A Glossary of Key Terms in CRM Data Migration for HR & Recruiting
In today’s fast-paced HR and recruiting landscape, leveraging the right CRM system is paramount for managing candidate pipelines, employee data, and talent acquisition efforts. However, migrating data between these critical systems can be a complex undertaking. This glossary provides HR and recruiting professionals with a clear understanding of key terms associated with CRM data migration, empowering you to navigate transitions with confidence, ensure data integrity, and minimize disruption to your talent management processes. Understanding these core concepts is the first step toward successful automation and robust data governance.
CRM (Candidate Relationship Management / Customer Relationship Management)
CRM, in the context of HR and recruiting, refers to systems used to manage interactions and data throughout the candidate lifecycle, from initial outreach to hiring and beyond. While traditionally “Customer Relationship Management,” its application extends seamlessly to talent acquisition as “Candidate Relationship Management.” These systems centralize candidate profiles, communication history, application statuses, and interview notes. A CRM is essential for building talent pools, automating outreach, and personalizing candidate experiences. For HR teams, migrating CRM data means transferring vital records, ensuring continuity in recruitment efforts, and preventing loss of historical candidate engagement. A clean migration underpins efficient automated workflows in recruiting, such as automated follow-ups or onboarding triggers.
Data Migration
Data migration is the process of transferring data from one storage system, format, or database to another. In HR and recruiting, this typically involves moving candidate profiles, employee records, job requisitions, offer letters, and communication logs from an old CRM or ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to a new one. It’s not just a copy-paste operation; it requires careful planning, data cleansing, and validation to ensure accuracy and integrity in the target system. Successful data migration is critical to maintaining a “single source of truth” for talent data and enabling uninterrupted HR and recruiting operations, especially when integrating new automation tools that rely on accurate, accessible data.
Source System
The source system is the original database, application, or platform from which data is being extracted during a migration. For HR and recruiting professionals, this could be a legacy ATS, an older CRM, or even a collection of spreadsheets where candidate and employee data currently resides. Identifying and understanding the structure, data types, and potential inconsistencies within the source system is the foundational first step in any migration project. Challenges often arise from disparate data formats, outdated entries, or custom fields that don’t directly map to the new system, requiring significant preparatory work to ensure a smooth transition of valuable talent data.
Target System
The target system is the new database, application, or platform into which data is being loaded during a migration. In HR and recruiting, this is typically your chosen new CRM, ATS, or HRIS (Human Resources Information System) that offers enhanced features, better integration capabilities, or improved scalability. The design and requirements of the target system dictate how the extracted data must be transformed and formatted. A well-defined target system ensures that migrated data aligns with its new structure, enabling HR and recruiting teams to immediately leverage the new system’s functionalities for improved candidate management, reporting, and automated workflows.
Data Cleansing
Data cleansing, also known as data scrubbing, is the process of detecting and correcting (or removing) corrupt, inaccurate, incorrectly formatted, duplicate, or incomplete records within a dataset. Before migrating HR or recruiting data, cleansing is paramount. This involves standardizing names, correcting contact information, removing duplicate candidate profiles, and filling in missing essential fields. Failing to cleanse data can lead to migrating “garbage in,” resulting in faulty reports, inefficient automation, poor candidate experiences, and a lack of trust in the new system. It’s a critical step for maintaining data integrity and ensuring accurate insights post-migration.
Data Mapping
Data mapping is the process of creating a direct relationship between fields in a source system and fields in a target system. For HR and recruiting data migration, this involves identifying which candidate’s “first name” field in the old system corresponds to the “first name” field in the new CRM, or how a “previous employer” field might be broken down into separate company and role fields. Complex mapping may require transformation rules to convert data types or combine/split fields. Accurate data mapping is crucial for ensuring that all relevant HR and recruiting information lands in the correct place in the new system, preserving the structure and usability of your talent data.
Data Validation
Data validation is the process of ensuring that data is accurate, consistent, and complete after it has been migrated to the new system. This involves verifying that all records were transferred, that data types are correct, that relationships between data points (e.g., a candidate linked to a specific job application) are intact, and that no data was corrupted during the transfer. For HR and recruiting, validation is often done through sample checks, automated scripts, and comparison reports between source and target data. Rigorous data validation mitigates the risk of errors that could impact compliance, reporting, and daily operational efficiency, providing confidence in your new CRM’s data foundation.
Data Integrity
Data integrity refers to the overall accuracy, completeness, and consistency of data throughout its lifecycle. In HR and recruiting, maintaining data integrity means ensuring that candidate profiles are current, employee records are error-free, and all relevant information is stored securely and reliably. It’s a crucial aspect of compliance and effective talent management. Data migration poses a significant risk to data integrity if not handled correctly. Processes like data cleansing, validation, and proper mapping are all designed to uphold data integrity, ensuring that decisions based on this data are sound and that automated HR workflows function as intended.
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)
ETL is a three-phase process used in data migration and integration. **Extract** involves reading data from the source system. **Transform** involves converting the extracted data into the format required by the target system, which includes cleansing, mapping, and aggregating data. **Load** involves writing the transformed data into the target system. For HR and recruiting, an ETL process streamlines the movement of large volumes of candidate and employee data, ensuring that it is processed and standardized before being ingested by the new CRM. This structured approach helps manage the complexities of data conversion and reduces the risk of errors.
Data Governance
Data governance refers to the overall management of the availability, usability, integrity, and security of data in an enterprise. For HR and recruiting, this involves establishing policies, procedures, and roles to define who is accountable for specific data assets, how data is collected, stored, used, and disposed of. During a CRM migration, strong data governance ensures compliance with privacy regulations (like GDPR or CCPA) and internal company policies. It dictates how data cleansing is performed, what data is migrated, and how data quality is maintained post-migration, safeguarding sensitive candidate and employee information throughout its lifecycle.
Legacy System
A legacy system is an outdated computing system, software, or technology that is still in use. In HR and recruiting, this could be an old, on-premise ATS, a custom-built database, or even a CRM that no longer meets the organization’s needs for scalability, integration, or modern features. While legacy systems may still function, they often lack compatibility with newer technologies, are difficult to maintain, and hinder automation efforts. Data migration from a legacy system is frequently challenging due to proprietary formats, poor documentation, and the need for extensive data transformation to fit into a modern target system.
Data Security
Data security encompasses the protective measures used to safeguard data from unauthorized access, corruption, or theft throughout its entire lifecycle. For HR and recruiting data, which often includes highly sensitive personal information, social security numbers, and compensation details, robust data security during migration is non-negotiable. This involves encrypting data during transfer, restricting access to migration tools and environments, and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. A breach during migration can have severe legal, financial, and reputational consequences, making security protocols a top priority for any data transfer project.
Data Backup
Data backup is the process of creating a copy of data that can be used to restore the original in the event of data loss or corruption. Before initiating any CRM data migration, performing a comprehensive backup of the source system is an absolute imperative. This creates a safety net, allowing HR and recruiting teams to revert to the original state if the migration encounters unforeseen issues, data is corrupted, or the new system fails to integrate as expected. Regular backups are also crucial for ongoing data recovery and disaster preparedness, protecting your valuable candidate and employee records.
Cutover Strategy
A cutover strategy is a detailed plan for transitioning from the old (source) system to the new (target) system, effectively “going live” with the migrated data. For HR and recruiting, this involves deciding when to stop using the old CRM, when to finalize data loading, and when the new system becomes fully operational for recruiters, hiring managers, and HR staff. A successful cutover minimizes downtime, ensures a smooth transition for users, and prevents disruption to critical hiring and onboarding processes. It often includes phased rollouts, user training, and a clear communication plan to manage expectations and adoption.
Rollback Plan
A rollback plan is a contingency strategy outlining the steps to revert to the old (source) system if the new (target) system or the data migration process fails catastrophically or does not meet critical operational requirements. In HR and recruiting, a robust rollback plan provides a safety net against unforeseen issues that could paralyze recruitment or HR functions. It involves using the data backup created prior to migration and reversing any changes made during the cutover. Developing and testing a rollback plan is a crucial risk mitigation step, ensuring that the organization can continue essential talent management operations even if the migration encounters severe problems.
If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: Your Guide to Secure HR & Recruiting CRM Migration with CRM-Backup
