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Measuring Recruitment Success

During challenging times many employers often struggle to maintain staffing levels necessary to keep their businesses stable.

In addition to managing ordinary expenses and processes to preserve financial stability, leaders are making decisions about how to keep things moving with lower staffing levels. Both small and large companies in varying industries are developing plans, not just to cut expenses but to optimize efficiencies in their daily operations.

The talent acquisition process is no exception and has become one of the biggest challenges! When staffing levels can’t be met, tough decisions must be made, and those decisions directly impact the bottom line. For example, manufacturing companies may be forced to reduce the number of shifts they staff, and retailers may shorten hours. Employers should be reviewing the success of their company’s recruitment program and taking a careful look at the metrics, process, results, and patterns.

As you look to review your recruitment program, measuring and understanding the following can help ensure recruitment success:

  • Source of hires: Review sourcing costs and effectiveness. Where you find your hires is important to know as you review your process and plan for future positions.
    • Understand the job posting boards which fit the needs of each position and develop sourcing strategies within those boards. Assess the success of these boards by looking at the quantity and quality of applicants.
    • Most applicant tracking systems collect this data, but if you don’t have an applicant tracking system, create an Excel spreadsheet where you can house it.
    • If your pipeline yields unqualified candidates, it may be a result of inaccurate job descriptions or titles. Minor adjustments to job descriptions can often increase candidate flow and keep the process moving quickly and efficiently.
    • Employee referrals can be a highly effective sourcing tool but may not necessarily produce a large number of candidates. As you’re looking at metrics for position sources, don’t forget to measure the success of your employee referral program. Often times employers find this can be a very effective candidate pipeline for positions, so if you don’t currently have a program, now is a great time to implement one!
  • Cost per hires: Understanding the costs associated with each hire will help identify ways to make the process more cost-effective.
    • The costs associated with hiring are more than just the incoming salary and can include job postings, the time for interviewing and other incidental costs like travel or entertainment associate with hiring.
    • Measuring and tracking cost-per-hire will help identify how to better recognize inefficiencies and advise changes to the recruitment process.
  • First-year retention rates – if your company is experiencing a high turnover rate during the first year of hire, it’s vital to understand why. As you look into higher turnover, think about the following:
    • Conducting exit interviews - Exit interviews provide insights as to what could improve the role, such as training, compensation, management, and guidance.
    • Being transparent - Ensure you are providing all details about the role during the interview process. For example, if overtime and/or weekend hours are required, be sure to highlight that. While you might be selling the position, being transparent about potential cons to the position will help guarantee satisfaction for the hire.
    • Understanding cultural fit - Have a strong sense of your company’s culture and be sure to recruit for cultural fit. Even the best candidate on paper won’t be successful if the cultural fit isn’t there.

Organizational leaders will want to see the metrics and results. Tracking and being able to report on time to fill statistics will allow you to highlight efficiencies and set appropriate expectations. Some positions will take longer than others, based on availability of talent, so noting market difficulties will help with analyzing the process.

Once you understand the nuts and bolts of your recruiting program, the next step will be to make improvements to the program to ensure your candidates have a great experience, walk away with a positive impression of the company and you are making the right hires. As you look to make improvements to your process, be sure to also consider current market conditions. You may want to roll out a virtual recruitment strategy that allows you to continue to interview candidates virtually instead of in person. Regardless of whether your program is in-person, virtual or a hybrid, understanding the metrics around hires will help towards hiring success.

To learn more about attracting and retaining talent, watch: Addressing The Big Quit: How to Attract, Retain and Engage Employees During Today’s “Labor Shortage”.

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