- Data-Driven Recruitment: How to Use Analytics to Improve Hiring - June 13, 2024
Tired of spending time on long hiring processes that don’t even result in quality hires? Data-driven recruitment is the solution you’ve been looking for.
In this article, we’re sharing what data-driven recruitment is, five ways it can help hiring teams, and best practices for implementing it.
Let’s get started.
What is data-driven recruitment?
Data-driven recruitment is the process of using data and analytics to inform and guide hiring decisions.
Recruitment teams like HR virtual assistants use data-driven recruiting practices to optimize job descriptions and align recruitment efforts with organizational goals. This approach streamlines operations and helps teams replace guesswork with rich insights for proactive hiring.
Let’s take a closer look at how data-driven hiring helps teams create effective hiring funnels,
make informed decisions, and find qualified candidates.
How data-driven recruiting can help hiring teams
Here are five ways data-driven recruiting helps hiring teams:
Data-driven recruiting speeds up the hiring process
Data-driven recruitment streamlines the hiring process. For example, by gathering data on how much time your team spends during the recruiting and interview process, you can learn which steps to automate to save time.
That might mean setting up automated applicant tracking systems, generating job descriptions with AI, or using predictive analytics to identify potential candidates.
Data-driven recruiting reduces hiring costs
Analytics can help your team reduce hiring costs and make faster, more aligned decisions.
Tracking the source of hire, for instance, can help your team focus their hiring efforts on high-value recruitment channels. This can also reveal which poorly performing advertising platforms to cut ties with so you can invest in the most effective options and get a better ROI.
Holger Sindbaek, serial entrepreneur and the founder of Online Solitaire, says,
“As we transitioned to a fully remote workforce, the challenge of optimizing recruitment costs while maintaining a high standard of talent became more pronounced.
To streamline this process, we embraced data-driven recruitment. We focused our efforts on platforms that consistently provided quality remote candidates by analyzing data on candidate sources and success rates.
This reduced our hiring costs and improved the speed and efficiency of our remote recruitment process.
The outcome was financial savings and building a robust team that thrives in a remote environment, demonstrating the effectiveness of precise, data-informed recruitment strategies.”
Data-driven recruiting increases apply rates and candidate quality
Actionable insights can help your recruiters boost application rates and find more aligned candidates.
For example, by identifying bottlenecks in the application process, your team can learn how to create more effective hiring workflows.
Recruiters can also analyze candidate behavior to see which processes they can improve.
This data might include metrics such as click-through rates, time spent on job postings — and drop-off rates in the application process.
For example, if the data shows a high drop-off rate at a certain step, recruiters can address potential issues, such as a complicated application form or a lengthy assessment or can make strategic changes such as outsourcing talent. Making the process more user-friendly can also help recruiters improve the candidate experience and encourage candidates to complete their applications.
Data-driven recruiting reduces hiring bias
Data-driven recruitment promotes fair and equitable hiring practices.
For example, Ongig’s Text Analyzer tool reduces hiring bias and improves objective hiring decisions by redacting certain characteristics from applications.
The Text Analyzer tool helps to create more objective hiring decisions by focusing solely on applicant qualifications and skills rather than factors such as name, gender, or age. This reduces unconscious bias and gives all qualified candidates a fair chance.
What’s more, by removing bias from the hiring process, companies are more likely to hire the most qualified candidates for the job. This can encourage a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
Data-driven recruitment promotes better candidate experiences
Recruiting tools and strategies promote a better experience for candidates overall.
Tools such as video interviewing, virtual job fairs, and AI-powered chatbots provide a more interactive and engaging experience. These tools also give candidates a glimpse into your company culture, making them feel more connected to the company.
By regularly analyzing and acting on recruitment data, recruiters can tailor these experiences.
For example, spotting road bumps in the video interviewing process when using Zoom may encourage your team to explore Zoom Alternatives.
Having difficulty communicating company culture may inspire your team to explore Dyte’s white-label video calling SDK, which also provides its own invaluable insights through analytics.
The more your team can improve the candidate experience, the better chance they’ll have at finding the best talent for your organization.
Best practices for data-driven recruitment
Create a better recruitment process with the following best practices.
Identify and collect relevant data
Focus on the right data when collecting insights about your recruitment process and candidates.
Some of the most relevant data to collect include:
- Effectiveness of recruitment methods (e.g., which sources yield the most qualified candidates)
- Source of applicants (job boards, referrals, career fairs, etc.)
- The number of job offers extended
- Interviewer feedback and ratings
- Number of interviews conducted
- Reasons for candidate rejection
- Time-to-hire for each candidate
- Acceptance rate of job offers
- Retention rate of new hires
- Number of job applicants
- Cost per hire
Use the right tools
Track applicants, evaluate candidate skills and personality, and collect feedback with Ongig’s tools. You can also use our text analyzer to remove gender-coded and exclusionary language, create consistent job descriptions, and make your descriptions more readable.
Keep your candidate data and organization data safe with cloud security posture management (CSPM). This is particularly important to implement when collecting and storing candidate data to prevent data leaks and security breaches.
Focus on consistency, inclusivity, and compliance
Use Ongig’s Text Analyze to promote fair hiring practices. Train your recruiters on how the software works to remove unconscious bias to give all qualified candidates a fair chance. Emphasize the importance of incorporating consistency, inclusivity, and compliance into all of their procedures.
Create an action plan
Decide when you’ll start implementing data-driven recruitment and which specific tools you’ll use. Sign up for free trials so you can see how recruitment apps and other helpful tools work before committing to paid subscriptions.
Analyze and iterate
Create a company culture that continuously analyzes and iterates the hiring process. Use accessible data to pinpoint trends and correlations related to your hiring strategy. Track your progress and ask for feedback from recruiters, candidates, and new hires.
Be sure to implement feedback and build workflows that automate as many redundant processes as possible.
Consider using Qualtrics or a similar tool from a Qualtrics competitor to streamline data collection and analysis. For instance, consider automating resume screenings, job description creation, and applicant tracking.
How small businesses can create job postings with fewer resources at scale using data-driven recruitment
Small businesses often face challenges when it comes to hiring new employees, since they may not have the same resources or budget as larger companies.
But with AI and automation, small businesses can now create job postings with fewer resources at scale. This helps them attract top talent and compete with bigger companies in the job market.
One way small businesses can create job postings with fewer resources is by using the data-driven recruitment practices we’ve mentioned in this article. By understanding where and how to reach potential candidates, small businesses can optimize their job postings and save time and resources.
Another method is to leverage recruitment software. These tools can help small businesses streamline their recruitment process by automating tasks such as job posting distribution, resume screening, and candidate communication.
With the help of recruitment software, small businesses can reach a larger pool of candidates and efficiently manage the hiring process without a large HR team.
Collaborating with data experts can also benefit small businesses looking to create job postings with fewer resources. Data experts can help analyze recruitment data and provide insights on the most effective hiring strategies.
AI, automation, and templates can also help small businesses create job postings at scale. Recruiters can use AI to automate repetitive tasks, such as resume screening, to free up time and text redaction to help reduce bias in the hiring process.
Templates can also help standardize the hiring process and save time by providing a structured format for job postings. This helps small businesses ensure that all job postings have the necessary information and are consistent in their messaging.
Businesses can also use templates for other recruitment materials, such as interview questions and offer letters, further streamlining the hiring process.
Data Drive Recruitment Wrap up
Hiring the right talent for your organization can take weeks or even months when you focus on manual practices that don’t factor in data.
But with a data-driven approach, the right tools, and a commitment to reiteration, your team can find top-tier candidates faster — and streamline the entire recruitment process.
Why I Wrote This:
Tapping into data-driven recruitment truly transforms how to find and engage with potential hires. It simplifies tasks, boosts communication, and zeroes in on the best candidates.
In other words, it’s the secret weapon for streamlining the entire hiring journey. Want to take your data-driven analysis up a notch? Add tools like Ongig’s Text Analyzer to your tech stack.
See for yourself how AI can improve your recruitment process and make things easier for candidates by requesting a demo today.
That’s it for now.
Here’s to your success!
Author Bio:
