Cost of hire: it’s something that the clients of recruitment firms in Ireland have to now been conscious of, especially following the turbulent years through a very deep recession. Are they right to be? Our answer would always be YES, when you perceive that you are not getting value for money but we would also  largely suggest that you measure your quality-of-hire, as this is what’s really going to impact your company’s bottom line.

Still, we know that many HR departments are under great pressure to keep hiring – or even hire more – while minimising their costs and this is great for Webrecruit Ireland as our focus is to reduce your cost per hire. This is where the right technology – like Webrecruit Ireland’s own WR-Fusion recruitment software system – comes in.

Technology as a force multiplier

If you’re being asked to do more with less, bringing in more people will be out of the question. This makes it vital to eke greater efficiency out of those individuals you already have.

Technology is the best way of doing this, given its effectiveness as a force multiplier. Consider how much more you could get done, for example, if you use candidate management software to manage your applicants electronically instead of through Excel/filing or candidate screening software to screen your interviews, rather than do the interviews yourself.

Such software allows everyone in your applicant pool to be tracked, monitored and interviewed, the answers then being sent back to you and processed. With every answer being recorded or transcribed, your department head has access to a comprehensive log of information.

Compare this to the hassle of doing the interviewing yourself – having to pick out just some of the applicants, chasing them up to attend and having to make notes of the in-person answers. It’s all so laborious, and gives you inferior results.

In short, candidate management systems and candidate screening software, as used by Webrecruit Ireland, gives you so much more information, in so much less time. Can you see what we mean now when we call it a force multiplier?

There may be resistance, though

For all of the effectiveness of technology in boosting your HR efficiency, there can sometimes be both internal and external resistance.

After all, your colleagues may fear that such software is replacing their job. This is despite the technology actually empowering them, by enabling them to focus on strategy and higher-priority tasks instead of administrative work.

Externally, you may think the software is too pricey. This is hardly the case, though, given the comparative cost savings it can deliver.

All in all, do you want your HR workers to be run into the ground and stressed to the hilt, or to take on more new HR staff than you can afford? If not, it’s simple – technology is the answer. It’s long made the difference to so many of those using recruitment firms in Ireland.