This is a guest blog of our partner TeamTailor.
The amount of data available to us these days is truly astonishing. But simply having this data is not enough – it’s important to interrogate it and put any insights to good use! Especially, when attempting to improve recruitment success. Research shows that HR teams who harness data-driven recruitment are twice as likely to find talent more efficiently than the ones who don’t. However, with so much data available it can be tricky to decide which metrics to keep track of. Specific metrics may vary depending on your business needs. However, using data effectively can help to vastly improve the efficiency and productivity of your recruitment.
The 4 data points that determine how successful is your recruitment process
Data point 1: Keep track of time
Regularly assessing the time and money spent during the recruitment process should be a top priority for any HR team. For example, keeping track of time-to-fill is a great way of pinpointing where delays are happening and for which roles in particular. This will tell you how much time has elapsed between first posting a job to actually hiring someone. The average time-to-fill can vary a lot depending on the industry and the role; certain skill sets and competencies can take longer to assess than others.
Spending far too long on the recruitment process is one of the biggest reasons companies lose money in recruitment today. That’s exactly why this a vital metric to track. Furthermore, the best candidates are often simultaneously interviewing for multiple roles – a speedy recruitment process could be the difference between making a hire and starting from scratch. By analysing this data and understanding where time is being lost, HR teams stand to increase the efficiency of their hiring and avoid missing out on the top talent.
It’s also important to consider how many resources you’re using for each hire. It may be that you discover funds could be better distributed in other areas or that budgets can be lowered. Advertising expenses, marketing costs and software fees are all things to consider when calculating this metric. It may require some trial-and-error testing to identify what works and what is most cost effective for your business.
Data point 2: Quality over quantity when ensuring successful hiring process
A lot of the time it can seem as though everything is working well and your recruitment process is running smoothly. However, it is also crucial to ensure the quality of the hires you are making. This can be a little more difficult and requires assessing the job performance of your employees and setting KPIs to understand their proficiency. This will allow you to highlight areas for improvement in your company and assess the quality of hires. (Are you really finding the best candidates available?).
Data point 3: Candidates should come first within your recruitment process
According to the Talent Board’s 2015 North American Candidate Experience Research Report, ‘organisations are better able to deliver higher quality talent and align more closely with company goals when the candidate comes first’.
The data you gather on your recruitment process should highlight areas to make the experience more streamlined. As well as less tedious not only for the recruiter, but the candidate too. A smoother recruitment process might be the difference in swaying a candidate’s decision in applying elsewhere. Particularly with stronger candidates who perhaps aren’t short of options with job opportunities and can afford to be slightly more fussy.
One simple yet effective way around this is to make your application process more fun! Customise your application process in a way that reflects your company culture. Whether that involves optimising a job vacancy for mobile or using psychometric testing, give the candidate a flavour of your company and try to avoid the typical, dull application form.
As a result, recruiters can get a better sense of their candidates’ experience through key statistics such as applicant drop-off rate. According to iMomentous, most companies have an 80% drop-off rate during their application process. This staggering figure should be enough to convince companies to prioritise candidate experience and continuously use drop-off rates as a benchmark.
Data point 4: Diversity
The notion of diversity in the workplace has been well documented as a contributing factor to an organisation’s success. The difference today, in contrast to more traditional hiring methods, is that businesses are able to track diversity with more joy. While simultaneously, closely monitoring analytics in line with organisational goals. Such data can come in the form of demographic ratios that outline ethnicity, gender, and veteran status.
More often than not, businesses require this kind of evidence to suggest that their hiring methods facilitate a fair playing ground for anyone who applies. Without this data, businesses risk tarnishing their image if they’re unable to showcase examples of equality within the company. Subsequently, data-driven recruitment equips businesses with the license to not only minimise bias and hire based on merit but also to flaunt an inclusive company culture.
Equalture’s mission is to shape the world of unbiased hiring. Curious to learn more about how we leverage games to help companies hire more fairly and diverse? Schedule a chat with us!
The bigger picture: successful data-driven recruitment
Broadly speaking, data-driven recruitment boils down to the old adage of saving time and money. This is only possible however if data is applied effectively and not purely for the sake of tracking. Data without a purpose will incur limitations, as it doesn’t necessarily take into account external factors. Nor will it tell you why something has happened.
With the right attitude and understanding, data enables companies to see the bigger picture of their recruitment process. For instance, you might notice that your most impactful hires were sourced internally, rather than from a job board. You can then devise relevant strategies to alter this. For example by allocating more resources towards talent pool management or delving into why your candidate nurturing strategy is so successful.
Whatever your method, bear in mind that an over-reliance on data is unhealthy. Use data as the foundation to highlighting weak areas and discovering fresh ways of improving your recruitment process.
