subject: Key Components of a Healthy Hiring Program [print this page] Key Components of a Healthy Hiring Program
Human Capital may be the most valuable of all a company's internal resources. The success of a company's hiring program depends on several factors that must constantly be tweaked and improved to keep pace with changes in the workforce and business technology. The most obvious component is access to a stream of quality applicants. If the right people cannot be found, positions remain open too long and overall company productivity is impacted. Leveraging reputable recruiters, employee referrals, social media and online postings are all part of casting a wide net. Just how wide depends on the nature of the position and the specificity of skills required. However, if the net is cast too wide without strategic targeting, the glut of applicants may slow the hiring process unnecessarily
Most openings will generate a high number of applicants. That means having a solid applicant tracking system (ATS) in place is essential to review resumes, manage responses, organize interviews, and report to other stakeholders in the company. The ability to handle many thousands of applications efficiently helps save on administrative manpower and also helps project a well-managed company to prospective employees. Strengthening this perception invariably helps attract more valuable applicants.
Not only does a tracking system help reduce the possibility of promising candidates "falling through the cracks", it helps filter applications with variable criterion and allows multiple decision makers to collaborate. Pre-screening checklists, customized responses, ranking and matching algorithms are all important tools for processing a high volume of applicants and lowering the cost-per-hire. A good system will allow cross-pollination of skills and openings so that when a good applicant isn't a perfect fit for opening X, it will be simpler to recommend them for opening Y in a different department or branch. Just as a company's customer and sales data can be mined to optimize numerous business goals, human resource data can also be analyzed in a variety of ways over time. Applicant tracking metrics can be used discover workflow bottlenecks, better target where a recruiting budget is best directed, and improve the overall process .
Efficient application processing is only one aspect of a healthy hiring system. A high level of communication helps focus the applicant pool and helps illuminate many of the intangibles that are hard to include in a typical job description. Questionnaires, exercises, and other candidate assessment tools can reveal skills and experiences that don't commonly show up in a resume but may be critical aspects of a company's culture or approach to their customers. Providing real-time documentation of the hiring process also helps HR and management accelerate communication which usually means better and faster hires as all decision-makers can address pending issues and approvals directly.
If the applicant tracking system can efficiently match positions with skills, talents and relevant experience at the outset, the better the results will be. When an employer responds quickly, follows-up intelligently, and moves the process along smoothly, all parties enjoy a positive experience. Ultimately, it is the company that reaps the benefits in cost-savings and workforce quality, two essentials for a healthy enterprise.
