An efficient and holistic recruitment strategy

Five pillars of successful recruitment

What does this mean for you?It takes an average of 63 days to fill an open position – which is 21 days longer than in 2010. What is more, the quality of the new hires is not improving: managers believe one in five new employees is the wrong person for the job.

This takes its toll on the company's profitability. Poor quality of new hires generates huge costs due to lower productivity and increased investment in employee induction. In addition, a recent CEB study shows that every unfilled position costs a company EUR 350 per day.

Finding the right talent quicklyHow to keep pace with the market, then, while at the same time finding the right talent? To survive in today's talent market, recruitment must be both quick and effective. CEB found in a study that successful companies can halve

their time-to-fill without losing out on quality. So what sets these companies apart?

Five pillars of efficient, sustainable recruitmentThe finding from the study was clear: companies that quickly select the right candidates use a recruitment process based on five pillars: market-driven sourcing, brand to influence, streamlined recruiting workflow, technological-driven application processes, and recruiters who act as talent advisors.

It has never been more important to find the right talent. Budgets are falling, while sales targets are rising. According to a recent study, CEOs believe that recruiting the right talent is crucial to a company's success1. At the same time, it has never been more difficult to find talent that fits the profile. Only around 40% of all applicants meet the requirements of the job for which they are applying.

As a result, recruitment decisions take 30% longer today than they did a few years ago2. In addition, the environment for employees with responsibility for recruitment is becoming increasingly complex, for instance as a result of

n growing requirements in terms of new profiles and skills; n new technology and the increasing number of stakeholders in the process.

Employees with recruitment roles at companies know they have a responsibility to find talented people who will drive forward the company's goals. This awareness, together with the growing complexity of the recruitment environment, is creating unprecedented pressure.

1 PWC CEO Survey 20152 CEB study (2015): Accelerate Recruiting – Achieving Quality at Speed. Data sources: Survey of 90 recruiters, 70 companies and 6,000 managers, plus interviews with 100 recruitment officers

An efficient and holistic recruitment strategy

Conventional Recruiting Approach Best-Practice Recruiting ApproachNeeds-Driven SourcingSet sourcing strategy to fulfil the defined needs of the organization

SourcingMarket-Driven SourcingSet sourcing strategy by adapting to external labor market realities and organization needs

Brand To AppealPromote the organization as a great place to work leading to a high number of applicants at low quality

Employer Brand

Brand To InfluenceGive applicants trusted guidance to make better decisions about whether to apply to improve quality of candidates

Enabled Hiring TeamsAdd resources and provide standards and tools supporting recruiters to master the hiring process

Hiring Process

Streamlined Recruiting WorkflowLift recruiter utilization and improve efficiency of the hiring process to maximize the impact of given recruiting resources

Candidate ManagementDeploy resources to efficiently track candidates and screen as many applications as possible

TechnologyVolume RecruitingApply technology and analytics to applicants to free up recruiter resources for high value activities

Recruiters As Order TakersFill requisitions effectively by trusting hiring manager assumptions and deliver on their expectations

Capabilities

Talent Advisors As Decision InfluencersPersuade hiring managers based on business acumen and deep knowledge of the organization and external markets

Market-Driven SourcingStrike a balance between need and supply. Pursue a sourcing strategy that brings the organisation's need for talent into line with the realistic supply in the market. When looking for suitable candidates, do not rely on the usual online talent platforms, as

a) all recruiters use them;

b) more and more applicants are leaving them.

Use alternative, "non-obvious" algorithms or analyse which skills can be learned and can therefore be ignored when conducting the search.

Brand To InfluenceDon't sell your company, but instead make a clear brand promise. Give potential applicants all the information they require to make a sensible decision on whether or not to apply. Be honest about the position that you are looking to fill and ensure that the applicant's experience is in line with your brand.

Streamlined Recruiting WorkflowAnalyse your recruitment processes and prioritise all your activities according to their actual impact on business results. You should entrust profiles with high complexity and high impact on your business results to strategic recruiters, while generic profiles can be handled by units operating on a transactional basis. Analyse your processes for redundancies and inefficiencies. Reduce the flow of information for your internal customers (hiring managers) so as to simplify your decisions.

Objective, scientifically robust assessments will enable you to identify the abilities and skills of applicants at the outset of the application process and thus prioritise the "hidden gems" in the process. A benchmarked analysis of all applicants – from the initial application through to the signing of the employment contract, broken down by the different sourcing channels and selection methods – allows you to tailor your strategies in order to attract, identify and win the best applicants for your company.

Volume RecruitingDo not simply administer candidates in your applicant management process, instead introduce automated management and implementation of the first steps of the application and the corresponding responses for candidates. This will allow you to reduce the time spent by your recruiters on activities that are time-intensive but add little value. At the same time, you will increase the speed with which the applicant receives a response, thus improving the candidate experience. By establishing clear criteria for the transition to the next stage (CV criteria, checking that assessments have been carried out, etc.) you can ensure that your recruiters have more time to find the right talent. In addition, your recruitment process will gain significantly more predictive power overall, as well as becoming more efficient.

Talent Advisors As Decision InfluencersRecruiters should spend as little time as possible on administrative tasks that add little business value, such as checking CVs and drafting reply letters. Automating such processes will help you to give your recruiters time to carry out activities that add value. However, time alone is not enough. Recruiters must become talent advisors – true partners for managers, able to give advice proactively instead of simply taking on tasks. Talent advisors are people with an excellent understanding of the market and the organisation. By providing expertise and relevant information, they help their customers to set their strategies and reach decisions. They thus make a key contribution to the success of the business.

Top tips for a successful recruitment strategy

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