Background: The United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has multiple units that require varying skill sets to perform their operations. As a result, SOCOM vets their candidates through an extensive recruiting process. HigherEchelon’s work for SOCOM allows the capture of information, tracking, evaluation, and reporting on the recruitment of potential candidates.
Problem: SOCOM was executing a nationwide recruiting effort via email, Excel and other manual methods with no centralized system to track and document recruitment activities. The application process was paper-intensive, requiring the completion of nine (9) PDF forms , totaling 38 pages of documentation. All candidate evaluation and scoring was done manually in Excel. All candidate and evaluation communications were over email with no formal way to track next actions, SLA, etc. The result that was that strong candidates were being lost due to complexities and inefficiencies in the system, and previous candidates that had applied were not easily retrieved for their possible fit for other missions.
Solution: Using Salesforce Service Cloud and Community Cloud, HigherEchelon built an online application portal tailored to meet SOCOM’s recruitment and candidate evaluation requirements. HE used web-to-lead functionality to create a landing page as an initial entry point into the application process and allow recruiters to advance leads based on initial review. Two separate Communities were built: one for the approved applicants and one for the SOCOM staff. HE digitally transformed the 9 PDF forms to make them easier to fill out and complete, all while enabling SOCOM staff to monitor progress and intercede as necessary to ensure successful completion. HE then employed custom objects and approval flows to implement an Order of Merit List board process. This involved a 3-step review cycle culminating in a board evaluation and placement decision. Also included in the solution were sophisticated reports and dashboards to monitor program health, as well as the implementation of Cases to allow issues to be reporting and quickly addressed.
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