quality datasets, recruiters can’t produce accurate reports and analytics that can reflect their performance.

The need for quality data when implementing new software, tools, and platforms to your recruitment tech stack is crucial because it’s difficult to determine the effectiveness of these new products without the proper information.

For example, the recruiter may not know if they are getting better results with a tool or platform because they don’t have enough data to compare against what they had before..

What are some benefits of clean data?

In addition to healthy data being integral when implementing new software, tools, and platforms to your recruitment technology stack, other clean data pros are:

●Search functions will be quicker, better, and more intuitive

●Businesses will get a higher volume of qualified applicants

●Save time on manual tasks

●More accessible candidate and lead organisation

●Improved quality of listings

The usability of good data is endless

Data is the lifeblood of any business; it drives decision-making and helps us know where we stand on various metrics. For example, data can help you understand how many leads are coming in and how many have converted to clients.

The usability of good data is endless: it can help analyse trends, make predictions, and inform decisions. So what does this mean for you going forward?

Optimal Database Utilisation

By ensuring data is clean and healthy, recruiters can rely on their own internal CRMs to make high-quality placements as opposed to leveraging external – and therefore less cost-effective – sources.

Empower your recruiters and drastically lower the cost of candidate acquisition with clean data and a healthy CRM.

Want to streamline your datasets and have all of your candidate data in one centralised place? Find out how SourceBreaker can revolutionise the data you have and how you use it with powerful integrations!

TL;DR Key Takeaways

Healthy data can help keep costs low and streamline workflows, while bad data can lead to frustration, mistakes, and more expensive candidate acquisition costs.
Recruiters often rely on software to automate and manage their data, which puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to knowing exactly what data is in their databases.
The quality of data can be measured by standards developed by organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization and the International Association For Data Quality, Governance and Analytics.
The core aspects of data quality are accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, uniqueness, and validity.
To maintain data integrity, recruiters need to work closely with a data verification service provider who can help automate the process and verify candidates’ credentials.
High-quality datasets maximise the return on investment on recruitment tech and can have a significant impact on productivity.