The uncertain times of today’s recession and economic driven issues are putting demands on HR that are testing human capital management skills and experiences.

HR is being told to comb through an exponential increase in resumes and CV’s, find prospective hires that are more critical to the business than ever, all with less resources. HR practitioners are being told to manage the process of reducing resources companywide and retain top talent, all the while making sure key positions are filled with able and ready employees.

How do HR professionals manage both of these demanding requests, while being good corporate stewards?

The solution lies, as always, in solid technique and process supported by best practice talent management technology. Companies who use employee performance and talent management technology can achieve numerous benefits that are especially important during an economic downturn. These include better decision making about their workforce, and an improved ability to manage and align organizational and employee goals.

Automate and Streamline the Recruitment Process
Companies are reducing recruitment efforts, yet those few recruiting efforts being conducted are key to an organization’s future, and in many cases, may even be critical to an organization’s survival. The number of solicited and unsolicited resumes being received have exponentially increased, and for varying reasons, including staff reductions and layoffs, there are less recruiters for more work.

The problem: there are thousands of resumes or CV’s to process, and potentially hundreds of screening calls and scheduling of interviews - all of which are activities performed to find a few significant hires by a severely reduced number of staff recruiters. Businesses need the right hire in place quickly and are depending upon less people to do more.

Technology and specifically software as a service, or SaaS, talent management offerings provide the much needed help to put the balance between recruitment components and place them back in proper relationship and ensure the right hire at the fastest time possible.

HRsmart’s applicant tracking system, integrated within our full talent management suite, supports the complete employee recruitment and management effort. These organically grown solutions operate from one, common database using a single, graphical user interface, providing assistance in management of the increased load of prospective employees, support in finding those critical new hires and bringing them on board in an efficient and fast manner. Depending upon the size of the need, HRsmart’s talent management offerings can be put into action as a viable solution for significantly less cost than trying to address the problem with additional staff resources.

Invest in Top Talent
The management of an organization’s workforce is more important during a time of recession than ever before. Due to slower growth or less revenues, businesses can no longer maintain the same level of staff than in previous times. Identifying employees who have demonstrated the skills, requirements and experiences required for open, critical positions is a priority during these uncertain times. How does an organization decide who must go and of those that stay, how do you ensure their motivation and productivity? Once you have identified high performers, how do you manage the off boarding process for departing employees? And, how do you prioritize and focus the work effort, ensuring the right people are doing the right jobs?

HRsmart’s full talent management suite includes a completely integrated Employee Performance Management and Career Development and Succession Planning offering which provides the much needed SaaS technology to meet this requirement. This technology assists management to organize individual objectives, manage skills and evaluate employee competencies. Successful implementation and use of employee performance plans ensure key people are kept and encouraged to continue with the company.

When employees leave your organization, their departure typically affects multiple departments and systems within the company. Organization’s need to ensure departing employees are effectively removed and related documentation is stored in a secure, central location. HRsmart’s OffBoarding solution can be an essential tool for developing a consistent process for completing the employee departure as easily and effectively as possible.

It is important to invest in Employee Performance and Talent Management solutions during uncertain times. Succession planning and career development technology ensures employees are identified, trained and supported in career efforts that will make certain the company maximizes human capital and increases productivity.