Minority of Employers Use Recruiting Data in Hiring

Still struggling to find talent, more than half of employers plan to revamp their talent acquisition strategy within the next two years. At the same time, a surprisingly low number use workforce analytics in their TA efforts.

According to a study by Kronos, How High-performing Organizations Compete for Talent, the continually tight labor market has complicated almost every facet of recruiting. Particularly, employers are concerned about increases in time-to-hire and cost-to-hire.

Some 48 percent of employers said the number of hourly positions has increased over the last two years. Fifty-three percent said the same thing about salaried positions. Meanwhile, 36 percent said time-to-hire for hourly positions has increased, while 38 percent said it had risen for salaried positions.

Money helps alleviate the challenge, at least somewhat. Since 2017, early three-quarters of the organizations Kronos surveyed have increased starting pay for salaried roles, while 50 percent raised it for hourly employees. 

Slow Adoption of Recruiting Data

“High-performing organizations use technology to collect and analyze information, optimize processes, ease recruiter workloads and customize communication to personalize the candidate experience,” said Jenna N. Filipkowski, head of research at the Human Capital Institute. That “allows them to focus on developing internal talent pipelines, hire for potential instead of skill, and create a high-performing team regardless of the job market.”

Filipkowski makes good points but it doesn’t seem as if most employers are heeding them. Despite the constant talk about using analytics when recruiting, just 21 percent of the employers Kronos identified as high performers incorporate workforce data into their hiring decisions. That compares to 5 percent of other organizations. 

An important contributor to success, Kronos said, is an employers commitment to sifting through candidate pools. “Organizations must take a proactive approach to talent acquisition,” said Stacey Kervin, senior manager in Kronos’s HCM Practice Group.

In addition, she said, using technology to address the needs of candidates, HR staffers and hiring managers helps companies do a better job identifying high performers already in their workforce. It also helps attract and hire external candidates.

Another key point: High-performing employers align their TA efforts with business priorities, strengthening their internal talent pipelines and pursuing workers with specific skills.

The most successful companies plan to invest more aggressively in TA than average companies—59 percent to 37 percent, Kronos said. High performers plan to invest in improving both the candidate experience and recruiter effectiveness.

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