Does your company have a recruitment strategy that is up to date? If not, your hiring practices might not be as effective as they could be. A company’s recruitment strategy is an important living document, like a business plan. As the job market changes, talent acquisition is bound to change as well. Keeping track of your firm’s prior recruitment trends and using this data to form a solid plan can spur on future growth.
There are a number of metrics that ought to be taken into consideration before creating or updating a recruitment plan. Three important areas to consistently monitor are the number of applications you receive, the rate of turnover within the company, and information collected from surveys given to new employees.
Number of Applicants
Knowing how many people are applying to work for your company is the best place to start when creating a recruitment strategy. At first, it is common to think that a low amount of applications means something is wrong. Actually, too high of a number may mean your job descriptions are attracting too many people – many of whom are wrong for the job. Find out the number of applications your competitors receive for similar job postings. Comparing your numbers to theirs might help guide what you include and leave out of your job descriptions.
Monitor Turnover
Employee turnover is costly and inconvenient. Unfortunately, it is an unescapable part of doing business. However, if turnover rates are higher than industry average, you have a problem that may hinder business. More so, it may be a sign that you have a flaw in your hiring process. Why do you hire people who quickly leave? What characteristics do your applicants share? Evaluating your turnover rates in this way can offer excellent insight that will benefit your recruitment strategy.
Conduct Surveys
If you want to learn more about your hiring process, go right to the source. Talk to the people who you’ve recently hired. Ask them for their feedback in the form of an anonymous survey. New hires are able to answer questions about the company’s recruitment strategy. Some good questions to ask include:
- How did you learn about the company and job opening?
- What drew you to apply for the position?
- What was your overall opinion of the application process?
- Did you feel like communication between you and the company was smooth?
A survey may be one of the most effective ways to learn about gaps in your recruitment strategy. It may also bring to light new ideas of how to improve your plan.
There are many other metrics that ought to be considered when creating or updating a comprehensive recruitment strategy. In the meantime, start by observing the number of applications you receive per job posting, monitor employee turnover and conduct post-hiring surveys. This information is essential to the recruitment process and can guide you to create a stellar strategy for future performance.
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