A hidden gem

Vocus Group was founded in 2016 when Vocus Communications and M2 merged to create the 4th largest telco in Australia. 

After a series of mergers and acquisitions across the two businesses and a subsequent merger with Nextgen Networks in 2017, the transition to make Vocus a world-class telecommunications infrastructure platform spanning Australia and New Zealand began. 

When Johanna LaFace joined M2 in 2015, JobAdder had been installed as an interim solution in an effort to move away from email. A larger provider was about to be brought in, leading Johanna to question why the business was moving to a platform that was “large and clunky” when JobAdder was easy to use and adaptable to Vocus’ business.

“It came down to the fact that JobAdder had the functionality we were looking for. After doing a deep-dive learning session to understand more about the product, we knew that we could really make JobAdder work for us,” she recalled. 

Exploring JobAdder 

Furthermore, at the time of the merger, Vocus Communications had no ATS (Applicant Tracking System) in place, so JobAdder became the platform of choice across the board.

“We needed to explore the functions and add-ons JobAdder could provide, and understand what would work for our recruitment strategy at the time” added Johanna, whose role had evolved to Talent Acquisition Manager.

This need led to discussions with a member of JobAdder’s sales team, who provided a demo of the platform and took Vocus on a journey of how to build out the communications that come through JobAdder and in turn, build their career site.

Today, Vocus currently uses the Hiring Manager portal, and they’ve integrated with a number of providers including Xref and HR Onboard. Custom application forms and an upcoming integration with InterCheck are also on the cards for Vocus, which the team is looking forward to. 

Implementing Hiring Manager has meant the team no longer has to rely on multiple systems, as well as negating the need to manually enter data to create a job. 

“The Hiring Manager tool has allowed us to further automate and reduce the amount of admin in our process. Our business is very “fast-moving”, and I believe that JobAdder aligns to that. We get the quick response time out of JobAdder, which is what we need to successfully perform in our roles” said Johanna. 

Partnering with us

Meanwhile, Vocus Group has played a key role in the development of JobAdder’s reporting capabilities for in-house hiring teams. From questions around what needed to be reported on, to understanding how to extract key data and translate it out to the business, Vocus acted as a beta client. 

“Now I can jump into PowerAdder and pull out reports as per our business needs.” 

The JobAdder system was designed for ease of use and simplicity, right down to the dashboard and interface. “The system is intuitive so when it comes to training new users, it has always been a very easy process. New users to JobAdder have always been able to easily navigate the system,” said Johanna. 

“In addition, when the need is there, the JobAdder support team are always very responsive and helpful and always follow up. I’ve connected some of our hiring managers with the JobAdder support team and they’ve been great at working through tech issues and provided a positive experience for our broader team. I love working with the Support Pirates – they are a great team and a great bunch of people.” said Johanna. 

In alignment

And the alignment doesn’t stop there. 

JobAdder very much aligns to Vocus’ company values and culture so the interaction between both businesses is easy. “It’s not just a platform; it’s so much more.” 

Part of Vocus’ focus over the next 12 months is to reduce dependency on external sources by using more proactive means of filling roles.

“We’re focussing on working a little bit smarter, rather than working harder and just being reactive. To address this, we are improving our online presence and building a greater following. It also means we’ll re-do our website so it’s more receptive and welcoming to talent pooling.”

“One of our key takeaways from this year is getting better with using what we’ve got,” added Johanna.

With JobAdder running at full steam, Vocus Group has its sights set firmly on the future.