Recruitment

What is the “recruitment cycle”?

A Recruitment cycle is the end to end process which runs throughout the recruitment process. The entire cycle would predominantly cover 6 steps which are as follows:

• Planning & Preparing
• Sourcing
• Screening
• Selecting
• Hiring
• Onboarding

1. Planning & Preparing

It is very important to know what you need in the first place in the company whether it is newly formed or just vacated. Always start with identifying the vacancies that are followed by the job specifications that includes the knowledge, experience and skills.

2. Sourcing

Sourcing is the process of finding resumes for specific jobs defined. After knowing the need of recruitment in company the next step is to start sourcing people for different job niches. Identifying the right talent for the right job is the most important step in the recruitment process.

3. Screening

The third step is the resume screening that is the most important and time consuming part of recruitment. It is basically a process of determining whether the candidate is qualified for the role based education, experience or other information on their resume. The goal of screening resumes is to decide whether to move the applicant forward or not.

4. Selecting

In the section phase, shortlisted candidates will go through the interview process. Depending on the size of the hiring team and the unique recruitment needs several interviews may be scheduled for every candidate.

5. Hiring

The second last stage of the recruitment process is hiring and offer of employment.

What is the difference between recruitment and selection?

There is a quite distinguishable difference between Recruitment and Selection. Recruitment refers to the process where potential applicants are searched for, and then encouraged to apply for an actual or anticipated vacancy. Selection on the other hand, is the process of hiring employees among the shortlisted candidates and providing them a job in the organisation.

What are recruitment metrics?

Here are the 7 key recruitment metrics that we consider most important for recruiters to track and measure -

1. Application Completion Rate

This recruitment metric tells you how many people completed your application form throughout the turnaround time.

2. Vacancy Rate

This is a calculation of the percentage of open positions versus the total number of existing positions. The vacancy rate for your company or a specific department reveals trends in the job market or your company's growth trajectory.

3. Fill Rate

Your fill rate is the percentage of jobs you fill out of the total number of openings you have. This metric is useful in determining whether your team (or an external agency) can effectively fill job positions.

4. Applicants Per Hire

Applicants per hire is a ratio of how many applications are considered for each hire. This can vary widely from job to job, so calculate it for each position you fill.

5. Qualified Candidates Per Hire

While similar to the applicants per hire metric, qualified candidates per hire is slightly different in that it is a measure of how many applicants make it past the first milestone of your review process (usually how many made it to the additional screening phase).

6. Time to Hire.

This is the average number of days it takes for a candidate to proceed from applying for an open position to accepting a position with your company.

7. Cost Per Hire

Cost per hire is also sometimes referred to as cost to fill. The formula calculates the ROI of your recruitment efforts by determining exactly how much of your budget was spent on each new hire. Keeping this number low can help you work out your future budgeting and recruitment strategies.
Here are 8 Popular Metrics To Help Understand The ROI Of Recruitment.

What are the 5 stages of the recruitment process?

The 5 stages in the recruitment process are -

1. Recruitment Planning

The first step involved in the recruitment process is planning. Here, planning involves to draft a comprehensive job specification for the vacant position, outlining its major and minor responsibilities; the skills, experience and qualifications needed; grade and level of pay; starting date; whether temporary or permanent; and mention of special conditions, if any, attached to the job to be filled

2. Devising Strategy

After a thorough process planning, organisation can come to know how many with what qualifications of candidates are required. The next step involved in this regard is to devise a suitable strategy for recruiting the candidates in the organisation.

3. Searching

This step involves attracting job seekers to the organisation. There are broadly two sources used to attract candidates.

Internal Recruitment - It is a recruitment which takes place within the concern or organization. Internal sources of recruitment are readily available to an organization. Internal sources are primarily three - Transfers, promotions and Re-employment of ex-employees.

External Recruitment - External sources of recruitment have to be solicited from outside the organization. External sources are external to a concern. But it involves lot of time and money. The external sources of recruitment include - Employment at factory gate, advertisements, employment exchanges, employment agencies, educational institutes, labor contractors, recommendations etc.

4. Screening

Though some view screening as the starting point of selection, we have considered it as an integral part of recruitment. The reason being the selection process starts only after the applications have been screened and shortlisted.

5. Evaluation and Control

Given the considerable cost involved in the recruitment process, its evaluation and control is, therefore, imperative.

What are the common types of recruitment challenges that organisations face?

Recruitment Process has a limited but very specific number of challenges when it comes to the process flow. These are as follows:

1. Attracting the right talent

If you’ve ever tried to discover the right candidate in a pool full of unqualified talent, you’ll know that your options are limited. You’ll choose the best person you can find at the time - not the best fit for the job. But it’s not always about the number of candidates who apply; the best way to hire the right people is often from a smaller pipeline of more qualified talent.

2. Engaging qualified candidates

Good candidates are often contacted regularly by recruiters, making it harder for your own email to stand out. In addition, candidates with hard-to-find skills are often considering several job offers at the same time. You need to put extra effort into persuading passive candidates to choose your company over your competitors.

3. Hiring swiftly

Hiring teams want to hire as fast as possible, because vacant positions cost money and delay operations. Yet, depending on your industry, making a hire can take several months putting pressure on recruiters and frustrating hiring teams. A long time to hire may be a byproduct of a shortage of qualified candidates.

4. Data backed recruitment

Companies can use recruitment data and metrics to constantly improve their recruiting process and make more informed decisions. But collecting and processing data can be a hassle. Spreadsheets are one way to track hiring data but they require manual work, are prone to human error - and they’re not compliant. This makes it hard to track data and trends accurately. Hiring teams need ways to compile and organize data in an efficient and streamlined way.

5. Building a strong employer brand

A good employer brand helps you attract and engage better candidates. organisations that invest in employer branding are three times more likely to make a quality hire. Yet, it’s a complex process that includes anything from ensuring a positive candidate experience to promoting your culture on social media. It’s a continuous, collective effort that requires you to step out of your usual duties and secure buy-in from your coworkers.

6. Ensuring a good candidate experience

Candidate experience isn’t only important for employer branding, but it’s also a factor when your best candidates are evaluating your job offers. The way you treat candidates during the hiring process mirrors the way you’ll treat them after hiring. If they had a bad experience, they’re less likely to accept. Conversely, positive candidate experiences can enhance your employer brand and encourage good candidates to apply and accept your job offers.

Why is recruitment so important for new companies?

Recruitment plays a vital role for most organisations, be it as matured as Tata, or as new as Darwinbox! But, there is always a notch above when it comes to new companies in terms of recruiting the best people. Here is why -

1. Helps to build your employer brand

When a start-up starts to hire, the public and potential job candidates research the company. Your company’s public profile and online presence are very crucial at this point as it marks the first impression of your company.

2. Ensure that the right employee is hired

It is imperative to make sure that you have hired the right person for your start-up. As start-up founders, one should know what it is like working for a start-up – the long working hours, unexpected meetings, attending many events as a form of networking, etc. Therefore, your start-up should emphasis the employee you would like and ensure you find the right fit. If you hire the wrong person right at the start of the growth of your company, the company can face many losses.

What are the recruitment techniques?

Recruitment techniques are always evolving, and the Internet has significantly changed the landscape in recent years. Here’s a round-up of the most popular employee recruitment techniques.

1. Internal Recruitment

There are a number of valid reasons to recruit internally. Firstly, it can work out with a lower cost than advertising externally or using agencies - you can just run an ad for free on your company intranet or message board. Secondly, having a policy of regular internal recruitment creates a strong progression path for your employees.

2. Advertising Externally

External advertising is a vast technique with n number of possibilities. There are lots of options, with new methods emerging often. And every company needs to advertise externally sometimes - especially when you’re growing.

3. Print Media Advertising

Print isn’t actually dead. The print job ad might be the most traditional of all recruitment techniques. But so long as sector-specific journals and magazines are around, print ads are a great way to reach a well-defined segment of job seekers.

4. Website Advertising

The strength of Internet advertising is proven by its growth - it’s predicted to overtake TV as the biggest ad medium by 2019 (PWC). Advertising on recruitment websites promises a potentially wide reach at low cost. Job seekers can use Google to find specific types of job at a range of the most popular recruitment websites. And it takes only a few minutes to set up an ad. One can also advertise vacancies on their own corporate website.

5. Social Media

Being active on social media services like Twitter allows you to ‘meet’ potential candidates in lots of ways: through shared connections, through shared discussion topics, and because it’s easy for job seekers to contact you.

6. Talent Search

The popularity of online recruitment has made talent search a feasible alternative to job advertising. Popular recruitment sites hold databases of thousands of CVs, which you can search using keywords to find potential candidates.

7. Using Recruitment Agencies

A good recruiter is motivated (because they’re on commission), has recruitment skills and experience you may not, and can access a large network of potential candidates. Using a recruiter costs money, but it does keep your time free to do the things you’re best at. For the best results, use a recruiter that understands and has contacts in your sector."

When does the recruitment process begin?

The hiring process begins when a company identifies the need to fill a position and ends when a candidate accepts a job offer. The typical steps of the recruitment and selection process vary depending on the role and company.

How can recruitment challenges be overcome?

It’s hard to find time to analyze your hiring process and identify areas of improvement. But a commitment to recruitment operations is important to improving ROI and removing pain points. Here’s how to overcome hiring challenges:

• Switch your approach from reactive to proactive
• Create a consistent candidate experience
• Develop a recruiting culture
• Use Recruiting Metrics to Identify Opportunities for Improvement
• Gather Feedback From Candidates And Hiring Managers
• Consolidate Recruitment Technology.