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Resolve to Trim the Fat Off Of Your Fill Time

Resolve to Trim the Fat Off The Hiring ProcessDid you know that 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions? That stat makes revisiting your recruiting and hiring processes worth taking a second look. And, just like those extra holiday pounds, you can trim down the time-to-hire with a little hard work, discipline and collaboration.

What's Driving Longer Fill Times?  

Back in 2014, time-to-hire stats had reached near epic portions. According to the Wall Street Journal, the time-to-fill average in the United States was 25 days. As we entered 2015, all eyes seemed to be focused on a number of emerging trends that was sure to increase this hiring metric. The skills gap was to blame for lengthy recruiting and hiring processes; particularly in specialty or niche positions. Next, if we were to coin 2015, we'd say it was the year of the passive job seeker. Forbes reminded us that even your happy employees were consistently on the hunt for a new position; 86% of employees to be exact. Finally, HR technologies, like mobile and social recruiting, continued to become more heavily adopted, and as a result, clog up recruiting and talent acquisition efforts. 

Flash forward to 2016, and news for hiring managers, especially ones in the IT industry, isn't looking much better. ERE Media released is 2016 forecasts and predictions, and long fill times make it on the list yet again. In addition to tight talent markets, the growing number of full-time employees actively looking for work comes in 5 percentage points higher than in the same survey conducted a year ago. And, if that isn't enough, many top analysts and industry professionals are reporting between a 2 and 3 percent average increase in wages for key positions. 

Just like finding the perfect diet, every organization comes with its own set of unique hurdles. With that said, here are the top three reasons the time-to-hire has slowed down

  • Job postings are flourishing, but executive leaders are afraid to hire for fear that their headcount will suddenly plummet or rise, they will sign off on the wrong hire, or they simply don't have enough trust in their teams. 
  • Hiring managers have become extremely picky, and as a result have raised the qualifications for jobs and even intensified pre-hire screenings. 
  • Companies are continuing to operate with thinner staffing in HR and recruiting departments but are asked to increase productivity to match the new job demand. 

How to Speed Up Hiring 

The combination of new technologies and behaviors might be enough to revisit your existing hiring process. To move the needle on hiring in 2015, you have to measure the effectiveness of your hiring process from end-to-end. Understanding what to look for and where to spot inefficiencies is mission critical. But before approaching it like a fad diet, realize impulsive decisions with little to no research will produce short-term lackluster results, if any at all.  

Putting organizational diplomacy aside, we understand this exercise sounds easier in theory than in practice. That's why we've created this short checklist of what you should look for during the evaluation process. These talking points are sure to get the conversation going in the right direction with your hiring team, senior managers or top brass. Good luck and happy hiring in the New Year!  

  1. Evaluate every step of your hiring process. The hardest step is often the first one. But evaluating each step in your recruiting process is imperative to identifying the weak spots. Remember to leave no stone unturned. By questioning every detail, you ensure that you fully grasp the process and can articulate the stop gaps to senior managers or leadership. 
  2. Get everyone on the same page. If you hear too often that hiring quality stinks (and agree), then call a meeting to address the issue head on. Are resources spread too thin? Are recruiters missing the mark? Is the bottle-necked system causing too many applicants to drop off? Getting all of the reasons on paper allows you to think strategically about what to address first. 
  3. Drive your ATS and not the other way around. Awhile back, we wrote this blog on whether your ATS was the downfall of recruiting process. We addressed the many reasons why your ATS could be the cause of missed hiring opportunities; including user error, overlooking ideal candidates, and poor candidate experiences.
  4. Dive into the data, and own it. Assuming your organization is collecting data, the next logical question to ask yourself is what are you doing with it. In today's digital age, each form field is a data point. Plotting the points is only helpful when you understand what to look for. In a recent webinar we hosted on building a business case for contingent labor, a number of attendees noted one of their biggest organizational challenges as reporting and metrics.

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