When undergoing any hiring campaign in your organization, it’s best to run the numbers. How much is it costing to onboard each new hire? What are you spending on sponsored job ads, training hours, and other recruiting expenses? Answering these questions can help you to determine your company’s average cost-per-hire.
Here, we have the best practices listed to reduce cost-per-hire in high-volume recruitment. Cost-per-hire depends on the position in which a company is hiring and its overall tactics for onboarding recruits. SHRM reports that the average cost-per-hire ranges between $4,000 to $4,700. This exponentially high number can be reduced with different tactics to streamline hiring.
Leverage Technology and Automation for Streamlined Processes
Utilizing automation features contained in advanced recruitment technologies is a key way to minimize expenses for high-volume roles. Incorporating an applicant tracking system helps to centralize recruitment procedures including application collection, resume and application screening, and creating candidate profiles.
Recruitment automation tools can refine interview scheduling, candidate screening, and follow-up communications. Using interview scheduling software that integrates with the recruitment team’s virtual calendar means candidates can self-schedule interviews based on the team’s availability so everyone finds a time that works for them. AI-driven application screening and resume parsing help to separate candidates into different pools based on their skill sets, educational background, and past job experience.
Implementing automation tools means there is less intervention needed from the recruitment team during high-volume hiring. Hence, this reduces the administrative burden for redundant tasks and opens up time for the recruitment team to focus on enhancing the candidate experience and refining the employer brand.
Implement a Structured Recruiting Funnel
High-volume recruiting while keeping cost-per-hire low should involve implementing a structured recruiting funnel for the utmost effectiveness. Set the agenda to decide each stage in the recruitment process to enhance candidate flow while reducing inefficiencies that could occur. Hiring at scale is essential when there are many applications to screen at one time. Having a streamlined system in place to assess and filter candidates is essential for sifting through these applications effectively without traditional manual methods.
By implementing standardized screening questions post-application along with other pre-employment assessments to determine candidate quality, this structured recruiting funnel will ensure only quality candidates enter the pipeline. This strategic approach will help you to improve ROI in high-volume hiring processes.
Enhance Employer Brand and Improve Candidate Experience
Other cost-saving strategies for high-volume hiring include enhancing the employer brand and improving the candidate experience. More candidates will apply to your requisitions if you have a reputable employer brand. Investing in refining your employer brand is simple and easy without much financial cost. It’s as easy as answering candidates on social media posts, showcasing employee testimonials, and discussing company culture with customers and potential candidates when given the opportunity.
Have your mission statement and company’s values listed on a sub-page in your careers section. Candidates will want to learn about the company they would be potentially working for, so making this information easily accessible is imperative for maintaining a strong employer brand. Even improving the candidate experience is another valuable contribution to an enhanced employer brand.
When candidates feel valued and respected during recruitment, this reduces candidate drop-off rates and increases the likelihood of them accepting offers. This means you will spend less on re-advertising open requisitions and candidate sourcing investment. Improving the candidate experience with an easy-to-use application platform, regular hiring process updates, and personalized messaging can enhance candidate retention while reducing recruitment cycle times.
Focus On Internal Mobility and Employee Referrals
Internal mobility means promoting or transferring existing employees in your company to new roles when they open up rather than bringing on external candidates. This strategic approach helps current candidates ascertain career development with your company while refining candidate retention rates.
Besides promotions to new roles, internal candidates could also participate in job rotations. This means they can fill in different roles for a specified time before moving on to another one. For example, a cashier in a retail company may work as a stocker for a few months, a loss-prevention associate for another few months, and then go back to cashiering during heightened seasonal demand. Job rotations can enhance employee engagement, institute cross-training efforts, and help internal candidates feel they are helping in more ways than one for the company.
Take a different angle to reduce cost-per-hire in high-volume recruitment by implementing an employee referral program. While this means onboarding external candidates, the internal candidate making the suggestion can also be rewarded for their efforts. If a suggested candidate is onboarded and stays with the company for 90 days, that individual and the recommending internal candidate can receive a bonus as a thank-you for maintaining company loyalty.
Utilize Data Analytics to Optimize Recruitment Efforts
Data analytics can optimize hiring by reducing costs because data-driven decisions can help refine improvement strategies for future high-volume recruitment campaigns. Collecting and analyzing data throughout the entire hiring process is essential for noting inefficiencies and showcasing areas for improvement.
For example, take a look at your candidate sourcing channels. Which job board or social media platform has helped you to gain the highest-quality candidates? Discovering this key variable means you can allocate recruitment funds more toward that high-performance candidate source and reduce investment on the other sources to save on cost-per-hire.
Improve ROI in high-volume hiring processes by evaluating key hiring performance metrics. Besides cost-per-hire, evaluating time-to-hire, time-to-fill, and candidate quality can be great ways to reduce recruitment costs over time by finding the best improvement strategies to make these metrics better.
Outsource Recruitment To A Staffing Agency
Staffing agencies are professionals in the recruiting sector. If you are having trouble onboarding and maintaining quality candidates, you can reduce cost-per-hire in high-volume recruitment by outsourcing to a recruitment agency. Since these professionals know best how to streamline hiring, this lowers costs incurred by your internal team spending time on the activity. Recruitment agencies have the technology and manpower necessary to handle high-volume hiring, so you can leave it to the experts when you need seasonal employees!
