How up to date is your agency data?

A huge source of competitive advantage

One of the things we touched on in last week’s blog about the increasing influence of technology in recruitment was the abundance of data. There’s an important strand about data that is well worth discussing.

Tech is a huge source of competitive advantage, but it is important to remember that the local applications and cloud platforms that you choose, such as ETZ’s back office solution, are only half of the story. The other half of the technology story is data.

Quite simply, you need access to the latest data to avoid data related issues. Take Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for example. Many applications claim to provide a ‘real time’ dashboard of performance metrics that let you see how your busines is performing.

To be truly real time, the data that is used to calculate KPIs needs to be continually refreshed or pushed from its source so that the dashboard is displaying the very latest metrics. This requirement for fresh data is true for the analytics information reports that deliver deeper, more strategic insights in the shape of Business Intelligence (BI).

Fixing old data and building new datasets from scratch

One important data element within the applications and cloud platforms that are used to run a recruitment agency is the candidate database. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) has become the de facto way of managing candidate data.

Out of date, poorly maintained data can lead to a number of issues, including:

• Unable to contact potential candidates due to outdated contact details
• Missing suitably qualified and certified candidates due to out of date achievement info
• Wasting time contacting unavailable candidates due to out of date status information

Fixing poorly maintained data is one option. A good first step is to clean the data, removing duplicated records and checking the details of the remaining entries. Secondly, filtering to create segments is another possible step. Consider filtering around specific abilities like foreign languages spoken, or competencies like technical languages for computer programming, or proprietary technologies for IT, such as Cisco or Microsoft Active Directory.

Existing data that has not been maintained for some time may be ‘unfixable’ for any reasonable cost. It may be best to archive and use it as a basis to start building new candidate datasets from scratch.

When building new datasets or working with your fixed old datasets, look to use recruitment specific database tools (ATS) that provide critical metrics such as source quality, time to hire (TTH), pass-through rate (PTR), and offer acceptance rate.

One important way of identifying the effectiveness of your agency is expressed through the speed at which you are able to fill a role. The freshness of your agency data is critical to filling roles fast.

Gaining insight into historical data

Whilst an ATS can help you demonstrate that you fill roles quickly and help you to win more business, your historical back office software data helps you reflect and make decisions.

With ETZ’s in-built reports, you can get a competitive advantage from using the very latest data to build custom reports like:

• Gross Margin – Understand whether it is increasing or decreasing over time. Identify which clients are the most profitable.
• Sector trends – What sectors are hot and which are on the decline?
• Day rate changes – See how your day rates are changing over time and spot trends.
• Aged debt – How quickly (or slowly) is your agency paid? See any trends about who pays quicker. Target to expand business with clients that pay faster.

Watch this space for exciting announcements from ETZ about your data.

Get more value from RecTech and data with ETZ

ETZ turns a timesheet into an invoice in less than 60 seconds, automating a process that takes many, many times longer for those still using a manual  approach. To find out more about how we help agencies like yours to get more value from RecTech just get in touch.

Get started with real time data that underpins efficient back office operations and that helps to identify areas for improvement, by calling us on 0800 311 2266 or book a demo.