Over the years the avenues of identifying potential qualified employees have grown, but the basic steps of hiring have not substantially changed, still consisting of advertising, reviewing resumes, pre-screening, and interviewing.
The dilemma for human resources and internal recruiters determining the best methodology for hiring qualified candidates while shortening the procurement cycle. Many companies still continue to advertise positions, but the venues for advertising have morphed from print and a few staffing agencies into technology-driven job boards, career sites, professional networks, search engine marketing and Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) technology in an attempt to quickly fill open positions. It seems that there are new technology partners constantly emerging on the web to use as sources of identifying potential new hires, such as Indeed, Glassdoor, SimplyHired and LinkedIn.
Challenges in talent acquisition
But the question begs to be asked, what is the best source of hiring? Because here are the difficulties facing human resource departments in new talent acquisition:
- Difficulty in procurement, particularly in niche areas surrounding IT such as eLearning, technical writing, user experience and visual design, leading to longer timeframes to fill open position
- Cuts in spending cause companies to reduce recruiting staff
- Workload – fewer staff means increased requisitions per recruiter
- Diversity of positions to fill: low level, management, exempt and non-exempt employees
- Number of applications – surveys show that for every posted position the average number of applicants received is 85 and over 60% of those are unqualified (Source – TalentBoard)
Solutions in strategic talent management
UserEdge recommends a collaborative hiring process of:
- Internal recruiters manage the streams of internal potential candidates through internal promotion and employee referrals
- Talent technologies are used by both internal and external recruiters, but approach and access may differ allowing a broader net in identifying and gathering qualified employees
- External recruiters, particularly specialized recruiters, are often used to access specific skill sets for high powered sourcing. They can also help with efficiency and production recruiting efforts due to the fact that specialized recruiters:
- Have custom databases in which profiles are built on potential contract or direct hire employees often known as Candidate Relationship Management software
- Have an extensive resource of qualified passive candidates with whom they keep in constant contact
- Pre-screen applicants to ensure that backgrounds and experiences match search criteria allowing hiring managers to make informed decisions in a much faster time frame compared to using in-house recruiters
- Are able to provide contract workers to fill hiring needs for temporary or permanent placement.
Finding the right talent does not need to be either overwhelming or time consuming. UserEdge is here to support your business efforts and talent acquisition with direct hires or contractor hiring. Contact our friendly staff to help fulfill your next talent needs.
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By Donna Cornelius Contributing Editor