It’s agreed, for 36% of companies, 4-8 weeks is their average time to hire. But it’s not like the three-month recruitment process is a thing of the past, for nearly 37% of recruiters this stubbornly remains the case. That’s a two-month gap that can drain top-tier talent away, and a two-month gap in productivity, in revenue. A lot of that time can be attributed to lengthy internal processes, or the hiring team being particularly overworked, or any other reason – pick and choose your own as you wish. The fact remains that the time to hire process is a necessary evil, but it can be shortened considerably. Here are a few tips to help you on your way:
1. Preparation = Optimisation
First and foremost, create a portal for CVs on your website. They don’t have to be submitted in relation to any particular opening, but having good quality CVs in the bank can shave off weeks from the hiring process.
The moment these CVs start to trickle, it’s time to figure out which positions have the highest turnover rate.
More importantly, it’s time to identify which qualities the very best employees possessed whilst they filled these positions. Building out an understanding of a role’s requirements: what the key experiences are, what the attitude is, what makes for an ideal cultural fit, once everything is understood, the better able you are to efficiently and accurately gauge which CVs, which personalities, and which candidates are the right fit.
But sometimes everything that doesn’t line up that easy, sometimes you find the perfect candidate at the wrong time. They’ve submitted their CVs after a deadline, you happened to chance upon them at an industry event, whatever it is they’re here now and their free. But just because both can’t meet this time, doesn’t mean they can’t in the future. Stay in contact, reach out to them every once in a while, grab coffee. Show the candidate your face every once in a while, and in the end, when that opening eventually crops up, you might already have a candidate waiting in the wings.
2. Referral Schemes
A referral scheme is nothing to scoff at, at Hanning Recruitment anyone who makes us a referral, and providing that candidate is placed, that persons just made £500. It works, for both sides, and more importantly we know it works: the number one-way candidates find out about jobs is through referrals. You have an inhouse hiring team, great. But why not convert your entire labour force into your inhouse hiring team. Motivate your employees properly and it can take just a few words at the right time, from the right friend, to set you up with your newest employee.
3. Automation
Automation is happening everywhere, and recruitment isn’t any different. There is software currently on the market that analyses your previous hiring decisions, then utilises that knowledge when assessing CVs: grading and ranking applicants, cutting down the screening phase for CVs immensely.
Alternatively, there is software available that automatically posts any and all job listings across all online outlets, whether that be your website, LinkedIn, job aggregators, you name it. Automation is helping to cut the time to hire process even further. Why not use it?
Hiring is just one of those processes that can be all too time consuming, but get it right the benefits remain there to grow your business, expand your productivity, and save valuable time. Even recruiters occasionally have trouble streamlining the process to its greatest extent, but working with an experienced team who know and understand your needs and concerns can quickly reduce your time to hire and at Hanning that’s just what we like to see.
