As fast as Caulfield could solve one problem, another would pop up. Employees complained of being uncomfortable reading everything off a computer monitor and would often print out résumés and job descriptions to ease their eyestrain. Soon the beleaguered owner even found it difficult to force candidates to register electronically--partly because he had failed to account for the limitations of his own technology. For example, to enlist more candidates, Caulfield attended military job fairs where he'd set up two computers running CareerQuest so that service members could fill out the electronic applications. The only trouble was, the company's booth was often inundated with applicants waiting in line to register. Eventually, Caulfield had to revert back to handing out paper applications. In his office sits a basket of CareerQuest disks beside a basket of paper applications. He glances at both with a mixture of disappointment and disdain. "I have no idea when we are going to get those into the computer," says Caulfield.
Soon it seemed as if registration breakdowns were hounding him from every direction. A case in point: Even though an enormous number of candidates register directly with Hire Quality, many more come from the Defense Outplacement Referral System (DORS), an automated résumé referral system that the Department of Defense has set up for employers looking to hire military and defense personnel. So when Hire Quality searches its own database to fill an order for, say, 500 truck drivers for Federal Express, the company also queries DORS to find suitable candidates. But DORS files could not be E-mailed to Hire Quality. Instead, they'd be printed out and then mailed to the company. "It was pure craziness," says Caulfield. "We were covered with DORS paper."
Today, thankfully, the situation isn't as dire as it was only a few months ago. After a long negotiation, the Department of Defense has created an electronic delivery system. And, using proprietary technology created by Cummiskey, DORS candidate files are quickly and easily transferred into HQNet and are transformed into searchable components of the database. Caulfield is also working with a vendor to create a voice-recognition system to speed up the process of electronically registering candidates at job fairs and on military bases.
Had Caulfield made only a perfunctory attempt at a paperless office, trying to attain it might not have been so frustrating. But he had spent an inordinate amount of time and money on his systems. He has dropped almost $400,000 on information technology in the past two years. That equals about 39% of his gross revenues. In comparison, the typical placement firm spends about 10% of gross revenues on technology, according to Paul Hawkinson, publisher of the Fordyce Letter, a monthly newsletter for the executive search industry. The bulk of Caulfield's expenditures, nearly 60%, was on customized software.
In the short term, the spending on technology has had a negative impact on profit margins. In 1995, the company ran in the red, at - 8.9% on revenues of $250,000. For 1996, the revenues jumped dramatically, to almost $1 million, but margins still lagged at 18%. This was better than the year before but still low when compared with the 25% to 50% industry average, says Hawkinson. But Caulfield expects margins to improve to industry norms now that the high cost of building systems from scratch is behind him.
That's not to say he hasn't achieved measurable short-term benefits. He has. It now costs the company only $1.50 to register a candidate, compared with the $5 to $7 it cost in the past. There's a time savings, as well. It used to take the typical Hire Quality employee about 25 minutes to fax 10 résumés to a client. Caulfield now says he has the process down to two and a half minutes. It also takes fewer phone calls to find the right candidates. In the past, Caulfield's employees would have to make from 12 to 15 calls to pin down a referral. Now, thanks largely to the automated phone system, the number is down to 7. And then there's the cost of paper. Caulfield used to go through about three reams of paper a month, at a cost of $41 per box; now it's more like one box every three or four months.
As for the jar by the printer, it's been eliminated. There are, he says, larger fish to fry. Right now, he's pushing his big clients to set up an electronic data interchange system, preferably over the Web, to exchange invoices and forecasting information. Clearly, Caulfield still has a burning desire for a totally paperless office. Only now he doesn't act on it literally.
No More Paper
These five steps could lead you to a paperless office. But beware of the pitfalls along the way.
Provide employees with all the information they need through a centralized database.
Caveat: If your system is too hard to learn or not fast enough, your employees will quickly retreat to paper.
Install scanners to convert incoming paper documents.
Caveat: Make sure you have the power to scan documents quickly and easily. Anything but a fast-running Pentium will choke on large documents.
Reward employees who use the least amount of paper and penalize those who use the most.
Caveat: Penalty systems can build resentment. Make sure your punishments are reasonable and try to keep them lighthearted.
Encourage clients to use E-mail, not paper faxes.
Caveat: Many clients may not have E-mail, so you may have to spend a fair amount of time reformatting and editing faxed documents on-screen.
Offer incentives to clients to implement automated delivery systems, accept electronic invoices, and make electronic payments.
Caveat: Plan for these to be a tough sell, especially with larger clients.
Joshua Macht is an associate editor at Inc. Technology.
