Your CRM migration for staffing firms was supposed to streamline operations, not create chaos. But imagine three weeks after going live, your recruiters are calling the help desk daily. Six months of detailed candidate notes have vanished. Client contact histories are scrambled across duplicate records. The automated workflows that matched candidates to jobs ceased to function entirely. What should have been a simple technology upgrade has become an operational nightmare, costing you key placements and client relationships.
You’re not alone in this struggle. Only 36 percent of data migration projects stay within budget, and just 46 percent finish on time.1 The culprit usually isn’t technical failure but inadequate data preparation. When you rush into migrations without properly auditing, cleaning, and mapping your recruiting data, you risk losing the institutional knowledge that drives successful placements. The solution lies in treating data preparation as a strategic project, not an IT afterthought.
The Data Chaos That Kills Migrations
Poor data preparation doesn’t just slow down your migration but creates specific operational disasters that compound over time.
Duplicate candidate records mean recruiters can’t find qualified candidates they know exist.
When the same person appears three times in your system with slightly different names or email addresses, search results become unreliable. Your recruiter knows they placed a perfect .NET developer six months ago but can’t locate their record because it’s buried under variations like “John Smith,” “J. Smith,” and “John C. Smith.” Meanwhile, your competitor fills the role with that same candidate.
Inconsistent job titles and skill tags break search functionality entirely.
One recruiter enters “Software Engineer,” while another uses “Sr. Software Engr.” and a third chooses “Software Developer III.” When clients need Java developers fast, your search returns incomplete results because half your qualified candidates are tagged inconsistently. The new CRM amplifies this problem by requiring exact matches for automated workflows.
Lost relationship mapping destroys institutional knowledge.
Your senior recruiter knows each client’s hiring managers and their candidate preferences. However, if those relationship connections are not transferred properly, new team members can’t access that wisdom. Client preferences, fee negotiations, and placement history become scattered across orphaned records.
Broken automation workflows when fields don’t match the new system structure.
Your old system tracked “availability date,” while the new one requires “start date preference.” Your automated candidate matching stops working because the data formats don’t align. Simple field mismatches can disable entire workflow sequences that took months to perfect.
The Pre-Migration Data Preparation Framework
Successful CRM migration for staffing firms requires systematic data preparation that goes far beyond basic cleanup. Here’s how to build a foundation that protects your recruiting operations during the transition.
Inventory Your Data Sources
Map every system feeding candidate and client information into your current workflow—your ATS, VMS platforms, spreadsheets, email lists, and even social media contacts. Most staffing firms discover they’re pulling data from 8-12 different sources without realizing it. Document which systems contain your most current information versus outdated duplicates.
Assess Data Quality by Category
Examine candidate records for completeness of contact information, skills, and availability status. Review client data for decision-maker relationships, fee structures, and compliance requirements. According to McKinsey, 82 percent of organizations spend one or more days per week resolving master data quality issues—problems that multiply during migration if not addressed upfront.
Identify Mission-Critical vs. Historical Noise
Determine what data would disrupt operations if lost versus what’s just taking up storage space. Your active candidate pipeline and current client relationships are essential. That database of resumes from 2019 or several years back with outdated contact information probably isn’t worth migrating.
Map Current Workflows to New System Structure
Document how your recruiters use data day-to-day, not how they’re supposed to use it. Does your team rely on specific note formats? Do they use custom fields for tracking candidate preferences? Understanding these real-world workflows prevents nasty surprises when familiar processes break in the new system.
Standardize Critical Fields Before Migration
Create consistent naming conventions for job titles, skills, industries, and client types. Transform “Sr. Software Engineer,” “Senior Software Engr.,” and “Software Engineer III” into a single, standardized format. This prevents the new system from treating identical data as different categories.
Consolidate Duplicate Records While You Can Reference Sources
Merge duplicate candidates and clients now, while you can still cross-reference the original systems to verify accuracy. Once migration is complete, identifying the “correct” version becomes much harder.
Set Realistic Timeline and Budget Expectations
Plan for 20-30 percent longer than initial estimates and budget for data preparation as a separate workstream. McKinsey found that 62 percent of organizations have no well-defined process for integrating new and existing data sources, which explains why timelines frequently slip.2
Build a Data Governance Foundation for Ongoing Maintenance
Establish who owns data quality for each category and create maintenance schedules. The best practices for staffing CRM data migration include setting up processes that prevent the same cleanup from being needed again in three years.
Common Data Preparation Mistakes
Organizations often make these errors when preparing data for CRM migration:
- Accepting poor data quality – Data issues become magnified in new systems
- Migrating unnecessary data – Excess data reduces system performance and user clarity
- Overlooking user workflows – Systems must match how teams actually operate
- Ignoring data relationships – Connected records must migrate together, or functionality gets broken
- Skipping governance planning – Without maintenance processes, data quality degrades quickly
Ready to Migrate Without Chaos?
Data preparation for CRM migration isn’t a one-time project but the foundation for long-term recruiting success. When your data is properly audited, cleaned, and mapped before migration, your team can focus on filling positions instead of fixing broken workflows.
As Bullhorn’s #1 System Integration Partner, Newbury Partners handles the technical complexity while you keep your business running. Don’t let poor preparation turn your CRM upgrade into an operational disaster.
Contact us today to discover how our migration expertise can protect your recruiting data and accelerate your time to value with your new system.
References
1. McDowell, Steve. “Overcoming the Challenges of Data Migration.” Forbes, Moor Insights and Strategy, 15 Mar. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2021/03/15/overcoming-the-challenges-of-data-migration/.
2. McKinsey & Company. “Master Data Management: The Key to Getting More from Your Data.” McKinsey & Company, 15 May 2024, https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/master-data-management-the-key-to-getting-more-from-your-data.
