When is the right time for an expert, objective audit of your Talent Acquisition function? If your organization is experiencing some of the following six hiring challenges, it might be now.
Six Indicators That Your Organization Could Benefit from a Recruitment Audit:
Sign 1: Noise from Hiring Managers About Hiring Speed and Quality
What you might be experiencing:
- Complaints from hiring managers and senior leaders about the status of hiring, the quality of candidates (or new hires), the speed of the process, etc.
- Recruiters who are overwhelmed and don’t have the capacity to effectively advise hiring managers, source passive candidates, screen candidates thoroughly, etc.
- Uncertainty among stakeholders about how the hiring process is supposed to work, how long it's supposed to take, lack of communication about requisition status, etc.
The benefits of a Talent Acquisition audit in this scenario:
- A fact-based roadmap to consolidate resources and deploy them more effectively
- A financial plan for how to self-fund improvement efforts
- A method for measuring the return on investments in a rapid timeframe
Sign 2: Recruiting-Related Costs Seem Excessive
What you might be experiencing:
- Excessive recruiting-related expenses, like agency or staffing firm fees, sign-on bonuses, hidden “skunkworks” recruiting resources, etc. may be incurred if hiring managers decide to take their own approach to solve staffing challenges.
- Use of overtime and contractors is high, reactive to compensate for hiring shortfalls, and are considered unsustainable.
- Difficult to gather, analyze and improve upon hiring-related costs such as Cost-Per_Hire and other recruiting-related spend.
The benefits of a Talent Acquisition audit in this scenario:
- A best practice analysis and benchmarking of current talent acquisition spend
- A financial plan for how to self-fund improvement efforts
- A business case to support additional targeted funding with a positive ROI
- A strategic approach for measuring the ongoing return on further TA investments
Sign 3: A New Leader (e.g., CHRO) Wants a Hiring Improvement Plan
What you might be experiencing:
- General complaints about the speed and quality of hiring efforts
- Questions about the role of recruiters and others in the hiring process
- Lack of accessible, accurate and meaningful TA metrics
The benefits of a Talent Acquisition audit in this scenario:
- A data-driven plan and prioritization of actions to achieve the most critical needs
- A recommendation for sequencing efforts and investments in talent acquisition improvement
- Change management guidance in order to speed the implementation and acceptance of TA changes
Sign 4: Pressure to Change the Talent Acquisition Org Design Exists
What you might be experiencing:
- Suggestions that the company should move to or from an RPO partner
- A directive to centralize (or de-centralize) Talent Acquisition
- A merger or an acquisition of another company with its own talent acquisition function
The benefits of a Talent Acquisition audit in this scenario:
- A data-driven prototype for a new org design for Talent Acquisition, with details related to assignments, req load by job type, goals related to time-to-fill, etc.
- Recommendations for process improvements that will enable the recruiting team to work in a more optimized and consistent fashion
- Change management recommendations to speed the acceptance and benefits of the new TA operating model (hiring people, process, technology and investment)
Sign 5: Hiring Managers are Seen as the Customer, with Recruiters Responsible for 'Pleasing' Them
What you might be experiencing:
- A different approach to hiring exists for, essentially, every hiring manager (e.g., how candidates are sourced, screened, interviewed, etc.)
- Hiring managers complaining about the quality of recruiting support - but fearful of relinquishing their control of the process
- Talent Acquisition professionals relegated to the most administrative tasks in the hiring process
The benefits of a Talent Acquisition audit in this scenario:
- Rapid and expert infusion of best practices related to roles, responsibilities, process and measurement of modern hiring efforts
- Recommendations for pivoting to a model in which the top talent in the marketplace is seen as the customer
- Advice on staging the transformation from hiring manager ownership to a true strategic partnership with TA professionals who are knowledgeable, equipped and credible
- Change management recommendations to speed the acceptance of a different approach
Sign 6: Candidate Ghosting and New Hire Early Attrition is Increasing
What you might be experiencing:
- Over-extended, low cost recruiting resources who lack the capacity and/or the capability to find and win talent the business needs
- Inconsistent, unclear processes and roles related to the onboarding process (from offer accepted to day one start for new hires)
- Hiring managers who don't fulfill clearly-defined roles in the wooing and engagement of candidates from interview through start
The benefits of a Talent Acquisition audit in this scenario:
- Business case for a true partnership between hiring managers and TA, with the 'customer' seen as the top talent in the marketplace
- More effective approach to sourcing, screening, engaging and winning candidates through day one
- Definition of respective roles and responsibilities for those involved in the end-to-end hiring process
- Change management recommendations to speed the acceptance of a different approach
Can you conduct such an audit yourself - using internal resources? Perhaps. However, the advantages of bringing in outside experts include:
- Impartial and unbiased suite of recommendations
- Easy and rapid access to relevant TA best practices, operating model alternatives and measurement methodologies
- Proven approaches for staging, investing in and measuring improvement efforts
- Org design thinking that is disconnected from incumbents, personalities, individual histories, etc.
- Highly visible and meaningful way for HR / TA leaders to show they are serious about improving hiring results
Talent acquisition audits and process improvement are our sweet spots: See how you can self-fund talent acquisition improvements in your organization. For more information, send a note to info@talentgrowthadvisors.com.
You may also want to read Recruitment Audit Tips: 3 Suggestions for Success, SWOT Analysis in Recruitment and Selection, or The Most Effective Recruitment Process in the Toughest Talent Marketplace: 5 Success Factors.