Notes: February 1997

In our business (as in any other business) creating and updating/ maintaining a client database is vital.

This is all the more important in our business because, for us, quite often, a "client" becomes a "candidate" and a "candidate" may become a client.

And since every person, whether a client or a candidate works in a COMPNAY, we need to create / maintain a COMPNAY DATABASE as well.

With these COMPANIES (and with specific individuals within these companies) we need to correspond dialogue for following reasons/ purposes :

1. To market our services (Mailing Campaign).

2. To foreword bio - data’s of specific "candidates" who, we feel, could be of interest to that company (or a set of companies), either for their

- Existing operations

- Their expansion/ diversification projects.

Such "unsolicited" bio - data sending would focus on what "products/ services" the company is already engaged in or expected to engage in, based on published information.

3. Normal business correspondence once a company has already become our client.

4. Contacting (mostly by phone) a particular executive in a particular company to find - out his interest in changing.

Such contact would almost always be in the nature of "head - hunting" against specific requirement given to us by a client. In such cases, client has indicated his "search - parameters or preferences" in terms of

. Type of industry/ specific companies

. Functions/ Designation

. Product or Service exposure

. Edu/ Age/ Salary etc. etc.

So we come across a situation where

. COMPANY DATABAE

. CANDIDATE DATABASE

Overlap

We also have this situation where

a) Both corporate Database and the Executive (Potential candidate) Database are compiled from a large no. of diverse sources.

b) Both these databases are compiled piece - meal, partially slowly over a long period of time

c) "Data" about both of them (i.e. the company and the candidate/ Executive) are continuously changing.

e.g.

For an Executive

Following data keeps changing

. Age (annually)

. Edu. (Occasionally)

. Designation (Occasionally)

. Salary (annually)

. Function (occasionally)

. Responsibility (occasionally)

. Knowledge (continuously)

. Skills (continuously)

. Location (occasionally)

. Employer (occasionally)

For a Company

. Name (Rarely)

. HO Address (Rarely)

. Directors MD/ CMD(Occasionally)

. Plant location (Rarely)

. Products/ Services (Regularly)

. Sales Turnover (Annually)

. Collaborations (Occasionally)

. "Industry" / "Group" (Rarely)

. Executive working

in the company 10% each year

. Financial / mfg

. Parameters (Annually)

So we come to realization that

. "Creating" corporate & candidate databases is a SLOW process

. Some parameters of both the databases keep changing FAST.

. Volumes involved are ENORMOUS

Therefore, at best of times

. Both Databases will be

INCOMPLETE

INACCURATE

By putting enough no. of RESEARCH / DATA ENTRY Operators on the Job, all that we can ensure is that these data bases, do not become completely OBSOLETE!

This will be an ever - expanding, continuous, constant effort.

But as long as we keep this up ELENTLESSLY (equivalent for BREATHING which never stops for even a second), we can live with in accuracies which are MANAGABLE.

It will happen that, on the basis of our databases

We send out a letter to an executive and find that it does not reach him because he has "moved" and not updated his address in our database.

We phone an executive at a company where he is working as so - and - so (as per our database) and find that he has left that company one year back and no one can (or will) tell us where he has joined.

We send an executive's biodata to the personnel chief of XYZ Company and find that the chief has retired/ resigned and gone away.

We would have to live with such "inaccuracies". In a fast changing world, there can never be an Up - to - Date database! And if anything,

. The ' RATE OF CHANGE' will only accelerate.

. So if we are to depend upon traditional methods of updating these databases (viz. Research & Data Entry on our own - using our own resources),

then,

We are fighting a LOSING BATTLE!

Because,

Our Resources (of research & data entry) can never keep - up with

. Growing volumes

Accelerating "changes of status" (of dozens of parameters about each executive and each company).

We could like this problem in only one day.

The these companies and these executives to continuously update their own databases THEMSELVES !

. Put the ball in the court.

. Get them to do the dirty work.

. Place the onus on them well said!

. But HOW do we get them to do this?

. And WHY should they do it?

. And WHAT benefit do they/ will they, get by doing it?

HOW?

1. Give them "remote - access" to our database (only their own) and ask them to create After/ Modify/ Delete/ Add/ Update from their own computers

2. Get them to phone our "head - set wearing" data entry operators and give instructions about changes to be carried out

Deposit their "change instructions" in our VOICE - MAIL box.

3. "Voice - recognition" takes over

WHY?

Corporate & Executives will do this (initial entry & subsequent updates) only if they stand to (personally) benefit from doing it.

Time is the most precious resource on earth and everyone tries to priorities its USE based on the perceived benefit to himself or to the organization that he is working for.

Therefore,

Unless we introduce in our system, a strong element of

BENEFIT

(to the individual concerned - acting

for himself or on behalf of his employer - company),

He is unlikely to take the trouble (and waste his time) of updating the database on his own.

But he will do it if the BENEFIT is

. Considerable / Great

. Immediate

. At no EXTRA - COST.

WHAT?

That brings us to the question of "what" benefit can we offer him for taking this trouble?

Let us list the Benefits that we could possibly offer:

TO THE COMPANY (who becomes a MEMBER)

Remotely shoot "queries" to our database and "locate" suitable candidates against their requirements (most of whom were required "yesterday" - hence the urgency)

"Value - Added Services" such as

. "Job Descriptions" for thousands of unique jobs

Remote "drafting" of recruitment advertisements

. Compensation surveys

. Organization charts

. Corporate Data of any other Company/ Industry

. Labour union Agreements (Scanning & OCR)

Names/ addresses of Engineering & Management colleges / Institutions all over the country, listing the courses being offered.

Campus Recruitment (student data of graduating class at each college - replacing effort to go thru dozens of placement Broachers received each year).

If we can succeed in integrating into our own database), DART/ CMIE/ DATAL STREET JOURNAL databases on 1000 Companies)

. VRS (Voluntary Retirement Schemes)

. Standard Letters

. Appointment

. Confirmation

. Termination

. Personnel & Administrative practices of diff. companies.

There can be many more value Added Services. Again, to begin with, most of these BENEFITS are aimed at the PERSONNEL - MANAGERS. Aim is to make them our SPOKESMEN and let them

push the idea (of 3P club membership) within their organization.

For a reasonable ONE - TIME effort to create their own database on our server - either by

. Filling in forms

. Entering in floppy

. Remote log - in

and

For a very little REPEAT effort annually to update their database, they could get a free access to a vast are of personnel function related information, just for the asking ! using this info, they could "leverage" themselves in t corporate hierarchy, as never before!

BENEFIT FOR THE CANDIDATE :

For a candidate who undertakes to

. Fill in a floppy or

. Remote log - in entry

To create his database - and

Further undertakes

To keep it updated every year, following "Value - Added Services" can be offered (free?)

. Job Bulletin Board. (Remote Login)

. Non 3P Clients

. 3P Clients

. Compensation - Trends

(Industry - Function - location - Age)

(Designation - Edu. Quali - Wise)

. Organization charts

. Job Descriptions

. Key words

. ARGIS

Automatic Resume Generating Intelligent Software to help him write a Resume

Corporate Database

To prepare himself before appearing in an interview with a given company.

. Interview Tips

. Mailing - Campaign (PAID SERVICE)

Under this, after scanning "non 3P client" Job bulletin board, an executive may instant 3P to send out his bio data to 10/15 companies of his choice.

. Several other value - Added - Services can be thought of.

Following Points Must be noted :

1. At no point/ time, our service should enable.

. A candidate to contact client

. A client to contact candidate directly.

This must always be thru US.

For this reason, we shall never do what INTELLIMATCH and many other companies are doing viz.

. Allowing candidate to "post" their resumes on the server.

. Allowing companies to post their "Jobs" on the server.

and then permitting them to contact each other directly.

. Like a newspaper (advt - space), they only collect a RENTAL for use of electronic - space, for a given period.

These comments were made 9 months before we launched our website.