First, I’ll admit it, I’m a marketer by trait and not an HR practitioner, but that marketing perspective has been honed in the talent management industry I have worked in and loved for over 20 years. And well, honestly, I’m frustrated with our inability to answer that simple question that every marketer worth a damn would know. Not just because it doesn’t give this trade the clout and credit it deserves, but equally for the fact that it doesn’t get the same access to the right tools, technology and subject matter expertise that would aid in giving us that insight to begin with. And for me, that was a question worth answering and why I co-founded Talentegy with some amazing people from this awesome business we have known and been part of for so long.
I’m sure I’m not alone in being able to accurately answer that question. And for those companies who are tracking some element of revenue risk and ROI attached to their talent management processes, most can’t tell you where they could be optimizing it…the “it” being talent in our case. If talent user interaction and conversion could count as revenue to your business, what would it be? What value would you put to it converting or worse to its abandonment and negative impacts?
Good companies use data all the time, but great companies understand every user interaction and its importance.
Don’t get me started on the Big Data mantra. The availability of data is not the problem – quite the opposite. Today, there is data that relates to user behavior (clicks, page views, traffic patterns), social events (likes, shares, follows), contextual information (time of day, device, browser) and much, much more. The problem is that none of it really tells you why your users are (or aren’t) converting, and where they may be encountering struggles or cumbersome steps in your talent management processes. Bottom line, analytics tell “what” people are doing. The value in my mind is “why,” and the reason I sought out to create a solution.
Clickstream analysis, conversion funnels, heatmaps and recordings are surely not new terms to the marketing world. I get it. But outside the superficial basics of website analytics that have been shared with HR, they have done little to diagnose the specific problems attached to talent management processes – and even less likely to have uncovered ways to optimize it. From my years of experience on both the digital agency and software technology sides, I can’t count a single HR client who was tasked with any UX research, usability testing and UI design studies…or sadly to get the cost approved or justified as part of their career website launch. But, their counterparts in marketing wouldn’t blink an eye on their value and essential investment.
Shouldn’t HR departments have the same knowledge and perspective on their user experience as marketing does when you buy a pair of shoes?
For me that answer was yes...and my shoe collection will confirm it. Just recall your last online shopping experience. I’m sure you’ll quickly remember the issues or problems you had encountered with XYZ company when trying to check out or struggled with their forms during your transaction and submission process. And just as likely you’ll easily remember the painless and pleasurable experience you had too when it all went as planned. I feel “experience” is an emotional response tied to the “process” not focused solely on the “technology” built behind it. Where the process failed and where it excelled, the technology itself, when used properly, is there to enhance it in addition to providing analysis and insight on what might be broken. Technology alone can’t fix your problem, and I’m not saying Talentegy will either. But, knowing you have one as well as the tools to measure, alert and plan to correct them is the missing linkage.
Growing your business starts by understanding what your users want and what’s preventing them from achieving it. I want to empower our HR industry with this insight. Sometimes “the what” is only important if you know “the why.” And HR, like Marketing, deserves this insight. After all, talent is the largest investment in your company, make it count.
For more information on Talentegy, visit www.talentegy.com.
Shawna Berthold
Co-founder and EVP of Marketing & Operations
