With the advent of modern recruiting technology there are tons of data at the disposal of organizations. Are organizations catching up to the data potential? What is the role of outside experts in bringing greater insight to an organization?
Talent acquisition and technology leaders agree there is a recent shift driven by the explosion in recruiting data. Andrew Brown, Global Head of RPO at Saba, a leading total talent technology company, observes, “over the last 18-to-24 months we have witnessed a shift in organisations needing to better understand their data and maximise its use in order to help shape future plans.” Brown added, “most notably organisations are transitioning away from reactive recruitment to proactive recruitment by using data, this in large is attributed to the types of tools available to organisations now to drive this meaningful insight.”
Proactive recruitment helps organizations recruit ahead of demand by creating talent pipelines. This allows organizations to have access to quality candidates when they need them. Proactive recruitment also allows organizations to control the narrative of their employment brand and how they want to be perceived by candidates. Therefore, the insights data provide has spilled outside the traditional quality and speed of hire into the experiences and perceptions of candidates. Using all this data strategically is a new challenge organizations are still trying to figure out.
Brown articulates the complex process of capturing and analyzing recruiting data using modern ATS (applicant tracking system) tools:
“Organisations’ understanding of data is key to shaping their hiring functions. Every organisation needs first to benchmark the types of data which are currently captured from within their ATS and baseline the types of information in which it is feeding back. Ensuring data is captured through the recruitment journey is key to driving meaningful data rather than a disparate data which provides little to no insight into your organisations recruitment success. Identifying gaps in your data helps understand where information capture needs to be addressed.
Once this benchmarking process has been completed organisations need to identify their strategic recruitment goals. From focussing on reducing time-to-hire or cost-of-hire to reviewing the types of mediums where job openings are distributed. Capturing this data throughout the process will enable organisations to baseline and track these strategic goals.
From here we enter the realm of advanced analytics, harnessing data insights to shape future decisions through the use of various different tools from predictive tools to market benchmarking tools. This is a state that all organisations wish to achieve, the reality is that many organisations still struggle to capture and present data from their existing systems to help shape these decisions.”
Today, recruiting technology touches candidates at all stages of the hiring journey. From the early stages of researching a company, whether its on its website or through sites like Glassdoor, to the experience of filling a job application online, to video interviewing and job offer or no offer, all these touch points impact both the candidate and the employer. Organizations need to understand what the data is telling them and to align their hiring process to their business goals.
Where can organizations go for help with all this data?
There is a lot to take on when decoding recruiting data but organizations don’t have to go it alone. Having a technology or recruiting partner can make all the difference in the (hiring) world.
Recruitment process outsourcing providers (RPOs) can lend a huge help to organizations in harnessing the potential of recruiting data. As Kim Pope, Chief Operating Officer at WilsonHCG, points out, "leading RPO providers can partner with organizations to effectively tell the story of how talent impacts the business--and vice versa. This can lend insight into employment branding, candidate journey, talent acquisition, retaining talent and talent mobility.”
RPOs are technology savvy and can help their clients navigate through tool options and analyzing data to deliver the desired results.
Patty Silbert, President of Pittsburg-based RPO provider, Newton Talent says, “we use a number of tools and sources for data to help our clients understand their employer brand and its effect on internal and external audiences. For example, we provide our clients data to show them how their company—and their competitors—are perceived as employers, where their messages are being deployed, and how they resonate (or fail to) with talent audiences. We’ll also use tools like Glassdoor to uncover audience drivers they may have overlooked and compare audience demographics.”
Glassdoor, a website that started in 2008, allows current and former employees to anonymously review companies. It currently has over more than 61 million unique monthly visitors who are looking to gain insights on employers that cannot be found on a corporate website. “The insights an organization can dig into on Glassdoor are incredibly impactful,” says Kate Skerrett, RPO Channel Manager with Glassdoor. As Skerrett explains, “a few top data sets include visualizing sentiment by location or job type, seeing how your Glassdoor rankings stack up to your competition and breaking down demographics of who is coming to explore your company on Glassdoor. These metrics can act as a way to run triage for internal issues and can be the starting point for strategic decisions in both marketing and talent acquisition efforts.”
Many technology companies, such as the leading total talent software company, Saba, provide tools and customer support to help their clients with data capture and analysis. “Our focus when it comes to data is led on two fronts. First and foremost helping organisations understand their current data and tying this to their strategic objectives is key,” says Brown. “Understanding gaps in capturing key data points is as important as how the data is presented. Secondly presenting 'meaningful data'. Placing this type of data into the users hands allows organisation to understand key metrics and how they can use this to shape their future business. Saba Recruit provides interactive dashboards which provides users with a live view of the recruiting functions and ensures users don't need to manipulate data in order to understand how healthy their hiring is.”
Sibert articulates the value of having an expert help in navigating recruiting and technology advancement with high clarity:
“Growing organizations are running at a break-neck speed. For teams facing the challenge of attracting and retaining top talent, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest from the trees. Having a partner who has an outside perspective on the challenges you face in reaching your business goals can add much clarity when it comes to how to find the people that can help you achieve them. Plus, having additional expertise in so many areas at your fingertips—from market analysis to employment branding and social media management—really makes a huge difference in the success of strategy, both in planning and deployment.”
Recommended Resources
Webinar: A panel discussion on key recruiting metrics for measuring RPO success
White Paper: Recruiting Metrics 101: What You Need to Know About Measuring Your Recruiting