Why You Should Embrace Mobile Technology for Recruiting
What if you could go back in time twenty years and install a VMS application for your organization in the days before everyone was using VMS? You’d enjoy the same amazing competitive advantage that the earliest adopters of VMS did when they took the risk to implement an as-yet, untested technology. The effects on your market position today would surely be dramatic. Contemporary practitioners can take advantage of a similar opportunity for early adoption by leveraging mobile technology in their recruitment processes. Want to be ahead of the curve with respect to the next big advancement in recruiting? Read on to learn why nextSource recommends embracing mobile platforms for recruiting.
There is a well known migration under way in terms of the public’s use and utilization of technology. For the last couple of years, more and more users are forsaking their desktop computers in favor of mobile technologies like tablets and smart phones. The touch screen used by the mobile technologies provides a superior, more intuitive user experience than the desktop with its keyboard and mouse inputs. Coupled with the superior portability of the mobile device, tablets and smart phones are on track to surpass desktops as the preferential device for the majority of users.
This means that organizations of all varieties can get ahead of the curve by providing positive user experiences for mobile users and across every function of their operations. This can include marketing, sales, service, support, and most importantly for our purposes, workforce management processes.
Most organizations are still dependent on desktop applications for recruitment and sourcing. Job boards – both online and proprietary – are still very much the main modus operandi for HR pros using the internet to source and recruit. However, the savvy workforce management group is gearing up to provide a mobile-optimized experience for job seekers and their efforts seem extraordinarily likely to yield phenomenal results – if for no other reason than because the mobile environment is where the younger generations of workers are headed.
Moreover, with the world “flattening” in terms of labor availability – meaning workers from every corner of the globe are increasingly able to participate in a globalizing economy – it is only natural that those seeking to source talent can cast a wider net in their search for talent. Recent Forrester research indicates that adoption of mobile platforms as the preferred platform globally is on the rise. Its probable that an organization increasing its recruitment footprint across mobile applications will see a correlated increase in the size of its talent pool.
Subhadra Sriram at the SIA blog also interprets the above mentioned Forrester research to reach a sound conclusion about how to leverage the mobile migration. She suggests organizations focus on developing user optimized mobile versions of desktop recruitment as opposed to building dedicated mobile applications. Forrester cites a drop off in user embrace of apps in favor of optimized versions of more robust websites.
Sriram says, “For companies looking to open up their recruitment to a mobile audience, this could mean shying away from an app in favor of a well-built website. A smartphone-optimized site can make starting the application process simple and seamless. Having an app available is fine as well, but the focus should be a mobile-friendly, web-first application process that respects the candidate’s accessibility and time”, and we couldn’t agree more.
Be a bold, early-adopter. Put a superior mobile experience together today and you’ll be ahead of the timid competition tomorrow.
