Recruitment company employs new technology to gain more flexibility and efficiency in the workplace.

Background Bannister Brunner Recruitment (BBR) is a niche recruitment agency, specialising in advertising, media and marketing personnel. Within these creative industries, BBR places staff across all levels of the business — including creative, administrative, account services and management. With experience in the advertising and marketing industries, partners Anne Bannister and Vicki Brunner are well placed to help recruit the perfect staff for their clients, and this inspired the launch of BBR in 2001. They now have four staff working on the business.

Business Situation

BBR may have started as a small operation, but the business has developed quickly in its first five years. The recruitment industry has become more reliant on technology as candidate resumés, job descriptions and contracts are now received, processed and sent to potential employers and employees electronically, rather than in hard copy.

Initially, BBR was operating with two older desktop PCs in a peer-to-peer network, and utilizing one generic email address for the whole business. With the business becoming increasingly busy, Anne and Vicki were required to be available more often outside of standard business hours to take client calls and run interviews with candidates. As both partners live significant distances from the office, Anne and Vicki realised they needed the flexibility of being able to work remotely. It became imperative for both partners to access their company files and emails from outside the office. Another requirement of the business was to have a centralised database containing contact details of both clients and candidates, which also needed to be remotely accessible.

The Solution

BBR had utilised a number of ‘IT guys’ over their years in business, but never felt particularly happy with any of them. After having little success with other providers, BBR turned to Grassroots IT, who were able to assess BBR’s current technology and tailor a solution to meet the needs of the business.

Grassroots IT identified BBR’s system requirements to include: 

• Centralised data and organised system of documents, candidate and client information.
• The ability to work remotely and access relevant information from outside the offi ce.
• Structured, regular backup system to ensure the safety and security of company data.
• A domain name to gain greater fl exibility with email and web facilities and reinforce the BBR brand.

Grassroots IT provided advice on BBR’s existing equipment, analysing what elements could still be used, what needed to be upgraded and what should be replaced. Following this analysis, BBR purchased one new desktop PC, two laptops and a server with Grassroots IT’s assistance on specifications. As Grassroots IT does not have allegiances with any particular hardware brands, they could offer an objective opinion on which equipment would work best for the business within the allocated budget.

Grassroost IT set up the new server on the Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) platform, which is ideal to enable the team remote access to centralised data. The equipment required to run backups is built in to the new server and Microsoft SBS provided the system to confi gure and run the regular backups for BBR. All existing PCs were upgraded with XP Professional software, to ensure they are able to integrate seamlessly with the new server and network.

BBR’s broadband internet access in the office was altered slightly to work with the new server, and broadband access was also installed in the home offi ces to ensure both partners could work remotely. In addition, BBR purchased their own domain name (bbrecruit.com.au) to provide even greater flexibility with their email and present a stronger brand image. In order for BBR to have reliable access to their business contact details, they decided to utilise ACT!, a leading customer relationship management software package. Through Grassroots IT’s extensive industry contacts, a specialist consultant was brought in to assist with the installation and preliminary training.

After the installation and configuration of the new system, Grassroots IT was on hand to manage any modifications required. As BBR became more familiar with the features of the new system, the team was able to work with Grassroots IT to customise it further so the system is even more in tune with BBR’s daily business processes. Since the initial installation, BBR has registered for the Grassroots IT scheduled maintenance program, a regular ‘health check up’ for the system, to install any program updates and ensure the system is running at the optimum level. While the scheduled maintenance program doesn’t guarantee system hiccups won’t occur, it certainly reduces the likelihood of future issues arising.

Benefits

With the introduction of a customised IT system, BBR has gained increased time efficiency and the ability to respond to the needs of clients more quickly and easily. This is largely due to the installation of the Microsoft Small Business Server, with its many timesaving features. According to a study by Forbes.com, businesses using Windows Small Business Server 2003 reported that, on average, their employees were 20% more productive on the job.

Previously when an important client called one of the BBR team at night urgently requiring a copy of a resumé, this would have been impossible without a team member driving into the Brisbane office. BBR’s capacity to access company information from a home office, or from a laptop while travelling, has made a significant difference to the team, allowing a more flexible working environment.

With the implementation of a system that supports centralized data storage, shared record keeping is enabled, which means fewer disconnected pockets of information and less time wasted searching for files and managing different versions of files. Centralised data storage also means that BBR’s company information is more secure. With the use of Microsoft SBS platform, BBR’s data is backed up regularly and earlier versions of fi les can be retrieved if they are accidentally deleted. SBS also offers a secure infrastructure to protect from unwanted threats, such as unauthorized users, spammers and viruses.

Essentially, recruitment is all about people. The new system has enabled more effi cient business processes, which means the team at BBR can spend more of their time with people, maximizing face to face time with valued clients, rather than being stuck behind their desks. The new system implemented by Grassroots IT has enabled the BBR team to ‘work smarter, not harder’, especially with the implementation of centralized data storage and remote access to that data, allowing greater flexibility for the team members.

For more information on Bannister Brunner Recruitment (BBR), please contact by telephone on 07 3852 6122 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it