Content provided by: Amberjack

As we face into a period of economic turbulence and uncertainty one thing we can be sure about is that there will be an increased focus on efficiency and effectiveness.

For the foreseeable future, for the majority of businesses, cash will be constrained, and return will need to be optimised on every investment. Whilst I know there are people who will find this a strange perspective, in a funny way this is my favourite sort of market to face into: it drives innovation and forces excellence.

Amberjack defines efficiency as ‘achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense’. Effectiveness is defined more in terms of eventual outcomes: are you hiring the talent needed to drive business success? For many years we have been working with our clients to help maximise their recruitment efforts and there are a few questions that really help to kick-start a review of the process:

How is your current process performing?

Time

• How long (lapsed days) does it take for a candidate to progress from application to offer?
• How many hours does a candidate need to invest to get to day 1?

Cost

• How much does each hire cost in hard terms?
• How many hours does a recruiter need to invest in to get a candidate to day 1?
• How many hours do line managers/business representatives need to invest to get a candidate to day 1?

Quality

• How do candidates rate your process (e.g. average NPS score)?               
• What is your offer acceptance rate?
• How well do assessment scores correlate with ongoing performance scores once people are hired (how effectively is your recruitment process predicting performance?)
• What is the average tenure of new hires?      
• What is the rate of promotion for new hires verses the existing employee population?

 Do you know who you want to recruit?

To recruit the right people you must be able to clearly articulate what is required of your workforce for future success. This should start with a detailed understanding of your corporate, talent and broader recruitment strategies. Also consider the opportunities and constraints in the market within which you are operating.

As we all start to operate in our ‘new normal’ we believe that recruiting for potential is the best approach for building talent within organisations. It is proven that past experience is not a key indicator of future success in this new era characterised by change and uncertainty. Individuals who can successfully apply their intellect to new situations, have a digital mindset and grit to navigate change are likely to make the most significant contribution to your organisation.

Have you got the right technology?

When looking at technology, the following are criteria are essential for evaluating its suitability:

1. Are you automating the right things?
2. Is it the minimum effective intervention? Are there better ways to simplify and speed up?
3. Does it support candidate self-service and on-demand access?
4. Is it future-proof?

Are you analysing the right data?

Although often time-consuming and sometimes confusing, analytics are extremely important. Defined and well understood metrics are brilliant for measuring success but can used also be used to highlight any potential weaknesses and drive improvements.

In this time of turbulence, it would be very easy to focus on all the things that are unknown and allow the uncertainty to justify inaction. There are, however, various things that are very much known and, if viewed positively, shifting sands and budgetary constraints can result in significant progress.