How to solve your volume recruitment issues, fast

Volume recruiting has always been a challenge for People & Culture leaders, but in some ways, the war for talent has never been more difficult than right now. Business leaders face the challenge of how to right-size their organisations, invest in talent acquisition and align cost bases to enable growth.

This situation is exacerbated if you need to hire large numbers of staff quickly, whether in response to unforeseen circumstances, seasonality, or, in a perfect world, spectacular growth. Your internal hiring managers are demanding that you fill the open headcount now. But in a job market desperate for them, you’re struggling to secure the help that you need when you need it.

The situation is challenging, but it’s not insurmountable. In this post, we will take a look at six of the best ways to hire in volume and at pace.

How not to navigate volume hiring

There are a number of ways your organisation might attempt to address its volume recruiting needs in such a candidate-led job market.

Your Talent Acquisition (TA) team could increase their job adverts volume from 50 per month to 100 per month, however, unfortunately, the likely outcome will be increased duplicate applications with a low level of relevancy, that still need to be screened, communicated with, and ultimately rejected.

Alternatively, you could ask your already stretched TA team to handle more work, however, an overworked team that is given more jobs to fill has less time available

You could use an external recruitment agency, though such volume campaigns on contingency fees can end up costing a small fortune. To be honest, these common solutions generally leave you right back where you started.

While most companies want to gear up for growth, investment decisions will be closely scrutinised and return on spend must be justified.

Fortunately, there are other strategies that may prove far more effective to help navigate the impending talent opportunities and challenges.

1. Boost candidate diversity

If you need a greater headcount, you should keep diversity front of mind. There may be a wealth of untapped talent sources out there that you may not have yet considered: gig workers, aging workers, graduate talent or those with transferable skills. During the recent pandemic, for example, many countries realised hospitality workers, who found themselves out of work, had the people skills to transition smoothly to carer roles for both the old and young.

Remember too that diversity can also result in increased productivity. A McKinsey & Company study found that the top 25% of companies by executive diversity were 33% more likely to have industry-leading profitability, while companies in the bottom 25% were 29% less likely to achieve above-average profitability. 

Use tech to gain insights about your organisation's diversity, and hire in a way that breaks any identified homogeny.

2. Use data to predict talent and skills needs

As much as we hate using well-worn corporate clichés, the fact remains that prior planning prevents poor performance. Are you doing all that you can to identify your talent needs as early as you can? You might instinctively answer yes, but if you’re not leaning heavily on technology to do so, particularly when it comes to the often laborious task of volume recruiting, the answer will more likely be 'no'.

As outlined above, are you using every sourcing channel you could? Take the time to understand where your target candidate personas spend time and make career decisions, and build an attraction strategy based on these insights.

Data can provide your business with talent insights. There will be subtle patterns hidden within the zeroes and ones that hint at an upcoming need for talent, and by using AI and business intelligence software, you’ll be able to identify them. Do it well and you could generate insights that comprehensively predict future talent pipeline needs.

Consider leaning on automation software where possible, whether online forms that automatically update your ATS, or chatbots that can handle basic candidate queries. Rather than replace recruiters, these technologies free them from the more robotic and low-value aspects of their job, freeing them up for high-value work, and reducing your need for extra hands in the process.

3. Have a well-planned selection process

Think of a time when you had to speak to your bank. But after 15 minutes on hold, with nothing more than crackly elevator music to keep you company, you give up and drop out of the queue.

The hiring process can be thought of in the same way: if it isn’t transparent and efficient, the candidates that you invested time and money in initially attracting will drop out of the process. In volume recruitment the cost of inefficient and candidate-unfriendly processes scales.

The screening and hiring process must be efficient, effective and transparent on the candidate side, through application, interview, offer and onboarding.

4. Become laser-focused on candidate quality and relevance

One of the greatest challenges of volume recruitment is volume. A shortage of talent for volume campaigns is one of the top three challenges facing APAC-based organisations and one of the top talent issues keeping People & Culture leaders awake at night.

Once again, talent technology is your friend. Leverage smart tools to pre-screen candidates, remembering to put a focus on diversity. Avoid setting arbitrary benchmarks like 'X degree' or 'X years of experience required', and instead, gain an understanding of the challenges presented by the job. More so find a tech solution that helps you review and assess the cultural and motivational fit of your applicants to your business, and even review their personality traits to understand if they will lend themselves well to success.

5. Maintain a high-end candidate experience

When was the last time you updated your volume hiring process? Is it smooth, simple and transparent? Can a candidate complete processes online and at their leisure? Do they get updated as the process moves forward, or if their application is declined?

The hiring process will usually be the candidate’s first time dealing with your organisation, so their first impression will be built upon the experience that you serve up. If it’s a good one, you’ll likely have an enthusiastic and committed worker on your hands. If it’s a bad one, the candidate will treat you with the same apathy they feel they’re receiving.

60% of applicants will remove themselves from the hiring process if they feel it’s too long or complex. What’s more, 72% of candidates who have a bad experience will share that fact with others. In short, a bad candidate experience can torpedo your employer brand, particularly in volume recruiting, where it has the potential to build an army of detractors.

Adapt your process to the roles you’re hiring for, like being accessible at all hours if you recruit for industries like mining and healthcare. If you can’t be there 24/7 for your clients and candidates, offer complete support on your website through online troubleshooting and chatbots that can answer basic questions.

6. Utilise Talent Acquisition as a Service (TAaaS) teams

While your organisation likely has an existing talent acquisition capability, there is a rapidly growing trend to engage a TAaaS team for high-volume projects.

This ‘on-demand’ approach to volume recruiting works because the costs are variable rather than fixed, and you can bring in expert capability for a defined timeframe and purpose.

If you are a business leader with the need to grow your headcount, to do it at pace, and are faced with the smallest ever talent pool, then now may be the time to consider engaging with an external provider of talent solutions.  An outsourced talent solution will give you the opportunity to reduce your fixed costs and, if designed and managed well by an experienced provider, will also reduce spend on recruitment agency fees, advertising, technology and contingent workers.

• To boost sourcing
• To run your selection process
• To implement tools that quicken volume recruitment processes
• To enhance the candidate experience
• To ensure compliance and risk are managed.

By leaning on data and technology, streamlining your processes, focusing your efforts, delivering a great candidate experience, and capitalising on the help of professionals where necessary, you’ll put your organisation in a far stronger overall position.

You’ll attract quality employees, in larger quantities, and fast.

If your business is poised for significant headcount growth, then, speak to the team at Harrier. With years of experience in the Australian market in providing fast, outcome-driven on-demand solutions, we will ensure your business wins in the war for talent. Contact us today.