We live in a world chock-full of information. It’s said that more than 90% of the planet’s data was generated in the past 2 years alone, and that we humans create more than that each and every year. We all use data in our day to day life, and businesses around the world rely on statistical information to make decisions, choose the best course of action, and run their operations effectively. As a recruiter working in the analytics space, this is something we’ve had a lot of time to come to grips with. But what we’re beginning to see more and more clearly is how businesses could be using a data-driven recruitment process to improve their hiring outcomes.
Data-driven recruitment has a ring to it, and there’s a reason why: it works.
What is data-driven recruitment?
We’re not here to take away from the fact that making a new hire can often come down to intuition and gut feeling – there’s no denying that. But, as an employer, there’s no reason not to look at ways in which you could make your processes more efficient and cost-effective. And that’s not to mention creating an uplift in candidate experience, too.
Data-driven recruitment means using tangible facts and insights drawn from your current/previous/historic hiring processes, to formulate an improved way of doing things. Factors to consider include the following:
- What’s your current cost-per-hire?
- What’s your average time-to-hire?
- Which resources provide the most suitable candidates?
- What are your conversion rates throughout? (From applicant to interview, interview to job offer, job offer to job acceptance, job accepted to new starter, etc etc)
But, to tailor it to your own business, instead ask yourself the following questions:
- What do you/your team find most challenging about hiring?
- What problems do you come up against most often?
- What aspect of your process do you think is letting you down the most?
The aim of data-driven recruitment is to provide a well-founded answer to all of the above – importantly, with the facts to back it up.
How do you implement such a strategy?
The first step is, of course, to collect the data you need. It can be time consuming, difficult to collate, and tricky to understand – particularly if it pokes holes in parts of your process which you thought were solid. But, it’s a labour of love well worth persevering with.
Step 1: Use your resources. Take a look at the software and systems you use to recruit (if you aren’t doing so, you should be – technology is a powerhouse for hiring managers) and find out what reporting capabilities they have. That means every job board you’ve ever placed an ad with, how many views it got and the number of applications as a result. It means seeing using your own website analytics to see who’s doing research on your company. It means understanding which methods of communication your candidates are most receptive to. It means understanding how every aspect of your process comes together, then analysing it as such.
Step 2: Analyse the numbers. You’ve got your information – now it’s time to play with it. If you find that you’re spending time and energy on a part of the process which the numbers now show isn’t paying its way, it’s time to rethink things. You may find that a piece of the puzzle you perceived as slow and arduous does in fact yield your best results. Perhaps you’ll identify an obvious bottleneck which is slowing things down. Complacency is a real thing in recruitment, but many items could be a simple fix. Time to listen to what the numbers are telling you, and make some changes.
Step 3: Ask for feedback. Whilst data is largely seen as a quantitative commodity, like we said earlier, hiring simply isn’t a set formula which can be followed for the same result each time. As such, you should be collecting qualitative information however you’re able to, as well. Ask your team where they feel things could be improved, then try to find data to prove or disprove their thoughts. Ask your applicants and new hires how their experience was and compile this in a way from which quantitative data could be drawn at some point.
The obvious fourth step is to continue gathering, analysing, and listening to the data your hiring process creates. There’s a mind-blowing amount to be learned from what we’re already doing. In a world of information, use yours to identify your strengths, mitigate the weaknesses, and secure the top talent in your market, whatever that may be.
As a recruitment partner our well-rounded, well-thought-out processes are built to do exactly this – and we’d love to show you how.
The Konnexus Team
