Despite the buzz around the Great Resignation, a recent study by NTUC LearningHub found that only 10% of employees in Singapore are actively looking for a new job. Meanwhile, nearly four in five (78%) companies looking to augment their workforce are struggling to fill job roles due to the lack of talent with relevant skill sets.
One way of competing for the limited talent pool is by shortening the hiring process. “Typically, a hiring process can take six to eight weeks, with recent research showing it can take up to six months to hire specialist roles like engineers. This seriously impacts a company’s ability to grow fast or fulfil projects to deadlines,” says Paul Endacott, CEO and founder of GRIT, a Singapore-headquartered recruitment tech firm.
He continues: “The challenge in the current climate is that the best talent doesn’t always rely on job boards or recruitment firms. In fact, more often than not, they are hired through referral or direct engagement and outreach. But these avenues take time and require the right networks to gain access to those talents.”
Giving more power to talent
Frustrated with the inefficiencies of the traditional recruitment process, Endacott launched the GRIT Talent Platform, which flips the recruitment script by allowing employers to apply to talents.
Talents only have to upload their curriculum vitae (CV) or share their LinkedIn profile link on GRIT’s platform and answer a couple of questions to create a profile. Questions include expected start date, expected salary, preferred job location and if they require a work visa, and the type of employment they are looking for. Thereafter, talents will be notified when employers request to view their entire profile.
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As for companies, they can use the platform to filter candidates according to the requirements of the role they intend to fill before reaching out to the curated pool of readily available talent.
[Our platform enables] companies to shortlist candidates within 24 to 48 hours, and hire within two to three weeks — which is a significant reduction in the time-to-hire from traditional approaches. This is possible because they have access to a platform of curated talent who are open to the right roles; and can search by salary, notice period, skills, visa status among other criteria; as well as getting automated recommendationsPaul Endacott, CEO and founder of GRIT
He adds that the platform also ensures equal employment opportunities for candidates. “The GRIT Platform is anonymous on the talent side. We anonymise personal identifiers so companies can only see the candidate’s experience that really matters to their search. Whether you’re from Venus or Mars, green or blue, it doesn’t matter — we just want to help talent find their dream role and it’s the experience that counts,” he says.
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Besides shortening the time-to-hire, GRIT’s platform helps reduce recruitment costs too. “[Since we run on a] success-based model, companies pay only when they successfully hire someone. Our fee, therefore, works out to about 60% less than what they would spend with traditional job search firms,” states Endacott.
An example of how an employer's recruitment dashboard looks like on GRIT Talent Platform. Photo: GRIT.
Committed to ease hiring woes
Apart from the GRIT Talent Platform, GRIT offers two other solutions for companies.
The first is GRIT Search, a “contingent and retained solution” that helps organisations find specific digital and tech talent. GRIT consultants will work with the organisation to get the full requirements of the role and search for talent who fit the bill through various channels, before presenting a shortlist of candidates for the organisation to review. GRIT will also schedule the interviews as well as manage the negotiation process and the onboarding of successful candidates.
Second, the GRIT RaaS (recruitment-as-a-service) solution allows companies to outsource the recruitment process at a flat monthly subscription fee. Each company will be tagged to a specific GRIT account team, who will cover end-to-end talent acquisition — from sourcing through to onboarding of successful talent, as well as administrative tasks such as drafting job descriptions and implementing a structured interview framework.
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So far, more than 300 companies are relying on GRIT’s solutions for their hiring needs, including e-commerce firm Lazada, online games developer and publisher Garena, and mobile virtual network operator Circles.Life.
“We now work with many of the leading high-growth digital native companies in the region across the likes of crypto, FinTech, e-commerce, last-mile logistics, EdTech, HealthTech, social commerce and social platforms. Given the reputation we have built in this space, we also work with large multinational corporations around their digital transformation strategies in the region,” shares Endacott.
To further realise its vision of becoming a leading platform for digital and technology talent, GRIT is planning to increase its number of employees and footprint in the region.
“In the course of 2021, we have grown from six to 30 employees. We are looking to double that this year with operations in four countries, and launch into two more countries in 2023,” he says. By doing so, GRIT also hopes to help companies widen their talent pool so that they can get the best talent from the region — instead of only relying on local candidates — to fill job vacancies.
Photo: Unsplash
