The Ultimate Guide to a Seamless Talent CRM Migration

Your business's success hinges on the effectiveness of your Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) software. It serves as the central hub for storing, monitoring, and analyzing crucial candidate data and interactions. Without it, navigating candidate relationships becomes a complex and complicated endeavor.

Finding the right Talent CRM that supports your needs is a critical investment of both time and money. It should seamlessly process, organize, and utilize your data to drive actionable insights while streamlining your existing hiring processes. If your current CRM isn't meeting these fundamental requirements, it might be time to explore alternative solutions.

A robust Talent CRM solution is essential for businesses of all sizes, enabling them to thrive in a competitive talent acquisition landscape. It should be a solution to common problems rather than a source of more problems. 

In this article, we’ll go over everything that will help you prepare for your Talent CRM migration, including the benefits, common challenges, and how to plan effectively. 

In This Article

What is a CRM Migration?

CRM migration refers to the transfer of data points — including jobs, candidates, and applicants — from one Talent CRM to another. Organizations will typically conduct the migration by leveraging Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) or by taking a file-based approach.  It requires meticulous planning, analysis, and execution to ensure a smooth transition while preserving your data integrity. 

The process begins with assessing the existing data within your Talent CRM and identifying what data needs to be migrated, potential challenges, and the prioritization of the data that’s being transferred. 

By following best practices, leveraging the appropriate tools, and creating a clear data migration plan, organizations can minimize risks and maximize the benefits of transitioning to a new Talent CRM solution. 

Benefits of Migrating CRMs

Migrating from one Talent CRM to another offers numerous advantages that streamline operations and enhance overall business efficiency. From improved data management to enhanced candidate insights, the benefits are multifaceted. 

By exploring key areas such as data centralization, automation capabilities, and scalability, businesses can unlock the full potential of talent CRM migration to drive growth and success. Let’s dive into the seven benefits of migrating your CRM.

Related: Stop Compromising: 5 Must-Have Talent CRM Features in 2024

Clean, Accessible Data 

Forty percent of businesses claim that their best recruits are internal candidates, and with easy access to clean data within a Talent CRM, your teams can quickly identify potential candidates for open roles before searching externally. 

High-quality, clean data is essential, providing benefits both in the short and long term. Well-managed and presented data reduces the time spent searching for information, swiftly facilitating the creation of impactful narratives.

Improved Functionality

Upgrading to a new Talent CRM can offer enhanced or specialized functionalities that were missing in your previous solution. These may entail improved integration with other platforms, advanced analytics, heightened automation capabilities, better utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) and supported use cases, and even refined user interfaces. An upgraded Talent CRM should meet your essential recruitment and hiring operational requirements, adding to your business processes' overall value.

Cost Savings 

Migration to a well-suited Talent CRM solution not only streamlines operations but also brings about considerable cost savings. By leveraging a Talent CRM solution, businesses can bypass the expenses associated with maintaining in-house hardware and managing intricate infrastructure. 

Additionally, the selective migration of essential assets further optimizes resource allocation, leading to significant time and cost savings. This strategic approach not only reduces upfront investment but also minimizes ongoing operational expenses, contributing to long-term financial efficiency and sustainability.

Increased ROI

With better functionalities and cleaner data, your new CRM system can boost your return on investment. It can enhance candidate engagement, optimize your marketing efforts, streamline your sales process, and ultimately increase revenue.

For example, using the Phenom Talent CRM, users see a 49% reduction in time to fill roles, which saves your hiring teams both time and money. 

Optimized Productivity 

Without a well-fitted Talent CRM, teams spend valuable time switching between their CRM and the other tools they use for marketing, customer service, and sales. That time spent jumping from tool to tool could be better spent on identifying new prospects, nurturing existing leads, and upselling to meet business goals.  

Improved Data Security

Talent CRM migrations frequently rely on APIs to facilitate seamless access to data. APIs serve as intermediaries that enable the exchange of information between different software applications without necessitating the storage of data in additional locations. 

By leveraging APIs, businesses not only streamline the migration process but also maintain tighter control over their data, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and vulnerabilities associated with data storage across multiple platforms.

Provide a Better Candidate Experience 

A proper Talent CRM migration makes it possible to provide a better experience for job seekers. By integrating CRM systems, talent acquisition teams can gain a more comprehensive view of each candidate, enabling them to personalize their outreach and communication strategies effectively, ultimately leading to higher engagement, application conversion rate, and quality of hire.

Streamline your CRM migration by downloading The Talent CRM Migration Kit now.

6 Common CRM Migration Challenges

It is a tremendous feat to take on a Talent CRM migration, and the success of this project can transform your entire organization. To aid you on your quest, here are some setbacks you should try to avoid. 

1. Data knowledge gaps

One of the pivotal challenges encountered during a Talent CRM migration is navigating data knowledge gaps. These gaps often arise due to inconsistencies or inadequacies in understanding the existing data ecosystem. Without a thorough comprehension of the data structure, businesses risk encountering hurdles that can impede the migration process. 

These gaps may manifest as incomplete or inaccurate data, disparate data formats, or varying levels of data quality across different systems. By bridging these knowledge gaps, businesses can lay a solid foundation for a successful CRM migration, enabling seamless data transition and maximizing the value derived from their investment.

2. Not validating migration implementation

Failure to validate migration implementation during CRM migration poses significant risks, including data loss, integrity issues, and functionality gaps, which can undermine the effectiveness of the new system. 

Businesses should develop a strong validation strategy, including diverse testing scenarios, and engage key stakeholders to identify and address issues early on. Prioritizing validation instills confidence in data integrity and Talent CRM functionality, minimizing post-migration challenges and maximizing ROI.

3. Lack of collaboration and preparation 

It’s always better to measure twice and cut once. If you do not properly plan and prepare for a Talent CRM migration, your organization can find itself incurring extra costs and delays. It’s ok to take your time here. Clearly define your goals, create a complete migration plan, and consider all the needed integrations to make the new system run smoothly. 

4. Failing to understand the scope of the project

Migrating to a new Talent CRM can be complicated if not done correctly. It’s important to lay out the full scope of the project and all the workflows that will be impacted by this change. Having clarity on the complete scope of the project will allow you to properly set expectations and set aside necessary resources. 

5. Trying to migrate everything all at once

Attempting to migrate everything all at once can overwhelm resources, leading to an increased risk of errors and data loss. It often results in longer downtimes and disruption to regular operations, impacting productivity and customer service. A phased approach to migration allows for better control, minimizes risks, and ensures a smoother transition to the new Talent CRM.

6. Lack of system compatibility 

A modern Talent CRM needs to interact with other software, generate talent pools, and engage candidates at scale to keep your organization optimally running. Not having insight into compatibility between systems can result in major data inconsistencies, and problems integrating with essential tools. Define compatibility issues early on to keep the migration and interaction between your systems consistent. 

How to Plan for a Migration

Planning for a successful migration requires careful consideration and strategic foresight. Here are a couple of steps to keep in mind that will help set your teams up for success before, during, and after migration:

Get the Team Ready for the Change

Give a brief explanation of the big-picture vision for the project, outlining the overarching goals and objectives, along with a clear timeline for achieving them. Define key stakeholder responsibilities to ensure everyone understands their role in the migration process and their contribution to the project's success. 

Ready for a talent tech transition? Book a CRM migration conversation with our team.

Understand the 'Why' of Migration

Defining your “why” before you start a migration project can keep your teams aligned and working together toward the same goal. There are three steps to consider that will help you establish why you’re taking on this project and outline what you hope to accomplish: 

1. What’s the problem? Lay out the reasons and problems you are trying to solve. Are you having trouble building talent pools? Are you unable to reach out to candidates to scale? Are you unable to leverage more modern skills-based approaches for hiring? 

2. Look before you leap. If you are migrating from one talent acquisition point solution or are looking for a solution that can help make your ATS sing, evaluating your current set-up is key to defining the goals and outcomes you want to achieve. Now is the time to get organized. 

3. Write it down. Having a simple and succinct mission statement will keep you aligned with your key stakeholders throughout the entire migration process. This statement should hold your goals, the positive outcomes you’re going to achieve, and how your new Talent CRM will support your sourcers, recruiters, talent marketers, and hiring managers. 

Identify Core Business Processes

Lay out your system requirements to get a better overall picture of existing processes. We recommend keeping them prioritized based on business needs to prevent confusion. 

By mapping out existing processes and fields to your new Talent CRM — plus noting all needed integrations — you’ll be able to make informed decisions surrounding which business processes need to be migrated first, second, and third. 

Sort this list by prioritizing the improvement of key integrations and escalating the implementation of impactful features that will transform the lives of your team members. If you are looking to save your recruiters’ time and boost their efficiency, consider rolling out an automated interview scheduling solution. 

Distinguish 'Nice-to-haves' from 'Need-to-haves'

It's crucial to differentiate between features or functionalities that are optional and those that are essential. By thoroughly examining your current systems and tools, identifying their limitations, understanding your data quality and standardization needs, and listing desired customizations, you can make informed decisions about what elements are vital for your Talent CRM migration success.

Decide What to Migrate and Backup Your Data

Before proceeding with data migration, it's imperative to prepare, clean, and map your data to ensure its accuracy and integrity. Craft a comprehensive data migration plan by defining migration phases, specifying the data to be migrated, and identifying any additional vendors needed for support throughout the process. Backing up your data ensures that you have a safety net in case of any unforeseen issues during the migration process.

Understand and Translate Automation and Systems

As you implement new workflows and automation, thorough testing before the official rollout is essential. This allows you to identify and address any major issues or bugs before the new Talent CRM system is widely adopted. Understanding the intricacies of automation and systems ensures a smooth transition.

Set a Timeline for Migration

Launching a change management framework and sharing regular progress reports with the team is essential for maintaining alignment throughout the migration process. Setting a clear timeline ensures that everyone involved understands the expectations and deadlines, facilitating a coordinated and efficient migration process. Regular communication and updates foster transparency and accountability, ultimately contributing to the success of the CRM migration project.

Schedule Frequent Tests 

Testing is a necessary step of any CRM migration, and it can’t be neglected. When you don’t properly test, unknown bugs and issues can pop up when the system is live, impeding your progress and lengthening your timeline. 

These issues are easily avoided with a proper testing plan. We recommend maintaining a steady testing process of all new features throughout the migration process. 

It’s also important to test various business use cases and any integration points that may be present to ensure all issues are fixed before going live. This will help your teams feel confident that you’re delivering a positive end-user experience right out of the gate. 

Train Your Employees on the New CRM

Training your employees on the new Talent CRM is crucial for a smooth transition and maximizing its effectiveness. Develop comprehensive training programs tailored to various user roles, ensuring each employee understands how to navigate the system efficiently. 

Providing ongoing support and resources post-training fosters confidence and proficiency, empowering employees to leverage the CRM's full potential to enhance productivity and customer engagement.

Tackle Your CRM Migration With Confidence

Finding the right vendor partner to assist you with your CRM migration is critical to your success. You’ll want to assess the vendor’s technical expertise, proven track record, and project management skills alongside their ability to understand your business needs. 

With the right training and support resources, your CRM migration can be smooth and painless. Ready to migrate away from your CRM? Find time to connect with our team to discuss your migration needs.