Recruiting Source Effectiveness: Focus on Quality Over Quantity
(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at Kronos, a leading provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions. It’s not too late to sign up for Kronos’ Fall eSymposium for HR and Payroll professionals. You can listen to the session recordings, get recertification credits, and receive a FREE copy of the new Workforce Institute book “Being Present”. Enjoy the read!)
We know that organizations are looking for new and creative ways to recruit. Unemployment remains low. Many industries are facing skills gaps. And Boomers are planning their exit strategy from the workforce.
Today’s Time Well Spent from our friends at Kronos reminded me though that when it comes to recruiting, we need to think about quality over quantity. It’s great to have a lot of applicants, but if they’re not qualified…well, does it matter?
Track recruiting source effectiveness. HR departments should know what sources bring them the most qualified applicant flow. It’s equally important to know where top candidates come from and the sources that yield the most job offers. The good news is that today’s recruiting technology solutions can do this for you.
Discuss recruiting source effectiveness during meetings. I’m specifically referring to the recruiting strategy meeting (aka the intake meeting). HR should let hiring managers know what sources have been effective lately and ask for new source ideas. I’ve worked with many hiring managers who spent time cultivating their own sources.
Dedicate resources toward testing new sources. Speaking of cultivating sources, organizations should put some dollars in the budget for HR to test drive new sources. The last thing anyone wants is to be trying a source for the first time when the stakes are high and there’s no room for mediocre results.
I know sometimes sourcing can feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. But it doesn’t have to be that way. HR departments should find time to identify and test out new sources. Then track their performance so when managers have openings, the company can “pull in” the right talent.
15