How to Successfully Roll Out Interviewing Software

The process of implementing interviewing software doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it can be seamless when you choose the right partner and platform for your business.

Ensure a successful transition, implementation, and adoption of interviewing software with these guidelines. (Important tip: the right partner will also advise you to do these things when you start having serious conversations with them.)

Establish executive buy-in

Before anything else, you should obtain executive approval and support. Leadership will pave the way for your workforce to embrace any new tech, so get them on board from the start of the process.

Let’s say your key exec team member is Rob, your CHRO. You need to make sure that Rob has a full understanding of how the software ties into your organization’s strategic goals, the objectives that will be tracked to determine success, and the timeline for transitioning to the software. After all, he’s going to have to justify the investment to his peers and your CFO during the budgeting process.

Train program owners first

Once you’ve got the backing of your head honchos, it’s time to crown a program owner. This individual will maintain a close relationship with the interviewing software’s consultants, serving as the main point of contact between you and your vendor.

This is one of the most important decisions you make during the interviewing software implementation process. Any roll out can easily hit a bump or two in the road, so your program owner has to be ready and willing to navigate through unexpected changes.

For instance, you want to choose a team member like Jasmine. Jasmine is highly talented, institutionally smart, and committed to the project’s success. She’s a natural leader, so she dives head first into one-on-one training from your vendor. This provides her with a 365-degree view of the platform experience, giving her insight into the platform from the lens of managers, recruiters, and candidates. This intensive training equips Jasmine with a complete grasp of the new platform and allows her to be an in-house resource for the rest of the organization. Who’s your Jasmine?

Bring management into the fold (aka train the trainers)

After you’ve determined the program owner, you’re ready to start training managers and supervisors. In the same vein as program owner training, team leaders should be invited to train with the vendor’s consultants, as well as the program owner leading the coordination. Management training programs provide insight on best practices, key performance indicators, and strategies for monitoring the metrics that directly tie into overall goals.

Consider Erin. Erin is a manager that’s heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of her team – she has a unique understanding of each team member and their operations. With direct access to the platform’s experts and resources, Erin can develop messaging about software implementation that’s customized to the working style of her team members. The more familiar with (and enthusiastic about) interviewing software that managers like Erin are, the better experience they can impart on their reports. Erin also has Rob’s trust (and ear) and also works really well with Jasmine so it’s a win-win for all if Erin is already excited and trained when you start to roll this platform out to her team.

Drive end user (AKA recruiter and hiring manager) adoption

You could simply instruct your employees to adopt a new software, but the odds are they’ll either stick to their traditional ways or go completely off the rails exploring the new platform – for best results, hands-on recruiter training is a must.

A great interviewing software will offer recruiter (and even better, hiring manager) training that covers all of the bases of the platform, from setting expectations for the change, providing engagement tools, and teaching live training courses.

To continue our storyline, let’s think about Jordan, a top recruiter who has used the same tried-and-true methods for years now. While skeptical of the effectiveness of interviewing software, Jordan followed his manager Erin’s guidance and gave training sessions a chance to prove him wrong.

Throughout the training experience, Jordan was able to use the platform and test out its functionalities himself, asking consultants countless questions along the way. Jordan found multiple areas where he could leverage the software, improving his historically-great recruiting tactics and inspiring him to dig further into the platform in the future.

Not to mention, this training alleviated major pressure from program owner Jasmine and manager Erin as they learned the ropes of the platform themselves. It also gave Rob the confidence that he needed in the successful adoption of the new platform since everyone expected Jordan to be one of the tougher folks to win over.

Embrace continued improvement

Just starting to use your new interviewing software isn’t actually the end of the implementation process. In fact, in some ways it’s just the beginning.

After the initial launch of the platform, your vendor should perform various check-ins across the following months and help you track recruiter usage and key candidate metrics. These check-ins help pinpoint issues, like team members not using the platform as much as Jordan, and are a great opportunity to ask questions or provide feedback. They also provide key stats and takeaways for Jasmine to provide Rob with some highlights and ROI info for the board and his peers.

Your interviewing software should have resources for your team members and for candidates so everyone can get the most out of the platform – like the interviewstream training center. From blog articles to full-blown courses, this material is constantly updated to meet the latest and greatest standard in interviewing tech.

Realizing the full potential of your interviewing software

Rolling out any new technology is a serious undertaking, and the process is moot if your team members aren’t equipped with the tools and training to use it. Let us know if we can help you implement video interviewing!

After all, don’t you want Jordan, Erin, Jasmine, Rob and the rest of their colleagues to expand their skill sets and also be excited about the new tool that you’ve brought in to help make their jobs more effective?

Get the most out of your interviewing software by personalizing the experience, extending quality training, and encouraging continuous development. You’ll reap the benefits of your investment while increasing the quality of the talent you hire onto your team next.

Interested in seeing great user and candidate training in action? Check out our training center to get an idea of what it looks like.

About The Author

Meghan Peterson is the VP of Revenue at interviewstream. She combines her experience in sales, recruiting, and tech to support customers of all sizes in her role. If you’d like to pick her brain about her advice here or simply start a conversation, feel free to give Meg a shout at mpeterson@interviewstream.com.