Getting recruiters to adopt new technology - part 1
According to the PWC CEO survey1, technology is one of the top business priorities. In recruitment that need is ever more urgent as the conversation around automation and artificial intelligence continues. Recruitment agencies are reconciled to the need for tech and systems, and once they’ve decided which provider to use, the next big problem is how to encourage their employees to adopt that technology and weave it into their daily lives. No matter how great your system is or how shiny that piece of tech is, if your people don’t use it then it becomes a huge waste of money and you’re exactly where you started. Negative attitudes can quickly spread and escalate out of control, so to avoid that, we’ve compiled a short list of top tips that we know work from our years of user adoption.
Start user adoption at the very start…
Ensuring your people are bought in to the systems and tools in your agency starts before you even decide what you want to invest your money in. Bring them on board at the beginning of your technology journey to start the adoption process.
- Sit with key members of each department and team to understand what their pain points are and what they need to benefit them and the wider organizational structure. Find out what they’re struggling with and where the key blockers are happening.
- Ask them to be part of the decision-making process. This might be choosing key representatives from across the business and building a team around choosing the right systems and software. Remember, although your board members are senior and will ultimately sign this off, they’re not the ones that will be in the trenches using this system every single day.
- Find out what you’ll need your staff to do in the first days of implementation and adoption. If this system will hugely disrupt your consultants then it’s worth having those conversations early and managing expectations.
Communicate throughout the entire process
Sending some mass emails out a week before consultants are supposed to start using the new technology isn’t an effective way to bring your employees into the project. Effective communication will make or break this project and you should aim to communicate as much as possible from the very start. Many organisations opt for long and detailed emails that tell their people every nuance of the process, but that isn’t always the best way to engage your employees. Send shorter emails more often. Be conversational. Keep it short and simple. Cut out as much jargon as possible. Add some humour to it. Speak in a human fashion that inspires empathy and encourages your business to feel kinder towards the entire process.
Celebrate the wins that come along
In the history of technology, no implementation has ever gone smoothly. It’s some kind of sods law but just the way it happens, and your business will invariably be the same. Things will go wrong, frustrations will build and people become tired and discouraged. This is natural, but it’s how you handle the entire project and the hiccups that will set the tone and why celebrating the success are so important. Project milestones and small success should always be communicated and celebrated loudly.
Source: 1 - PWC CEO Survey
