Time to Move to Data Driven Recruiting

Time to Move to Data Driven Recruiting

We’re living in a world where big data, analytics and technology are the solutions to all of our business problems.  Every industry is using data to make smarter decisions, every department is using analytics to prove their value to the larger corporation.  The question is why hasn’t HR caught up yet?  Why are we still hiring talent based on “gut feelings” and a subjective “culture fit?”  There is a slow movement to get hiring there, but it hasn’t caught on yet.  It is time for Talent Acquisition to take some notes from Marketing.

I recently watched a webinar on talent analytics hosted by SmashFly Technologies.  The leading panelist was a CMO of a company.  The secondary speakers were a VP of Employment Branding Marketing and a Director of Talent Acquisition.  Here is a smart collaboration to move towards data driven recruiting.  The first step to smarter hiring through data is measurement and measuring the correct things.  As the CMO said, if you can’t measure it – it didn’t happen.  No matter what field you’re in now, measurement is king.  Talent acquisition/recruiting has always had a focus on measurement, but those measurements have more to do with activity rather than outcomes.  Reporting on how many calls a recruiter made in a day does not show business outcomes, it shows activity.  We should be looking at the quality of hire vs the time to hire.  Talent Acquisition should be focused on how long the hire stays at the company (outcome) vs how long it took to get them to join the company (activity). 

There are many ways that talent acquisition can start using data to drive smarter hiring decisions and use analytics to show internal stakeholders their value.  Stayed tuned over the coming weeks as I explore new trends in talent acquisition that are pushing us to data driven recruiting.