WCN Plc and Marks and Spencer wins Onrec Award

WCN Plc, a e-recruitment software supplier based in London, and Marks and Spencer were this yearís winners of the Onrec.com Award for Best Technical Innovation in Online Recruitment.

This is the second year running that WCN and Marks and Spencer have won the award. ìWe are delighted to have won the award again. Technical innovation is at the forefront of our recruitment strategy,î said Dan Thompson, selection process specialist at Marks and Spencer.

WCN was also a finalist for two further awards: for their work with HM Customs and Excise (Best Corporate Use of Online Recruitment) and for the Onrec Education Award for writing the ìDepartment of Trade and Industry Guide to Best Practice in e-Recruitmentî shortly to be published on the DTI website.

Retailers like Marks and Spencer have complex recruitment needs and have to deal with high volumes of applications to fill a large number of similar positions. Marks and Spencer manages all applications for store jobs via WCNís Applicant Tracking System. The system is based on complex two way integration with the Marks and Spencer HR system.

The system now allows candidates who are successful after applying and completing online tests, to book their own interview within an hour of completing their application. Stores input vacancies and give available assessment times on the Marks and Spencer HR system, this data is then transferred to the WCN system and displayed to candidates online. The functionality was launched in July 2006 and over 42,000 candidates were able to schedule their own interviews for Christmas vacancies that year.