How do your hiring practices measure up against companies competing for the same talent as you? In this blog, we’re breaking down all the metrics and telling you how you can get ahead, so you can crush the talent war.
What is time-to-hire?
Time-to-hire measures the time between your potential hire entering the pipeline via scouting or application, right through to the moment they accept your job offer.
What is a good time-to-hire metric?
The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports an average time to hire of 42 days. While time-to-hire varies from industry to industry, from the moment the best candidate applies to your posting, your hiring team should be ready to engage. Especially considering that the most talented people are off the market in 10 days, it’s best to aim for the shortest time-to-hire possible.
Tips to improve time-to-hire
While it’s tough to get a read on just how fast competitors are hiring top talent, there are a few things you can do to get below the benchmark average. So, let’s dive into six specific ways to improve time-to-hire.
1. Build a strong, long-term hiring pipeline
If you want to decrease your time-to-hire, one of the best things you can do is build a strong hiring pipeline. Given the fast-paced and increasingly competitive landscape of the job market, HR leaders must help recruiters and hiring managers develop a proactive approach to cultivate a group of potential hires – even before there’s a position needed to be filled.
A successful hiring pipeline streamlines the hiring process and drastically reduces your time-to-hire. By developing and nurturing relationships with qualified candidates, you put yourself in a position to hire quicker.
2. Align HR with departments that need staffing
As soon as a position opens up, it’s critical to get on the same page as the hiring manager to ensure the best candidates are considered from the start. Schedule a kickoff meeting with your hiring manager to source and review a few candidates, define the interview process, and discuss other important logistics – this will allow you to fine-tune your recruiting process and get the right people through the door. We also recommend asking hiring managers to complete a sourcing intake form so you can get a clear picture of what the ideal candidate looks like.
3. Prepare clear, appealing job descriptions
Your job description can be the first thing potential candidates interact with during the hiring process, and first impressions matter. When you’re aligning with HR, dig deeper into your ideal candidate and write for them. Tap into their emotions by learning everything you can about your target candidate. Ask yourself: what are their professional goals and values? What are they looking for?
4. Create a great experience for candidates
Keeping candidates engaged throughout the recruiting process is not only necessary, it’s pivotal to lasting impressions of your company’s culture and how you treat people. Top-tier candidates have a bucket of potential opportunities, which means they will pass on you if you have a tedious application process.
As the average time to hire is 42 days, keep in contact with candidates throughout the process, treat them well during interviews, and be efficient. Following your recruitment process, it’s even a good idea to follow up with candidates to learn how you can improve your hiring experience. A quick survey with your rejection or acceptance letter can provide valuable insight so you can hire more top choice candidates in less time.
5. Strengthen your offer process
Offer letters are the more formal beginning of an employee relationship. It’s where you highlight relevant details about your company and outline the job’s responsibilities, so it’s pivotal that the agreement is clear and positive. With Humi Offer Letters, you can send offers to candidates without adding them as Humi users, enabling you to remove tedious work, gain more control over the new hire flow, and create even better candidate experiences. Speak with our team to get a closer look!
6. Track hiring metrics for data-driven improvement
Being data driven when looking to secure top talent is key. Here are just a handful of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in addition to time-to-hire that you can track for data-driven improvement.
Qualified candidates per opening
Measuring the amount of qualified candidates who apply for each job posting informs you of whether you’re advertising in the right places and if your job description is strong enough to attract ideal applicants.
Cost per hire
Overspending per hire could mean it’s time to revamp your hiring strategy – it could also mean taking a deeper look at some other metrics to see where you can make cuts and be more efficient when hiring.
Turnover rate
Your turnover rate identifies how many people leave your company, either on their own accord (voluntary turnover) or by the employer (involuntary turnover). Tracking this metric can be effective in identifying whether you’re hiring the wrong people, have issues with your overall company culture, or perhaps are setting unrealistic job expectations that need to be addressed in the onboarding process.
Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
Keeping track of diversity in your workforce is a good start, but for your EDI efforts to have any real impact, you need to make sure leadership actively invests in diverse talent and supports their career development throughout their entire journey at your company.
Learn how Humi can help
Recruiting is a point in the employee lifecycle that is often most cumbersome for HR teams. You shouldn't have to spend time working between multiple platforms and scrambling to keep up with candidates and internal stakeholders.
That’s why we’re hard at work, investing in our recruiting modules to better support Canadian businesses, so you can get back to finding and retaining great talent. Click here to learn more about our latest recruiting features, and how they're helping HR leaders crush it. To learn how you can streamline your hiring practices and secure top talent with Humi, speak with our team.
For more information on how you can grow your HR team, including when it's best to bring on your first full-time recruiter, watch our free crash course on expanding your HR department.