Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. Automation. These are just a few ways technology has helped companies evolve their recruitment process. But employers aren’t implementing an effective candidate engagement process.

 

What is Candidate Engagement?

Candidate engagement is a critical aspect of the recruitment process. It refers to the level of interaction and communication between a company and job candidates throughout the hiring process, from the initial job posting to the final job offer. In today’s job market, where competition for top talent is fierce, effective candidate engagement can be the difference between attracting top candidates and losing them to your competitors.

One of the main reasons candidate engagement in recruitment is so meaningful is that it helps build a positive candidate experience. When candidates feel engaged and valued throughout the recruitment process, they are more likely to have a positive impression of the company and may be more likely to accept a job offer if one is made.

 

Benefits of Candidate Engagement in Recruitment

Candidate engagement can have numerous benefits for organizations, including:

• Attracting top talent through a positive employer brand and reputation.
• Improving the candidate experience, leading to positive word-of-mouth and referrals.
• Building a talent pipeline and improving retention by keeping candidates engaged with the organization.
• Reducing recruiting costs, improving diversity and inclusion through engagement with candidates from diverse backgrounds.

 

Effective Candidate Engagement Practices to Attract the Best Talents

Candidate engagement is a critical aspect of recruitment, serving as the magnetic pull that draws potential applicants to your open positions and inspiring them to persist through the recruitment and selection process. We are laying out five robust candidate engagement strategies that will aid in your efforts to engage your potential candidates effectively.

Crafting Your Company’s Unique Value Proposition

Effective candidate engagement practices begin with a deep understanding of what your company offers. This includes acknowledging your company’s values, objectives, and culture to develop an exceptional value proposition, otherwise known as your employer brand. With this well-defined brand, you can communicate effectively with potential hires through strategic candidate engagement strategies. 

A robust employer brand strategy includes crafting quality content that paints a vivid picture of life at your company, thus engaging candidates by allowing them to envision their future with you.

Comprehending Your Candidate’s Needs

Candidate engagement is significantly heightened when you fully comprehend the needs of your potential hires. Recognizing who your qualified candidates are and what they expect from their future employers allows for a mutual alignment of needs. This understanding also equips recruiters with insights into why candidates might contemplate leaving their current roles. Consequently, recruiters can tailor their discussions to address specific concerns for each potential hire. True comprehension of your candidate’s needs entails:

• Asking pertinent questions
• Identifying the correlation between their needs and the role
• Analyzing all received information, regardless of perceived relevance
• Enriching Your Hiring Managers

In the realm of candidate engagement, hiring managers play an indispensable role. They collaborate with the team to identify prospective candidates and foster relationships with them. 

To bolster your hiring managers, equip them with the necessary resources and training to engage effectively with potential hires. Employ candidate engagement strategies such as surveys, data analytics, or candidate interviews to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

Utilizing a Talent Acquisition Solution

Investing in a powerful talent acquisition solution is a game-changer for serious candidate engagement. Such a solution will aid your HR team in maintaining ongoing engagement with candidates via a branded career portal. A suitable solution should enable your team to:

• Efficiently source and screen suitable candidates through intelligent matching and ranking
• Effectively manage job applicants based on interest and skill
• Handle resume submissions through an applicant tracking system
• Initiate interviews with structured interview management tools
• Smoothly onboard candidates with digital onboarding tools

By streamlining these processes, you save invaluable time and resources, which can then be channeled towards deeper engagement with your candidates, leading to a better understanding of their needs and qualifications.

Automating Your Hiring Process

Automation is the final piece of the puzzle in developing effective candidate engagement practices. A system that allows seamless onboarding of candidates using digital tools not only simplifies the hiring process but can also serve as a compelling selling point when candidates are weighing multiple opportunities.

 

Additional Candidate Engagement Strategies to Consider when Building a Candidate Engagement Process

• Communicate regularly and transparently. Keep candidates informed at every process step, and be responsive to their questions and concerns. Clear, timely communication will help to build trust and positive relationships with candidates.
• Provide value to candidates. Share information and resources to help candidates advance their careers, such as job search tips, industry insights, or training opportunities. This helps establish your company as a valuable resource for job seekers.
• Leverage technology. Use recruitment software and tools to automate and streamline your candidate engagement process. This can speed up communication and provide candidates with a more efficient and effective experience.
• Personalize your approach. Customize your communication and engagement efforts based on each candidate’s needs and preferences. This can help to create a more personalized and compelling candidate experience.
• Keep it human. Even with technology in recruitment, remember to keep the human touch, show empathy and tailor your approach to the candidate’s needs.

By following these strategies, you can create a more effective and efficient candidate engagement in recruitment that will help you to attract, engage, and retain top talent for your organization. Remember that effective candidate engagement is a continuous process that requires monitoring, analysis, and improvement to be effective.

Take a product tour today for more information on improving your candidate engagement process from a singular platform.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is candidate engagement in the recruitment process?

Candidate engagement is the procedure and assessment of ongoing face-to-face, text, or mail communication with your candidate pool. Engagement could be measured in terms of email opens, text replies, job views, or job applications for staffing.

How do you create a candidate engagement?

1. Make your workplace, roles, and culture exciting.
2. Confirm and inform whenever possible.
3. Establish a strict deadline and follow it.
4. Fill in the insurmountable gaps using chatbots and technology.
5. Create interesting processes.

Why is candidate engagement meaningful?

Elite recruiters work hard to engage candidates fully, force candidates to learn more about the recruiting company, and convince them to consider an employment offer seriously.

In today’s fast-paced job market, recruiters are under immense pressure to find the right candidates quickly and efficiently. One of the most significant challenges they face is sifting through hundreds of resumes for a single corporate job opening, which can be a time-consuming and daunting task. 

This is where an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can come in handy, as it streamlines the recruitment process by automating the candidate matching process. An AI-based talent matching platform, like an ATS, can help improve recruiter productivity by automating the candidate matching process and reducing the time needed to find the most suitable candidates for a given role. 

With the help of an ATS, recruiters can save valuable time and focus on more critical tasks, such as conducting interviews and assessing candidates’ qualifications and fit for a given position.

What is a Talent Matching AI platform? 

A talent-matching AI platform powered by machine learning is revolutionizing the recruitment process by providing an intelligent tool for candidate matching. Using semantic search algorithms, this platform goes beyond traditional keyword searches to identify the best-matched candidates for a job opening. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, this tool enhances search capabilities and enables recruiters to quickly and accurately match candidates with suitable job opportunities. 

With this platform, the recruitment process becomes streamlined and efficient, ensuring that each candidate is placed in the right position, thus significantly reducing the time and effort required for candidate sourcing. 

How does the talent-matching AI platform work? 

Manual candidate matching is a tedious and time-consuming process that can lead to human error and costly mistakes, which is why many recruiters now rely on an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to streamline the process. However, even with an ATS, candidate matching can still be a challenge. This is where AI candidate matching comes in, mitigating the risks of human error and improving the accuracy of the matching process.

By combining algorithms and search criteria, an AI-powered candidate matching tool uses pre-filled characteristics, priorities, and keywords, both specific and related, to assign a ranking score to each applicant. This helps recruiters quickly identify the most qualified candidates and make data-driven decisions about who to move forward within the hiring process.

Ready to see it in action? Here’s how candidate matching works in four simple steps with the help of an ATS: 

1. Custom selection parameters. Recruiters can select certain criteria, like experience, location, and salary requirements, to aid in their search.  
2. Semantic search tools. Once parameters are selected, recruiters then use specific keywords to filter and match candidates. 
3. Fast candidate submission. Candidate lists are then populated and organized, allowing recruiters to easily and quickly scan for the most valuable candidates.  
4. Instantaneous communication. Finally, automated responses immediately notify candidates of their status.   

4 Ways Machine Learning Recruiters Enhance Productivity with AI Candidate Matching

An AI matching platform uses algorithms and machine learning to match job openings with the most qualified and suitable candidates. This not only saves time for recruiters but also improves the quality of hires. The platform also allows for efficient candidate progress and communication tracking, making the recruitment process more streamlined. 

1. Improve Time-to-Hire metrics 

Firstly, by utilizing AI candidate matching, time-to-hire metrics can be significantly improved. The automated process of candidate matching uses pre-determined keywords and semantic algorithms to match the best candidates with the best jobs, reducing the time-to-hire by up to 40%. This allows recruiters to work more efficiently and accurately.  

2. Reduce bias and diversify the recruiting process. 

Secondly, machine learning recruiters can help reduce bias and diversify the recruiting process. The reliance on data, parameters, and specific keywords in the automated process reduces the risk of human bias, and other features like anonymous feedback options and demographic data visibility restrictions also help to reduce bias.  

3. Make data-driven decisions about recruiting processes

Thirdly, machine learning recruiters can help recruiters make data-driven decisions about recruiting processes. By analyzing more data and automating recruiting tasks, recruiters can become more proactive and measure KPIs like time-to-hire and quality of hire. Understanding these metrics can help recruiters make better decisions when developing and enhancing recruiting strategies.  

4. Improve the likelihood that the right candidates are hired

Finally, machine learning recruiters can improve the likelihood that the right candidates are hired. Custom algorithms and analytics help to ensure that only the most qualified candidates are matched, saving time and energy for both candidates and recruiters. The combination of human and machine capabilities allows recruiters to make faster, better decisions throughout the recruiting process, reducing the chance of unsuccessful matches and increasing the likelihood of successful hires.  

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an AI-based talent-matching platform?

An AI-based talent-matching platform is software that uses algorithms and machine learning to match job openings with the most qualified and suitable candidates.

How does an AI matching platform improve recruiter productivity?

An AI matching platform improves recruiter productivity by automating the candidate matching process, allowing recruiters to focus on more high-value tasks, such as interviewing and closing candidates.

How does an AI matching platform improve the quality of hires?

An AI matching platform improves the quality of hires by using algorithms and machine learning to match job openings with the most qualified and suitable candidates. It also helps in tracking the candidate’s progress and communication, making the recruitment process more streamlined.

Essential Applicant Tracking System Features for Streamlined Recruitment

The feature of recruitment that is vital to businesses is recruiting the right talent. As remote work continues to become the new standard, talent recruitment technologies are constantly developed to enhance and adapt businesses’ ATS strategies. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a significant technology that can help streamline recruitment, save time and resources, and enable companies to identify and hire the best candidates for their open positions. 

In addition, an ATS can also aid companies in managing and maintaining compliance with various regulations and laws related to recruitment, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws, which can prevent costly legal issues. Implementing an ATS as a recruitment feature can greatly improve the recruitment process’s efficiency and effectiveness.

Benefits Of using an Applicant Tracking System for Talent Management

An ATS automates recruitment and hiring processes, reducing hiring time by 70%. Other ATS benefits include:

Store applicant data and information

Storing applicant data and information is a pivotal function of an ATS, enabling efficient management of candidate profiles. This feature allows for easy retrieval and organization of resumes, contact details, and relevant applicant histories, streamlining the recruitment process and aiding in effective decision-making.

Post New Job Openings

Posting new job openings is streamlined through an ATS, simplifying advertising vacancies across multiple platforms. This functionality ensures a broader reach to potential candidates, increasing the chances of attracting the right talent for each role.

Provide Assessments and Screening Information

Providing assessments and screening information, an ATS aids in evaluating candidates effectively. It allows recruiters to implement standardized tests and screenings, ensuring a fair and objective assessment process that identifies the most qualified applicants.

Discover the ease of candidate screening with Oorwin’s ATS. Experience a streamlined, efficient process to identify top talent swiftly.

Offer key insights

Offering key insights, an ATS serves as an invaluable tool for strategic recruitment planning. It generates analytics and reports on recruitment metrics, helping organizations understand trends, improve hiring processes, and make data-driven decisions for future recruitment strategies.

 

12 Must-Have ATS Features to Elevate Your Feature Recruitment Strategy

An ATS is a secret weapon every recruiter needs to refine their talent recruitment strategy. So, what should you look for in an ATS? Let’s look at some of the essential functional requirements of the applicant tracking system. Here are the top 12 ATS features you need to utilize:

1. Powerful Candidate Search 

The primary goal of any ATS feature is to ensure the job-candidate match is accurate per the set criteria and filters. These keen search algorithms should also provide insights into your metrics and can match, rank, and show similar submissions. All these automated features in ATS work together to speed up your talent recruitment strategy in the following ways:

• Customizable selection parameters
• AI semantic search
• Automated candidate submissions
• Streamlined communication via desktop and mobile app access

2. Seamless Job Board Integration

The best talent recruitment software should be integrated with various job boards, like LinkedIn, Monster, Naukri, and CareerBuilder, to enhance talent recruitment further. But an ATS can also streamline job board integration in the following ways:

•    Save time and effort with automated bulk job postings.
•    Post job openings on social media.
•    Customizable job postings and email templates for personalized recruitment

Your ATS should also provide access to paid and free job boards, which can decrease the hassles of multiple logins for recruiters while posting or reviewing jobs.

3. Mobile App Access

75% of people work from their devices and mobile phones. It is vital for a great ATS platform and an equally competent mobile application for both iOS and Android. Utilizing a mobile app in hiring is ideal for boosting your recruitment goals.

4. A Variety of Plugins

A feature of recruitment technology is the ATS, which offers convenient ATS features that allow recruiters to use familiar tools like Gmail, Outlook, Office 365, LinkedIn, ChatGPT, and other browser systems through easily installable plugins. Although many recruiters may prefer all-in-one platforms or software, the ATS provides a way to stay within their comfort zone while benefiting from advanced recruitment features.

5. A Range of Bench Management Tools

Bench management is a challenge for any seasoned hiring manager. But a good ATS can help resolve that. Some ways that an ATS can make bench management more efficient include hotlists, automated search bots to find jobs for bench candidates, etc.

6. Omni-Channel Communication Options

Communication is vital in a recruiter’s daily activities. It can be tedious to keep switching tabs, applications, and devices to communicate for a particular activity. The Omnichannel Communication feature in an ATS streamlines all calls, text messages, emails, and other communication methods directly from the platform itself. This not only saves considerable time during the hiring and recruiting process, it also saves a tremendous amount of stress.

 

Stay connected effortlessly with candidates through Oorwin’s WhatsApp integration. Enhance your recruitment communication for seamless interactions and quicker responses.

7. Employee Referral Options

92% of people prefer word-of-mouth referrals over other types of advertising. Therefore, an ATS needs a built-in referral system to track referrals and incentivize employees to refer and reward them accordingly.

8. Streamlined Workflows

Each size fits only some, and software is cut out for all businesses. However, an ATS provides flexibility and customization in creating workflows, designing roles, and access controls. This customization feature in the ATS can be tailored to your hiring process needs and goals without skipping a beat.

9. Key Analytics and Dashboards

ATS features are crucial for efficient recruitment. The right metrics, reports, and dashboards are necessary to measure productivity. An effective applicant tracking system should provide pre-configured insights into the recruitment process, allow for customized reports, and offer scheduled reports that can be delivered via email to relevant stakeholders. These features enable recruiters to track progress, monitor key performance indicators, and make data-driven decisions to enhance their recruitment processes.

10. Scheduling Interviews

Managing interviews effectively involves streamlining administrative tasks as much as possible. Consider the extent of automation your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) provides. When organizing interviews and similar events, ensure they integrate smoothly with everyone’s calendars. Implementing a structured interview process is crucial for gathering precise and accurate feedback. Check if your system includes access to tools like interview kits and scorecards. Incorporating such time-saving features enhances efficiency and strengthens your employer brand by delivering candidates a smooth and professional experience.

11. Onboarding Functionality in ATS

Many Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) now come equipped with onboarding functionality, greatly facilitating integrating a new employee into the organization. This feature in an ATS allows HR personnel to manage the onboarding process within a single system efficiently. It typically includes the ability for new hires to fill out necessary forms and digitally sign policy documents, among other essential procedures. This integrated approach not only simplifies administrative tasks for HR but also provides a smooth and organized start for the new employee, enhancing their initial experience with the company.

12. Flexible Integrations

Efficiency is vital in an applicant tracking system. Another feature to look for in an ATS is flexibility to integrate with other systems and software so that workflow remains seamless across teams, including:

• The ability to manage your tasks in Gmail or Outlook
• Automated resume parsing, application imports, and mail syncing
• Conducting Video Interviews in case of remote hiring
• Conducting Talent Assessments 

Conclusion

Organizations face a considerable challenge in recruiting top talent. To improve their recruitment strategy, companies can leverage the ATS for talent management, which includes streamlining the process, managing data effectively, collaborating more efficiently, and engaging with candidates. These features centralize recruitment management, enable effective analysis of candidate data, facilitate better communication with hiring managers, and result in improved efficiency, better decision-making, and positive candidate experience, making them an essential recruitment feature.

Oorwin’s AI-enabled ATS has been designed considering all recruitment needs, a comprehensive solution that can help organizations meet hiring swiftly.

Book a free demo today to evaluate it yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of businesses need an ATS? 

Any company that needs to source, collect, and manage applicant data can benefit from using an ATS. This includes companies in virtually all industries, from manufacturing to finance, as well as nonprofits, educational institutions, and government entities. 

How difficult is it to use an ATS? 

The difficulty of using an ATS depends on the features offered by the system. Most ATS systems are intuitive and straightforward, but the platform may need help navigating if it contains complex features or integrations. 

What is the best way to compare ATS systems? 

The best way to compare ATS systems is to read reviews and use free trials. This allows companies to observe the different features of the ATS in practice and make an informed decision about which system is the best for their organization.

Employee Referral Portal: Recruit Faster and Improve Quality of Hires

An employee referral portal is a valuable tool for companies looking to recruit faster and improve the quality of their hires. There is no shortage of research showing that referred candidates are generally of higher quality and are more likely to receive and accept an offer, stay at the job longer, and perform better. 

Implementing an effective employee referral portal helps businesses improve the quality of hires while spending less time and resources on the hiring process. By leveraging the networks and connections of current employees, a referral portal can help bring in qualified candidates who are a good fit for the company culture.

 

Right Employee Referral Portals to Enhance the Quality of Hire

Are you looking to enhance the quality of your hiring process? A powerful employee referral portal can make all the difference. By leveraging employee referral portals and job referral websites, you can establish an efficient referral program within your organization. This will enable you to expand your candidate pool and effortlessly discover qualified candidates, as employees and candidates can refer their friends, ex-colleagues, and relatives. The solution you choose should give you the ability to:

• Easily publish jobs that you want to receive referrals for
• Obtain referrals from your employees or candidates
• Track all referrals from one place

 

5 Reasons Why You Should Implement Oorwin’s Employee Referral Portal

With Oorwin’s Employee Referral Portal, you can now set up an effective referral program to recruit faster and improve the quality of hires.

Getting Started is Easy

Getting started with Oorwin’s Employee Referral Portal is easy. You can choose if you want to allow employees to refer candidates, candidates to refer other candidates, employees to change the referrer, or candidates to change the referrer. Once the referral settings are programmed, the administrator can then head to the job page to publish jobs on the Employee Portal for employees or Career Portal for candidates.

All the jobs that have been opened for a referral will be made available to the administrator in an aggregate report to help them quickly check the submitted referrals from employees and candidates. The admin can also head to the Referral Portal and click on Admin Actions to approve a change of referrer request raised by either an employee or a candidate. Once the admin approves or rejects the change of referrer, the referrer will receive an email notification informing them about the referral’s status.

Simplified Process for Employees to Refer Candidates

Your employees will be able to see all the jobs the organization is seeking referrals for.

The employees can refer a candidate for a published job by clicking on the Refer icon. If the candidate the employee wants to refer is not in the organization database, the employee must first add the candidate to the portal by entering their details. Once the candidate has been added, the employee can then invite the candidates to apply for a job by clicking on the Invite Candidate button. 

The candidates are identified with their email addresses, and each is expected to have a unique email address. If the email address already exists in the database as another employee used it, the employee can ask the admin to change the referrer. 

Employees can manage all their referred candidates by clicking on the Referred Candidates tab on the Employee Referral Portal. Employees can see details of all their previously referred candidates, Job IDs they have referred for, and whether the candidate has been invited to the career portal or not.

Your Candidates can Submit Referrals

Oorwin’s Employee Referral Portal allows you to choose if you want candidates to refer other candidates. If you allow candidate referrals, only those candidates who have already registered on the Career Portal will be able to refer other candidates.

Once the candidate logs in to the Career Portal, they can see all the jobs that are open for referrals from candidates under the Careers tab. Besides each job ID, the candidate can see the employee or candidate name who has referred them for that job ID.

Similar to the employee referrals, the candidates can either refer another candidate or apply for these jobs themselves using the “Refer” and “Apply” options. The referred candidates can see all the details of the previously referred candidates, the Job ID they were referred for, whether the candidate was invited to the Career Portal or not, and add a new candidate for a referral. Candidates can also re-send the invite if the referred candidate hasn’t signed up with their email address.

Easy Sign-Up for Referred Candidate

The candidate that has been referred will receive an email with a link to the Career Portal. They can then sign up on the Career Portal using the same email address using the same link. This will also create a link between the referrer and the referred candidate. Once they sign up, they can click on Careers to view jobs for which referrals are open, or they can apply for other jobs published in the Career Portal.

The Apply button will take the candidate to the application page. They can apply by uploading their resume, filling in their details, or through other social portals. The referred candidates can click on My Jobs on the Career Portal to know what jobs they have applied for, the referrer, and the application status.

Referral Workflow for Recruiters

Oorwin’s Employee Referral Portal makes it easy for recruiters to get job referrals from either employees or candidates. To do so, the recruiter first needs to publish a job. Recruiters or admin can also easily identify that a particular job has a referral by either an employee or candidate by checking the associated referral icons for “RP” and “CP,” respectively.Oorwin Referral Portal offers an easy and effective candidate referral system to make sure hiring is seamless and efficient. Click here to request an Oorwin product tour.

The Benefits of a Job Referral Website

In addition to employee referrals, job referral websites can play a crucial role in improving the quality of your hires. These websites serve as a platform where you can showcase your job openings and attract potential candidates. By utilizing a job referral website, you expand your reach beyond your immediate network and tap into a wider pool of talent. 

Job referral websites often have a broad audience, increasing your chances of finding candidates with the skills and qualifications you require. Furthermore, candidates who actively use job referral websites are usually motivated and actively seeking new opportunities, making them more likely to engage and respond to your job postings.

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is an employee referral portal?

An employee referral portal is an online platform that allows current employees to refer job candidates to open positions within the company.

How does an employee referral portal benefit a company?

An employee referral portal can benefit a company by helping to recruit faster and improve the quality of hires. It can also make the recruitment process more efficient and cost-effective.

Are there incentives for employees who refer candidates through an employee referral portal?

Many employee referral portals offer incentives for employees who refer candidates who are successfully hired. These incentives can vary but can include bonuses or rewards.

As a majority of employees are expected to work remotely through 2021, Human resource (HR) departments are increasingly setting and tracking key performance indicators ( HR KPIs) to represent the performance of their department in relation to employee satisfaction.

In this article, we’ll discuss how key performance indicators can be used to help boost employee satisfaction, increase productivity, and maximize revenues.

We’ll also highlight the top 7 HR KPIs to track in 2021 to get the most of your HR department’s performance.

Understanding HR KPIs

Before we go any further, it is important to first understand what key performance indicators are.

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are strategic metrics that you can measure in order to get insights about efficiencies, success rates, bottlenecks, etc. within different processes at an organization.

What is HR KPIs?

Human resource key performance indicators are metrics that are used to track and measure the performance of the human resource team and see how it is contributing to the rest of the organization.

HR KPIs measure how successful HR processes have been at managing the organization’s HR activities.

How can Human Resource KPIs be set?

The human resources team in the organization can define multiple KPIs to reach a specific business objective. And even those indicators can be broken down into smaller groups, so it’s easier to proceed and manage every detail of a bigger project.

HR KPIs need to be an important part of your wider human resource planning strategy. These are not standalone objectives, so you need to think strategically before setting your KPIs.

A very simple model is the SMART model, which can help you define your HR KPIs (and mostly all kinds of business-related goals too) and make your goals achievable. It stands for:

• Specific: Setting clear and specific goals and metrics, so it’s much easier to focus on them and be effective in reaching them.
• Measurable: Work with numbers to define objectives. Your progress can be analyzed better and it helps you set realistic goals.
• Achievable: Focus on metrics only that are realistically achievable. Consider your organization’s abilities and your resources when setting your objectives.
• Relevant: Every goal you set should be relevant to your company. It should support the overall objective of your business. Think about the reasons you include a metric into your HR strategy and also about its benefits for the whole company.
• Time-bound: Prioritize your goals and set a reasonable deadline for each of them, so you don’t get overloaded and keep progress.

Use this model for each of your KPIs separately to create an effective, working plan.

6 Characteristics of effective HR KPIs

 1. Focused and manageable

One of the most important things you need to consider when setting your HR KPIs is focusing on a manageable number of metrics that you are able to track and measure. Doing everything in the same is not profitable, as you will lose focus easily.

To set KPIs that are relevant to your organization and human resources team, identify the top 5 to 10 performance metrics that make the most sense for your company. Your organization’s current stage influences these decisions. For example, if you’re early in your HR management stages, training employees might not be on your list. Instead, you could focus more on hiring – so setting specific KPIs for costs and recruitment times might be more relevant and important for your business.

2. Easy to break them down

Good KPIs are drillable. When setting key performance indicators, the HR management team should be able to break them down into smaller steps. It helps to better understand the situation and improve your activities in the future.

3. Aligned with each other

KPIs should be defined considering not only the HR strategy of an organization but also the overall business goals. It should be consistent with every objective of the company. On the other hand, all the HR KPIs should be aligned with each other. They should help the department and succeed and improve, so setting metrics that are built on each other is essential.

4. Specific

Another important thing to keep in mind when defining your organizations’ HR KPIs is setting specific, simple metrics that are easy to understand and follow to each and every member who is involved in achieving them. It makes the goals understandable and much easier to focus on.

5. Assigned

The goal of HR KPIs is to help your business succeed and improve where it’s needed. Therefore, it’s important that you consider your performance indicators as small projects. Good KPIs can be assigned to different people who will oversee the tracking and reporting of your metrics. If your HR KPIs are specific and focused, you’ll have no problem assigning it to different people and making them responsible for achieving them.

6. Tracked effectively

Tracking human resource metrics and KPIs manually is a time-consuming activity. You would need to collect, organize, analyze and optimize data and the probability of entering inaccurate data is higher. Instead of managing it all manually, HR software is a great tool to collect and report all this data automatically to your human resources team. Visual analysis can be created and sent out, and the updates can be made easily as well.

Check out Oorwin and learn about the benefits it can give in human resources management.

Top 7 HR KPIs to Track in 2021

Now you understand the importance of HR KPIs and also know what to consider when setting them. In this section, we collect the human resource KPIs and metrics that will be most beneficial for your company in 2021.

1. Employee satisfaction

Tracking your employees’ satisfaction is a very important activity. It helps you retain your talent and guides you on how to keep your employees motivated and satisfied. Satisfying your team and making sure they feel happy and inspired in your company is something you should definitely work on in 2021. 

You can create employee satisfaction surveys that are built on your KPIs. If you ask them questions that are connected to your metrics, you’ll be able to analyze data and get important insights to improve your organization.

2. Absence

Measuring your employee’s absenteeism rate provides vital information about employee motivation. If not showing up is an issue at your organization, then you should do something with it. It’s not only bad for the person that called out sick but also has bad effects on the other team members who need to cover for their work.

Before you craft a strategy that focuses on minimizing absenteeism, create management and handbook for your absence policies and also make categories for absences. That way you can easily track and measure the absenteeism rate and come up with a solution for that.

3. Recruitment costs

Recruitment costs are another human resources KPI to consider. It examines how much money is invested to obtain the necessary resources for incorporating a new employee. It covers your recruitment costs such as a subscription to employment portals, advertising, and the subscription fees of an ATS software. But it also refers to the money you spent on education, training videos, and other materials. Focusing on the optimization of recruitment costs is therefore essential.

4. Time to hire

Not only the money you invest in recruitment, but also the time is important to consider. Tracking the time it takes to hire new team members will help you understand how long it takes to recruit the right people. This is important to keep time to hire down.

Using HR software helps your organization gain and analyze useful data you’ve collected on candidates during previous recruitment processes. It’s clever to use a system like that to more effectively track your KPI. Our Oorwin offers excellent opportunities to store and manage data to cut the time to hire new employees.

5. Benefits administration

The HR team should follow and track employee productivity. A well-designed benefit system makes your team even more motivated and effective. Make sure to track important tasks that contribute to the success of your organization. This is a KPI that shows whether your employees are satisfied with the benefits you offer as a company. You can easily get data by sending out satisfaction surveys and improving your benefits administration according to those results.

6. Talent retention

It costs more to hire new team members than retain existing talent. On the other hand, having great employees, who are skilled and motivated is a real gem for your organization – you really should make sure they don’t leave you. Talent retention helps you keep your employees and provide them with great offers instead of losing them.

This KPI can be measured and tracked by implementing a strategic talent management program. The right metrics provide important information about who’s leaving, when, and why. If you have this data available, you can optimize your engagement and improve your team’s performance.

7. 90-day failure date

This KPI measures the percentage of new recruits that stay in the company for less than 90 days. By analyzing and understanding this data, you can create an efficient recruitment process and set up a benefits plan that fits the needs of employees.

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Oorwin Human Resource Management (HRM) is designed to deliver a superior experience to employees as well as HR administrators.

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Identify the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) staffing businesses need to track and learn how to leverage them to measure and boost productivity

As the staffing industry adjusts to the new, remote normal, it is now more crucial than ever that staffing and consulting businesses are able to effectively measure the performance of sales reps, recruiters, account managers, etc.

Before we get into what key performance indicators staffing businesses need to track, it will be useful to understand who is the ideal person to monitor the KPIs and who you should be sharing the key performance indicators with.

Who tracks the Key Performance Indicators?

Key performance indicators need to be tracked from the top to the bottom of the organization: C-suite, VP, director, branch manager, and finally recruiting and sales managers.

KPIs should not be mandated. They should ideally be an organic part of the organization and embedded in the fabric of the staffing organization itself. 

If KPIs are being challenged by the sales teams or recruiters, you need to find out what is going wrong and explore what can be done to align your teams and KPIs. 

Who to share Key Performance Indicators with

Staffing businesses also need to be transparent about the key performance indicators. One of the most important things staffing companies need to do is share their KPIs with their clients!

If a client is taking too long to hire a candidate after an interview, or if there is a trend of too many candidates being rejected, you need to communicate the metrics with the client. By sharing the metrics, you can work with the client on improving the process and removing any inconsistencies.

You can also help them understand what the industry standard for success is, and you can help them to make sure they are measuring that.

Lastly, there are new technologies that can help staffing businesses track key performance indicators with detailed metrics. 

An AI-powered Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can help you make better submissions and improve the overall quality of hire. Video has also become a very important tool for staffing businesses. For instance, the ability to carry out video interviews is one of the easiest ways to improve the quality of hiring.

And without further ado, here are the top six key performance indicators a staffing business needs to track to remain competitive in the post-Covid world.

Top 6 key performance indicators to measure staffing productivity

1. Time to Hire

Before Covid-19, IT unemployment was at 1 to 2 percent. IT unemployment went up to 5% after the pandemic. It’s clear that there is still incredible demand in the market and short supply.

The time-to-hire key performance indicator can be broken down into much more specific actions and processes: submission to interview and interview to hire.

The submission to interview KPI will tell you how quickly your customer is moving. You must share this KPI with the client so you can work with them on improving the process. This will also help you understand which customers are better for your business and which aren’t.

2. Quality of Hire

The quality of hire is crucial for all staffing and recruiting businesses. Be it agency, corporate, or retail recruiting, setting the right benchmarks for candidate quality is an important key performance indicator for everyone.

To measure the quality of hire, the company needs to track all the variables between hiring and termination.

You must keep an eye out for negative trends. When you identify a problem, you must first check for internal issues, problems with processes and teams. You can then check external issues including negative trends at the customers’ end.
Also, with video interviews now becoming mainstream, it is crucial that you deploy video to improve the quality of hire. By improving the quality of hiring using video, you can instantly improve your quality of hire KPI.

3. Candidate Sourcing

Sourcing is vital to staffing companies. We have an unlimited amount of sources: Job boards, Linkedin, social media, sourcing partners, etc.

It is important for any staffing business to diversify sourcing and spread it across different media. The most crucial step any staffing business can take is to leverage social media for sourcing candidates.
You also need to track where you are getting the most submissions, interviews, and the best candidates. Once you know which channel works for you, you can start focusing more on it.

4. Cost per Hire

Leaders of staffing companies need to look at all end-to-end expenses: recruiters, salespersons, software, staff, infrastructure, etc. when evaluating cost per hire. They need to figure out the burden on the company by adding all the costs including payroll, overhead expenses, etc.

Salespersons and recruiters also need to know what the cost per hire is, so this key performance indicator needs to be transparent.

5. Candidate Pipeline

A good candidate pipeline is extremely important for any staffing business. When a customer hires a staffing company, they are looking for quick access to qualified candidates.
The customers expect the recruiters to have already established relationships with numerous candidates that have experience and that have already been vetted.

A staffing company must always maintain a list of ‘most placeable candidates. So when someone comes in with a requirement, you can immediately place the MPC who is a known quantity. You could also share lists of most placeable candidates with your clients to proactively create opportunities.

It is also important to use the right tools. An ATS or a Candidate Tracking System can help you build this pipeline and increase speed to market.

6. Offer to Acceptance

A vital element in the staffing business, offer to acceptance is a crucial key performance indicator. 

Staffing businesses always try to retain their workers, and to do so successfully, they must first understand what drives the candidates. Failure to do so can increase rejection rates.

You can leverage an ATS to help you do this. If you see rejection go up, you can check internal processes to identify the issues. You could then go to the customer to find out the root of the problem. 

If the pay rates are too low, you can negotiate with the customer and decrease the experience required to match the budget.

Also, engagement with candidates is now more crucial than ever. You need to understand why a candidate rejected an offer and try to change your processes to improve acceptance rates. 

After Covid-19, rejections have been low as people wanted to hold on to their jobs in an uncertain business environment. But these will start to increase once people feel the market is healthy. 

So it’s vital to track the offer-to-acceptance KPI and communicate it with all the stakeholders.

We will evaluate each of the key performance indicators in detail, explore their meaning in the context of staffing, and learn how tracking these KPIs can save you vast amounts of time, effort, and resources.