In the fast-paced world of high-volume hiring, organizations are constantly seeking innovative strategies to streamline their processes.

Drawing on the expertise of HR professionals, from talent acquisition specialists to heads of human resources, we've gathered five transformative approaches.

These range from standardizing interview processes to integrating robotic process automation, providing a glimpse into the successful tactics that are shaping the future of recruitment.
 

• Standardize Interview Process and Metrics
• Adopt a Data-Driven, Skills-Based Approach
• Implement AI-Powered Recruitment Platforms
• Deploy AI-Based Screening for Efficient Hiring
• Utilize Sprint Recruiting for Focused Efforts

Standardize Interview Process and Metrics

One strategy for managing high-volume hiring is to implement a standardized interview process with pre-determined metrics. This ensures consistency and efficiency in evaluating candidates. Additionally, leveraging one-way video interviews can free up hiring managers' time.

Alignment among talent acquisition, hiring managers, and senior leaders is also crucial for success. For instance, setting clear goals and communication channels helps streamline the hiring process.

John Logal, Talent Acquisition Specialist

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Adopt a Data-Driven, Skills-Based Approach

As a fast-growing company, we've needed to scale up our workforce significantly over the past 12 months. In particular, we needed to recruit more digital roles, such as developers. There's a lot of competition in the market for these kinds of skills, which is driving up recruitment time. The Josh Bersin Company has estimated that time-to-hire has increased by 40% in recent years.

We knew we needed to recruit digital skills with speed and scale to enable us to hit our growth goals, so we adopted a data-driven, skills-based approach to recruitment. The Society for Human Resource Management estimates that the interview process accounts for 30-40% of recruitment. However, a skills-based approach to hiring allowed us to streamline the process.

This recruitment approach involves us profiling the behavioral and technical skills required for success in each role, using multiple data sources to ensure accuracy. These include manager feedback, industry data, job specifications, and employee surveys. We then build online assessments based on these profiles to evaluate how well candidates align with the skill requirements. We also assess how well they align with our company's values. Because candidates are assessed according to the quantifiable skills required for success in a role early on, we are able to rapidly rank applicants based on their suitability for the role.

This approach has reduced bureaucracy and provided a much faster and more effective hiring process. When recruiting for the digital roles, our average time-to-hire was lower than the industry average, and we had 93% of offers accepted—far above the industry average. We also received an onboarding satisfaction score of 9/10. We succeeded in quadrupling the size of our team ahead of schedule, without compromising the quality of hire—in fact, our new hires have all smashed our time-to-competence expectations.

Mark Chalmers, Head of People & Talent, Spotted Zebra

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Implement AI-powered Recruitment Platforms

We’ve adopted an AI-based strategy for high-volume hiring. We work with AI-powered recruitment platforms that can handle thousands of applications and screen and categorize applicants based on their ability to match the skills listed in our job specs. We recently used one of these applications to hire 150 customer service reps and completed the process in weeks.

The AI-powered tool eliminated applicants who didn’t meet our minimum requirements (e.g., only those with six months' experience were considered), significantly reducing the time our HR team had to spend sifting through applications and allowing them to invest instead in conducting research-based interviews.

Sunaree Komolchomalee, Head of HR, Cupid PR

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Deploy AI-based Screening for Efficient Hiring

One innovative strategy we've deployed to handle high-volume hiring effectively is through an AI-based screening tool in our recruitment process. This tool scans resumes for keyword matches and analyzes responses to situational judgment tests, enabling us to assess a candidate's problem-solving skills and cultural compatibility before an actual interview.

During our recent search for a front-end developer, we received over 300 applications—but the AI tool filtered it down to a manageable 25 potential fits, out of which we found our perfect match. The AI hiring system has made an immense difference by reducing time consumption, increasing the accuracy of our selection, and ensuring the right talent gets through. This approach also significantly enhanced the candidate experience by providing a level playing field where merit was recognized and prioritized above all.

Jarir Mallah, Human Resources Manager, Ling

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Utilize Sprint Recruiting for Focused Efforts

While working for an international banking group, we leveraged Sprint Recruiting to manage the chaos normally associated with high-volume recruiting. At the time, I was overwhelmed with the sheer number of positions to fill and the team's scattered approach. Recruiters were constantly juggling multiple roles, leading to burnout and a poor candidate experience. Unfortunately, the urgency to fill positions quickly compromised the quality of hires.

Sprint Recruiting helped us with the following four areas:
 

1. Focused Sprints: Recruiters work on filling these prioritized roles within the two-week sprint. This focused approach allows for deeper engagement with candidates and a more streamlined process.
2. Prioritization: We collaborate with hiring managers to identify the top-priority roles for each sprint. These roles are assigned points, with higher points indicating greater urgency. It gave us a measurable unit of prioritization to follow.
3. Work in Progress (WIP) Limits: We set WIP limits for each stage of the recruiting process (e.g., screening, interviewing, offer). This prevents bottlenecks and ensures a steady flow of candidates through the pipeline.
4. Feedback Deadline: We put a 48-hour deadline on candidate feedback. This allows us to adapt our strategies quickly and make data-driven decisions. We implemented the process one region at a time.

Each time we did, we noticed that by sprint 3-4 (roughly one month to one and a half months), we began to see some key indicators it was working:
 

• Time to fill would usually be reduced by 35-45%.
• Candidate NPS increased by 5 points.
• Recruiters were more engaged with their hiring managers.
• Our meeting cadence associated with Sprint Recruiting allowed us to quickly adapt to market changes and achieve success.

It was not easy to implement this new way of recruiting, but with the data provided during the sprints, we were able to quickly adjust, iterate, and accelerate our growth plans.

Trent Cotton, Senior Director of Talent, Hatchworks

Author Bio

Brett Farmiloe is the Founder, CEO & CHRO of of Featured.

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