4 Tips to Improve the Efficiency of Your Recruiting Process

Finding and employing the right talent to expand your business is critical to your company’s success. And it all starts with a well-run hiring process. After all, hiring an unsuitable employee costs your company time and money.

The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimates that it takes 36 days to fill an open job vacancy. An efficient employee recruiting process cuts down on time, optimizes the hiring process, enhances employee engagement, and boosts your employer’s brand when done correctly. A highly competitive environment also gives your organization a tactical advantage.

For both candidates and your hiring managers, streamlined recruitment processes are quick, productive, and fun. Here are a few suggestions for improving your hiring process:

1. Revisit Your Current Employees

Step #1: Look for Internal Hires

Before soliciting employee suggestions or posting job descriptions, look for individuals who can be promoted from within and then invite current employees to apply. An inside hire already knows your hiring teams and company and contributes favorably to your culture, reducing the time it takes for an outside applicant to get up to speed.

Additionally, allowing employees to apply before formally beginning to recruit shows your team members that you value them and want to help them progress in their careers. This strategy will help you hire qualified candidates, increase employee engagement and reduce turnover in other positions.

Step #2: Create a Referral Program

To encourage candidate suggestions, implement an employee referral program and be creative with the incentives you provide your employees. 

Establish rules mentioning employees will be only reimbursed for good referrals and quality recruits if they wait several months after their employment date to reward them for their referral.

Employee referrals provide an additional route to target candidates while reducing the time spent searching for candidates through standard channels.

• According to LinkedIn, 45% of employees referred by coworkers stay for more than four years. In comparison, only 25% of employees hired through job boards remain for more than two years.
• Employee referrals are one of the most common ways to find new employees. According to one study, they are 5x more effective than the average proportion across all sources.
• Employees that are happy with their jobs are more likely to recommend your organization to others. According to an Energage study, 80% of employees at top workplaces will refer you to their networks and friends. Even throughout the Covid epidemic, this number remained high.

“Employee referrals are well-known as the finest source of prospects,” says Tom Darrow, SHRM-SCP, founder of Talent Connections.

2. Build Out Your Candidate Pipeline

Your time-to-hire will be substantially reduced if you continue sourcing applicants for roles before they become unavailable. You’ll be able to engage prospective applicants earlier if you build your talent pipeline.

Connect with candidates by joining an online professional community. In today’s candidate-driven market, passive job seekers are critical to optimizing your recruitment process. 

By sourcing people before positions become available, you’ll have more time to engage them and shorten your time-to-hire when a suitable position becomes available.

The following are the four main steps in creating talent pipelines:

• Determine which roles necessitate the use of a pipeline (usual roles with high turnover or roles that are hard to fill)
• To build your pipeline, look to previous prospects, ex-employees, and interns
• Combine several sourcing strategies to find passive applicants (e.g., job searches, events)
• Engage prospects and keep in touch with them until you have an available position for them

Furthermore, in the digital age, prospects are more likely to visit company websites, career pages, social media accounts, and anonymous employee review sites before opting to apply for a job.

What else can you do to boost your candidate sourcing? It would be best if you examined additional avenues for your talent pipeline, regardless of how great your career website is.

Even if they are employed, most people are interested in learning about new career opportunities. To boost your chances of getting outstanding recruits, use these sourcing tactics to find passive candidates:

• A multi-channel approach that combines social media, job boards, and other resources will broaden your reach and make it easier to attract people.
• Participate in relevant Facebook groups and social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Reddit. LinkedIn is a great place to find individuals who are a good fit for your company.
• The rise of these networks, particularly LinkedIn, has made them a vital and active source for job seekers.

3. Streamline Your Interview Process

Step #1: Shorten Your Application Process

According to one study, cutting the length of the application process to five minutes or less can raise conversion rates (candidates reading a job post who go on to apply) by up to 365%.

The majority of applicants abandon a lengthy interviewing process. More people will apply if they can complete the application in less than five minutes. Candidates should be asked to upload their CV and cover letter and answer a few qualifying questions. 

Avoid asking for information you may find on candidate resumes or online profiles by sticking to short and relevant inquiries.

According to studies, women are less likely to apply for employment if they don’t satisfy all of the standards, but males will apply for jobs where they meet 60% of the criteria. Unnecessary specifics, such as qualifications you’re ready to train for or secondary tasks, will substantially reduce your pool of candidates.

“Create a straightforward application asking only for hard skills needed for the job and some way of showcasing those. Then, go by attitude. Don’t include a field for resume uploads — repositories, portfolios, homepages, and (very) recent certificates only. According to the stats from my CRM over the last year, this approach has yielded much better talent for us,” said Joey Bertschler.

Here are some examples of how to write a good job description:

• Avoid obscure or too imaginative titles and choose a plain title and synopsis. Make sure you’re being clear, accurate, and concise. Choose terminology that reflects your company’s culture and identity.
• Make your credentials and duties clear: Be descriptive, but include the information that is most important to know about the job. Include a “nice-to-have” section to emphasize any characteristics that might distinguish prospects.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion are three words that come to mind while thinking about diversity, equity, and Don’t let prejudiced referrals cost you qualified candidates. Promote diversity in the workplace if your organization actively supports it.

It would be best if you also were focused on hiring a diverse and inclusive talent pool. 

Step #2: Utilize an ATS

An applicant tracking system is the most critical component of a successful recruitment strategy (ATS). Recruiters can use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to track candidates throughout the recruitment process, from application to offer letters, and automate communications, so that top candidates don’t slip through the cracks.

Perhaps more crucially, an ATS can assist you in determining where the majority of your qualified candidates come from, whether through your careers page, social media, or job boards. 

This information assists recruiters in determining which pathways are the most successful and deserving of extra resources, as well as which ones they should avoid.

“The worst feeling for an employee is being ghosted by an employer. Even if the only update you have is “We are still in the process of interviewing candidates,” that is helpful information. If you want to keep people engaged, don’t let prospective employees go more than three days without hearing an update from you,” said by Kelsey Raymond.

4. Showcase Your Employer’s Brand and Work Culture

According to CareerBuilder research, companies with a strong employment brand receive at least 3.5 times the number of applications as companies in the same industry. It would be best if you maximize your brand’s attractiveness at all times.

Your organization’s brand and culture is its personality, and it’s a critical component to showcase early in the recruitment marketing process. 

Make use of your company’s culture and brand to promote yourself on social media, in job postings, and on your website.

Regarding picking a firm to apply to, 46% of job seekers think corporate culture is essential. People care about where they work and what they do, so stressing your company culture shows potential employees that you’re both a business and a community.

• Your about page includes employee spotlights and prominently displays company goal statements and critical beliefs.
• Put across employee feedback highlighting important culture strengths. Sharing information about your company culture allows prospective employees to understand better what it’s like to work there, making it easier for them to take the offer.
• Data visualizations from employee surveys that show where your company succeeds also help, including employer recognition awards received to date.
• Share employee testimonials across many platforms to attract external or internal candidates, such as your website, employment page, social media, advertising, and more.

This will help to pique people’s interest in your place of employment.

To know more about how to improve the efficiency of your recruiting process, Recruiter.com can assist you and customize your strategies to scale your hiring team.

Contact us today to find out which recruiting solution is best for your company!

 

Get the top recruiting news and insights delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for the Recruiter Today newsletter.