The Hindu Business Line : `Ins and outs' of automation

Technology companies hiring talent receive a flood of applications. See how software addresses the logistics nightmare to lighten the load on recruiters.

"Four years ago, a project that involved processing 25,000 CVs would take maybe three months — today we can complete a comparable project in one-and-a-half months, a significant reduction."

Industry figures reveal that about 5 per cent of people sending in resumes to IT companies eventually end up as employees. That's nothing new.

TCS plans to hire 30,000 employees this year, Infosys 20,000 and Wipro 25,000. This isn't exactly breaking news, either.

Put the two together, however, and you're faced with the logistical nightmare of dealing with 1.5 million resumes.

The answer - automation.

"About 98 per cent of the people who send in resumes are weeded out through our automated systems," says Vardhaman Jain, Managing Director, Business Process Solution, Perot Systems. With the use of what the company calls the e-recruitment engine, Jain says that not only is the first stage of recruitment completely automated, but also "a candidate will walk out of our office with a firm `yes' or `no' and an offer letter if he or she qualifies within three hours, depending on the programme he or she is applying to."

The same holds true for other companies. Wipro, for example, has looked to automate the recruitment process end-to-end over the last four years, and integrate it with the main database at the same time, according to Achutan Nair, Vice-President, Strategic Sourcing, Wipro.

"The advantage in our software is that it is on the Internet and not on a server, which means that every HR Manager in every Wipro office can access the records."

Similarly, a spokesperson from Satyam says the company has evolved from stand-alone package software applications to a Web-enabled application that could be used by candidates, search firm, recruiters internally, and business groups from any part of the globe.

Bringing numbers down

The advantage that automation brings is that it cuts down on the requirement for HR personnel. Industry sources inform us that Wipro would have had 50 HR personnel hiring between 2,000 and 3,000 people four years ago, whereas today there are about 200 people hiring 25,000 people, which translates to a reduction from one HR person per 40 hires to one person per 125 hires.

The BPO arm of Perot Systems has saved more than 60 per cent in terms of recruitment staffing costs, according to Jain.

Hastha Sivaramakrishnan, Director, International Key Accounts, Ma Foi Consultants, agrees, saying that a recruitment project that would have been handled by 20 managers four years ago could be processed today with four to five consultants. She says that in addition to that, automation cuts down on the execution timeline.

"Four years ago, a project that involved processing 25,000 CVs would take maybe three months — today we can complete a comparable project in one-and-a-half months, a significant reduction," she says.

The bigger picture

Apart from this, the companies also integrate the software with the main employee database, which means that it becomes easier to switch the information from the resume stage to the employee stage, and it also allows the manager to view the bigger picture — where employees are most needed in the company, for example.

Jain from Perot adds that this enables the company to generate analytical reports linking test scores with on-the-job performance, which enables the company to improve the hiring process the next time round.

But the automation role doesn't end there. S. Venkatesan, Vice-President, Cognizant, says that apart from sourcing and screening, the entire workflow of interview process is taken care of by automation — from calendar scheduling, capturing feedback online, offer approvals, offer generation, to documentation for joining.

Nair (Wipro) agrees, explaining that the HR manager would look through a list of resumes, tick the names that he or she has approved for the interview stage, and the interview letter is sent automatically.

D.P. Nambiar, Global Head Sourcing, TCS, says his company's career portal gives additional value-adds, such as allowing the HR personnel to perform multiple-level searches and filters and make relevant status updates. And at each stage it automatically updates the candidates by e-mail on his interview status. Not only does automation enable quicker cycle times in the recruitment process but it also allows for real-time updates, which is an important value-add, he says.

The Satyam spokesperson, however, feels that the necessity for automation of the recruitment process does not necessarily stem from the lack of quality HR professionals. Rather, it helps to build a strong resume database, capture metrics, and to integrate it all into the personnel data systems.

Spurring demand

As a by-product of this trend, there has arisen a growing market for vendors of recruitment applications.

Sanra Software recently tied with the US-based SGS Inc, a call centre software development company, to launch and market ContactPoint, a piece of software for workforce optimisation. "One of the key functions of the software is that it facilitates having an automated screening process that will conduct the first stage of interviews," says Sanjay Bhardwaj, Chief Executive Officer, Sanra.

And though companies such as Ma Foi have looked to a vendor to provide the solution, many companies develop their own software. TCS, for example, has "no dependence on any external vendors as of now" according to Nambiar.

Similarly, Wipro also uses software developed entirely in-house. Satyam, on the other hand, has a combination of in-house application and packaged software that the company has integrated and customised for its own use. Cognizant uses a global ERP product, integrating its home-grown tools with that system.

Unlooked for perks

And what the companies have found is that apart from increasing efficiency and reducing the required manpower, there are a couple of unlooked-for perks that come with automation. It becomes easy to adapt the same process across geographies. TCS uses its recruitment automation across India, the US and Canada, all under one window.

There are areas for improvement. Nair says that while data availability is instantaneous, some advanced analytics — such as demographic patterns — may take a while to get hold of through the software, which is one area for improvement.

However, Nambiar from TCS cautions that despite the evolution of the software, apart from the initial application stage where basic criteria can be screened, it is unlikely that other stages can be automated completely.

But every little helps. Jain tells us that at Perot systems, the second stage — which includes profile tests, aptitude tests and typing tests — is 50 per cent automated, while the personal interview stage with HR personnel is 30 per cent automated.

"The next generation of Web services will allow integration of the systems of recruitment service providers (such as job sites) with our system, which will allow us to run queries there to identify the candidates who fit our requirements," he adds.

But that's for another day, another article.

abhinav@thehindu.co.in

More Stories on : Human Resources | Insight | Software

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Is it rude or not?

Popular but unsafe?

Get the full value

`Ins and outs' of automation

Recovering file

Take security into account

Going off the beaten track

Flying right

Quiz

ICT as a shortcut to prosperity

Cartoon

For those moments