Traditional CVs becoming unnecessary

Xpatweb’s Annual Critical Skills 2020/2021 survey found that 77% of employers are struggling to recruit critically skilled resources.

“Traditional recruitment tools reduce the process to tick-boxing and could be the reason that many local businesses are struggling to find the necessary talent to fill available job roles,” says Mat Conn, Group Chief Revenue Officer for BPO provider, Merchants.

“South Africa has a high supply of entry-level talent, often with limited experience – making them ideal candidates for businesses looking to develop the kind of talent they need, rather than recruiting it.”

He notes that Merchants’ international clients, specifically those based in the USA, consider the use of digital recruitment a significant factor in decision making around contact centre outsourcing. “Tapping into untapped talent pools and hiring of impact workers, specifically, is becoming increasingly important for the growth and sustainability of sectors like BPO (Business process outsourcing),” explains Conn.

Currently, more than 72 850 South Africans are employed by the BPO sector, specifically to service international clients. According to McKinsey & Company, 61% of existing offshore business in South Africa comes from the United Kingdom, 18% from the United States and Canada and 11% from Australia.

“In order to continue attracting foreign investment into the sector, and expand the sectors potential for job creation, the use of digital recruitment tools needs to continue to increase drastically over the next year,” says Conn.

He notes that traditional recruitment methods, such as placing a job advertisement, will reach less than 20% of job seekers. Digital recruitment tools remove the barriers to entry by matching job seekers to available roles based on necessary cognitive ability and behavioural traits. To make use of these tools, candidates would create a profile on the portal and undertake the activities necessary to gauge their skills and traits.

“The age-old CV – detailing previous experience, contact details and educational background, for example – then becomes superfluous. The role of the hiring manager is going to be based on data analytics rather than sorting through physical or digital copies of CVs, and the interview process will also move online,” he says. With an increasing number of organisations now adopting remote working practices, Conn expects to see the number of businesses making use of digital recruitment tools increasing significantly by 2022.

Data analytics will ensure that candidates are placed within roles where their ability to upskill can be maximised, allowing them to grow into the role effectively and efficiently – to the benefit of both the candidate and the hiring organisation.

“Making use of digital recruitment tools will allow employers to reach untapped talent pools who are currently being overlooked,” explains Conn. 

The Merchants MyCalling tool, for example, allowed the business to match more than 6 000 individuals with suitable roles in less than a year – almost half of whom were either students or unemployed at the time and 15% had no previous working experience. “Not only have these candidates been successful in fulfilling their roles within the organisation and developing their skills sets, but we have also seen lower percentages of attrition in candidates sourced through the platform,” Conn highlights.  

“The right talent is the most necessary tool to power a successful business – and, in turn, continue to contribute to the growth of the country’s BPO sector. Moving beyond traditional recruitment practices will allow South African businesses to develop the talent necessary to push their businesses – and the country –­­ forward toward the 4^th industrial revolution,” he concludes.