Data as a game changer Stakeholder engagement
Rules of Engagement
Working for a number of large organisations over the years, dealing with a variety of recruitment processes, methodologies and systems, Brian Sinclair, Student Recruitment Manager, EY has developed a real passion for getting the most out of recruitment data to enhance stakeholder engagement. Here he shares his insights…
They say diplomacy is the ‘art of letting them
have your way.’ Likewise, Management Information (MI) and Stakeholder Management is the ‘art of you drawing their conclusions.’
time you paste in an update. Then create a ‘reporting’ or ‘dashboard’ tab to present the key data. That way you can change the labels used by your ATS to those better understood by your stakeholders, who may not be recruitment experts. But if using graphs or charts, beware; while a picture may paint a thousand words, it may also raise a thousand questions.
S
takeholder engagement isn’t easy. When I try to explain what it’s like, I often refer to a scene in the
Last King of Scotland where the hapless hero, Dr. Nicholas Garrigan is trying to explain to the Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin that he had already told him not to throw the Asians out. Amin’s retort is “But you did not persuade me, Nicholas. You did not persuade me!”
So, how do you persuade your stakeholders?
The challenges Firstly, you need to understand your stakeholders’ different approaches to reports. Some work out the numbers in the tables and charts and simply draw mathematical conclusions. All they want to know is whether it adds up. If it does, your report is simply right and their analysis stops there. Others will actually interpret the data; draw conclusions, rightly or wrongly, from the facts and figures.
However, if you do more than just run a report (a summarised ‘data dump’) you can better engage and persuade your stakeholders. Taking it one step
16 00 Graduate Recruiter |
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further, if your reports are accurate and consistent, all your readers will want is your ‘value add’. They say diplomacy is the ‘art of letting them have your way.’ Likewise, Management Information (MI) and Stakeholder Management is the ‘art of you drawing their conclusions.’
What to do So, add some high level commentary or highlight the key data points. Explain why they are important, if necessary. Show your stakeholders you know your data and are bringing to their attention the most important information. In doing so you can persuade them to act on the facts not just add them up. If you get your analysis right, they will stop asking questions about the data and start asking you what to do about it.
Remember, the data writes the script but you deliver the lines.
If you are working with an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that delivers standard, fixed reports, don’t let it stop you doing further analysis in Excel. Take the ‘raw data’ from the ATS, copy it into a tab on a new spreadsheet and add an ‘analysis’ tab to crunch the raw data each
Challenge their thinking Highlight your ‘pivotal data’; the key points of information that will change the way your stakeholders think of what you’re delivering. Statistics I regularly use include: • Percentage filled against original targets – as targets change, you may be at 80% against current targets but you’re probably at over 100% filled against the original ones.
• Net difference – if this is positive then the target increase is more than numbers filled this week. For example, if you had 100, filled 15 but the business adds 20, your net figure is +5.
• Interviewer engagement – the % of trained interviewers actually interviewing candidates. This is a good indicator of the resource being committed.
Finally, ask yourself, what else can I add while I have their attention? Diversity stats? Time to hire? Cost per hire? Whatever you feel will make them think about recruitment in a more engaging way. But it doesn’t matter how good your reports/MI/dashboards are; the best way to engage with and persuade your stakeholders is to meet them face to face. So don’t just send your report, bring it. n
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