The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has further boosted efforts by many companies in the Arab world, particularly those in Qatar, to fully digitise their hiring process, an industry expert has said.
Speaking at a live webinar themed ‘Sourcing and Hiring Talent Remotely’ yesterday, Zein Al Abedin Fares, international business professional at Bayt.com, said business entities in the region saw the need to communicate among their teams and with job seekers amid the current situation.
He noted that these companies witnessed that such kind of disruption had a minimal effect on those which already have adopted a (digitised hiring) system.
“The rate people are shifting to something digital is not just an option, it is actually life-saving for all entities who have previously embraced digital transformation, and having such system saved their own companies during this crisis,” Fares pointed out.
A programme under Qatar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC), the Digital Transformation of Small and Medium Business Enterprises webinar details the digitisation of the entire recruitment process.
The topics also discussed how the use of the Internet help human resource professionals, recruiters, and hiring managers do their jobs more efficiently: from sourcing to onboarding candidates in the comfort of their homes.
A related MoTC workshop, held recently, focused on managing business remotely. It underlined the importance of digital platforms in adapting to the current circumstances to maintain productivity. The session included a demonstration on one of the digital transformation tools currently available in the market, which showed the automated workflows and other features that help companies manage their business remotely.
Fares noted that they have been receiving request from a large number of companies in the region to have their recruitment process digitised.
“We are assisting companies, big and medium entities, who want to have better productivity, they are shifting to a paperless system and want it to be done online,” he said.
In his presentation, Fares also highlighted the vital role of digital transformation as a tool to improve and expand business operations, as well as network with industry professionals.
He noted that 77.3% of more than 200mn online users in the Arab world search for jobs online. Fares said companies which have not digitised their recruitment process could be “missing out on an abundance of potential candidates.”
He cited several advantages of adopting a digitised hiring system, saying it saves more time, lowers the cost of hiring while attracting the best candidates, having a bigger reach, better screening and pinpoints the exact skills and expertise needed by the company, and creates a synchronised process without duplicating tasks.
A digitised system, he added, also uses auto screening tools, which filters out the candidates that are irrelevant to the position. “It cuts down on the amount of time spent going through CVs to select the relevant and qualified ones that will be put through the recruitment process,” Fares said.
He stressed that such a system also improves the retention of employees who are most likely to stay in the company if they know that they have been hired professionally.
local
