There is an old saying, “what gets measured gets done.” I am a believer in this based on watching sales people over more than 25 years. If you can achieve a bonus or grow compensation by hitting a metric, sales people will figure it out and get it done. They hit metrics because there is personal benefit.
As a recruiter or recruitment leader, do you have recruitment metrics that are driving results? What would you like to know about your effort and the impact that tools and resources have on achieving your KPIs or metrics?
One of the big-picture metrics almost every firm needs to be concerned with is the cost of running the business. If you knew which recruitment tools were producing value, then you may be able to produce improved results with investment in some recruitment resources or save cost by eliminating others. So, you need a cost-per-sendouts metric and a cost-per-placement metric. If you manage recruiters, is it obvious that those doing more sendouts are getting more placements? Is it reasonable to see if low-placement-producing resources are extracted from the business and more productive recruitment tools/resources are leveraged, more can be done?
Something I hear is, “we need more quality candidates.” First of all “quality candidates” is too broad of a recruitment metric. Be specific about the type of candidate. Do you need more “passive candidates that are plant managers with lean manufacturing backgrounds and experiences?” Your metric will determine your actions and eventually your results. In this case, you need to advertise where these candidates will see you. You need to go to lean conferences. You need to join LinkedIn and Facebook groups with similar types of candidates. Maybe you need to create a white paper that these candidates would download, or host a speaker/webinar that would attract these candidates? A metric such as “host two events in the next 180 days that will attract my target candidates” is a way to start investing in results. A second metric could be “create a white paper every 90 days that would be specific enough to be downloaded by my target candidates.” And why not “passive plant managers with lean experience added each month” as a metric?
Perhaps all this is great, but if no one applies, you have made little progress. Do you monitor and do A/B testing an your advertisements? If you want more applications, then you need to measure, monitor, test and change your advertisements, which is the point where candidates ultimately engage with the job. Do your adverts include items that will attract the right group and repel those that are clearly not a fit? Tough to do, but testing will help you get there. Have you included:
- What current employees are saying bout the business?
- Full list of benefits?
- An inside look at what the work space looks like?
- Company stories, mission detail?
- Do you have please do not apply if statements…such as non-degreed, work permits for the country of employment, X years of experience, unwilling to relocate, etc…all of these need to be legal requirements of the opening.
Remember, what gets measured gets done. Set some recruitment metrics and see if you can improve your results.