Make New Hires Your New Year’s Resolution

Few tasks are as time- and energy-consuming as the recruiting process. According to a 2017 study by the Society of Human Resource Management, each new hire costs your company $4,425 on average—and the recruiting process typically takes 42 days to complete. Given the reality of tight budgets and the length of your to-do list, it pays to recruit smarter, not harder.

Here are some tips to improve your company’s recruiting efforts in 2019.

Focus On Employer Branding

Back in the pre-Glassdoor days, job hunters and disgruntled employees had limited audiences. Now, with a few mouse-clicks, they’re writing Yelp-style reviews of your interview process, employee benefits package, and your CEO. Instead of complaining about bad service and overcooked steak, they’re dishing on your best interview questions and whether your PTO policy is up to snuff. You can counteract bad publicity by proactively monitoring your organization’s brand.

Start examining your brand by consulting your current employees. What aspects of your company’s culture have the highest value to your most successful team members? If they appreciate your flexible, family-friendly scheduling, emphasize it in your recruiting materials, website, and on social media. If it’s your Google-style amenities and team-building events, focus on those. You want to recruit employees who will thrive in your culture, so do your best to showcase it.

And as far as those nasty Glassdoor reviews go—monitor and respond to them thoughtfully and with an open mind. Your current and potential employees will take note.

Roll Out Technological Solutions

You’re probably using an application tracking software (ATS) system to manage candidates and possibly even screen resumes. But are you using a recruitment marketing software (RMS) solution to find and nurture potential candidates? Recruiters have to cut through the noise of online information just as much as retailers do.

RMS solutions offer time-saving tools such as one-click distribution of job postings, integration with social media platforms, and even employee referral systems. Many systems function as a career website for your company, creating database profiles for each applicant (think “Candidate Relationship Management” instead of “Customer Relationship Management”).

Automated communications save you time contacting candidates, and post-hire analytics (how long it took to hire, what source drew the most candidates, etc.) can help you determine what to tweak during your next hiring process.

Measure Soft Skills Pre-Interview

Including a psychometric assessment in your hiring process will help you determine which candidates are a good fit before the initial interview. These kinds of assessments measure everything from independence to curiosity, adaptability to attention to detail. A candidate might look great on paper but not possess the soft skills required to be successful in the position—and that’s not something you’ll always glean from a resume. You can save a lot of time by testing such skills before an in-person interview.

Before choosing a psychometric recruiting tool, be sure to visit with your company’s legal compliance team to make sure your chosen tool isn’t considered discriminatory. Any assessment needs to be relevant to the position and not measure areas covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (for example, measuring a propensity for depression would be off-limits in most cases). Be sure anyone who has access to assessment outcomes is trained in their proper use and knows how much weight to give results in the decision-making process.

Recruiting will never be an exact science, but given the plethora of tools available today, it’s smart to take a fresh look at your human resources process in 2019. Make it your New Year’s resolution to improve the way you find and measure applicants and convert them into your new hires.