Aplin

The Aplin Challenge

Taking an even deeper dive, and following the trend of digital transformation, Aplin embarked on a comprehensive review of their technology stack to ensure they were set up for growth. Aplin discovered they wanted to build a true end-to-end system (from initial candidate engagement through to accounting.  From these reflections a strategic decision was made: It was time to move to a new and integrated Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

For Aplin, they chose an ATS that offered a diverse partner ecosystem for the opportunity to integrate and to further simplify data capture, yet there was still one process that remained quite manual: Referencing.  

Aplin will note that references provide key insights into candidates’ past work performance, and are a tool to not only verify, but present the best talent to their clients. In fact, the referencing step is an irreplaceable part of their process, and they ascribe it as a partial reason why they’re able to deliver consistent, quality outcomes, again and again.  

“For the professional placement space, whether it’s perm or contract placements, it’s not just about that person’s technical capabilities,” said Nikki Palmer. “There is a lot more beyond what’s in a resume that makes the right match, and that’s where the expertise of our amazing team comes in.” 

With a strong emphasis on optimizing processes to create quality, trust, and reliability for both their clients, and candidates alike, the Aplin team have always been steadfast in striking an ideal balance between two important aspects: How they nurture the human connection and how they can use technology to solve for automatable tasks. In this regard, when it came to reference checking, the manual aspect and hours needed to complete this critical step made this part of their process a great candidate for automation.  

“For the professional placement space, whether it’s perm or contract placements, it’s not just about that person’s technical capabilities,” said Nikki Palmer. “There is a lot more beyond what’s in a resume that makes the right match, and that’s where the expertise of our amazing team comes in.”

The RefAssured Solution

After selecting their new ATS, Aplin evaluated integrations that would enable them to focus on those direct interactions with clients and candidates. Through the ATS’s partner network they began a limited pilot program with RefAssured to automate their reference checking process. 

It was a seamless addition to their recruitment process, and in just a few months with the help of RefAssured, the Aplin team almost immediately began to save and redeploy hundreds of their people-hours on other priorities like building relationships with clients and candidates. 

The Results

Through the introduction of RefAssured, Aplin has standardized the reference checking process. Better yet, RefAssured’s simple workflow and friendly UI not only made presenting reports to clients easier, but our innovative platform also helped differentiate Aplin as a first-choice provider. In fact, after receiving such positive results in the first 90 days, Aplin decided to roll out the software to their entire team with the activation of the fully integrated ATS app. The outcome?  

• More hours saved
• Quality staffing results, and 
• Better engagement with all those they serve

Additionally, due to Aplin’s high volume of references, another huge RefAssured benefit was the generation of passive candidate and client opt-ins with just a few clicks. Aplin was able to convert 19% of reference givers into passive candidates and 4% of reference givers into possible sales leads. 

“While we can’t automate everything, we focus on the areas where automation can make the biggest impact. RefAssured has already delivered by saving time for all stakeholders, providing far more accurate and transparent candidate insights, and becoming one of our favorite networking tools for generating new client and candidate relationships.” – Nikki Palmer

“As technology continues to improve, we’ll always try to stay ahead of the curve in assessing and implementing products that align with our vision and in choosing partners/technology solutions will help us reach our goals. With RefAssured, we feel we’ve accomplished that, and based on their boundless vision, we’re just as excited for what’s to come.” - Nikki Palmer

Results Summary:

• Reduced the time to complete a reference by 87%
• Saved over 200 referencing hours compared to legacy workflows
• 19% of references opted to share their personal information as job seekers through Aplin
• 4% of references opted to learn more about Aplin's hiring services

About Aplin

Aplin, a private, family and employee-owned Canadian company, who has requalified as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, has been a leader in fulfilling talent demands for over 45 years.  Attributing their success to their growth mindset, they embrace innovation to make it possible for their recruiters and sales teams to prioritize service. More specifically, they have implemented a number of workflow automation tools to eliminate manual processes so as to maximize their collective focus on identifying quality talent and engaging with clients, respectively.