How Data Will Shape The New Normal

Here’s what organizations can do to make sure they succeed

The call to “get back to normal” has been a common refrain among HR professionals over the last year. But the fact is, advances in technology over the past decade, and the Covid-19 pandemic, have changed business so much that the way we work may never return to what we once thought of as “normal.” 
 

To meet your people’s needs and to compete in today’s business environment, organizations must employ recruitment and retention strategies that are designed for this new reality.

You Need To Prioritize Retention 

By now, you’ve read a lot about the Great Resignation. A lot of people characterize this phenomenon as an abrupt, unprecedented trend. Granted, after a significant decline in quit rates at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in the number of people quitting their jobs in the last two years. However, what’s not usually mentioned is the number of workers quitting their jobs in the U.S. has been steadily on the rise since the close of the Great Recession in 2010. Retention is not a new challenge. It is a problem that has been accelerating for some time.

Leaders are justifiably concerned about the historically high turnover rate. After all, when people quit their jobs, it costs a lot to replace them, making it harder for businesses to succeed. It’s no wonder retention is among the biggest concerns for HR and company leaders.

With so many changes in the world of work, what can organizations do to make sure they succeed?

Use Data-Driven Processes and Tools to Attract and Retain Talent

In this article, we’ll offer you three strategies that will help you use data analytics to design a recruitment and retention strategy that’s built to meet the challenges you’ll face in this new world of work.

Strategy No. 1: Use Technology Tools to Reach More Qualified Candidates

In the past, few tools were available to organizations to help them recruit candidates. As a result, the number of prospects was also limited. What’s more, traditional recruiting processes tend to be slow, costly, and ineffective. With these strategies, organizations can sometimes get lucky and hire a high-quality candidate from time to time, but these recruiting methods don’t scale well, which means they fail to serve employers’ needs. Worse, they often result in a bad experience for the candidate, characterized by long wait times, infrequent communication, and lack of clarity.

The U.S. is experiencing a severe labor shortage, which means competition for talent is extreme. To recruit the best candidates, organizations need access to a wide range of highly-qualified prospects, and they need tools to help them advance the hiring process in a way that’s fast and engaging.  

Technology tools can help you recruit highly-qualified people by leveraging multiple touchpoints with potential candidates to gain more referrals, engaging and nurturing them throughout the process. One strategy is utilizing connections you make when reference checking to reach new contacts. For example, when someone applies for a job at your organization and provides references, you can invite those references, populating your pool of potential future candidates — they’re often from the same industry and perfect targets for your future openings.

The best part is, unlike traditional recruitment strategies, sourcing and job candidate management solutions make this process fast and effective. These technology tools not only increase the number of candidates you can reach but also track analytics and provide actionable data insights that help you prioritize applicants that are the best fit for your open positions. This allows you to save time and resources by identifying and connecting with the best candidates more quickly and doing it in a meaningful way.

Strategy No. 2: To Get Top Talent, Streamline the Way You Recruit and Hire

Multiple research studies find that, on average, it takes about a month to hire a new employee. In a tight labor market, that’s a problem, especially because top candidates are often hired in about ten days. In other words, organizations that take too long to fill positions risk losing out on candidates that are best suited for the job. 

To succeed, organizations should find ways to streamline their recruiting and hiring processes by taking a data-driven approach. This is especially important when it comes to reference checking. With a digital technology solution for reference checking, you can get feedback on your candidates through a simple process that sends a job-specific survey to references. Your hiring managers typically receive detailed analytics in just over one business day.

Not only that, on the back end, you can streamline the recruiting and hiring process even further by integrating your software solution with CRM, ATS, and more.

Strategy No. 3: Use Post-hire Data Insights to Engage and Retain Employees

Retaining talent is just as important as hiring qualified candidates in the first place. Even if you save time and money using talent intelligence to hire top talent, you may still struggle without data-driven strategies to retain them.

Talent retention isn’t easy, as illustrated by the turnover rates we mentioned earlier. But with the right employee engagement software solution, you can identify and prioritize actions that will give your people a good post-hire experience. Specifically, with the help of technology tools, you can implement an automated process that allows you to collect employee feedback at every stage of their work experience, starting with hiring and onboarding, continuing through their first 90 days on the job, and, if necessary, concluding with their exit from your organization. You can also supplement that data with post-hire feedback from supervisors at similar touchpoints to understand if your hiring teams are identifying the best candidates and if expectations are being met. An automated confidential process across the employment lifecycle can help you get more useful, candid insights that you can track over time, and break down by division, job function, or demographic group.

Post-hire feedback provides insights that can help you identify challenges your people are facing before they lead to disengagement or a decision to leave the organization. As a result, you’ll take a proactive approach to increasing retention. You’ll also make data-driven decisions based on the authentic needs of your employees.

There Is a New Normal: Data

The world of work has changed forever. With the right tools, your organization can be equipped to change with it. Take a data-driven approach to hiring and retaining talent, and you’ll build a more resilient, successful organization. By using technology tools to reach more qualified candidates, streamlining the way you recruit and hire, and by using post-hire data insights to engage and retain employees, your organization will be ready to adapt to the ever-changing world of work, no matter what happens next.

Author Bio

Ray Bixler is an expert within the human resources, talent acquisition, and management marketplace and has contributed to a number of HR and business publications providing advice and tips for job-seekers and employers. Ray is President and CEO of SkillSurvey, an HR technology provider with talent intelligence solutions for digital online reference checking, talent sourcing, and employee feedback. Connect Ray Bixler