Out with the old and in with the new - The role of automation in business process improvement

I can remember when I used to choose a CD from the car glove box and was amazed by the sound quality and usability improvements after progressing from my tape player - I also once had an 8-Track but that's a whole other story. Nowadays, the CD is long gone and replaced by smart devices armed with automated cloud-based software like Spotify and iTunes just to name but two. This transition is being felt in all industries and by all operators who inhabit it. The HR sector is no different. This has been evident in the tremendous shift away from physical tangible objects and a rapid adoption for automated cloud-based software which has both offered practical problem-solving solutions and saved us more time.

However, despite this progression many critical processes are still being left in the dark ages. This is typical of what we’ve seen with employment referencing which to this day is still widely being conducted via a phone and emailed documents. While this method has proven ‘effective’, much like applying for a job in person, it doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be improved with technology.

The man-hours required to facilitate the end-to-end referencing process are substantial, tedious and riddled with repeated process such as transferring written notes to typed, signing, printing, scanning etc. This process is susceptible to not only human error and inconsistency but also due to its unrestricted nature, a huge privacy risk.

Xref’s foundation is built by automation and cloud technology which generates fast, reliable and secure information sharing which in turn is beneficial to both recruiters and candidates. By deconstructing the traditional process and identifying the areas that were overdue for improvement, we have supplied in its place a genuinely value adding solution.

However in an industry first, we positioned the candidate in the driver’s seat. This is extremely beneficial. It saves time for the recruiter because the candidate is driving the process with the vested interest of returning references as soon as possible. Apart from the obvious time-saving advantages, losing a candidate due to untimely reference returns can also be a thing of the past, a benefit that has been well adopted for executive level role hires.

In addition to the above benefits, Xref captures significantly more data which can be used to benchmark candidates who have been referenced using identical questionnaires. This means that recruiters no longer need to just rely on ‘gut feeling’ when making a hiring decision. Even better, all the results are delivered in an easily digestible format.  

That said, automation is not replacing human process, rather it is complementing it to achieve greater efficiency. Any automated process should be malleable to allow the opportunity to incorporate human direction and value and this is evident in Xref.

Xref is an efficiency and convenience solution that also adds a layer of security to the referencing process which helps recruiters and HR managers perform their job better, not replace them. At the end of the Xref process, referees propose a suitable time to be phoned which provides peace of mind and convenience for the hirer.

With Xref, our clients are now hiring better people more often with usable, insightful data – and at the heart of this transformation is automation.

In a world where you can apply for a job online, why not reference check online too?