When it comes to reducing fill times and hiring the best employees for your organization, few initiatives wield the kind of power that these three heavy-hitters do. These are not quick-fixes, but rather the kind of system-wide, sweeping initiatives required to bring about lasting change. But before you begin to feel overwhelmed about it all, we’ve included “first steps” to help get you started with each initiative.
Improve the Candidate Experience
This includes everything from adjusting the language of your postings to reducing the amount of time potential candidates spend at every stage of the hiring process. Studies suggest that online applications should take less than 10 minutes (less than 5 is better). According to CareerBuilder, 60 percent of job seekers quit in the middle of filling out online job applications because of their length or complexity. And, despite popular belief that lengthier applications “weed out” less qualified applicants, Director of Research for Punchkick Interactive, Sarah Gregory, says that in reality, the opposite is true. Gregory said, “Good candidates know their time is important and they have plenty of opportunities in the job market. Their tolerance for jumping through hoops is much lower than many employers think.”
Some first steps: Start by conducting an audit of your application process. Complete your entire online application on mobile, tablet and desktop screens. Jot down your experience, paying special attention to how long it takes you to complete the application, and how simple it is to read and navigate on a mobile device.
Strengthen Your Employer Brand
A strong online reputation is critical to attracting highly-qualified candidates. Most candidates research companies online before accepting a job offer and 59% of job seekers use social media to research company culture. They want to know what it’s like to work for your company and they want to confirm that your organization’s values align with their own. That’s why it’s so important that employers invest in their employer brand and provide candidates with positive, engaging and authentic online experiences.
Some first steps: Assign a specific person/team the task of creating and sharing social postings several times per week that capture and highlight your companies vision and values. Start with LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Use scheduling tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to automate your publishing and approval process.
Research your company’s online reputation starting with the reviews on Glassdoor, Indeed, Google, and social media. If you have a number of poor reviews, consider the reasons behind the negative comments. If they are valid, take steps toward improvement and, as appropriate, document your progress using videos, photos, and testimonials. Celebrate your efforts and successes on social media. To improve your ratings, continue to encourage customers, employees, and vendors who have good experiences with your company to share those online.
Add a Diversity & Inclusion Program
If you haven’t already, begin building a diversity and inclusion process for your company. When companies are more diverse, everyone wins. Studies show that ethnically diverse companies outperform the industry median by 35% and gender diverse companies outperform the median by 15%. Supporting diversity hiring practices is paramount to the success of your company. Ultimately, it will make you more attractive to top talent and help you hire qualified candidates faster.
For example, one of the best ways to manage bias in interviewing is by using the same interview questions consistently for all applicants per opening. Every interviewer should ask a standard set of questions designed to asses the skills that you are targeting for the position. This will enable you to compare evaluations in the most objective way, even when more than one interviewer is evaluating the applicants.
Some first steps: Break your hiring process into three parts – recruiting, evaluating and hiring. Take a look at each of these stages and start implementing actions toward a more inclusive experience for applicants at each stage of the hiring process. For example, objectively evaluating soft skills can be a challenge during the interview process but this Interview Question Builder by LinkedIn makes it easier. This tool enables you to build behavioral interview questions based on the soft skills you are targeting for each role.
Another helpful resource is this Training Series on Managing Bias by Facebook. This series of short videos is the same internal training program used at Facebook and it’s a great introduction to recognizing and understanding unconscious bias.
Ready to Get Started?
Take our 3-minute quiz to get you thinking about which parts of your hiring process work well and which parts need some attention.
If you’d prefer to speak directly with a hiring expert at Advent, please contact our Director of Client Services, Michelle O’Kelly, for a free and confidential conversation about your hiring process.