Horner Recruitment

Pre-Employment Screening Solution Allows Horner to Thoroughly & Rapidly Respond to Client Needs

For leading Australian recruitment agency, Horner Recruitment, delivering workplace safety training and conducting background checks on a diverse candidate base was a time-consuming strain on resources. 

However, the clever use of technology has solved this issue for the agency, as the web based WorkPro system enables it to manage large volumes of white and blue-collar candidates on a daily basis, reducing both the time and money spent on compliance. 

Adele Last, Branch Manager at Horner Recruitment, said the company’s biggest challenge is ensuring all candidates are properly trained, inducted and work-ready from the ‘get go’. She says making the decision to switch from a manual paper-based system to a centralised online training facility, has been a significant turning point for the organisation and its recruiters. 

“Unlike previous methods, what we like about WorkPro is that it is recruitment-specific, and the language used addresses the on-hire employer’s third party involvement. Importantly, adopting the system has assisted our resourcing for the high volume of temporary candidates we engage each week. At any >me we now know where each candidate is at in meetng their compliance obligations, as the system keeps a profile on all candidates with a record on who’s been tested and who is due for a refresher. It means we can quickly and easily update their skills if we urgently require them to fill a position,” Ms Last said. 

Ms Last said WorkPro has helped the company to meet clients’ urgent staff needs. “A client of ours has a site in Sydney and needed temporary candidates to be transitioned to Horner basically overnight. 

Using WorkPro, we were able to meet all of our compliance obligations such as workplace safety training, conducting background (criminal) checks and the mandatory provision of a Fair Work Statement, online. It allowed us to have the staff on our database and ready to arrive on-site within 48 hours,” she said. 

“In the past, this process took more manpower, as we generally had candidates filling in forms after watching a video or completing programs via a CD-Rom. The process was labour intensive and had the potential to become out of date quickly,” she said.

Ms Last says having a training system that can be accessed remotely has helped them speed up the compliance process and minimise the manpower needed to manage and prepare such a large volume of candidates for work. 

“Previously all candidates would have had to come through the door to be inducted. By allowing candidates to go through their training at home, all they need is a computer and internet connection and following our own interview process we are able to place them in a role in a quicker timeframe. 

“Nonetheless, a high standard of learning is guaranteed as WorkPro allows candidates to retest and offers constant trainability. This means that instead of just failing the program it forces candidates to keep trying until they get the answers right and they must reach a benchmark standard of 80% to pass. This gives us a sense of security as a recruitment firm that the people we are sending out into the workplace are well-trained,” she said. 

Ms Last adds that Horner is in the process of implementing WorkPro’s new feature offering clients customised training. 

“Different sectors and work sites have different safety requirements that candidates must adhere to and unique dangers they must be aware of. By customising workplace safety training programs to our clients’ site or workplace, our clients can be confident that their temp workforce is inducted just as thoroughly as their permanent workforce and this is a major selling point,” she concluded.