Colorado Springs Utilities Improves Talent Acquisition to Attract 15,000 Candidates in One Year
 
 

Colorado Springs Utilities Improves Talent Acquisition to Attract 15,000 Candidates in One Year

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After the residents of Colorado Springs, Colorado voted to create a four-service, public utility in 1924, Colorado Springs Utilities emerged as one of ten municipal utilities in the country, focusing exclusively on electricity, natural gas, water, and wastewater. This approach enables the utility to focus on providing exceptional customer service while keeping costs low. The community-owned structure enables Colorado Springs Utilities to offer citizens competitive prices, exceptional hometown service, responsible environmental practices, and a voice in how their utility operates.

Colorado Springs Utilities was using a home-grown recruitment tracking system to follow candidates through the talent acquisition process. This system was very manual and required applicants to fill out separate information forms each time they wanted to apply for a position, which led to applicant dissatisfaction and lost candidates. The utility sought to implement a labor-saving, tech savvy solution that would advance the organization and improve processes for hiring managers, the recruiting team, and candidates.

Colorado Springs Utilities selected and easily implemented Oracle TBE Recruiting Manager Cloud Service to streamline the application process and save applicants time while applying for jobs. The new system also provides applicants with automated job updates and real-time information regarding their application status—minimizing application inquiries. With the new solution, Colorado Springs Utilities has reduced the administrative burden on its staff, streamlined the applicant prescreening process, and increased reporting capabilities with the solution’s automated and customizable report-building functionality.

These efficiencies have positioned Colorado Springs Utilities as a green, tech savvy brand, and as a top employer. The solution also enables Colorado Springs Utilities to attract more candidates—increasing the numbers of job applicants from approximately 8,000 in 2007 to approximately 15,000 last year.

 
 

 
 

Challenges

A word from Colorado Springs Utilities

  • “Oracle TBE Recruiting Manager Cloud Service provides a recruiting solution that not only reflects Colorado Springs Utilities’ position as a green, tech savvy organization, but positions us as a top employer. We highly recommend this solution and continue to be impressed with its time-saving, intuitive recruiting tools that support us throughout the entire talent-acquisition process." – Renee Adams, Talent Acquisition and Selection Supervisor, Colorado Springs Utilities

  • Simplify the job application process to attract more candidates—across information technology, business administration, engineering, facilities, and skilled trade and craft—and encourage candidates to apply to multiple open positions
  • Provide utility applicants with access to real-time information and automated updates on their application status
  • Increase reporting capabilities to enable the utility’s HR department to make more informed hiring decisions based on timely information
  • Improve brand reputation with market-leading technology
  • Decrease the time recruiters spend annually on screening applicants

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

  • Replaced a legacy, home-grown recruitment tracking solution with Oracle TBE Recruiting Manager Cloud Service to improve the applicant experience and save applicants time when applying for open positions
  • Implemented a labor-saving, tech savvy solution that meets the organization’s needs—and satisfies hiring managers, the recruiting team, and candidates—thus reinforcing the Colorado Springs Utilities brand as green and tech savvy utility service and positioning the utility as a choice employer
  • Provided applicants with 24/7 access to real-time data about their application status, which reduced the number of inquiries recruiters received regarding job applications
  • Stored candidate information in the database enabling applicants to reapply for positions or apply for new positions without having to start from scratch each time
  • Pushed knock-out questions that served to prescreen applicants, thus decreasing the time recruiters spend on screening, annually, as well as increasing interview productivity, saving the utility approximately 10 hours per job requisition
  • Integrated Oracle TBE Recruiting Manager Cloud Service with the utility’s human resources information system to provide daily updates on all open positions in the organization—from engineering, to information technology, to business administration, to skilled trade and craft—in one hour, compared to the 20 hours per quarter it took with the legacy system
  • Replaced the manual reporting process with automated, customizable reporting, enabling staff to build and schedule recurring reports, highlighting open positions, current candidates, and recruitment initiatives
  • Automated job-posting status reports, which previously took 30 to 60 minutes per week
  • Attracted more candidates with the easy-to-navigate application site—from approximately 8,000 job applicants in 2007 to approximately 15,000 job applicants
  • Integrated Colorado Spring Utilities’ branding across the job application site, thanks to Oracle TBE Recruiting Manager Cloud Service’s flexibility—providing a seamless online experience
  • Enabled candidates to import information directly from LinkedIn to effortlessly create applicant profiles and apply for jobs
  • Used Oracle TBE Recruiting Manager Cloud Service to disseminate job information to partner organizations and job posting sites, enabling the utility to leverage additional recruiting channels
  • Enabled hiring managers to approve and offer positions from their mobile devices
  • Integrated the application site with Outlook mail and calendars, thus saving staff time in communicating back and forth with applicants
  • Reduced the administrative burden associated with the new employee on-boarding process, thanks to the solution’s streamlined communication tools, which eliminated HR employees sending acceptance letters through the postal service or meeting with new hires prior to their first day

Why Oracle

Colorado Spring Utilities sent a request for proposals to various vendors and tested the top four solutions. The utility selected Oracle TBE Recruiting Manager Cloud Service over its competitors due to the solution’s competitive price and implementation ease for human resources staff.

“Oracle TBE Recruiting Manager Cloud Service offered top-of-the-line reporting functionality and customization capabilities, all under an easy-to-navigate layout,” said Renee Adams, talent acquisition and selection supervisor, Colorado Springs Utilities.

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