Feb 10 2023
How evolving your recruitment and hiring technology stack can help you meet your business objectives
Hourly hiring is an essential part of many workplaces but has recently faced challenges to meet the demands of an ever-changing market. The current state of hourly hiring is plagued by outdated and inefficient processes, leading to difficulties in attracting and retaining top talent. As a result, organizations are starting to reevaluate their talent acquisition technology, recognizing the need for a more sophisticated approach to keep up with a new workforce.
Below, we’ll delve into the current state of hourly hiring and explore why rethinking talent acquisition solutions is necessary for organizations to succeed in the modern world of work.
Common challenges in hiring hourly workers
High volume hiring has only increased in complexity in recent years. One of the key challenges in hourly hiring is the management of applicant volume. The fluctuation of unemployment combined with the high level of churn with hourly positions results in extremely large volumes of applicants at any given time. With so many people seeking employment, companies are often inundated with resumes and applications, making it difficult to effectively manage and assess all the candidates in a timely fashion. This can lead to a lengthy and overwhelming hiring process for both candidates and recruiters, which can negatively impact the company’s bottom line and reputation.
Another challenge is the difficulty in finding quality candidates. With the rise of low-wage gig work, many hourly workers are simply seeking a paycheck, applying to multiple jobs at once, and most likely going to accept the first offer they receive. This results in candidates potentially not being the best fit for the company or the role, and can lead to high turnover rates, decreased productivity, and a negative impact on the company’s reputation as an employer.
Manual processes are also a major challenge in hourly hiring. From scheduling interviews to tracking applicant progress, many companies still rely heavily on manual processes, which are time-consuming and prone to errors. This lengthens the overall hiring process, results in miscommunication or ambiguity with candidates, and a creates a lack of visibility into the recruitment pipeline.
This lack of visibility into the recruitment pipeline can create additional challenges for companies looking to fill open positions, particularly around seasonality. Without clear insight into where candidates are in the process, companies may struggle to make informed hiring decisions or to track the progress of applicants. This can lead to missed opportunities, missed deadlines, and decreased efficiency in the hiring process.
These are just a few of the key challenges facing companies in the world of hourly hiring. To overcome these challenges, it’s essential for companies to embrace new and innovative technologies that streamline and automate the hiring process, making it easier to find, assess, and hire top talent.
Ever-changing landscape: Why talent acquisition is different now
The job market has changed significantly in recent years, and this has dramatically impacted the way recruiters approach talent acquisition. Gone are the days when companies could simply post a job listing and wait for applicants to come to them. Today, with the rise of the gig economy, the pool of qualified candidates is more dispersed than ever before. Additionally, with increased competition for top talent, companies must be proactive in their approach to recruiting in order to remain competitive.
The rise of automation and artificial intelligence has changed the game when it comes to talent acquisition. The HR talent management software tech stack has never been more complex, with enterprise organizations using anywhere from 15 to 25 different recruiting and hiring solutions.
Today, recruiters have access to a wealth of tools and technologies that can help streamline the hiring process, improve candidate engagement, and allow them to make data-driven decisions. For example, conversational AI can help automate the recruitment pipeline and provide recruiters with insights into candidate behavior and fit.
Another important aspect of talent acquisition in the modern world of hourly work is the importance of the candidate experience. In today’s competitive job market, candidates are seeking jobs that are the easiest to apply for and will get them the highest pay. They also may want to work for companies that are aligned with their values and offer a positive, supportive work environment. But the bottom line: They are looking for immediate work. To get them in the door fast, recruiters must be mindful of the candidate experience throughout the hiring process and take steps to create a positive and engaging experience for all candidates.
With the evolving job market, increased competition for qualified talent, the rise of automation and AI, and the importance of the candidate experience, recruiters must be proactive and strategic in their approach to hiring if they want to remain competitive in the modern world of work. Keep reading to learn some concrete ways recruiters can embrace new technologies and stay attuned to the changing needs of candidates, so that enterprise organizations can ensure that they are hiring top talent and building a strong, productive workforce.
Leveraging hiring automation and artificial intelligence
Leveraging automation and artificial intelligence (AI) when hiring hourly workers has numerous benefits, including streamlining the recruitment process, improving candidate screening and selection, enhancing the candidate experience, and generating insights and analytics to inform future hiring decisions.
One of the key benefits of using automation and AI in the hiring process is the ability to streamline recruitment. AI-powered applicant tracking systems (ATS) can automate many of the manual tasks involved in recruitment, such as answering candidate questions, gathering information, scheduling interviews, tracking applicant progress, and sending out automated communications. This not only saves recruiters time, but it also ensures all candidates are treated fairly and consistently throughout the hiring process.
Another benefit of automation and AI in the hiring process is improved candidate screening and selection. AI-enabled tools that integrate with talent acquisition systems can help recruiters quickly and accurately assess candidate qualifications, skills, and experience. This allows recruiters to focus their time and efforts on engaging with the best-fit candidates and making informed hiring decisions.
Enhancing the candidate experience is another key benefit of using automation and AI in the hiring process. By automating repetitive tasks and providing real-time updates to candidates, recruiters can create a more engaging and positive experience for all candidates. This can help to build a positive brand image, attract top talent, and increase the chances of landing the best hires.
Recruiters can also generate insights and analytics to inform future hiring decisions. AI-powered tools can help recruiters identify patterns in candidate behavior, determine which recruitment channels are most effective, and measure the impact of different recruitment strategies. These insights can help recruiters make informed decisions about how to optimize their hiring processes in the future.
Leveraging automation and artificial intelligence when hiring hourly workers has numerous benefits, including streamlining the recruitment process, improving candidate screening and selection, enhancing the candidate experience, and generating insights and analytics to inform future hiring decisions. By embracing these new technologies, recruiters can ensure that they are hiring the best-fit candidates, efficiently and effectively.
Prioritizing the candidate experience
Prioritizing the candidate experience, specifically for hourly workers, is critical to attracting top talent and ensuring a positive outcome for both the candidate and the employer. There are several key components to a successful candidate experience.
Regular updates and clear communication are critical pieces of a successful candidate experience. Candidates want to know where they stand in the recruitment process and what the next steps are. By providing regular updates and clear communication, recruiters can ensure that candidates are engaged and informed throughout the hiring process.
Self-service and mobile-friendly technologies can also play a significant role in creating a positive candidate experience. By providing candidates with easy access to information about the job, company, and application process, recruiters can ensure that candidates are informed and engaged. Additionally, by making the recruitment process mobile-friendly, recruiters can ensure that candidates can access information and engage with the company from anywhere, at any time.
Personalization and customization are important aspects of a successful candidate experience. By tailoring the recruitment process to meet the needs and preferences of individual candidates, recruiters can create a more positive and engaging experience. This can include tailoring the communication style, the recruitment channels used, and the types of information provided to candidates.
Prioritizing the candidate experience, especially for hourly workers, is critical to attracting top talent and ensuring a positive outcome for both the candidate and the employer. By providing regular updates and clear communication and mobile-friendly technologies, recruiters can create a positive and engaging candidate experience that will help them attract top talent.
Measure success: Clear metrics and KPIs to track recruitment success
Measuring success when hiring hourly workers is an often-missed yet critical component of the recruitment process. Recruiters must be able to assess the effectiveness of their recruitment efforts, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to optimize their hiring process. Here are several key metrics that recruiters should consider when evaluating their success in hiring hourly workers.
Time-to-hire
Time-to-hire measures the time it takes to fill an open position, from the initial application to the start of the new hire’s employment. A shorter time-to-hire can indicate a more efficient and effective recruitment process, which can help reduce costs and improve the overall candidate experience.
Cost-per-hire
Cost-per-hire measures the cost of filling an open position, including the cost of recruitment, sourcing, and onboarding. Recruiters can use this metric to compare the cost of hiring hourly workers to other employment categories, and to assess the efficiency of their recruitment process.
Quality of hire
Quality of hire measures the success of a new hire in terms of their productivity, job satisfaction, and ability to meet the needs of the company. Recruiters can use resources such as employee satisfaction surveys, performance reviews, and turnover rates to evaluate the quality of their hires.
Source of hire
Source of hire is a critical metric that measures the effectiveness of different recruitment channels, such as job boards, employee referrals, or staffing agencies. This metric can help recruiters understand which recruitment channels are the most effective, and make data-driven decisions about where to allocate their recruitment budget.
Hiring diversity
Hiring diversity is an increasingly important metric for recruiters as companies seek to build diverse and inclusive workforces. This metric can be measured in terms of the diversity of the candidate pool, the diversity of new hires, and the diversity of the overall workforce.
Candidate experience
Candidate experience measures the overall satisfaction of candidates with the recruitment process. Recruiters can use resources such as candidate satisfaction surveys, candidate feedback, and candidate drop-off rates to evaluate the candidate experience and identify areas for improvement.
Retention
Retention is a key metric that reveals a company’s ability to retain its employees over time. This metric can be measured in terms of employee turnover rates, length of service, and employee satisfaction. By measuring retention, recruiters can assess the success of their recruitment efforts and determine the impact of the recruitment process on the overall workforce.
Measuring success when hiring hourly workers requires a multi-faceted approach that considers a range of metrics, including quality of hire, time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, source of hire, hiring diversity, candidate experience, and retention. By monitoring these metrics, recruiters can assess the effectiveness of their recruitment efforts, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to optimize their hiring process.
Build a more effective, efficient, and inclusive recruitment process
Hourly hiring presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for recruiters and heads of HR. From the high volume of applicants and difficulties in finding quality candidates, to the time-consuming manual processes and lack of visibility into the recruitment pipeline, the traditional approaches to hourly hiring are no longer adequate.
However, the landscape of talent acquisition is rapidly evolving, and recruiters and HR leaders have a unique opportunity to rethink their approach to hourly hiring. Leveraging automation and artificial intelligence can streamline the recruitment process, improve candidate screening and selection, enhance the candidate experience, and provide valuable insights and analytics to inform future hiring decisions.
The time is now for recruiters and HR leaders to take action and improve their processes and hiring technologies for hourly workers. By rethinking the talent acquisition solution suite, they can address the key challenges, seize the opportunities, and create a more effective, efficient, and inclusive recruitment process for hourly workers.
Fountain is a hiring solution optimized for hourly workers, enabling an applicant experience backed by automated workflows that are specific to role and location. See Fountain in action by requesting a demo.
