Where's Your Roadmap to Success?

We've spoken to hundreds of recruitment agencies over the years and one thing always stands out: there's not normally a clear roadmap to success. There might be an underlying objective or goal, like wanting to sort out their data or get automations up and running, but on the whole this is normally where agencies struggle.

But why is this roadmap so important? Because without it, you'll find it harder to scale. There won't be proper foundations in place and, ultimately, your recruiters will have to work harder for any sort of gain. As an outside pair of eyes, we provide that objective angle to be able to advise how best to approach your next level of growth.

Let's look at it in detail.

The Main Problem Without a Roadmap

In a nutshell, recruitment agencies without a roadmap can quickly become overwhelmed with everything going on. They can also under-use what technology they've got, resulting in missed potential and opportunities, i.e., wasted money.

There is a temptation to be drawn to the latest shiny tools, like AI agents and automation platforms, but simply adding to your tech stack doesn't necessarily mean better outcomes. In fact, a massive 80% of features in enterprise of SaaS products are rarely (if ever) used. And of that 80%, just 12% of these features are utilised by businesses.

So if you think about it, you're already paying for Bullhorn, and you might only be using 12% of its features. Yes, it's an expensive outgoing, but there's so much more you can get out of it that you'll also get from the next best product that's advertising to you. 

Look at one of our clients who came to us because they wanted to implement Bullhorn Automation. They goal was to create a tech stack that was as automated as possible so that their consultants could build relationships with candidates and clients. Their main problem? They didn’t know where to start.

This is where the primary function of a roadmap comes into play. Agencies are often paying for functionality they don't fully utilise, so tech decisions start to become reactive, leading to disconnected tech stacks. By consolidating your use and expanding on what you've already got, you can boost ROI without spending another penny.

Sure, AI can improve your recruitment process and Bullhorn usage, but it isn’t a silver bullet. Without the information from a roadmap to inform your AI usage, you’ll be no better off.

Why a Roadmap is the Solution

Unfortunately, this is a cycle we're all too familiar with, but the good news is it can be broken. Technology roadmaps offer a strategic, evolving plan that aligns tools with overarching goals. It's how you can ensure you'll be driving increased efficiency and boosting your overall ROI.

Audit Your Existing Stack

Even though the pattern can be seen with many different agencies, the solution isn't the same. You essentially can't start a roadmap until you've undergone an audit. This looks at what you're using, what you're not using, and where work is being duplicated. How efficiently is your team using the tools at its disposal? 

That's what we try to find out.

Recently, we saved 2 different recruitment leads in 2 different business 3 hours per week. That's 150 hours per year… and all through using existing features they didn't know were there!

Define Clear Success Metrics

The next question is to ask yourself what you're trying to achieve. Do you want an improved candidate experience? Faster time-to-hire? A reduction in recruiter admin? Knowing where you want to get to is half the battle. The audit provides a starting point, but you need to provide where you want to end up.

Identify Any Gaps 

You might be under the impression that a certain problem can only be solved with new tech, but have you first optimised what you've already got? Sometimes, better integration or automation can be the solution sitting right under your nose. We're the force behind getting you to understand what you don't know that you don't know.

And this could come from easy wins. Another of our clients made 5 placements just from re-engaging candidates. And this ended up bringing in an expected value of over £75,000. Without a roadmap, you wouldn’t know where these gaps are.

Phased Rollouts

Some recruitment agencies want this to be a quick fix, but implementing a roadmap takes time. It's not something that you can just switch on overnight. The best way to look at it is in stages, where step one might involve improving data flow and step two could be reporting automation. A phased approach allows you to build momentum gradually and measure ROI at the same time. Alongside this, you'll also receive training to make sure that what's being implemented now will still be implemented going forwards. In other words, we teach you how to take the reins.

Regular Reviews and Adjustments

Finally, the single most important aspect of a roadmap is that it is anything but stationary. The needs of your business will change, as will your team structure or market dynamics. So you need to be able to revisit and adjust aspects of your roadmap as you continue to grow and develop. This way, you'll be smartly leveraging your tech stack instead of being drawn to the next new thing.

After all, 77% of talent professionals rely on analytics in order to guide their workforce. With the roadmap in place that you’re adjusting as you go, this is exactly what you’ll be basing future decisions off.

Roadmap Output

The systematic use of a roadmap permits your agency to benefit from tangible results, including happier candidates, more efficient top billers, and (most importantly) a greater perception of your ROI. The bottom line is, your tech stack should pay for itself.

Reduced Waste

One of the best ways to ensure consistently high output is to reduce your reliance on underused features and invest your time and effort into the selectively high value improvements that make a difference. We sometimes call these "easy wins", but they can also be more intricate than that. With your eyes on what's making you the most money, your tech stack starts paying for itself.

And cutting the waste can come from improving internal processes as well. One of our clients had an admin-intensive process that was wasting so much resource. We simply automated some of these processes and that ended up saving two people 6 hours of work a week. That’s more than 300 hours a year!

Better User and Candidate Experience

Everyone gets frustrated at the best of times, so offering a streamlined, well-integrated tech stacks is important to reduce the amount of frustration felt. Once you've found out where the bottlenecks are, you can work on delivering faster responses and improving the experience for both consultants and candidates alike.

Adaptability and Growth

A living roadmap essentially gives you the freedom to pivot in response to growth, market trends or strategic shifts in company structure. The most crucial output here is that you won't have to then start from scratch: you've already done the hard work by putting the foundations in place.

For another one of our clients, the short time we worked with them improved gross profits by 200%. And that was purely through the placements made directly through Bullhorn. The capabilities are there - you just have to have the time, knowledge and resource to implement them.

Confidence in Spending

We understand how difficult the recruitment industry can be. Roadmaps provide you with the confidence in spending, so you don't have to agonise over every decision. This is tied into the phased outcome-based delivery system, where visibility in real value establishes trust in the transformations tech provides for your stakeholders.

According to Bullhorn’s latest GRID Industry Trends report, 43% of agencies saw increased ROI when implementing automations to win new business. This is fairly consistent across other features as well, such as candidate submission and recruiter admin. The point is, if you know where your money is working, you can avoid it being wasted elsewhere.

So Where's Your Roadmap to Success?

Without direction, recruitment agencies risk so much more than becoming stale. Diminished returns, wasted expenditure and soaring admin hours are just some of the issues that can be reversed. This purposeful technology roadmap gets you to clean house, clarify your success, target gaps and phase-in improvements, ensuring the best buy-in from your team.