Friday 7 May 2021
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is making it easier to connect employers and job seekers with the launch of the ARA Talent Registry – a first-to-market retail recruitment platform which helps remove bias, recruitment costs and ensures the right people are matched to the right jobs in retail.
ARA CEO Paul Zahra said the bespoke platform, powered by Shortlyster, addresses the unique recruitment challenges of the retail industry.
“The retail industry is going through an incredible transformation. Covid has accelerated a decade worth of trends and dynamic new roles are emerging. Hiring the right people at the beginning ensures better retention rates which is a huge cost saver for all businesses,” Mr Zahra said.
“The data science behind the ARA Talent Registry is extraordinary, as it guides employers to the right type of candidate for any particular role by matching them on the required skills, qualifications and organisational fit. It then ranks them whether they are a direct applicant or pulled from the pool of available job seekers.
“The ARA is now a one stop shop for retail training and recruiting, with the Talent Registry joining the ARA Retail Institute – a registered training organisation – in our portfolio of services,” Mr Zahra said.
Shortlyster co-founder Rudy Crous said the highly sophisticated tool will reduce the time and costs associated with the hiring process, as well as highlight the candidates who are most aligned to an organisation’s values and culture.
“Many businesses are receiving hundreds of applications per job which means managers do not have the time to review, screen and short-list candidates effectively and without bias. Also, retail managers know how vitally important it is to employ someone who has the right work behaviours and personality, to fit the company’s culture so it supports their customer experience. These problems are taken care of with the ARA Talent Registry and we anticipate that a retail business can save up to 70% of their upfront hiring time,” Mr Crous said.
The ARA Talent Registry has simplified and made retail business managers lives easier. Pandora HR Director, Shaun Ruming, used the ARA Talent Registry to fill a position for the global jewellery retailer earlier this year and is very happy with the result.
“We are very fortunate that Pandora continues to attract strong applicants for our advertised roles, which can mean large volumes of resumes and cover letters to review. To understand if an applicant fits our culture and values we use targeted interview questions, success profiles and screening guides to match a candidate,” Mr Ruming said.
“The ARA Talent Registry allowed us to digitalise our review process which improved our productivity and saved us a lot of time. The Talent Registry also provided us a more considered and scientific approach for HR and Line Managers to match up a candidate’s overall attributes throughout the application process. This has given us greater confidence in ensuring the candidates we take forward for a shortlist have the right cultural fit to be successful at Pandora.”
