Smarter, faster, and more strategic hiring: the increasing importance of analytics for HR

Question: In the million-miles-an-hour HR recruitment landscape that’s already awash with HCM (human capital management), HRIS (human resources information system) and ATS (applicant tracking system), do you really need another report churning resource?

You might already use a HCM or HRIS that has recruitment features, besides standard features like annual leave, payroll, training and sick leave. And you might have even have integrated your HCM or HRIS with an amazing ATS.  

But, here’s the catch. You see, businesses accrue mass volumes of big data on a scale that’s almost incomprehensible. So, you might be able to generate transactional data, for example, for drilling down in to time to hire or which job board results.

Yet these results are flat and unaligned.

Now, imagine having tools that collect, process and analyze all the moving parts from everywhere you’re amassing big data. And imagine how this uplevelled information would act as a catalyst for –

  • Making better quality hires – faster
  • Quantifying RORI, e.g. not just identifying which recruiting resources are working for you, but which ones are yielding high performance employees who are staying with you
  • Informing decision making based on real time facts and figures, rather than just generating data on spreadsheets, to be interpreted as you will

Analytics are the future of smarter, faster and more strategic HR recruitment for all these reasons and more. In addition, they have game changing potential to underpin and elevate the role of HR recruitment in your business and every medium – large business.  

So, let’s dive in to an introduction to analytics – and why you might want to give them some serious thought.

What’s the Difference Between HR Recruitment Data and Analytics?

Any data that you’re used to might be able to tell you many useful things. But truthfully, it has a legacy feel about it compared to analytics. This is because data is typically only captured from a single system. As a result, it’s one-dimensional. But analytics provide a fully cohesive overview in glorious technicolor.

So, prepare to wave goodbye to ‘death by spreadsheet’ telling you things that you probably already know! Instead, thought provoking analytics empower you to look beyond transactional information that focuses on the processes, but not the people.

What does this actually mean in practice rather than theory? Great question!

Let’s take time to fill as an example…

The data you’re currently able to generate might indicate how long it usually takes you to fill different job types. But that’s all. Raw data alone doesn’t give you any insight in anything else, such as the quality and performance of these hires.

On the other hand, HR recruitment analytics equip you with a wider reaching lens. So, besides tracking time to fill, you can also track other key criteria, such as –

  • Cost in lost productivity while the role remained unfilled
  • Comparable saving by expediting time to fill
  • Quality of hire against pre-determined criteria

You can save you time, effort and money when you know which job boards or agencies are your best bets for specific vacancies. But analytics transport you to an entirely different playing field. They do so by informing how to uplevel your processes and truly align them with your business objectives.

What are the Benefits of HR Recruitment Analytics?

A data-driven approach to HR recruitment might center around, “Which job board or agency should I use for this particular open position?”

Whereas, an analytics-driven approach might be, “Which job board or agency will source the best quality candidates who are most likely to stay with the company, and at what cost?”

This dynamic 360 approach is served by a potent combination of multi-source analytics. So ultimately, the unification of your pre- and post-hire data tools you up for –  

  • Design and Implementation of Meaningful Headcount and Hiring Strategies – Having a real-time overview of who you’ve already got onboard, and who you need moving forwards, enables you to stay ahead of the game. Additionally, knowing exactly what you’re dealing with makes it easier to bend and flex your strategies as needed, for balancing attrition and meeting overall business objectives.
  • Laser Targeted Candidate Sourcing – Spend your time and your budget smarter! With attribution and RORI analytics (not just ROI!) at your fingertips, you can make fully qualified decisions about which recruiting sources to sink your energy and your money in to – with an eye on the mid and longer term, besides the here and now.
  • Elevated Quality of Hire – You hired. But how good was your hire? The answer is unique to your business and it’s also role specific. Composite analytics are formulated across KPIs, cultural fit, retention and any other criteria that matters to you. So, the answer is accurately generated by a combination of factors from multiple and previously unaligned data sources.
  • Superior New Hire Retention Rates – You invest time, effort, money and hopes in to recruiting. So, it’s soul destroying when new hires jump ship before they’ve even hit the one-year mark. But, help with mitigation is at hand. HR recruitment analytics are a custom blend of pre- and post-hire data that forearms you to identify and eradicate weaknesses. It can be transformational for minimizing staff churn, maintaining a stable and consistent workforce and saving money on recruiting for roles that become vacant with alarming regularity.

At HireRoad, we’re always exploring different and innovative ways to enhance a manageable and meaningful talent HR recruitment process. Our powerful analytics tools support these aims, by increasing the value of the HR recruitment team, and putting HR recruitment at the heart of your overall business strategy.

Are you inspired by the idea of talent acquisition analytics for faster, smarter and more strategic hiring? Then get in touch. Let us take you through a demo and answer all your questions.