Recruiting & Hiring Blog for HR Professionals

Finding quality employees is always top of mind for HR teams.

In a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), HR professionals were asked what their biggest challenges would be over the next decade. Half (51%) indicated that it will be obtaining human capital. This trend is likely to be a more immediate concern for companies as they look ahead to 2016. These four factors are contributing to recruiting challenges this year:

HR professionals have their hands full, as they strive to meet their organizations’ talent management needs. Recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and employee retention are all major issues as companies maintain profitable operations and seek competitive advantages. Despite these challenges, HR teams can’t take a myopic view of the world. In 2015, several HR topics made news throughout the year. It appears that many of these issues will continue to be top of mind in 2016, as well.

With 2015 budget planning well underway, you’re probably in the midst of defining allocation requests and preparing to defend each line item to senior management. If applicant tracking software isn’t already one of the line items in your budget, you may want to revisit it in light of your overall company and HR strategy.

If you need to convince the people who hold the purse strings why an applicant tracking system is a “must have” item for 2015, consider these five reasons:

You recognize applying for jobs at your company is not as easy as it should be. You’ve also witnessed the HR department becoming increasingly frustrated with how time consuming and tedious it is to review submissions and communicate with applicants. As your company grows, you need to find a better, more productive way to hire.

Making snap judgments during the hiring process can lead recruiters and hiring managers to erroneously eliminate quality candidates, while selecting applicants who simply aren’t the best fit for the job qualifications or the company culture. Snap judgments are often the result of various interviewer biases, such as:

Professional sports teams like those in the NFL, the MLB or the NBA have what is known as a “Draft Day.” Every team is allotted the opportunity to select players they deem to be the best fit. Some teams make good decisions; others do not.

Businesses operate in a similar fashion. Every business has certain jobs that need filling, and when the time comes for “Draft Day,” HR looks for candidates that are the best fit. But what if you’re looking for the right candidates in all the wrong ways? 

Applicant tracking software is a proven way to improve HR productivity levels. However, many potential buyers put off making a purchase. One reason is because they’re not sure it’s the “right time.” If your organization is experiencing one or more of these symptoms, it’s probably time to invest in an applicant tracking system.

Professionals exalt the concept of productivity as the almighty answer to all of our problems, our greatest objective and the No. 1 challenge to our personal and professional growth. In an age where cutting-edge technology is the norm, you’d think we’d have this whole productivity quandary put to bed. Unfortunately, even with automation abound, HR representatives seem to face more maxed out inboxes and higher mounds of paperwork than ever before.

So what’s keeping you from unleashing the powerhouse of productivity you know you’re destined to become? The answer isn’t necessarily that there aren’t enough hours in the day, but that certain productivity vampires are sucking precious time from your already overburdened schedule.

Here are a few of the most common productivity time traps for HR reps and how you can strategize your way to a solution.

You probably don’t know what is most important to your employees.

Industrial psychologists and management experts have been trying to figure out employee motivation and happiness for decades. In a widely cited academic paper, Kenneth Kovach, provides some insight and analysis of the topic. Yes, the paper itself is almost 30 years old. But we should not discount the age of the his work (1987) or the time period of the study it covers (1941-1986) because the underlying premise, and takeaways, remain as valid today as they did decades ago.

Recent data show digitally savvy employees include demographics that extend beyond Millennials. Megan Biro, writer for Forbes.com, points out that the 45-55 age demographic and even Baby Boomers expect the pre-employment process—from searching to applying for jobs—to be a digital breeze. In other words, job seekers expect to locate and apply for jobs with a few quick touches on their mobile devices.

To keep up with the rapidly changing digital landscape, companies big and small are implementing the latest tech tools in recruitment and application processes to locate, pre-screen, interview and on-board the best and the brightest.