How to Sell the Value of Automation to Your Leadership Team

January 13, 2022

Here’s how to explain the value of automation to your leadership team:

Start with clear expectations.

It’s easy to adopt a “set it and forget it” mentality when implementing a new automation platform, but it’s not that easy. There will be bumps and roadblocks along the way. Make sure your stakeholders understand that achieving results will take time and effort. Having the right mindset going into the process can be crucial to success.

Define and prioritize objectives.

Automation has many benefits and it’s easy to get caught up in trying to solve all your issues at one time. Start your journey by identifying the most crucial gaps that are hurting your business. Are they process- or engagement-oriented? Once you have the gaps identified, it’s time to rank which ones you need to solve first, like:

Which admin tasks are causing your recruiters the most pain or often missed?
Where in the employment cycle are you missing opportunities to engage candidates?
Does your database need updating?

It’s likely different stakeholders (HR, IT, finance) will have different objectives. By assessing goals and weaknesses, you can focus on key areas most in need of improvement.

Assign KPIs

It’s not enough to define objectives and plan an automation strategy. Your firm will want to see improvement! Before you launch workflows, take the time to benchmark your current performance. Then choose KPIs and track results regularly.

Some firms report recruiters spending 30% of their time on admin tasks. 

How can you explain to your leadership team that automating an administrative task can save time?

Identify a repetitive task that could be automated (such as sending resumes to specialized recruiters, making phone calls, changing statuses).
Measure how long it takes to do that task.
Multiply the time saved by the number of times that task would be performed in a day.

For example, how long does it take for a recruiter to make a phone call to a candidate confirming a start date? 3 minutes? How many of those calls does a recruiter make in a day? Let’s say 30 (to keep the math simple). In that case, creating an automated start-date reminder saves 1.5 hour per day! The recruiter can then generate revenue by using that time to place candidates or do another A-level task.

An ongoing re-engagement campaign can generate revenue by can stirring up the database and reaching candidates with no time or money spent on sourcing them. 

Create a set of audience rules. 
Send a series of texts asking candidates if they want to work. 
Use replies to fill open job orders.

Instead of hustling to fill the top of your funnel, you’re working with candidates already in the database (and likely already qualified). There is no manual task. No time spent. (Another boon: redeployment also saves onboarding costs!)

Need help explaining the value of automation to your leadership team?

Let us help. We’ve seen a lot of time and money saved due to successful automation strategies, and we’d love to talk about how to grow your firm’s marketing automation ROI! Contact us today. 