Martin Personnel grew candidate recruitment
6-fold with Dynamics CRM.
Meaningful Outcomes
Nine days of effort reduced to 30 minutes
Streamline the candidate screening and job placement process to just a couple of clicks
One click processing to automatically validate candidate bank and IRD details before payment was released - a process that would take days if done manually
Reduced the invoice operations cost using Dynamics CRM and Xero Integration
Objective
Optimise existing Dynamics CRM 4.0 solution across invoicing and payroll. Streamlining efficiencies with candidates and optimising the recruitment process.
Challenge
Magnetism were initially commissioned by Martin Personnel to address a number of bottlenecks the company had identified in its operations, particularly in the processing of timesheets and invoices. In any given week, the company could have up to 300 temporary staff out in the field on individual job placements. With a strong presence in New Zealand over the last 25 years, Martin Personnel had the systems in place to manage and invoice this high level of activity. While the processes were well thought-out, they were also time-consuming, manual and restricting the company’s ability grow and diversify.
The efficiency and productivity results gained by Martin Personnel from the initial development were significant and therefore they were keen to continue to improve and develop their systems. An upgrade of the existing CRM solution would allow them to take advantage of the new features in Dynamics CRM 2013 and would ensure they were always using best practice technology in keeping pace with their growing business.
In the initial project, payroll and invoicing automation had been set up using a custom MYOB connector built by Magnetism to deal with the complexities of multiple tax codes, pay rates and Kiwisaver. The company has since moved to Xero and the integration in the CRM 2013 solution would need to be re-worked to accommodate the new accounting software. The integration allowed for further optimisation and greater efficiency gains in their ever-increasing demands in payroll and invoicing.
Martin Personnel were also motivated to improve their job screening, profiling and placement processes in the CRM 2013 upgrade. The company recognised that these existing processes could be streamlined further, and in doing so, would allow the company to fill more jobs faster. This would have signficant postive impact on both client engagement and thier bottom line by improving both profitability and candidate and client service delivery.
Solution
When scoping the initial 2008 development, Martin Personnel director, Mark Douglas, realised that out-of-the box software would not satisfy their unique requirements and they would need a specialist in CRM customisation. Hence, Magnetism were given the greenlight for that first project and were the natural choice for the CRM 2013 upgrade project.
The first phase was to move the invoicing and payroll processes of the original CRM application from MYOB to Xero. The superior API Xero offered meant that the invoicing and payroll processes could be optimised further. The updated integration meant that data from Xero and Dynamics CRM could connect seamlessly syncing records from each system, which not only saved time but eliminated errors. The demands of paying hundreds of staff each week were alleviated by a Magnetism’s Xero Connector and Dynamics CRM. a major advantage of this softrware was that it allowed one-click processing to automatically validate candidate bank and IRD details before payment was released - a process that would take days if done manually.
Payroll automation was further complimented by an updated web portal. Here, candidates can login and not only update their details and view their jobs, but also enter their timesheets. The client then can login and approve the hours submitted. If it reconciles, an invoice is automatically sent to the client, the candidate is paid can even be sent a text to let them know. Before adopting CRM, this had been a wasteful and time-consuming paper process for Martin Personnel and a lengthy wait for both candidate and client.
Taking advantage of the business process features of CRM 2013 enabled Magnetism to streamline the candidate screening and job placement process for Martin Personnel to just a couple of clicks. The user-friendly interface, improved visibility of candidate information and job requirements means the process, from job call to placement is now substantially faster.
“The team at Magnetism have been instrumental in the success of the system. They have been able to take our ideas and requirements and incorporate them into the overall solution…we have been able to create a solution which has satisfied our immediate needs and has set the stage for future growth.””
Results
With the initial CRM development and the subsequent optimisation in the CRM 2013 upgrade, Martin Personnel have been able to reduce their invoice and payroll processing each week from a three person task, run over three days, to a one person task, taking only 30 minutes. The efficiencies gained in overall operations across the business have enabled the company to operate a much lighter head count, without affecting outputs.
In fact, while the CRM 4.0 project increased Martin Personnel’s outputs by three times, the projected forecast is an increase in jobs recruited and placed by six times. This will have a significant impact on the company’s revenue generation and growth plans.
The CRM development completed for Martin Personnel put them in a position to now offer their purpose-built system as an external service. The next phase of growth for the company is to onboard independent recruiters to utilise their CRM processes and portals on a cost-per-use basis, allowing these partners to offer a better service for clients and candidates whilst Martin Personnel gain a new revenue stream.
