Blog

Browse Topics:

more

Why Measuring New Hire Performance Is Proven to Improve Recruiting Efforts

Man-in-trashIf your hiring process is more ‘Seuss-ical’ than it is sensible, then it might go something like this, “Hiring quality stinks vs. what management thinks, they don’t ask us on the line, so everything seems fine.”  As silly as that may sound, the fact of the matter is, one of today’s biggest talent acquisition challenges is maintaining effective quality of hire practices.

Recruiting resources in most organizations have hit a low point, but hiring is ramping up. As a result, talent acquisition teams, comprised of mainly the internal human resources department, external recruiters or a combination of the two, may be simply trying to keep up with the volume at the expense of hiring quality. SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, released a study detailing the top challenges faced by HR. High on the list of concerns was remaining competitive in the talent marketplace.


HOW THE WRONG PEOPLE GET HIRED

Here’s the thing; if part of your job is managing the quantity and quality of hires entering your organization, how would you answer the following statement: I am confident in the systems currently in place to identify and reduce the number of good and bad hires?  

Because high turnover ultimately leads to increased recruiting costs, delays in meeting corporate initiatives, and lost productivity, we recommend revisiting the early stages of the recruiting process to pinpoint why new hire quality is suffering.

Here are 3 questions to ask your talent acquisition team:

How does the Job Description compare to skills required by the hiring manager for the open position? 

What pre-interview screenings are in place, and do you utilize a ranking system to vet applicants? 

How do we close the loop between hiring manager feedback, recruiting efforts and performance reviews? 

The success of your company’s hiring efforts depends on the design and execution of its calculated hiring function.  Like your company’s elevator pitch, everyone on the talent acquisition team should be able to quickly articulate their involvement in any of the above steps of the recruiting process.


3 WAYS TO IMPROVE HIRING QUALITY

Whether hiring permanent, temporary or contracted employees, usually there is a departmental or organizational cost-per-hire metric that must be satisfied. Calculating a range of acceptable costs per hire helps when deciding how you will ultimately structure your recruiting process. This will also help when looking at alternatives such as whether to hire contract recruiters, partner with a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider for permanent hires, or connect with a Managed Staffing Provider (MSP) for contingent labor engagements.

Whether managed internally, or outsourced to a staffing provider, the functions that encompass the hiring process typically involve offer management, pre-employment screening, final reference checks, on-boarding, information management, and performance review. It’s important to note that performance reviews are especially important when utilizing temporary labor; i.e. freelance or contractor workers.

Initiating the discussion is not easy; especially if you do not have hard data or metrics to support the poor quality of hires. Here are three tips to help drive the conversation, and improve hiring quality.   

  1. Review data with executives – Perception is reality until you have real data. The less they hear, the more they will think everything is fine. If it’s good, take credit for it; if it’s bad, let them know and put more resources to it. Don’t let executives say, “talent is critical to our organization,” then turn you down for more recruiting resources or discourage you from engaging an RPO provider to help. Fight it with data.
  2. Put metrics or measurement to it – Who do you hold accountable for quality? If you have internal processes and management, do you hold them to the same standards you would an outside RPO provider? If you’re not measuring it, it can’t get better. This is one of the best reasons to go to an RPO provider. They will be held accountable for the processes put in place, metrics, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), communication and change management. If they are not doing the job, the data will show it.
  3. Listen – Listen to hiring managers; listen to your recruiters; listen to your recruiting partners; listen at all levels. Once you have data, you need to match that data with what you’re hearing. If you are in charge of talent acquisition, you are in a position to put everything together and present it to management.

In some organizations, there may be an overall perception by management that current recruiting resources and strategies are providing both effective quantity and quality results. By not regularly assessing your recruiting functions, you run the risk of falling into the same trap each time. It’s time to think differently about talent acquisition by combining actual feedback with hard data.

Request-a-human-contact-form

This blog was written by Matt Rivera. Matt serves as Vice President, Marketing and Communications and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Yoh’s marketing and brand communications. Matt holds a degree in Journalism/Public Relations and has been working in the staffing industry for more than 25 years. Prior to this role, Matt held many different roles from branch recruiting and proposal writing to technology management and online marketing.

Related Posts

IT Manager's Guide to Hire Temporary & Other Non-Employees Read Post Instant Gratification? Not with IT Skills Unless… Read Post 5 Tips To Find The Perfect Replacement In Days Read Post