One of the biggest problems companies face today is recruiting talent. Overused recruiting tools do not make much of an impact on coveted, passive top candidates. Benchmarking can be used in two different ways, both applicable to recruitment processes. First, you can set benchmarks during your hiring process, taking action based on specific data to make continuous improvements when recruiting. The other way is to look at experts that have already found techniques that you can apply yourself to boost performance in recruitment.
Setting benchmarks for recruitment is one of the best ways to maintain continuous improvement. They point out areas performing well, areas that need improvement and a general idea of how you are performing in comparison with other companies. However, benchmarks are only effective when applied and used correctly.
Benchmarks should be targeted and kept relevant to your goals. Many can be applied, but choosing those suited to the company’s needs is what will make them effective. Benchmarks should provide insights on all the metrics of the hiring process in order to improve them.
Using Benchmarks for Recruitment
Quality metric:
- Quality of hire can be a valuable performance benchmark, measured by looking at the candidate’s profile, evaluations, satisfaction rate, culture fit, and other quality factors.
Time metric:
- Benchmarking the time it takes to publish job posts to passing interviews, the time from interview to hire, or from hiring to installment.
Cost metric:
- This benchmark is very important, as the end goal of using benchmarks is internal improvement and cost reduction. Cost per Hire measures the costs of all activities used to hire a candidate, from the sourcing stage to the hiring stage.
Other metrics:
- Benchmark the people who go from simply visiting to joining your talent pool, the percentage of seekers who decide to apply, or the percentage of individuals who accept offers.
Benchmarks can also be set for candidates’ profiles. Companies can set multiple criteria as benchmarks to define the ideal candidate for a job. Going beyond what is on a candidate’s CV, like education and experience, benchmarks should be personality traits. What are their interests? Are they more social, analytical or relaxed individuals? Are they better team players or leaders?
Establishing these benchmarks can be done in different ways. For example, answers collected from people associated with the job can compose the benchmarks. Also, having top performers in the benchmarked roles establish the requirements is an effective way to improve hiring processes. Indeed, benchmarking takes from the best, so why not ask the best to identify what makes them the best to set the standard? Moreover, candidates may be expected to progress with time. Setting benchmarks for the different stages of expected progress enables firms to identify the traits required at each level, and make smarter choices in their hiring processes.
Once the benchmarks selected, it is time to start tracking. Process the data to progress, put your benchmarks to work. Thanks to technology, tracking data is virtually effortless. Gradually, the cumulation and analysis of data will point out areas that can be improved.
Recruitment Benchmarking
Recruitment Benchmarking identifies techniques that others developed and that have the potential to improve recruiting performance. Applying benchmarking to improve recruitment processes is one of the most efficient techniques. One of the main advantages of recruitment benchmarking is having an insider point of view on how other companies manage their hiring processes.
Understanding internal performance is the first step of benchmarking, and the second is research. Benchmarking enables firms to make productive comparisons in practices and standards. Looking at the underlying reasons why others perform better is key in order to make changes that will improve your company’s performance.
Through this process, you should understand differences and identify where your company excels and where it can improve. Benchmarking can be finding out how the best candidates find their jobs, how recruiters find them. Such approaches can be integrated into your recruitment tactics. If applied correctly, they could even become a passive candidates recruitment plan.
Though your company may be performing well, you can always make note of best practices. The use of benchmarks for your hiring process can be one of the most effective ways to guarantee improvement, as they indicate where you are performing well, and where you can improve. However, benchmarks are only efficient when kept relevant and targeted to specific goals.
