A day at the largest private-sector corporation in India involves brainstorming sessions, focus hours, target setting, and some fun banter amongst colleagues. Reaching the galore of this high-quality, low-wastage organization is no cakewalk. The core of their innovation lies in the strength of their people.
The telecom wing of the conglomerate began operations in September 2016 and has since helped bridge the Indian digital divide. Through its exciting offers and policies, in about six months of its launch, it made India the world’s largest mobile data user, utilizing over 1 billion of GB data every month compared with the 200 million GB the country consumed previously. Today, India is ranked 155th in the world for mobile broadband internet access out of 230 countries. The telecommunications major has set an example with its innovative ideas, calculated risks, smooth execution, and investment in the right set of teams. With a focus on investment in the right people, the organization takes its human resources seriously. As per reports, the organization had over 236,000 employees in FY 2021 (more than two-thirds of the population of Iceland!), showing a steep upward trend in their human resource capital in the past decade. They focus on a reward and recognition policy, ensuring people come first. The organization believes that the growth of any business lies in its foundation and is built upstream.
However, for an organization of such size and scale, this is not always an easy accomplishment. Especially in the rush to acquire the best talent from the market, in the current intense crisis, smart hiring is a necessity.
Challenges in Volume Hiring
The recruitment process involved a 7-step tedious, manual and time-consuming structure.
Job analysis → Initial screening → Telephonic interview → Face-to-face meeting → Organizational aptitude test → Psychometric test -→ Salary discussion → Job offer
Wasting long hours with unproductive cold-calling candidates, interviewing unqualified individuals, and painful scheduling procedures between both parties were a few of the challenges faced regularly. Moreover, the pandemic gave the entire process a virtual spin. While hiring became online, the organization remained steadfast in its determination to hire well.
Solution
Owing to the delays in hiring accompanied by high cost per hire, the organization decided to rely on the AI-based candidate assessment and screening platform COGBEE after analyzing multiple options.
COGBEE offered a hybrid approach to the hiring process at the organization creating a blend of scientifically designed assessments and human-led virtual interviews. The offerings included –
- On-demand interviews comprising skill-based multiple choice questions, one-way video interviews, and code challenges.
- A pool of qualified candidates was created after touching base with 1000s of candidates, scientifically and transparently. COGBEE’s interviewer cloud conducted L1 interviews for all qualified candidates.
- Deliverables included screen assessment reports and L1 interview evaluation supported by the recording of human-led interviews.
COGBEE was also successfully integrated with the organization’s in-house HRMS to streamline the hiring and assessment procedures, minimizing effort, time, and cost for all the stakeholders involved. Providing 24×7 quality service and assistance, COGBEE created a seamless candidate experience to ease the hiring process through meaningful engagement and assessment of recruits.
Results
COGBEE helped the organization streamline its hiring funnel cutting down on additional expenditure on resources. Here is how COGBEE supported the human resources requirement of the organization at minimal expenditure optimizing their hiring process –
| Candidates invited for assessment | 2855 |
| Assessments submitted | 1142 |
| Candidates screened for L1 interviews | 800 |
| L1 selects | 320 |
| Time invested | 6 weeks |
| Time saved (in percentage) | 60% |
Sharing his delight at the association, Viral Vora, CEO, COGBEE, said, “COGBEE has been focused on delivering excellence through innovation, and this cannot be possible without having the right people on board. Getting an opportunity to be a catalyst in the talent acquisition process of an organization of this scale is sure a delight and we are very excited to see our contribution towards their hiring strategy generate extraordinary results.” Echoing the sentiment, Head of Talent Acquisition at the organization said, “COGBEE has reduced the time-to-hire, improved the quality of hires, and helped us provide stellar candidate experience. The platform has brought us closer to our vision of building the most preferred employer brand in India. Its rigorous candidate engagement and assessment features are constantly helping us with efficient sifting and selection of the right candidates.”
