Tata Steel, part of the Tata Group, is a multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is one of the world’s leading steel producers and ranks among the top global steel companies with a notable presence in Europe as well as Asia. With manufacturing operations in 26 countries, including India, Netherlands and the UK, the company employs over 80,000 people worldwide.
In the past two to three years, especially during and after the pandemic, the company’s methods of hiring have undergone a considerable transformation. Prior to the pandemic, most recruitment processes and touchpoints were predominantly managed offline, which was heavily manual. This approach often led to an inefficient recruitment process.
Navigating the post-pandemic shift in recruitment strategies
Challenges in data visibility and reporting were significant, resulting in an inconsistent candidate experience. Additionally, effectively communicating the employer brand posed a significant challenge, and the average time to hire was high. To concisely summarise, the following were the firm’s primary pain points:
Inadequate demand forecasting: They faced difficulties in accurately forecasting talent requirements on a quarterly or yearly basis. This lack of planning often led to last-minute hiring, which strained resources and potentially compromised the quality of candidates selected.
Manual, excel-based tracking system: Relying heavily on a manual, excel-based application-tracking system meant a high degree of manual intervention. This method was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, leading to inefficiencies in the recruitment process.
Dependence on traditional sourcing methods: Heavy reliance on traditional sourcing methods, such as job portals — Naukri and a few consultants— was a limited approach. This may have overlooked a broader talent pool, especially those not actively seeking new opportunities but who may be ideal candidates.
Lack of a passive talent pool: The absence of a passive talent pool meant they were missing out on potential candidates who were not actively job hunting but would be open to new opportunities. This limited the reach to only those actively seeking employment, thereby narrowing the candidate base.
Candidate drop-outs post offer acceptance: A significant issue they faced was candidates dropping out after accepting job offers. This not only disrupted the recruitment cycle but also led to a waste of resources and time spent in the hiring process.
The need for transformation was evident at every touchpoint of the recruitment process. This period marked a pivotal point in Tata Steel’s approach to talent acquisition, prompting them to re-evaluate and innovate their strategies to better align with the evolving landscape of hiring and candidate expectations. The pandemic-induced shift to more digital and streamlined processes was not just a temporary adjustment but a fundamental change in how they approached talent acquisition.
Integrating systems thinking and technology for enhanced talent acquisition
In addressing its recruitment challenges, the company adopted ‘systems thinking’ principles, focusing on solving each component while maintaining a holistic view.
Systems Thinking is a holistic approach that considers the entire process and how each part interacts with the others. Instead of merely solving one problem at a time in isolation, Tata Steel looked at how changes in one area of the recruitment process may impact other areas. The aim was to create solutions that are more effective overall and lead to sustainable improvements across the entire recruitment system.
This strategy centered around improving three key areas or the 3E objectives:
Efficiency: This involved streamlining processes, reducing manual interventions, and automating repetitive tasks to optimise the end-to-end process turnaround time (TAT). This speeded up the recruitment cycle, ensuring timely hiring without compromising on quality.
Effectiveness: This focused on the goal of hiring the right talent for the right role at the right time and ensuring they were set up for success. This required a better understanding of their talent needs, more precise targeting in their sourcing strategies and a robust evaluation process to ensure a good fit for both the role and the company culture.
Experience: This area pertained to improving the user experience for candidates, business users and other stakeholders, a crucial part of the transformation. The focus was on creating a more engaging and seamless experience throughout the recruitment process, which included improving communication channels, providing transparent and timely feedback, and using technology to enhance interaction at every touchpoint.
Recognising the crucial role of technology in achieving these objectives, the company identified that the most important lever required was technological advancement.
Ripple Hire TA Suite became a pivotal partner in Tata Steel’s journey of transformation.
By implementing technology at various touchpoints, it was possible to address specific challenges effectively.
For instance, an advanced Applicant Tracking System (ATS) by RippleHire replaced the manual, Excel-based processes, significantly reducing errors and increasing efficiency. Artificial intelligence- driven tools were introduced for better demand forecasting and talent mapping, ensuring proactiveness rather than reactiveness in the hiring approach.
Additionally, the company leveraged technology to build a passive talent pool, engaging potential candidates through various digital platforms and keeping them interested in future opportunities. This not only expanded the talent reach but also reduced dependency on traditional sourcing methods.
Tata Steel’s innovative four-Stage hiring process
Tata Steel has redefined its recruitment strategy with a comprehensive four-stage process, leveraging technology and innovative practices to streamline hiring and enhance candidate experience.
This transformation has not only improved operational efficiency but has also positively impacted its employer brand.
Here’s a closer look at each stage of its cutting-edge recruitment process:
Stage 1: Demand planning and request raising
Tata Steel simplified its recruitment process by consolidating multiple steps into a single, user-friendly interface. What used to take two to three days just to start the process, can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes with a few clicks. This enhancement has not only improved the hiring experience for its business teams but also introduced greater transparency, relying more on the system rather than individual recruiters.
Stage 2: Talent sourcing & screening
The integration of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) with various job portals has made sourcing much simpler. All applications now funnel into one central point. The launch of a Referral portal for internal employees further bolstered the sourcing pipeline, eliminating repetitive tasks such as posting the same job on different portals. Advanced features such as Boolean search, AI-enabled CV-to-job matching, and generative AI for job description creation have reduced its sourcing efforts by 66 per cent. The company is also planning to evolve this area further by incorporating analytics to understand and engage passive applicants who visit its site.
Stage 3: Candidate assessment and selection
On the panel front, Tata Steel introduced a Recruiter Certification Programme to ensure structured and effective interviews. Recognising the importance of candidate experience, it has used technology to provide timely updates and feedback after each interview round, keeping candidates engaged and informed. This approach not only enhances the candidate experience but also turns them into brand ambassadors, irrespective of the selection outcome. With technological aids, everything from scheduling to assessment is now just a click away, cutting down the entire selection process time by 50 per cent.
Stage 4: Offer and onboarding
Understanding that candidates value both tangible and intangible aspects of a job offer, Tata Steel’s Ripple Hire Dream Offer module creates a memorable moment for candidates. It features personalised messages from leadership, a glimpse into the company culture, and a detailed outline of benefits and compensation. This approach has resulted in a 96 per cent acceptance ratio in the first half of the financial year. Additionally, processes such as documentation and background verification have been greatly streamlined, with custom documentation functionality reducing completion time by over 70 per cent.
Ripple Hire ATS drives remarkable efficiency and candidate satisfaction
Following the implementation of Ripple Hire Applicant Tracking System (ATS), a remarkable transformation in the recruitment process has unfolded. Key metrics indicate significant enhancements in efficiency, candidate experience and overall recruitment effectiveness:
Reduction in median job cycle time by almost 15 days: This indicates that the average time taken to complete the recruitment process for a job position has been reduced by approximately 15 days. This is a significant improvement in efficiency, indicating faster sourcing, screening, interviewing and hiring processes.
Closure of 48% all jobs within 30 days: Previously, only 22 per cent of job positions were filled within a 30-day period. Post implementation, this number has more than doubled to 48 per cent! This shows a substantial increase in the speed of the hiring process. That means, nearly half of all open positions are now being filled within a month.
Conversion rate of 95%: This refers to the success rate in converting job applicants to actual hires. A 95 per cent conversion rate is remarkably high, suggesting that the vast majority of candidates who enter the recruitment process are eventually hired.
Candidate experience rating of 4.8: This is a measure of candidates’ satisfaction with the recruitment process. A score of 4.8 out of 5 is excellent and indicates a very positive experience for candidates, which can enhance the company’s reputation and attract more quality applicants.
Managing sourcing ratio and reducing dependency on external consultants: This improvement suggests that Tata Steel has become more self-reliant in sourcing candidates, reducing the need to rely on external recruitment agencies or consultants. This can mean better control over the recruitment process and potentially reduced costs.
Referral portal and campaigns encouraging employees to refer: The implementation of a referral portal and related campaigns has made it easier and more motivating for current employees to refer potential candidates for open positions. Employee referrals are often a highly effective way of sourcing quality candidates.
Reporting and Monitoring Around Various Metrics Have Become Quite Easy: With the new system, the ability to track and report on various recruitment metrics (like time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, source effectiveness, etc.) has become more straightforward and efficient. This ease of monitoring allows for better analysis and continuous improvement in the recruitment process.
Overall, these improvements point to a more efficient, effective and user-friendly recruitment process, benefiting both the organisation and its potential employees.
Road ahead
Talent management is a field that’s always changing and improving. Making a company’s brand stronger is crucial for attracting and hiring the best talent. Tata Steel is now focused on making sure candidates have a great experience and that it is hiring the right people for the job.
In the future, it plans to use AI technologies and digital tools to better match candidates with the right jobs.
It wants to make the whole hiring process more fun and interesting for both the candidates and its team. To make sure it is on the right track, it will keep an eye on key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure its brand is attractive enough to bring in the right talent, both in terms of quality and quantity.
The author, Sudarsan Ravi is the Founder and CEO of RippleHire and is known as a pioneer and category creator in recruitment technology.
