Online recruitment is right fit for Boots

High street health and beauty retailer Boots will undergo a recruitment transformation programme this autumn in a bid to attract more suitable candidates.

Recruiting around 20,000 permanent and temporary employees each year, Boots will abandon its paper-based hiring method for an internet-based system provided by recruitment software provider StepStone.

Mark Gilbertson, head of recruitment services at Boots, hailed the new system as a positive step for HR, saying it fitted in with the company's people agenda and would help reduce attrition rates.

"We aim to make recruitment simpler for 2,500 stores nationwide, and reduce the time it takes to resource candidates," he said.

"With the vast number of employees we recruit annually, the new system will help the company reduce time to hire, along with increasing quality of hire, and the introduction of online psychometric testing will enable it to identify the most promising talent," he added.

Previously, store managers were responsible for the labour intensive, admin-based process of recruiting new people.

Dave Vallance, HR operations director at Boots, said the new system would enable the firm to attract and select better quality people, and simplify the process for applicants and recruiting managers.

"Getting these things right will enhance our employment brand, and free-up time in our stores to focus on our customers," he said.