Article by Mark Gray featured in People Dynamics, March 2007
Technology, and more specifically, the internet has radically changed the way we do business. From travel to banking, the internet promises to connect supply and demand more efficiently, helping all parties involved in the transaction save time and money.
Many traditional business models have been challenged, and continue to be so, by pervasive internet models. The result? New ways of doing things quicker and cheaper. A few obvious ones that spring to mind…
• Travel In the past you would use an agent to plan and book your flights. Not only did agents command a commission, but their opening times were restrictive and telephone lines always busy, subjecting callers to endless minutes of ‘Holiday’ by Madonna or Wham’s ‘Club Tropicana’. Today, travelers are able to compare prices from different suppliers, plan and book directly with the airline or network of airlines, in the comfort of their own home and with no annoying ‘hold’ music.
• Banking Thanks to the internet, we can now say goodbye, for the most part, to long queues and administrative fees as we move into online banking. Not only does this wonderful discovery make life easier, it also gives us more control, having 24 hr access to our accounts and being able to transfer and pay money whenever suits our ever-changing schedules.
• Communications Skype has challenged traditional telecoms companies by providing free calls to its users over the internet. For those people with an internet connection and a relatively cheap communications device, they can speak, video conference and text business colleagues, friends and family around the world for free.
And so, as with other business processes, the internet has had, and will continue to have a profound impact on how HR is managed. Payroll, compensation and benefits, training and development, recruitment and other HR processes with a heavy administrative focus are being automated using enabling technology solutions – freeing HR up to deliver real business value.
Over 3.5 million internet and 25 million mobile phone users currently exist within the South African market. Millions of skilled South Africans currently live in other parts of the world. From a talent acquisition perspective, this is an ever-growing audience which HR executives can target and engage with through the internet. Online job advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), viral marketing, community-based referrals and your own careers website (with comprehensive recruitment management functionality allowing process automation) are some of the innovative tools which South African HR executives can now leverage to help increase candidate reach, improve recruitment efficiencies and reduce recruitment costs.
According to the Institute of Employment Studies, 88% of UK companies rely on technology for their recruitment. In a recent study of the South African market conducted by Blue RiverStone, 58% of top corporates didn’t have any functional recruitment element on their corporate website.
I battle to understand why, with such great products in the marketplace, companies chose to continue in their long-winded administrative ways. Every week, I hear of a new e-business solution which will help reduce time and money. It is an area which has exploded in the last 3 years. Beginning with only a handful of players in the e-recruitment space in South Africa, I can now count over 15 options available, both home-grown and from abroad.
Obviously, reaping the benefits which the internet can deliver requires HR to firstly, become more familiar with the internet and secondly, partner with specialist suppliers – those with the right skills and experiences - who can help their client develop a roadmap to reach the holy grail – and then ensure that they get there.
Mark Gray is CEO of graylink (www.graylink.biz), a leading provider of technology and communication solutions for HR.
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