Many recruiters and HR professionals believe that their work processes are inefficient and outdated. This concern naturally stems from two factors.
First, there is the huge amount of time spent by recruiters on manual tasks. Often these tasks require a high amount of effort with little return when it comes to qualified candidates.
Second, there is the realization that the recruitment industry is changing quickly. While recruiters may recognize the cost of manual tasks and the risk of failing to adapt to a changing hiring environment, few feel empowered to optimize their recruitment processes.
To remain competitive in a candidate driven and challenging job market, it’s important to identify inefficient and outdated processes. Here we identify four common areas that might be preventing you from attracting and hiring the best talent.
1. Limit standardized recruitment processes
The first step in optimizing your recruitment processes and eliminating outdated practices should be to look at your standard process end-to-end. The most common shortcoming companies experience is treating every role and every position the same way when it comes to hiring.
They have a standard recruitment process that they stick to for every role. In theory, this should save time and cut costs.
The reality is, however, that this approach doesn’t take into account the discrepancies between different positions. This is an area that is easy to optimize with a little analysis of your highest volume or frequently recruited for positions.
Standardized recruitment process may be:
- discouraging niche or experienced professionals from applying to your vacancies;
- creating a poor candidate experience;
- and failing to engage and empower your hiring team.
Different methods are required to attract different profiles. Candidates from different backgrounds and competencies will have varying expectations when it comes to the recruitment process. Make sure to assess your entire recruitment process holistically to accommodate for this. Using the same recruitment process for every role does not create an engaging candidate experience. Make sure to optimize your recruitment to accommodate for a tailored experience.
Additional reading: Top 5 barriers to achieving a more efficient hiring process
2. Extend your employer branding
Employer branding is a topic that everyone seems to talk about but no one really seems to know what it means. The most common interpretation of employer brand seems to be limited to a careers site or social media presence. This is a limited interpretation that could be losing you candidates.
Poor or inconsistent employer branding could be:
- failing to attract the attention of qualified talent;
- generating low engagement rates in your hiring team and employees;
- and discouraging positive retention rates among new starters.
Your employer brand is the company identity you communicate across channels in order to attract talent. This includes far more than your careers site and social media (though they do still play a crucial role).
A good employer branding strategy requires great collaboration with different teams and a lot of consistency across channels. If you’re looking to optimize your recruitment process, employer branding is a great place to start.
While it’s an extensive topic, you may want to kick off your employer branding renovation with your careers page.
Careers pages are a great place to start with your employer branding. Consider including a clear overview of your hiring process like Hotjar has done on theirs!
3. Improve your candidate communication
Unclear and inconsistent communication throughout the hiring process is among the most common candidate complaints. Years ago, inconsistent communication would have meant maybe one or two annoyed candidates.
Today, inconsistent communication could be earning you poor reviews on Glassdoor and may be actively discouraging qualified candidates from applying.
Replying only when a candidate qualifies for the next stage of your recruitment process is not only an outdated strategy but one that could be losing you applications and damaging your reputation.
Inconsistent candidate communication could be:
- generating negative employer reviews;
- damaging your employer reputation online;
- creating poor candidate experience.
Technology has done a lot for the recruitment industry, and an updated process with new and automated tools can help you keep candidates in the loop. But, as with all automation, it’s important to remember to keep the human element present.
High volumes and lack of time are no longer reasonable excuses for a bad candidate experience. Optimize your recruitment with new tools and techniques to connect with your candidates and continue attracting the best talent
4. Expand the hiring responsibility
The responsibility for hiring has traditionally been left in the hands of HR personnel and recruiters. However, the market has evolved and, with it, the candidate market.
Today, candidates want to have an immersive experience in the hiring process. They want to experience what it might be like to work with you, look at your office, and meet their potential colleagues. While this can be coordinated by recruiters and HR, the hiring process today should include more colleagues and team members.
Limiting the responsibility of hiring could be:
- overloading and exhausting your current recruitment team;
- limiting the candidate experience;
- losing qualified and interested candidates.
The key to a successful and modern recruitment strategy lies in acknowledging that the market has changed. Collaborative hiring is a great strategy to use to wow your candidates and attract the right talent.
Optimize your recruitment processes to incorporate more of your team and spread the responsibility for hiring across your business. Want to find out how you can start getting your team more involved? Read on here.
