When an employer receives a job application from a qualified candidate, the wheels start to move quickly behind the scenes. There are (often) multiple rounds of interviews, the reference checks, the pre-employment paperwork that needs to be signed — and the list goes on. This can create a hefty workload for HR coordinators who manage and facilitate these processes, especially when a more manual approach is in place.
If you are a HubSpot user and are looking to automate your HR processes, the good news is you already have access to a platform that can help. Using automated email workflows and the Deals section of HubSpot as a pipeline management tool, you can digitize your HR processes to be more efficient, sustainable and compliant. One of our clients, Green Impressions, is already experiencing these benefits.
Before utilizing HubSpot, the HR process at Green Impressions was managed through Indeed. While applicant information could be stored on the platform and statuses could be assigned and filtered, it fell short in capturing the candidate data and tracking information HR wanted to see — such as whether an interview had been scheduled or if reference checks had been completed.
Alongside this, HR was also dealing with a lot of physical paperwork for new employees. Before coming on board with Green Impressions, employees would come into the office to fill out their uniform order as well as acknowledge their receipt of the employee handbook. Aside from the increased use of paper and the need for more file storage on-site, this approach also translated into an additional touchpoint that created less flexibility for the business and employees alike.
The first step in optimizing HR processes was to create a comprehensive careers page. Combining the right messaging with meaningful video content, Kuno helped provide prospective employees with a sense of what it’s like to work at Green Impressions — from the opportunities to the benefits — and then after piquing their interest, share a list of open positions to apply for.
Upon filling out a job application on the website, individuals are automatically added as contacts in HubSpot.
The next step was to create automated email workflows to coincide with the hiring process, once an application is submitted. As part of this step, Kuno worked with Green Impressions to create a series of emails to notify applicants — among other factors — that their application has been received, they’ve moved to the next step in the interview process (with a built-in calendar scheduling tool), or they’ve been hired. Having these communications prepared and automated via HubSpot has boosted efficiencies for the HR department, with fewer manual steps required.
Within these email workflows, Green Impressions also included digitized versions of new hire documents — including a drug test screening form as well as a uniform order form, both hosted in HubSpot. Paired with the use of BerniePortal to complete relevant employee paperwork, this has enabled the HR department to reduce the need for new employees to come into the office to fill out paperwork, making the workplace more flexible for both current and future employees.
The last layer of the process was to create a new deal pipeline in HubSpot that mirrored the different stages of the employee hiring process. Much like a sales pipeline, this viewpoint gives Green Impressions a clear idea of where job candidates are in the hiring process — whether it be a credential review, a phone screening, an interview with the hiring manager or a matter of waiting on their drug test results. By simply dragging and dropping contacts into new stages of the pipeline, the HR department can now trigger relevant emails to go out to these individuals.
While deal stages were developed for each of these steps, the pipeline was also customized to include a “hold” column for individuals who had applied but weren’t yet ready for a phone screen, as well as a “bench player” column for those who applied when there were no available positions. Such visibility has made it easier for the HR team to return to applicants when the time is right.
Upon being hired, employees now receive an automated welcome email about their onboarding — but this step also prompts a series of reminder emails to be sent internally. Specifically, the emails serve as reminders for milestone anniversaries (from one month to one year). That way, HR promptly knows when an employee’s probationary period is over, when it’s time to schedule reviews, when to check in on referral bonuses, etc.
For David Kulp, the HR assistant at Green Impressions, HubSpot has proven to be powerful in streamlining HR operations. “It’s nice to have everything virtualized about candidates,” he noted. “I still get paper copies I need to file on occasion, but having everything stored in one spot, all we did with an employee and recorded phone calls to back it up, is good for compliance.”
To date, Green Impressions has successfully managed more than 600 job candidates with HubSpot.
While this use case highlights the benefits of HubSpot for HR purposes, it’s also a nod to the endless possibilities users have to utilize automated workflows and deal pipeline management. In fact, Green Impressions has used this same functionality to coordinate/schedule jobs, as well as manage post-job completion. With plenty of flexibility and options at your fingertips, how you decide to customize these workflows and pipelines is up to you!
