From chasing references to digitalising the process:
Hedvig Bergström from Refapp and HR Manager Nicole Bellman from Jollyroom met over a cup of coffee to discuss the transition from traditional to digital referencing. Nicole herself came into contact with digital reference checking by being a reference for a former colleague. She quickly realised how much time she could save on a daily basis and how user-friendly the process felt.
"In the best of worlds everyone answers the phone straight away, but in reality you're lucky if they even answer.”"
Jollyroom currently has 8 employees in its HR team. All recruitment is done in-house. Before each winter season(October - January), 280 people are recruited to the warehouse and service team. The company has saved a lot of time by digitalising their reference checking. Nicole explains, Previously we always called references and in the best of worlds everyone answers the phone straight away, but in reality you're lucky if they even answer.
"What's so cool about Refapp is that I can ask for a candidate's references in the afternoon. The next morning I have a finished report without lifting a finger”
We did an analysis of our time spent on traditional reference checking and compared it to a digital process. Jollyroom takes references from everyone they get a good impression of at the interview, says Nicole. During their winter recruitment, they hired 280 people and took references from a total of 315 candidates using Refapp. They managed to halve their workload over the course of 4 months.“What's so cool about Refapp is that I can ask for a candidate's references in the afternoon and the next morning I receive a finished report, without lifting a finger! We also see more benefits than just efficiency and time savings, we get detailed responses and the work is more fun for my team. Chasing references can be very energy consuming and not always my favorite work task”, says Nicole.
"Although we were a little skeptical at first, we tested it and realised that it works much more smoothly than before."
Does Refapp work for executive and specialist recruitment?
Using digital reference checking during volume recruitment seemed obvious from the start, so I’ll admit we were a bit skeptical about using it for executive and specialist recruitment at first.
But I'm glad we gave it a go. Everything definitely works smoother now. We see a slightly greater tendency for the reference to want to be called, but thanks to the calendar function, it makes the process easier. Usually it's a short follow-up with any additional questions. Rather than a more traditional reference call. Another feature that we really appreciate is the possibility of identification via BankID, Linkedin or Facebook. We have had references try to cheat in the past and now it is very easy to get a good overview that the person is actually who they say they are. In conclusion, Nicole is looking forward to the summer recruitments and is excited about how the collaboration with Refapp can continue to improve her team's process.
Would you like to know more about digital referencing with Refapp and how it can work with your business? Please contact us!