18 Feb Incorporating data-driven recruitment

Why is data important in selecting the best candidates?

Recruiters across small-, medium-, and large-scale corporations have never done as much digital hiring as they do today. With a wealth of software and analytic tools such as Talegent’s solutions available on the market, recruiters are almost constantly finding new ways of speeding up their hiring processes through digital data and data-driven recruitment.

Hiring managers are captains of their respective ships and typically juggle a lot of daily responsibilities on top of recruiting the best candidates. This is where third-party or in-house solutions enter the picture: companies may partner with recruitment agencies to provide them synthesized and efficient data for a more accurate, cost-reduced job search; or they have a specific recruitment team that managers work with when hiring, and these teams need a way to accurately assess all their candidates.

Digital tools can help Hiring Managers make more objective hiring decisions. They can make data-driven recruitment decisions on the results of an applicant’s cognitive or skills tests (that gives the job seeker a glimpse of experiencing the role itself), and structured interviews as a result of accurate data collection. Traditional recruitment is grounded in luck and intuition but digital assessments help recruiters to evaluate candidates, especially when paired with traditional assessments, with accurate data on their potential performance.

Here’s a guide on how to incorporate and embrace data in your recruitment process:

1. Streamline your hiring process by selecting the right data and using key recruiting metrics. Hiring teams benefit from a standard process of data collection. The best option you and your team can start is identifying what things are universally key to succeeding at your organisation, or in the specific roles you are recruiting for. All companies aim to measure the effectiveness of their hiring processes, however, not all companies are easily able to measure recruitment impact. That’s why it’s important to communicate between the recruiter and the hiring manager often. Ask questions on how they can help you with the hiring process, from crafting accurate job postings to screening the most qualified candidates before moving on to interviewing.
2. Invest in new methods of data acquisition through applicant tracking software tools. Ideally, all companies are determined to measure the effectiveness of their hiring processes. However, not all human resources departments were developed equally as they find measuring recruitment impact difficult, which data managers care most about. That’s why it’s important to communicate with them often. Ask questions on how they can help you with the hiring process, from crafting accurate job postings to screening the most qualified candidates before moving on to interviewing.
3. Use the data efficiently from pipelining, screening, interviews, down to the job offer. Make sure to utilise any data you are receiving during the recruiting process, whether it is candidate performance or candidate feedback. Not only does this data help you hire the best candidate, but it can also help your team significantly to onboard new hires and create development plans for employees.
4. Know the limitations of your data and learn from mistakes to make a better hiring strategy in the future. Using candidate feedback data from your recruiting process can significantly help your team identify where to spend more time and energy in the areas that you still have to work on to further ease your hiring process. Without insights taken from actual quantifiable data, your hiring team may find it difficult to see the challenges and opportunities to simplify and optimise your process in finding the right individuals for your organisation.

While you can always rely on data to objectively hire the most qualified candidate, know that these tools and systems are here to help you decide. With data-driven recruitment, at the end of the day, you choose what to do with that knowledge at your discretion.

Improve your team’s data recruiting efforts with Talegent’s assessment tools and request a demo.