Written by: David Finkel
When it comes to finding and hiring top talent, many business owners struggle to find the right fit for their company and culture. That struggle is then compounded when you take into consideration the amount of time and effort that goes into hiring and onboarding.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM’s) “Human Capital Benchmarking Report,” the average cost-per-hire is $4,129, and it takes, on average, 42 days to fill a new position. If you are hiring a replacement for an existing employee, that number climbs quickly.
Another report by SHRM states that it could take up to 50-60% of an employee’s annual salary to find a direct replacement, which means that high turnover can be quite expensive in the long run.
So how can you reduce the cost of finding and attracting top talent?
Predictive hiring.
What Is Predictive Hiring?
Predictive hiring uses data and analytics to predict when and how you should staff your workforce. Traditionally, hiring managers relied on resume screens and face-to-face interviews to find the right candidate for the job. This method, however, relies heavily on intuition and often leads to a less-skilled and less-diverse workforce.
Predictive hiring begins with a rich data set and predictive algorithms that will help narrow down your candidates considerably before they ever land on your hiring manager’s desk. Essentially, you are now able to tap into the knowledge of several generations of human resources managers with the click of a button. Once your candidates have been screened, you are then able to focus your energy and efforts on the top talent, thus saving you time and money.
How To Use Predictive Hiring Strategies To Your Advantage
1. Find a higher caliber of candidates.
According to Glassdoor: “On average, each corporate job opening attracts 250 resumes.” That means 250 cover letters to weed through, and many of them will appear very similar in skills and employment history. Predictive hiring techniques will take your applicants through a series of algorithms to predict who is most likely to be a productive team member who fits your company goals. Your human resources manager will then be given five or 10 top candidates to explore further. This method will allow you to take time to get to know the job applicants and identify the top talent in the pool.
2. Pinpoint what works and what doesn’t.
One way top CEOs are using predictive hiring to attract top talent has to do with sourcing. With dozens of job boards, third-party recruiting firms and recruiters, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with options. When using predictive hiring methods, you can pinpoint exactly where your best talent is coming from and focus on just a few job-posting efforts. This will not only save you money in listing fees, but will allow your hiring team to streamline their efforts and focus on finding the best fit for the job.
3. Find top talent faster.
With traditional methods, the average hire takes 42 days. That’s 42 days that you could be focused on growing your business and creating value. The best CEOs understand the time-value connection and will work diligently to decrease the time from listing to onboarding. Predictive hiring is one of the key weapons in their arsenal to find the top talent in the stack of resumes quickly and with greater precision.
A Word Of Caution
Predictive hiring strategies are changing the way we find talent, but there are a few things to keep in mind when implementing such a strategy within your own company.
These include:
• Technology investments and infrastructure: Data storage, business intelligence applications and data modeling methods all need to be understood before moving forward. There are many cloud-based providers in the industry today that can help you get started quickly. These include companies like Koru, Knack and Journeyfront.
• Your in-house human resources department: Predictive hiring strategies can help streamline your efforts, but they won’t tell you the whole story. You will still need a well-thought-out hiring system that allows you to really get to know your top candidates and make an informed decision.
