How to research recruitment systems to ensure you get everything that is important

Is your current recruitment system doing the most for your staffing and business goals?

We’ve heard it all before; strategic hiring is all about ensuring that we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time… but what is the best way to achieve this?

With an abundance of recruitment solutions now available on the market, how do we ensure that the systems we put in place provide us with the most effective outcomes?

Recruitment is not a “one size fits all” process. Every business has their own unique circumstances to consider when deciding on the right system for them.

If you’re thinking about shaking up your current recruitment system here are a few tips to keep in mind when deciding what will work best for you:

1. Consider your overarching business strategy

First and foremost, the overarching business strategy should be driving all key HR decisions. If your company’s main goal is to stand out from competitors via a differentiation strategy where outstanding customer service is of primary importance, it is essential that your hiring systems are able to select the candidate who best demonstrates the ability to achieve this.

Having an automated system in place can help to save time and money spent during the recruitment process, but it would be completely fruitless if it did not yield the right candidates for the business’ objectives.

Therefore, recruitment systems with predictive hiring technology are a great option to increase the likelihood that you are hiring a candidate who will be able to perform well in the role.

2. Return on investment

Human Resources exists to strengthen a company’s competitive advantage through human capital. Therefore, treating HR functions as an investment is essential for the ongoing success of a company.

When researching recruitment systems, a cost-benefit analysis is a great tool to employ to ensure that you are getting the most out of this investment.

Consider the time you currently spend on your recruitment process, the cost per hire, and your current turnover rates (because if these rates are high, you will find yourself back on the recruitment train time and time again!).

If you find that you spend days on end scrolling through hundreds of resumes for one job vacancy, it is time for you to consider an automated recruitment and hiring technology.

The trend now is it adopt hiring technology that can help predict the success of applicants in role to drastically reduce the amount of time (and money) spent on recruiting and selecting the right people to hire.

Hiring new staff should not be a constant burden on your HR department. Having the right technology will make this process a breeze so that you can allocate your resources to more pressing issues.

Related article: The 7 Benefits of Using A Predictive Hiring ATS Over A Rudimentary ATS

3. Budget and size of the company

Integrating automated recruitment software into your business can be very beneficial, however when selecting the system that is right for you, be realistic.

There are many systems available with a multitude of added features, but they come at a price, and some features may be completely unnecessary for your needs.

Sit down and consider the key challenges you face within your current system. Your hiring technology solution should focus on overcoming these. Some recruitment systems are designed to be useful for companies that have multiple offices all over the country/globe.

If you are a small to medium enterprise with only one location, you probably will not need all the features that these types of systems offer. And you’ll still want to tap into local support.

Your recruitment system should be all about maximising the efficiency and accuracy of recruiting new staff members suitable to the role requirements, company culture and performance expectations without blowing the budget.

4. Culture

Workplace culture is a vital component of a successful business, and it begins within the recruitment process. Poor workplace culture is correlated to lower productivity and higher levels of employee dissatisfaction, which can ultimately lead to higher employee turnover rates.

When recruiting new employees, one of the main factors to consider is how well they will fit into the current work environment. Will this individual get along well with the other staff? Are they a team player? How do they respond to low, moderate and high stress environments? Predictive hiring technology is a great tool to estimate how an applicant may perform in the workplace once hired.

However, when your recruitment system incorporates predicted job performance with a psychological assessment and video, not only will you be able to see whether they can do the work, but you will also be able to gauge whether their personality is a good fit for the organisation.

Related article: What is workplace culture and why should you take it seriously?

5. The quality of the screening questionnaires used

The screening questionnaire is the first assessment of your applicants’ eligibility for the role, so you want it to be valid in selecting the most suitable applicants, and rejecting the least suitable.

A good system will:

• Allow you to customise your questionnaires

• Provide useful questions to include based on the advertised role (to save you having to do all the work!)

• Be straightforward and easy to use

• Tap into researched-based psychological and behavioural theories and phenomena (this will increase the validity and reliability of the shortlisted applicants being the best fit for the organisation and the role)

• Include a brief psychological report of the applicant (remember that culture is key!)

With so many options on the market at the moment, it is easy to be drawn to all the pretty flashy features. However, the right recruitment system for you will work to eliminate all the issues you face within your current system and processes.

Keep it simple, stick to your budget, focus on the key features you require to support your organisation’s goals and culture plus ensures you benefit from excellent knowledgeable customer support.