The average time to hire a candidate is 42 days. Yes, that’s how long a company takes an average to fill a role, according to SHRM. Although hiring is time-consuming, taking too long to fill the positions leads to missing out on potential talent and increasing cost per hire. It’s no surprise HR teams take pressure to speed up recruiting and reduce hiring costs.
Time-to-fill is the other popular recruitment metric similar to time-to-hire. Although these two phrases seem identical, they are not the same. Let’s see the difference between these two metrics and how to improve your time to hire and hiring process in this article. Whether you’re hiring from the office or home, these tips should help you reduce the time to hire.
What is Time-to-Hire?
Time to hire refers to the amount of time between engaging a candidate and accepting an offer. Although the time to hire often sounds synonymous with time to fill, they are two different metrics. Time to fill is the total time you need to fill a position.
To calculate the time to hire, consider the day you opened a specific position as Day 1. Suppose your best candidate accepted your offer on Day 20 and applied on Day 10; the time to hire is 20-10 = 10 days.
Five Effective Ways to Reduce Your Time-to-Hire
1. Know your Data
First things first, to reduce the overall time to hire, you need to find out what steps take the most time in your hiring process. According to a survey, screening candidates takes 60% of the time, followed by conducting interviews. The best way to cut short this lengthy process is to automate manual screening and sourcing candidates. A recruitment software or an Applicant Tracking Software helps you source and screen resumes automatically and saves huge time. Knowing your data enables you to create a structured hiring process that saves tons of time for your recruiting team.
2. Create a Hiring Process
Create a well-defined strategy and document it to build an easy streamlining system for your hiring process. A structured plan reduces the time to hire and helps you end up with high-quality hires. So, prepare a document or plan containing effective metrics, identify recruitment KPIs, and improve ROI. With a clear hiring strategy and better collaboration, you and your team can save a lot of time together.
3. Build a Strategic Talent Pipeline
We already know that sourcing and screening candidates take the most time of hiring. Developing a talent pipeline is the most effective way to reduce hiring time. Having a talent pipeline already means eliminating the sourcing and screening steps from the hiring process. Moreover, this also saves you huge amounts of money. With proper talent pool management, you do not need to advertise your job, wait for applicants, or invest time in screening potential candidates. You have them already. All you need to do is boost engagement and build relationships with them to make them read-to-apply for your next opening.
4. Boost your Employer Brand
A study shows that a strong employer brand can reduce the cost per hire by as much as 50%. This stat is also true for time to hire. According to a LinkedIn survey, employer branding makes hiring 1-2 times faster. Today, employer brand has become a deciding factor among candidates to choose their next company. So, promote your employer brand through your social channels consistently and attract a larger number of candidates, including passive candidates. This way, you have a list of potential candidates even before you post your next job ad.
5. Choose the Right ATS
Now comes the crucial tip, every company should use technology to reduce their time to hire, cost per hire, and recruit highly qualified candidates. An Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) is the best way to improve your hiring process effortlessly. A good ATS comes with effective sourcing software, an intelligent screening algorithm that seamlessly automates most of the manual tasks. Choose an ATS that makes your recruitment process easier and more efficient.
Bottom Line
Accelerating the hiring process can help companies hire the best talent in the market and save money. However, reducing time to hire without proper tools is easier said than done. Try these tips and strategies to speed up your high-quality recruitment and grab the best talent faster than your competitors.
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