Using Data to Improve Recruitment Strategies
Learn about what you can do to attract stronger talent, promote employee retention, and reduce your overall cost per hire in a competitive hiring landscape.
Using Data to Improve Recruitment Strategies
Harnessing data the right way can make or break your ROI when it comes to hiring. Since hiring today takes place online for the most part, tracking your performance and understanding what the data is telling you is essential.
Digital campaigns can flood HR teams with thousands of inquiries, many of which can be unqualified. In other cases, we see wasted spend in posts without any search engine optimization (SEO), causing your job listings to fall to the very bottom of your candidate’s preferred search engine.
So, what can be done? You don’t necessarily have the time to learn the many intricacies of programmatic job distribution. You’re an expert in your field, trying to recruit other experts in theirs. That’s where the team at Career Now Brands comes in. By discussing your unique hiring needs with your dedicated Career Now contact, your recruitment process becomes simple and cost-effective. Get connected with us here.
Alternatively, if you wish to learn some of the more fundamental ways you can use data to improve your hiring, read on!
Track the Right Metrics
A large part of using your data wisely is knowing what information you need, along with tracking it correctly. First, let’s take a look at some of the most common metrics recruiters track.
Cost per Hire (CPH)
Tracking CPH gives businesses insights into the efficiency of their recruitment process. Cost per hire refers to the total cost of hiring a new employee. This metric includes all expenses — such as job ads, recruiter fees, background checks, and onboarding — and is divided by the total number of hires being made.
Engagement Rates
Engagement rates provide a glimpse into your hiring campaign, job listing, or social posts’ performance. Simply put, engagement rates measure and track your audience’s interaction with your posts in terms of clicks, shares, comments, and in this case, application stats. Engagement can be measured in job postings, career pages, and display ads.
Application Conversion Rate
An application conversion rate refers to the percentage of job seekers who complete an application after starting it. If you’re seeing a low conversion rate, it might indicate that there are various barriers in your application process. There may be too many required fields, glitches, or even simply a complex user experience. If your rate is high, you can rest assured in knowing that your application process is likely seamless and efficient.
User Journeys and Source of Hire
A user journey refers to the path that a candidate takes from finding your open listing to submitting the application. This includes interactions with job ads, career pages, emails, search engines, and social media. Examining user journeys help businesses optimize touchpoints to hire qualified candidates quicker. Source of hire relates to the user journey because it identifies where an applicant first found your job listing.
Employee Retention Data
Employee retention data tracks hired employees during their time with a company and the factors influencing their tenure. This includes turnover rates, employee satisfaction, and reasons for staying or leaving. By analyzing this data, businesses can improve workplace culture and long-term retention.
Time to Fill
Time to fill is the number of days it takes to hire a candidate, which is measured from the job posting date to when an offer is actually accepted. Tracking time to fill helps businesses identify various hiring bottlenecks and improve their hiring efficiency.
Again, these are just some of the metrics that can be tracked to gain insight into your hiring campaign’s performance. These data points let you know what works and what doesn’t, and where to channel your resources — both financial and human.
Understand the Data
Using the insights gathered from the metrics you’ve been tracking, you can optimize your job ad placement, reduce the time it takes to fill applications, and increase your conversion rates. Tracking and understanding your data eliminates tedious guesswork, helping you pinpoint where and what decisions need to be made.
For example, are your candidates consistently dropping off at the same point in the application process? If so, there may be a glitch needing to be corrected, or this step of your application could be too complicated or intrusive. If these bottlenecks can be removed, it’s likely that you’ll soon yield more favorable results.
Personalize Candidate Outreach
According to the 2023 recruitment trends report, personalized outreach increases candidate response rates by 42 percent. You can use candidate relationship management software (CRM) to analyze specific candidate behavior and preferences, allowing you to personalize your outreach.
From initial engagement to a candidate’s final stages in the recruitment funnel, businesses use CRM to track data including past applications, job interests, and engagement with emails and career pages. Armed with this data, recruiters can send personalized job recommendations, targeted follow-ups, and tailored messaging that makes for the most engaging, customized experience possible.
Use A/B Testing
Even if you don’t have the latest tools at your disposal, there are simple ways to conduct A/B tests. For example, when posting a job, test variations in job titles, descriptions, formats (long-form vs. short-form), and calls to action to see what drives the best results.
Do your jobs with “Join our team!” accompanied by a team photo seem to perform better than listings with a simple “Apply Now” button? Observe what performs the best and modify your posts (and future ones) to match.
Optimize Your Ad Placement
Strategizing the placement of your ads can go hand-in-hand with A/B testing and data analytics. If you find that your jobs perform better on one job board than another, prioritize posting there. If you find that promoting your jobs across social media has increased your traffic, consider backing these social media listings with a little bit of spend.
Take Advantage of Remarketing
Remarketing refers to the strategy of using analytics to reengage job seekers who have previously viewed one of your listings, but have not yet converted. This can involve targeted ads or email campaigns. When used in recruitment, remarketing campaigns work by keeping your company top-of-mind in the eyes of your ideal candidates.
Anticipate Your Workforce Needs Based on Company Analytics
Understanding of the patterns of your workforce help you anticipate your long-term needs, as well as improve your hiring spend. What’s your company’s average tenure? Is there a certain season you need to ramp up your recruitment? Analyzing historical data helps you answer these key questions and gain a clearer understanding of how to best utilize your spend.
Put Spend Behind Your Ads (Without Sacrificing Your Budget)
Whether you have ample room in your budget or very minimal, putting a responsible amount of spend behind your ads provides invaluable visibility. Without anyone viewing your ads, your efforts fall flat. Looking at your data can help you determine which platforms, channels, or types of ads are the most effective in reaching your audience.
We specialize in high-performing yet cost-effective recruitment solutions. To chat with one of our knowledgeable Career Now specialists, visit us here!
Let Your Data Lead the Way!
Leveraging data helps businesses make intuitive decisions that maximize their ROI and minimize their cost per hire. Even if you don’t have a robust budget, or an intricate knowledge of analytics, the above steps are ones you can take to transform your hiring practices.
Interested in more guidance? We’re happy to help. For well over a decade, Career Now Brands has helped businesses like yours streamline their hiring and yield cost-effective, exceptional results. Visit us here to get connected with our team of industry leaders!
Sally W.
