TAll the processes that take place within a company must be as efficient as possible. This includes, of course, the selection of people. Because Finding the perfect candidate for each open position is the best way to build a high-performing team. capable of facing all the challenges that the organization must address.
However, finding talented candidates and getting them to remain interested in the position throughout the selection process, it is not always easy. The key to achieving success in this objective is to apply the recruitment funnel technique and determine what metrics we are going to use to measure effectiveness in attracting, selecting and hiring the best workers.
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The Recruitment Funnel
Within the world of marketing there is what is known as a funnel or sales funnel. A diagram that represents the different phases that a consumer goes through, from being interested in a product or service to becoming a customer of a company.
In a market as competitive as the current one, in which talent is scarce, companies are in a constant "battle" with each other to include the most qualified employees in their workforces. This is very similar to what happens in the field of sales. Brands know that there is a lot of competition trying to attract the same customers and they have to find ways to get sales.
As you just checked, there is a certain similarity between the process of attracting clients in the market and the process of attracting candidates for a vacant position. Hence, the concept of sales funnel, typical of the field of marketing, is also used in the selection of personnel. Here with the name of recruitment funnel.
Phases of the recruitment funnel
If we conceive the personnel selection process as a funnel through which the candidates "slide" until they reach the end point converted into employees, it becomes easier for us to see that within it there will be several phases:
- Setting up the job application process.
- Candidate attraction.
- Filtered out
- Personal interviews and selective tests.
- Recruitment of candidates.
- Incorporation process or onboarding process.
By dividing the selection process into several stages and being clear about what tasks to take on in each of them, finding the right candidate becomes easier. To measure the success of this process, there are a series of metrics that should always be kept in mind.
Recruitment quality
Whether or not the selection process has been effective is something that we can normally check over time. seeing how has been the adaptation of the new employee to the company and to his position.
To evaluate it, we can apply the hiring quality metric, which indicates the employee's performance. If the performance has been good, it is clear that the selection process has been a success. If the worker has not given good results, or has even left the company, this means that something has gone wrong in the selection process.
The truly interesting thing about this metric is that it provides us with a large amount of information that will allow us to go gradually and continuously refining the recruitment system.
Hiring Sources
Companies have many ways to search for candidates for your open positions. They can communicate it to their employees in case they know someone interested, publish announcements in specialized media, use social networks, use recruitment companies, etc.
If we measure the number of candidates that have come through every channel, and we even appreciate the their quality (in the sense of its possible adaptation to the position offered), we can make decisions about which are the best sources to look for talent. This supposes a saving time and money.
However, keep in mind that not all fonts work the same for all profiles. For example, while ads on specialized platforms can be an interesting channel to find people with skills and abilities suitable for carrying out simple tasks, professional social networks such as LinkedIn can be more useful if what we are looking for is a more technical profile.
Time needed to hire or acceptance time
It measures the time that elapses between when a person is interested in the offered vacancy and begins to work in the company.
Knowing this information is important, because the objective is to achieve a recruitment process that is efficient and, at the same time, as fast as possible. The organization needs to soon have someone to fill the vacant job.
In addition, shortening the time it takes for a candidate to move through the selection funnel is also good for him, by reducing his level of uncertainty about whether or not he will be hired.
selection index
It gives us information about what is the number of employees hired compared to the number of job applications received for the same position. To obtain this metric we can first use the number of applicants per vacancy.
The information obtained will help us determine if the recruitment sources and the selection tools and procedures used are the most effective.
Recruitment Funnel Effectiveness
The funnel itself can also be used to obtain interesting data. Yes we know what is the number of candidates that have passed from one stage to another of the funnel, compared to the total number of applicants, we can determine which specific point of the selection process we should improve.
Candidate experience during the process
Each of the people who go through a personnel selection experiences the process in a different way. For companies it is important find out what the general sentiment of the candidates is.
This is something that can be known through a small survey. An easy way to get feedback that we can use to know what we could do to make candidates feel better in their first contacts with the company.
Offer acceptance rate
It can happen that, after finding the right candidate, he rejects the job offer. Something that can happen if they have made you another better offer, you have not felt comfortable with the selection process, or you are not convinced by the conditions that are being offered, among other things.
The acceptance rate compares the number of candidates who have received a job offer from the company with the number of people who have accepted it.. If the rate is low, it indicates that there is a problem that needs to be located in order to solve it. For example, improve remuneration or streamline the selection process so that the candidate is not tempted by the competition.
Retention rate
The first year that a worker spends in a company is key. How the employment relationship was at that time will affect how it will be in the future. However, if the attrition during the first months has been excessive, we may be facing a sign that the chosen candidate was not the most suitable.
A worker who leaves the company in his first year (by his own decision or that of the employer), supposes a great cost of money. What has been invested in the selection process and what is necessary to achieve the adaptation of the new employee to the position (training, onboarding process, etc.)
The first year attrition metric, or candidate retention rate, provides information on what aspects should be changed so that the company-employee adaptation is good. For example, writing job offers in a way that makes them more transparent and detailed.
Hiring cost
An efficient selection process is one that ends with the hiring of a talented employee who is well suited to the position and who, moreover, has a moderate cost. Hence the importance of this metric.
It measures the total cost that has been invested in the hiring (including internal and external costs) divided by the number of hirings carried out.. This way you can know the total amount of the recruitment process.
The advancement of technology allows us to handle and analyze a large amount of data. In this way, being aware of metrics like these that we have indicated is much easier. Metrics that, in addition, are very useful for companies to be able to improve the selection process, managing to attract and hire the best candidates.
Hirint, an intelligent evaluation platform, allows you to do an initial filtering of the candidates, managing to reduce the hiring time by up to 57% and significantly improve the candidate's fit with the position and the company.
Add Hirint to your hiring funnel in an easy and simple way, if you want to know how, book a meeting with our team HERE.