Author: Madeline Laurano

Madeline Laurano is the founder and chief analyst of Aptitude Research. For over 18 years, Madeline’s primary focus has been on the HCM market, specializing in talent acquisition and employee experience. Her work helps companies both validate and re-evaluate their strategies and understand the role technology can play in driving business outcomes. She has watched HCM transform from a back-office function to a strategic company initiative with a focus on partnerships, experience and efficiency.

Before founding Aptitude Research, Madeline held research roles at Aberdeen, Bersin by Deloitte, ERE Media and Brandon Hall Group. She is the co-author of Best Practices in Leading a Global Workforce and is often quoted in leading business publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Yahoo News, The New York Times and The Financial Times. She is a frequent presenter at industry conferences including the HR Technology Conference and Exposition, SHRM, IHRIM, HCI’s Strategic Talent Acquisition Conference, Unleash, GDS International’s HCM Summit, and HRO Today.

In her spare time, she is a runner, an avid sports fan and juggles a house full of boys (where a spontaneous indoor hockey game is not unheard of!).

Blog

Marketplace or Market Hype? Three Ways to Tell the Difference

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date March 22, 2016

Who doesn’t love the concept of a Marketplace? As consumers, marketplaces allow us to make a dinner reservation, order food or even get a ride to the airport. They connect us with providers, reduce the friction of buying and selling, and help us navigate through a very complex ecosystem of providers.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of marketplaces in HCM technology. Providers such as ADP, SmartRecruiters, iCIMS and Newton Software now offer valuable marketplaces to help their customers make better decisions. Even emerging providers recognize the value of linking customers with the right providers. In fact, nearly half of the 169 recruiting startups on the AngelList from August-September of last year were marketplaces (analysis from Ray Tenenbaum, CEO of Great Hires).

While the concept of a marketplace in HCM makes sense, the reality is that not all marketplaces are created the same. Many providers that have announced a “marketplace” are offering nothing more than a list of partners and an open API. How can companies decipher between a true marketplace and market hype?

Below are three ways companies can tell the difference:

Customer Experience is The Priority: In order to be a true marketplace, you can’t just categorize or aggregate the market, you need to enhance it. Providers have to create value for their customers and improve their experience. An HCM marketplace should allow customers to easily search for providers, view ratings or feedback and easily make purchases. Users should not have to leave the marketplace to do any research on providers.
Certification Is a Critical Part of the Process: The marketplace should be selective about who is and who is not included. Some marketplace providers are so eager to include as many companies as possible (remember- most get money from the providers they include) that they lose their value. A certification process allows a marketplace provider to set the criteria for who can be included and let the customer know that “This is who we trust. So, you can trust them too.”
Insights Instead of Information: A marketplace should provide insights about the providers included so customers can make better decisions. Some marketplaces simply list providers under categories and include a brief description that can be found on their website. The HCM ecosystem is complex and the marketplace should help companies determine what providers can help meet their needs.

The concept of a marketplace can provide tremendous value to both providers and customers when it focuses on the experience. If we think about how marketplaces help us as consumers to make quick and educated decisions, the same should be true in the world of HCM.

Tags HCM, HR Technology, marketplace, talent acquisition

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The Human Capital Experience Economy: What Does It Look Like?

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date March 11, 2016

Would you pay more for a good experience? Would you be more likely to come back again? You probably already do. We live in a world where experience trumps everything – including cost and quality. According to a study by the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, 80% of US consumers would pay more for a product or service to ensure a superior customer experience. It is the experience that gives companies a competitive edge even when their products fall short. It creates loyalty and a powerful commitment to a certain company or brand.

Companies recognize the impact of experience on their growth and profitability and are making changes to how they communicate with, engage, and support their customers. In fact, according to Aptitude Research Partners’ 2016 Hire, Engage, and Retain research, 60% of companies have an executive level customer experience role in place. But, creating an engaging experience does not and should not end with the customer. It must extend into our workforce. Surprisingly, only 37% of companies have an executive level role focused on the internal culture and experience of the workforce. Just as companies are prioritizing customers, they must also focus on the experience for the individual candidate, employee, manager, contingent worker, and leader in order to ensure continued economic success.

The elements of this important balance are at the core of Aptitude’s new Human Capital Experience Economy model- take a look here:

Tags Candidate Experience, HR Technology, Human Capital Management, talent management

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Stop Being So Fancy

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date March 7, 2016

Talent acquisition is incredibly complex. Recruiters are facing new responsibilities, new pressures and new challenges. But what surprises me is that many of the talent acquisition technology providers- with all of their products and enhancements- are adding to the complexity not alleviating it. The large, traditional Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are so quick to transform recruitment technology into more of a finance or business solution that they seem to have forgotten their audience. And, in the rush to innovate, the recruiter’s needs have gone ignored.

Recruiters have one major problem. They need an easier way to attract, recruit and hire talent. If a technology provider is not solving that problem, they do not have a viable solution. According to Aptitude’s 2016 Hire, Engage and Retain survey, only 3% of companies are using the full functionality of their ATS system. Companies either don’t know the functionality is there or they don’t understand how to use it. Again, many of these solutions are too complicated. If you want to give recruiters and candidates what they need- technology providers need to make it simple.

Below are a few ways that recruitment technology providers can get back to the basics:

Don’t Overcomplicate Analytics: The use of statistical algorithms and machine learning can help organizations perform in the future. And yes, predictive analytics can help transform a talent acquisition department into a more strategic function. But the reality is that most recruiters still struggle with basic reporting. When talent acquisition providers overcomplicate analytics, recruiters will shy away. Providers should focus on providing information that will help recruiters do their job and make better decisions (ie, data around conversion rates and pipeline analytics).
Keep Users on the Platform: I have said this before and I will say it again. Recruiters should not have to leave their ATS to perform core aspects of talent acquisition. Scheduling interviews, viewing documents such as a resume or sending an email to a candidate should all be down in the platform.
Make Communication Easy: Communication is important. Ninety-three (93%)of companies say it is a priority for the upcoming year but few recruiters and hiring managers have the time to send out personal communication to candidates. More systems are including a library of templates throughout the recruiting process to communicate with candidates and even create a cadence of that communication. It may not sound sexy, but having templates for reaching out to candidates is becoming a critical tool for recruiters. Leveraging a template- can take less than a minute to send compared to a personal email that could take 15 or 20 minutes to write.
Understand the Value of Your Marketplace: One reason that talent acquisition has become so complex is that there are so many categories of technology and new providers entering the market. It is challenging to understand the ecosystem of talent acquisition and how these solutions integrate with an ATS. The goal of a marketplace should be to help customers make quick decisions and quick transactions on the third-party solutions.

The more complex talent acquisition becomes, the more simple technology should be. Recruiters don’t need the extra pressure and stress from a solutions that they don’t understand how to use. As we finish up briefings for our Aptitude Index reports, simplicity and ease of use are key differentiators.

Tags ATS, Recruitment Technology, talent acquisition

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Raytheon: Improving the Candidate Experience through Better Communication

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date February 29, 2016

As customers, we want to feel important. We expect a customer experience that is personal, simple and human. Fortunately, most companies are committed to meeting these needs. If I think about the sites I visit regularly (Adidas, Fiverr, Amazon or even sites for my kid’s activities), they all share two things in common. First, they offer real-time chat options and second, they ask for feedback about the experience. Chat and messaging help us feel supported in a friendly and familiar way. Feedback is important because we want to know that our opinions matter. Again, customers want to feel important.

The same is true for our workforce. Candidates and employees also want an experience that is personal, simple and human. Why should messaging and feedback be limited to just the consumer world? The good news is that more solutions are becoming candidate-centric and employee-centric – committed to providing the same experience we see in the customer world to our workforce. In my opinion, the key to making candidates happy is making solutions simple. One candidate-centric provider that has really impressed me this year is Brazen. They are able to put the individual first by providing exactly what candidates want…communication and feedback. Brazen offers a simple solution for attracting and engaging passive talent through real-time messaging.

Raytheon has been using Brazen for the past four years to improve the candidate experience. With so many positions available and too many applicants, providing a 1:1 engagement was a challenge for the defense contractor. With Brazen, Raytheon is now able to provide a more personal experience through individual chat-based events. Candidates are attracted to Raytheon and then have the option to schedule a chat with a recruiter or hiring manager to learn more about the organization and the recruitment process. The process of looking for a job is transformed from scary and unknown to friendly and familiar.

Below are a few ways that Raytheon is using the solution:

Enterprise Tool: To support its four business units, Raytheon has been leveraging Brazen for over 4 years to schedule chats with candidates that typically last for 20 minutes.
Targeted Events: Raytheon uses Brazen to schedule very specific, targeted events for military hires or women (just two examples). These events go into greater detail about the culture and work environment at Raytheon. These events are also much longer – sometimes lasting between sixty to ninety minutes. The military events attract 60-140 candidates and are held 8-10 times a year.
Target Specific Jobs and Roles: Raytheon uses Brazen to target specific types of roles, locations and market to a specific demographic.

Through this solution, Raytheon has been able to identify candidates quickly, engage with them in a meaningful way and gather more information to make better decisions about candidates. They have also been able to save money that would be spent flying candidates to meet with recruiters and hiring managers. Overall, it has proved to be a win-win for both candidates and recruiters.

In a world where experience is defining our workforce, we need more solutions that make communication easy and simple.

Tags employee communication, Future of Work, HR Technology, Recruitment Technology

Blog

Just In: New Data on Talent Acquisition Technology

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date February 19, 2016

Our first Aptitude survey is off to a great start with close to 300 responses. The goal of this research is to explore how companies are leveraging technology to improve the way they hire, engage and retain talent. We are looking at the challenges and strategies through every stage of the customer’s journey from readiness to selection, implementation and adoption. The good news is that with so many new products and services, it is an exciting time to be an HR technology buyer. The bad news is that most companies still struggle when making decisions on what technology will best meet their unique needs.

We are committed to helping companies navigate through the customer journey and understand how to identify their own priorities. Below is a sneak peek at some of the data that aligns with the customer journey.

Readiness: Readiness involves understanding your organization’s true business needs, requirements and limitations, as well as the underlying talent strategy. Companies must think about what technology they currently have in place and what changes will help them achieve their business objectives. Currently, only 3% of companies are using the full functionality of their ATS and one third of companies are still using their ERP.
Selection: Selecting the right provider involves more than product capabilities. It is the process for identifying the best partner. Companies have to look at differentiators and how they help to meet their own business needs. Eighty percent of companies rely on word of mouth to help make decisions. Key criteria for selecting an ATS includes:
- Product Capabilities- 65%
- Price – 63%
- Demonstrated ROI- 60%
- Approach to integration- 56%
- Demonstrated expertise in a related industry- 56%
- Financial Viability – 54%
- Relationship management Resources- 52%
Implementation: Implementation is often when the relationship with a vendor goes wrong. The process of getting the solution operational in your unique business context. Thirty-four (34%) of companies implement their system in 90 days or less.
Adoption: Organizational change management is critical to success, and planning for how to support user adoption is a key to unlocking technology ROI. Adoption is the true sign of how successful the customer journey has been. Only 20%of companies have a change management strategy in place and only 43% of companies view their providers as a partner.

Over the next few weeks, we will be publishing highlights from this research and recommendations for companies looking to better understand the technology landscape and their own customer journey.

Tags HR Technology, Recruitment Technology, talent acquisition

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

I Can’t Even: HR Trends We Are Over

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date February 5, 2016

At the start of each year, HR Trends are hard to ignore. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a message. Everyone has an idea of what happened in the past year and what should happen in the New Year. And yes… I am guilty. Trends are important because they help companies understand their priorities and benchmark their progress against industry standards. They give us a guide for what matters and what will drive success. But, the reality is that sometimes trends can go wrong. Especially when trends go unchanged year after year (mobile and social, I’m talking about you). Even when they are important, we are sick of hearing about them. But what if the problem is not about the trend itself and instead about the way we are talking about that trend. The way we talk about its value and its relevance and its impact on our organization.

Below are a few trends we believe need a new conversation and a few we want to stop talking about altogether.

Quality of Hire: Quality of hire is not a new trend. In fact, it is a very old trend that has been misused and misinterpreted for years. Yes, everyone wants to hire great people. But the challenge is that there is no standard for defining what quality of hire is how it can be measured. Some companies define it simply as someone that completed an application. Others ignore other important recruitment metrics like time to fill, conversion rates and source of hire. The good news is that several of the ATS providers (Lumesse and Cornerstone OnDemand to name a few) are helping organizations create this standard by defining what quality of hire is and pulling in performance and succession data to help measure it.
Integration: Integration is important. Very important. It’s important because HR professionals do not want to open 10 different solutions to do a simple task and it is important because the HCM landscape has become so complex it is hard to make sense of how these providers and strategies work together. There is not a simple solution to integration and so many providers try to pretend that there is. Open API’s are great but how can we help companies understand the full ecosystem. How an technology providers offer a better experience. Some providers like ADP, SmartRecruiters, and iCIMS are tackling integration through a Marketplace- providing both a network of partners and the guidance on what might be right for your company. Additionally, Andy Rice and my friends at Black-Box Consulting have the best approach I have seen to consulting on integrated talent management and helping companies overcome integration challenges.
Innovation: We differentiate providers by their functionality. And each year, new functionality and innovation becomes a trend. Sophistication and product enhancements are something we pay attention to and while the product capabilities are important, so many of these solutions have become too complex. HR and talent acquisition buyers want solutions that will save them time and provide a good experience for their candidates and employees. Our upcoming index report looks at differentiators beyond capabilities (the ATS report will publish early next month). Yet, too many areas of HCM technology focus on depth in functionality over simplicity. Fortunately, there are new solutions that make our jobs really easy and even fun such as GreatHires for interviewing, BrandAmper for employer branding, SkillSurvey for online reference calls, Engage2Excel for recognition and The Marcus Buckingham Company for team performance.
Engagement: Writing about how engagement is no longer a trend is becoming a trend. When we are talking about engagement, we seem to be stuck on the same challenges and strategies year after year. Mollie said it best in her blog last month. Let’s talk about something that will change the way we treat our employees, our managers, candidates, leaders and stakeholders. We need to talk about the experience (more to come on this next week). Let’s talk about better communication. I love the work GuideSpark is doing with providing better communication between employers and employees.

So, join us for a new conversation as we tackle some of these issues in our latest survey and don’t miss next week’s post on trends I wish we would start talking about again.

Tags engagement, HR Technology, talent acquisition, talent management

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Recruitment Marketing: It’s Time to Start Paying Attention

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date January 13, 2016

If you thought recruitment marketing was just a passing trend, you might want to think again. Companies are restructuring their talent acquisition functions and investing in technology to improve the way they attract, nurture and engage talent. A recruitment marketing platform handles everything on the front end of recruitment or to put it bluntly, everything your ATS does not do. It involves all the activities that connect a brand to the right person at the right time and with the right communication and messaging. It has become a recognized category in talent acquisition technology- one that is responsible for improving the candidate experience, quality of hires, and overall recruitment efficiency.

If you don’t believe me, you might want to take a look at SmashFly, a leading recruitment marketing platform that raised $22 million in Series B funding today led by Bessemer Venture Partners (an investor in Cornerstone OnDemand and LinkedIn). This company is the real deal. Not only have they gained recognition as a leading talent acquisition provider but they have also had tremendous success by tripling the number of net new customers (mid-market and enterprise) in 2015.

Recruitment marketing matters and below are a few reasons why:

The 2016 Candidate: Today’s candidates are smarter about what they want and what to look for in a future employer. And they need to be engaged early. Candidates are diving deeper into career sites, social media and sites like Glassdoor to get a clear picture of an organization before making a connection. In fact, according to the 2015 CandE Research Report, 76% of candidates surveyed conduct their own research and due diligence in their job search.
The Talent Acquisition Trifecta: At a basic level, the recruitment technology market is powered by three major systems: A Recruitment Marketing Platform, An Applicant Tracking System and an Onboarding System. Companies need solutions to help attract and engage talent, move candidates through the recruitment process and onboard new hires. Recruitment marketing is a critical part of this journey.
The Modern Recruiter: Marketing departments spend energy and resources trying to understand their buyer. They identify, nurture and engage buyers in a way that builds a long-term relationship. Why wouldn’t recruiting do the same for candidates? Furthermore, most organizations invest in technology to understand and engage the behaviors, motivators, challenges and preferences of buyers. Why wouldn’t recruiters want this same technology to support how they interact with candidates? A recruitment marketing platform takes talent acquisition to the next level by allowing companies to better understand and target talent while strengthening their brand.

Congratulations to SmashFly on this exciting announcement! As we launch our latest survey, we would love to hear what you think about talent acquisition and the recruitment marketing space.

Tags employer branding, HR Technology, recruitment marketing, talent acquisition

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

A New Year, A New Survey, A New Conversation

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date January 11, 2016

If you follow the HCM space, you may have noticed that everyone seems to say and write about the same stuff. We all talk about analytics being important, the rise of a more flexible workforce and the need for solutions that focus on the individual. We talk about mobile, social, and video and how they are being used. We talk about the evolution of talent acquisition and HR departments and examine trends. And while all of these topics are important, we believe it’s time for a new conversation. One that focuses on what works, what doesn‘t and what needs to change in the future. A conversation with new ideas and new actions all powered by data and insight.

We want to start that conversation today and we want you to be a part of it. We are so excited to launch our Hire, Engage and Retain survey that will look at what drives success when finding and keeping talent. We want to hear about the processes and technology you are using and what will change in 2016. By taking this 20 minute survey, we want you to have an opportunity to share your story and help us start this conversation.

Below are a few ways this survey is different and few things to expect from our research.

Why Is This Survey Different?

Focus on Communication: Communication is a critical part of HCM that often goes ignored. We have included questions to help determine how companies are communicating with talent and what they plan to do in 2016.
Start-Stop-Continue: As we enter the new year, most companies have big plans for how they are hiring and engaging talent. We want to know what processes and technology you plan to start, what you plan to stop and what you will continue to do.
Differentiators: The relationship you have with your technology is an important one. We want to look at what differentiates providers beyond product capabilities and how providers are partnering with companies to help drive business results.
A Consistent Approach to Talent: Many parallels can be drawn between how companies communicate and interact with candidates and how they communicate and interact with employees. Yet, they are not always consistent. We are looking at where companies can improve the ways they both hire, engage and retain top talent.

What Can You Expect from our Research?

Customer Satisfaction: We will be exploring customer satisfaction across all areas of the customer journey from needs assessment and readiness to selection to implementation and beyond.
Holistic Talent Acquisition: Talent acquisition is complex and important enough to deserve its own suite of technology solutions. We will look at how companies are building out a comprehensive talent acquisition model, investing in leading platforms and thinking about an ecosystem of solutions.
Engagement Experience: We will be looking at how companies are thinking differently about engagement solutions and investing in recognition, wellness, communication platforms, and performance tools to better engage their workforce.
Aptitude Index Reports: This research will help to power or aptitude index reports that profile the leading providers and examines their differentiators across the customer journey.

We hope you will join us in this new research adventure and share your experiences with us. We looking forward to hearing your story. Happy New Year!

Tags employee communication, employee engagement, HR, survey, talent acquisition, Wellness

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Applicant Tracking Systems: You’ve Come a Long Way Baby

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date December 9, 2015

I started studying the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) market twelve years ago. At that time, there were only ten providers worth talking about and very few up-and-comers. Multilingual configuration, high-volume and onboarding were key differentiators and the user experience was pretty ugly (And…I’m being nice). Selecting a system, at that time, focused on the right workflow and basic administrative functionality. And, although most companies spent time complaining about their ATS, it was still something they could not live without. It managed the requisition process, job posting, the career website, offer letter generation and everything in between. All activities that were too overwhelming to do manually.

Today, the ATS is still the foundation of any recruitment function but a lot has changed. Buyers have more capabilities, services and differentiators to consider. Today’s modern ATS supports both the tactical and the strategic aspects of recruiting including branding, quality of hires, and candidate experience.

Over the past month, I have taken a closer look at many of the leading providers that will be included in our upcoming Aptitude Index report and I have learned a few things. First, the ATS market is not boring. Second, it is not being replaced. Third, selecting the right provider is about much more than product capabilities.

Here are a few observations and differentiators I have observed:

The Platform. Recruiters, candidates, hiring managers – whoever is using this system- should not have to leave the platform. It sounds basic but in years past, this was not the case. If you wanted to schedule an interview, conduct a background check or look at a LinkedIn profile, recruiters would need to leave the system. If candidates wanted to send the job to a friend, check out the company’s Glassdoor rating, or connect with friends at the company, they would also need to leave the system. Today, leading providers are making sure that everything can be done on the platform – making sure that partnerships and third-party providers can also be accessed from their platform.
Candidate Experience. It is hard to talk about talent acquisition without focusing on the candidate experience. It has become a tagline for most ATS providers and a priority for selection. It is amazing how far the technology has come to support the candidate experience and yet, how far it still needs to go. It was interesting to see which providers started with the candidate career page compared to those that focused mostly on the recruiter and hiring manager experiences.
Communication: We are calling this year…the year of communication. Communication with candidates, employees, managers, stakeholders, and peers. Companies need a better strategy and better technology to enable communication and the ATS is no exception. Organizations are looking to their providers to offer different options for communicating with candidates – through a library of email templates, automatic messages that inform the candidate of their status in the application process or content to engage candidates throughout their journey.
Recruitment Marketing: ATS providers have recognized that recruitment marketing has become a staple in any talent acquisition function and an opportunity for investment. So far, every provider we have met with is making a play at this market- offering a more complete end-to-end picture of talent acquisition.
Services: Services have become ingrained in HCM technology. Companies want a partner not a vendor and they need support, training, and insight to make the most out of their technology investment. Leading providers are offering services throughout every stage of the customer journey from needs assessment to implementation and beyond.

We will continue to share the findings from our Aptitude Index research over the next month and keep an eye out for our strategic talent acquisition survey launching next week!

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

The Aptitude Index: Your Guide to Selecting the Right Talent Acquisition Provider

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date November 25, 2015

In August 2015, unemployment in the United States fell to 5.1% – the lowest rate in over seven years. Over 173,000 new jobs were added and many Americans who were left jobless a few years ago now have an opportunity to find work. While a strong job market is positive for the U.S. economy, it also creates a sense of fear for any talent acquisition department. With more jobs to fill, recruiters have to attract the best people in a very short amount of time- a challenge for even the best recruiters. According to research conducted by McKinsey & Company, 40% of companies that plan to hire next year said they have had unfilled openings for six months or longer because they cannot find qualified applicants.

Technology can play a major role in helping organizations improve efficiency and manage an increase in hiring needs. But determining what providers to select is not as simple as it used to be. In January 2016, we will publish our first Aptitude Index talent acquisition report that will profile the leading talent acquisition platforms and how they are helping companies improve efficiencies, the candidate experience and the quality of hires.

Looking through the lens of the customer journey, from organizational readiness to ongoing improvement, the aptitude index looks beyond product capabilities and gets after differentiators that you wouldn’t find on a demo or a solution provider’s website.

Below are some of the differentiators we are exploring:

Product Capabilities: features and functionality
Customer Support: resources dedicated to the customer
Services: training, implementation, change management, and post-implementation
Research and Development: investment in the product
Leadership: leadership of the company, including background and staying power
Employee Retention: continuity of client relationships
Delivery Models: on-premise or SaaS
Financial Viability: growth potential and exit strategy
Domain Expertise: heritage and expertise in talent acquisition
Partnership Philosophy: approach to integration and partnerships
Customer Satisfaction: sentiment and mood

We will be posting updates are we go through this process and collect data and information.

Tags ATS, employer branding, talent acquisition, talent acquisition technology