A recruiting process rife with inefficiencies can cost an employer in more ways than one. Bottlenecks can grind activities to a halt, cause good candidates to drop off or have them poached mid-process by a competing employer. When things pile up, what was once a manageable workload can turn into a nightmare for someone trying to keep things moving along. By contrast, a smooth, efficient hiring pipeline flows together well with each step leading gracefully to the next culminating in a streamlined process that is a joy for candidates and recruiters to participate in.
Hiring Velocity
The Hiring Velocity report is a great place to obtain a high level view and help spot inefficiencies in the hiring process. It is designed to show the average time candidates spend in a given stage and how long it takes for them to reach a particular stage of the recruiting pipeline. This report will show which stages in the hiring pipeline take a longer time to clear comparatively.
Tabulated data below the graph also shows a basic overview of the activities taken on candidates within a particular stage. If candidates are spending over a week in the ‘Applied’ stage and the report is showing minimal interaction with them, this can mean that candidates are not being attended to at one of the most critical points of the hiring process when they are most seeking acknowledgement and assurance. Not addressing this can cause good candidates to take their skills elsewhere or leave them with a bad first impression.
As shown above, the ‘Test’ stage is highlighted in red to draw attention to the fact that candidates are spending the most time there compared to the other stages.
When a problematic stage has been identified look into the actions required in order to move or disqualify candidates so that this can be improved.
Productivity Report
This report is designed to show the activities taken by members of the account and highlights potential bandwidth issues within the Hiring Team itself. The initial section displays overall productivity across the entire team and gives an overview of performance for the selected period. For ease of comparison, the report will also automatically compare activity for a given selected period with its preceding one. Any increase or decrease in a particular activity will be accompanied by the percentage of the difference.
Below, a table shows the individual activities taken for each account member, with percentage indications of how much a particular activity has varied compared to the previous period.
It is important to keep in mind that not every member of the Hiring Team may be responsible for a specific activity. However, having an overview can show sustained decreases in productivity so that this can be addressed going forward.
Time to Hire Report
The Time to Hire report is a great place to compare overall hiring speed between jobs on the account. It shows the time taken to fill a job, and the time from application to hire. Like the Hiring Velocity report, the Time to Hire report provides a great overview across all jobs and you can quickly determine which roles fill quickly, and which ones take longer.
Compare this information between similar roles in a given department, job type or seniority level to get an estimate of how quickly roles can be expected to fill going forward with figures that are unique to your account.
If there is a large discrepancy between the hiring of similar positions in a given department, this can indicate that there are factors within the job that can be worth looking into. Typically it can be worth asking if:
- The job is advertised appropriately to generate a good number of qualified applicants
- The Hiring Team is large enough to handle the number of candidates to review
- Whether each team member is performing actions in a timely manner
- Any assessments or video interview deadlines are being missed by candidates
Other Factors
In addition to process-related improvements that good use of reporting can reveal, there are a number of other factors to consider when determining where and how your reporting process is being delayed. This can take a number of different forms, including some of the ones discussed in brief below:
Trying to find the ‘perfect’ hire
Recruiters can fall into the trap of chasing after an idealised version of a candidate ignoring qualified applicants that are more than capable of excelling in the role. Instead, focus first on screening candidates for their qualifications and suitability for the role. Reference checks and other assessments can reveal less tangible factors to consider later on in the process.
Make sure that the Hiring Team for the job includes the right stakeholders who have a clear understanding of the role to fill, and are able to make the final decision on whether a candidate should be hired or not.
Using generic job descriptions
While it is quick and easy to post a job that will generate a large number of candidates, it is often better to customise and publish a job that contains a good level of detail that is specific to the role.
This will allow candidates to self-qualify and while the results may be lower in terms of pure numbers, the overall quality of the pool will be enhanced. More attention can then be given to the hiring process itself rather than initial screening of applications. Be sure to clearly include details such as:
- Salary or benefits information
- A definition of what success in the role looks like
- Mandatory requirements that candidates must have before applying
Did you know?
You can clone job descriptions from successful postings in the account to re-use one that has worked well in the past.
Too many candidates
On paper, this sounds like a great problem to have but in reality having a flood of candidates can overwhelm recruiters and put a stop to an otherwise meticulously scheduled process. Having too many candidates to screen is often the result of using generic job descriptions. In cases where this is unavoidable (for example when quickly hiring for entry-level positions en masse) the problem can be reduced or eliminated through the use of screening questions on the application form.
The use of this feature will not prevent candidates from applying but can automatically knock unqualified candidates directly into the disqualified pool and greatly focus the efforts of the Hiring Team. Some questions that be great candidates for screening questions include:
- Whether the candidate has the right to work in the country the role is advertising for
- Whether the candidate has the relevant licenses to practice a certain trade
- Whether the candidate has access to transportation if required to perform the job
- Whether the candidate consents to background checks or other screening and assessments as well as the collection of data beyond the information supplied during application
Did you know?
Screening questions in the application form can help manage the initial flow of candidates by automatically disqualifying candidates that apply based on their response. The application will still come through and can be reviewed as required.
No compromise in negotiation
Qualified candidates often do research into how much their time, effort and experience levels should be compensated. Be prepared to negotiate and have a range of options pre-approved in order to make the process simple and as flexible as is appropriate for the role. Not having the room to compromise simply means that the candidate will be swayed by a more attractive or suitable offer elsewhere.
Prepare early, and have the relevant offer templates available to use. When the candidate reaches the Offer stage, send this out as soon as possible with a strict deadline for candidate response so that any negotiations can take place in a timely manner without delaying the hiring process as a whole.
Did you know?
Adding key decision makers beyond the Hiring Team members of a job in the offer workflow can streamline the negotiation process without having to seek for approval from users outside of the system.
Waiting for references
One of the areas that can be time consuming in a recruitment is when references checks are delayed. Previous employers can be busy, and may not have the time to devote to providing a reference for a former employee. In addition to more traditional methods of directly calling or emailing a candidate’s references, using the Share Candidate feature will provide a quick and convenient method to capture this information directly onto the candidate’s profile. This eliminates the need to transcribe any notes based on direct conversations with the referee.
Did you know?
Shared candidate links automatically expire after 1 month so even if access to a profile is not revoked manually this will be done automatically to maintain the security of your data.