The creator of an HR startup shares insights on how to automate the recruitment process.

Magzum Tolesh is the Commercial Director of “Chocofood.kz” and one of the founders of the start-up project “Easily.kz”. Journalist Dilara Aronova spoke with him about how to find an employee with one click and why generational traits influence career choices.Magzum, what does Easily.kz do?

Let’s start with the fact that “Chocofamily.kz” is an IT company that encourages employees to create their own projects that solve business pain points. For internal entrepreneurs, this is a great opportunity. Here is one example: due to the growth in orders and demand for delivery services, the company began hiring more and more couriers. However, the life-time value (the period and efficiency of work) of front-line staff has always been relatively low. Courier work is not the kind of job where people stay for years. Moreover, the process of reviewing applications and inviting couriers for interviews takes a lot of time for the company. There were two options here: either increase the number of HR managers who would diligently process applications and conduct interviews, spending a huge amount of time and effort... Or,... since we are an IT company, come up with a fundamentally new solution to the situation - a technical one. That is exactly what my colleague Muslim Beibit-uly and I did. The “Easily.kz” service collects applications from applicants, conducts an initial screening based on pre-created criteria, and schedules interviews for them. And all of this without human intervention!

[caption id="attachment_236" align="alignnone" width="1024"] HR Interview, Image Source: hr-portal.ru[/caption] Why is this more convenient than if an HR manager processes candidate applications?It is important to note that the number of candidates for "blue-collar" positions is usually very large, so before implementing our service, the process of reviewing applications and inviting candidates for interviews took a very long time. Our funnel was very narrow. We attracted many candidates at the entry point, but not all of them made it to the interview stage. Now, it takes a candidate no more than three minutes to choose an interview time and receive a notification via an automated call. When we were testing the project, notifications were sent to candidates via SMS. Many of them simply did not show up for the interview. When we called them back to clarify why this happened, they were surprised: "Did I really receive an SMS?". Therefore, we connected a call bot and added another SMS two hours before the scheduled interview time. Conversion rates increased sharply.Previously, an abstract 100 people would apply, but now it is 250. Plus, interviews proceed faster because only people who meet certain criteria make it to that stage, and the HR manager has the most necessary information about the candidate collected by our service.Does this screening also take place at the application stage?Yes. For front-line staff, there are not many requirements. These are not sales managers, where various sensitive aspects are very important in recruitment: energy, ability to conduct a dialogue... If we are talking about a courier with a personal vehicle, we must check that they know traffic rules well. Plus, how well they possess basic arithmetic skills — whether they can correctly calculate change for a customer. That is why we named the project “Easily” — everything happens very simply and easily. A person goes to the website and fills out a simple form: name, age, city, IIN (Individual Identification Number), type of transport. Then they answer simple questions. And only if this stage is passed does the process move to the stage of scheduling an interview time.[caption id="attachment_235" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Courier, Image Source: don24.ru[/caption] Will the automation process reduce turnover in this category?At this stage, we help recruiters increase the efficiency of selection; however, we have already begun testing hypotheses aimed at reducing front-line staff turnover. And most importantly — the solutions are directed at the effective use of human resources during the work period. If it is six months, then let these six months be productive for both the person and the company. Over the past year, Kazakhstan's GDP fell significantly. Unemployment has risen. This means there is increased demand for front-line staff vacancies. Those who work on the front lines and, as a rule, physically. These are couriers, cashiers, maids, and many others. Large retailers may have up to 10,000 employees. And turnover, on average, is more than 150% per year. That is, two thousand employees are completely replaced every four months. In a year and a half, you won't remember who worked in this position a year ago at this same time. Therefore, we want these people to work effectively. Currently, our project has its first commercial client — “Chocofood.kz”. We are also beginning to work with a network of large supermarkets in Almaty. They introduced us to their processes, and we began automating them. Once they are convinced that our technologies are effective, we can say that the collaboration has succeeded.How feasible is it to use such technologies in selecting managerial staff? Positions that involve intellectual rather than physical labor?We do not want to lose focus. The demand for front-line staff is so large, not only within Kazakhstan but throughout the world. Therefore, we have many opportunities to deepen our work in this area. Automated candidate selection for interviews is only our first step in HR-tech. Next, we will work on retention. I never thought that the psychology I studied in my master's degree would be so useful, but now we are conducting research on the psychology of couriers and cashiers. For example: why many of them might quit a job at a large, prestigious chain to work in a store near their home. Besides the fact that the store promised to pay 2,000 tenge more. Additionally, we already have hypotheses about the psychology of the new generation. Those who are teenagers today. Because in three to four years, they will form the backbone of the front-line staff.Have you identified any generational traits that unite people of this age?The most important trait: money is not a priority for them. If one company pays well, but another company is more socially responsible and eco-friendly, they will likely choose the second one