It feels like only last week I was writing the follow-up blog to the 2015 User Group.

(You can read that here!)

Yet here I am again – a few days after the feedback forms have been collated, the name badges put away and the guest list archived – writing about the Hireserve User Group 2016.

A quick background for those of you who haven’t heard of the User Group: The initiative was set up back in 2008 as a way for users of Hireserve ATS to share ideas about how to improve the system. That first meeting was a handful of people talking in a small room. Last week, we welcomed over 70 delegates to our venue near Euston, London, for what has become an annual event.

So what was on the agenda for the Hireserve User Group 2016?

The theme for this year’s User Group was Sharing, Learning and Improving.

When we’re pulling together this event, the question at the forefront of our minds is always: How is this going to add value to our customers? Last year we hosted a range of speakers talking about everything from psychometric testing to the Ice Bucket Challenge, and we wanted to capture that variety again this year.

Learning

James Neave, Head of Data Science at Adzuna, was the first of our guest speakers for 2016. He explored the rise in online profiles (predominantly LinkedIn) and demonstrated how in-house recruiters could use lesser-known platforms such as Stack Overflow or Meetup to identify and source in-demand talent.

After lunch we welcomed Kirstie Kelly, Director of LaunchPad Recruits. Kirstie opened our eyes to issues of diversity in in-house recruitment, and explained how analytics and data could be the answer to a neutral and unbiased recruiting process.

Hireserve customers can download all the presentations from the Hireserve User Group 2016. Please email Hannah if you haven’t got your password.

Sharing

Last year we received feedback that delegates were keen for more time to discuss best practice with others in their sectors, so the ‘Your Sector in the Spotlight’ session was dedicated to sharing tips and ideas to overcome shared challenges from users in similar industries. It was a good feeling to hear the room with ripple with voices, laughter, debates and ideas.

Even though it has grown, the purpose of the User Group remains the same as it did when we had that first meeting in 2008.

Improving

We want to bring customers together each year so that they can help shape, influence and improve our recruitment software. We want customers to learn from one another – for new users of the system to benefit from the knowledge of more experienced users.

We want to foster a sense of community, to put faces to the names of our customers, and to spend a day with them to understand what they want from their recruitment system.

We want delegates to learn from the guest speakers, and to have valuable conversations with our industry partners and colleagues.

And we want every single person who walks away from the Hireserve User Group at the end of the day to feel confident in our customer care, happy that they are working with us, and trusting that we will continue to deliver the best recruitment technology that we can.

 

About the author

Tristan Potter

Tristan has a decade's worth of experience writing content and copy for organisations across Bristol and the Southwest of England. He has written on a diverse range of topics, including technology, philosophy, politics, and recruitment. His writing has appeared in The Drum, HR Grapevine, and The Guardian, among other publications. He joined Hireserve in March 2022.