How Expr3ss! and Xref practice what we preach
As competition for talent reaches an all-time high, the rush to get the best candidates through the door can often overshadow the focus on doing hiring well.
Technology providers globally now all claim to offer the solution to balancing speed and insight but, for an industry that has operated in much the same way for decades, accepting that there’s a better way to do things can be a bitter pill to swallow.
The disruptors that will get organisations on board with the tools they offer, will be those that lead by example.
We asked Expr3ss! founder and managing director, Carolyne Burns, and our co-founder and CTO, Tim Griffiths, how their organisations practice what they preach.
Expr3ss! – “Our platform supports our own hiring decisions” – Carolyne Burns
I’m often asked, “how do you get such great staff?” My response, “we use our very own software…. We would be mad to do otherwise!”
From day one, our Expr3ss! predictive hiring technology has been put to use to simplify our staff selection. By harnessing its accurate and proven predictions of on-the-job characteristics, we hired our Chief Financial Officer, Kristie, in just 11 days (from advertisement to acceptance of appointment).
What’s great about Expr3ss! is that it enables us to cast the widest possible net when it comes to attracting talent too. Thanks to the fact that Expr3ss! seamlessly integrates with so many job boards, our Marketing and Communications Manager, Liz, based in South Africa at the time, was able to apply for the role.
Within 14 days Liz had been appointed after she had completed the Expr3ss! process (screening questions, Expr3ss! Checklist®, one-way video questions, assessments (logical, verbal and numerical), had her references and Visa status checked using Xref and VEVO respectively, plus had met the Expr3ss! team via Skype.
In addition to using our software to simplify our staff selection, we also adopted other technology that would help us grow quickly and work efficiently. This helped us remove frustrations and the grunt-work associated with the business growth. By doing so we kept our overheads low and could make our software platform affordable.
Xref – “If we touch a business process three times, we automated it” – Tim Griffiths
Like all successful new businesses, Xref was launched with one very specific goal in mind. As co-founders, Lee and I had the perfect combination of expertise to bring the idea to life, we needed nothing more than sheer determination to get the company up and running.
At that stage, we couldn’t afford to hire staff, so the two of us worked tirelessly to overcome any teething problems ourselves but we quickly came to realise that two pairs of hands simply weren’t enough to keep up with the evolution of the business.
We came to the decision that we still live by as a successful and growing company six years on – if we touch a business process three or more times, we automate it.
We expanded the business by automating absolutely everything we could.
Now, while we have an excellent team of ex-HR and recruitment specialists who drive our business development and customer engagement, the nuts and bolts of the Xref sales cycle is almost entirely automated. From request and proposal to invoicing and payment, we ensure limited human involvement, meaning the entire process can happen very quickly and efficiently.
Automation is not always just about being cost-efficient, but also about adding value. Introducing an automated system that does something more quickly is great, but introducing that system and allowing the individual who would otherwise be conducting the task to spend their time on something more valuable, is even better.
* As part of a content collaboration, this article was also published here.
