It’s an understatement to say that 2020 changed the way we do business. Home offices replaced centralized corporate buildings, Zoom calls replaced conference room meetings, and at the same time, the country suffered from an unstable and wavering job market for months. Fortunately, we are finally seeing a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel as businesses are reopening, staff are returning to work, rehiring for previously eliminated positions is underway, and companies are growing again. Personally, what has become most apparent during this pandemic is the need for streamlined and swift hiring and rehiring practices to increase businesses’ speed of play, particularly during periods of high-volume hiring. What’s even more clear is the abundant need for technology solutions to aid companies in accelerated, high-volume hiring.
The need to fill a large number of open positions quickly is a good problem to have, as it indicates that your business is thriving. However, this need for mass hiring can also come with its own set of challenges, which include:
- Enormity of the applicant pool. On average, each corporate job offer attracts 250 résumés. Imagine the number of résumés when hiring for 50, 100, or even 1,000 available positions.
- Time constraints and recruiter capacity. The traditional recruitment process often involves phone screening potential candidates, with typically four to six candidates called for an interview. The number of hours and the amount of manpower required are simply not realistic.
- The expense. Finding the right candidates costs money. According to TalentLyft, the typical cost per hire is roughly $4,000, and that number increases based on industry. For example, manufacturing positions can cost up to $5,200. When hiring en masse, that expense can escalate rapidly.
These are very real and significant challenges when it comes to high-volume recruiting. Luckily, advances in technology are creating digital transformation in HR, allowing companies to improve their recruitment process and ensure they are attracting top talent. What types of digital capabilities are available to hiring managers?
- Programmatic job postings. Help generate 10x more candidates with programmatic job advertising, which places your open positions in front of the right candidates at the right time. Benefits of programmatic job advertising include smarter ad spends, precision targeting, and time savings.
- Automated résumé screening. On average, 75% of the résumés a typical high-volume job posting receives are considered unqualified. Technology such as applicant tracking systems (ATSs) can analyze the résumés of both existing and potentially new candidates who correctly fit the job criteria.
- Video interviewing. In 2020, digital interviews became the new norm. For example, the high-volume hiring platform Fountain saw a 68% uptick among customers.
- Text to apply. This feature allows your business to easily attract talent anywhere by letting candidates apply to your job posting via text. It is an easy way to capture applicant information, automate responses, and grow your talent pool.
- Recruitment chatbots. These software applications are designed to mimic human conversational abilities during the recruiting process, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to understand, engage, and respond to applicants.
- SMS and autoresponders. Engage your prospects instantaneously, and develop ongoing communication that is easy for both the company and the candidate to manage.
- Customer relationship management (CRM) tools. CRM tools allow you to navigate and manage seasonal hiring spikes, such as in retail, while nurturing candidates for future needs who may not be right for an existing role but who are potentially viable for future ones.
- Automated background screening. Screen high-volume global candidates seamlessly with automated screening, which offers instant, or near instant, access to identity and criminal background checks and verifications.
- Systems integration. Integrate your HR technology—for example, your background check system with your ATS; many data fields from the ATS can pre-populate the background check order, eliminating duplicate data entry or human error (for recruiter and candidate) and reducing time to hire.
An example of technology’s pivotal role in high-volume hiring is the on-demand laundry and dry-cleaning platform LaundryHeap, which launched in London in 2014 and now operates in 11 countries; the company expanded into 9 countries in 9 months during the middle of the global pandemic. With growth opportunities quickly developing within the business-to-business (B2B) sector, new customer segments such as older generations who did not want to leave home during the pandemic, and the enormous transition of people working from home, LaundryHeap leveraged technology to develop an automated process that made high-volume hiring quick and easy, propelling its global expansion.
LaundryHeap was thus able to take hiring from14 days down to 36 hours. Logistics Lead Quaid Combstock noted that the business is now grossing more revenue due to its expansion.
“It’s all thanks to our ability to grow without actually stepping foot into that country,” said Combstock.
“Using integrated technology, LaundryHeap is able to process candidates from application, interview scheduling, background checks, to onboarding seamlessly, enabling our business to grow exponentially.”
In addition to saving businesses and recruiters time and money, the digital transformation of the hiring process also greatly benefits the candidate’s overall experience. Technology advancements that support the experience of potential hires include:
- Mobile optimization
- Document upload capabilities
- Social media and e-mail logins
- Toggling between multiple languages
- Real-time portal and SMS updates
- Paperless e-signature functionalities
- LiveChat available across all devices
There is a solution to manage hiring velocity, and thankfully, technology is accelerating us into a future of quicker, more qualified hires. The HR digital transformation, encompassing automation, time savings, and cost reduction, fortuitously results in business efficiency and better candidate experience, and that type of evolution is something all businesses could embrace.
Tim Dowd is the CEO of Accurate Background.
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