Staffing Software-Software for Staffing Agencies

http://www.go4recruitingsoftware.com for direct hire and third-party staffing businesses, deciding on staffing software can be a life or death decision for that business.

Like new recruiting firms, the staffing software apple doesn't fall far from the tree. A new recruiting software system pops up every few minutes or so to support the once-I-was-a-used-car-salesman-but-now-I-am-a-recruiter and their particular idea of what a recruiting software package should do.

"I am familiar with many of the popular systems and a few tips I can offer that will help you narrow your search quickly are as follows:

1) First - Be sure to evaluate your current staffing process and practices first to identify what is working well vs. areas that need improvement BEFORE you go shopping or commit to any system.

2) Once you know your current gaps -- determine and make all the changes you can afford to make before putting in the new system as it is far more cost effective to implement new technology on good process and practices than to retrofit on bad processes.

3) After process improvements are made, make a list of gaps still remaining that need to be addressed and prioritize them. Focus on your top 10 -15 MUST HAVE system capabilities and features when reviewing vendor options.

4) When vendors do a demo -- ask them to tailor the demo to those top 10 things that are critical for you to address so you can truly evaluate how each will functionally address your needs. If possible -- insist on a live demo -- not a PowerPoint overview of capabilities.

5) Once you narrow your vendor choices to your top two or three vendors -- then consider costs. Until this point, don't make price a factor in narrowing your selection. More often than not, I find that my clients eliminate vendors purely on price and they end up spending 10X more trying to get a lower cost vendor solutions customized to meet their needs.

6) When negotiating the final deal, be sure to compare apples to apples. Some vendors include user training up front and ongoing as well as a certain number of customized reports so their total price may be higher than another vendor that has a base cost for the system and charges a la carte for everything else -- which in the end may be more expensive in the long run.

7) In negotiations -- best to negotiate in Q4 -- as close to year end as possible. All companies want to make their yearend numbers look good so you can sometimes get the best deals at this time of year. If buying during other times of the year -- just try and close the deal close to the end of a quarter for similar negotiating power. Always negotiate with your two finalists and accept the best overall value for your budget --which may not always be the lowest price.

8) Be sure you get to meet or have input into your implementation team project lead as that is the person who can impact your timeline and overall costs the most if they mess up.

9) When rolling out to the business / end users -- be sure to have a change management plan that includes proper expectation setting that the system won't be perfect out of the box. Also provide a forum for 24X7 user feedback and weekly Q&A training sessions for the first 90 days if possible. This will minimize frustrations and accelerate user adoption."

http://www.go4recruitingsoftware.com

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• staffing agency software