Yesterday we heard from Rebecca Barnes-Hogg of YOLO Insights on the topic of mass recruiting. Today, she answers a few questions.
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When all it takes is a few keystrokes to apply for a job, recruiters often find themselves in a quandary: A “successful” posting has attracted a candidate pool that is vastly larger than what was expected. Dealing with hundreds or thousands of résumés—many of which are from woefully unqualified applicants—is overwhelming. Recruiters, and especially high-volume recruiters, need a solid strategy and a process that is efficient and effective, yet still creates a positive candidate experience.
Barnes-Hogg has supplied some frequently asked questions—and answers—to this HR topic.
Q—What are the best metrics to show that my high-volume recruiting strategy is working?
A—There are many ways to measure your success. In addition to traditional metrics like time to fill and cost per hire, you can also use these more meaningful metrics.
- Source quality. For each recruiting source (job board, employee referral, targeted sourcing of passive candidates, etc.), track the quality of your candidates. Your goal is to have consistently high-quality candidates from your sources because that saves valuable time and money.
- Applicant quality. This is closely related to source quality. Tracking the number of candidates who are qualified confirms your sources and job-posting are doing a great job of attracting qualified candidates.
- Manager/Applicant satisfaction. Measuring both manager and applicant satisfaction with your recruiting process provides valuable insights on where your process is efficient and where you can improve.
- Quality of hire. Track real performance for your new hires, including turnover in the first 30 days to 1 year, as well as your normal performance metrics like progress on goals and objectives.
Q—How do you create an effective employer brand to facilitate high-volume recruiting?
A—An employer brand is who you are as a company. Start by having conversations with your current employees to find out why they work there, what they are passionate about, and what keeps them working for you. Ask your new hires why they picked you from other companies or other offers they may have received.
Next, look at why people leave. What are their reasons? Are you giving a realistic preview of your company and your jobs? Find out where the “miss” happens. Also ask candidates why they rejected your offer.
The answers to these questions help you understand who your ideal candidates are, what they value, who your competitors are, and how you can position yourself to be more attractive to your candidates.
This information helps you create an employer brand story that is truthful and realistic. You might need to work with marketing to create messaging and communication strategies to make your employer brand come alive for candidates.
Q—What are some things I can do to speed up the recruiting process?
A—Do an audit of your recruiting process and look for ways to be more efficient. For example, limit approvals or use electronic approvals, begin preliminary sourcing while the job requisition is in progress, and work with hiring managers to eliminate job specs that severely limit your candidate pool.
Also, consider how you might divide and conquer steps in your process—such as assigning dedicated staff to sourcing candidates or prescreening résumés. Wherever possible, automate routine tasks like scheduling and reminders.
