List of HR Statistics That Have Changed The Way We Recruit

Intro

Even more surprising than these HR stats, is that some companies haven't adjusted their recruiting and hiring strategies yet. They are refusing to follow the latest HR trends not realizing that the "War for talent" is getting more and more intense.

List of HR Statistics

HR Statistic #1: 73% of candidates are passive job seekers

This statistic is my favorite from the list of HR statistics. Everyone talks about the difference between passive and active job seekers. Passive job seekers are people who are not actively looking for jobs, but would be willing to accept a better offer. Remember, a better offer doesn't necessarily mean more money. Often times, better offers include ability to learn and grow, flexibility and ability to innovate. 

That can be flexible working time, education, opportunities to grow, benefits, cool projects, and many other. That being said, not being able to offer more money, doesn't always justify your inability to hire best people.

But what does this stat mean for the world of Talent Acquisition?

Unlike passive job seekers, active ones constantly look for new opportunities. The only three possible reasons for that are: being jobless, hating their current job or just liking to change jobs often. Would you want to hire someone with these characteristics rather than someone who is successful, happy and rewarded at their current job? 

So let’s take, as an example, the simplest and one of the oldest ways of recruiting.  This method is called “Post & pray” method with which you post a job to job boards and wait for candidates to apply. Which group of candidates, do you think, you reach with these job ads? Passive or active job seekers? 

So the reason why this HR statistics is so important is because HR professionals need to understand that old recruiting methods mostly focus on active job seekers. Newer recruiting strategies such as Recruitment Marketing and Inbound Recruiting focus on attracting passive job seekers. 

Want to learn more about most productive Recruitment Marketing strategies? Here is our free guide!

HR Statistic #2: Top candidates are gone within 10 days!

According to research, top candidates stay available on the market for 10 days only. This is one of the HR statistics because of which Candidate Experience and Candidate Engagement emerged as innovative talent attraction strategies. 

Being able to engage candidates prior to job opening gives you a huge competitive advantage. This way you can build relationship with candidates, fasten and ease the application process and deliver better candidate experience. 

Take this statistic and think about what can you do to fasten your hiring and selection process and improve candidate experience:

• Do you use a sourcing tool to find candidates? 
• Do you use an ATS to streamline and fasten your recruiting process?
• Do you have an easy apply option on your career site?
• Do you use a Candidate Relationship Management tool to improve communication and build stronger relationships with candidates?
• Is your career site appealing and application form easy to fill out?
• Do you have a strategy for building your talent pools?
• Do you have a strategy for engaging with your talent pools?
• Do you have a separate pool of your silver medallist (previous highly-qualified job candidates)
• Do you have a structured Employee Referral Program?
• Do you use Inbound Recruiting strategies to keep candidates engaged?

These are just a few examples of how you can engage candidates, provide exceptional candidate experience, build great talent pools and fasten your recruiting process. 

HR Statistic #3: There are 10+ touchpoints with candidates before they apply

A touchpoint is any kind of interaction between the candidate and the organization. Touchpoints can be direct person-to-person interactions like emails, phone screenings and interviews to indirect interactions such as visiting a company website, career site, social media profiles or filling out application forms.

Touchpoints can also happen through third parties, such as reviews on Glassdoor, social media posts shared by employees, current employees words and many more. Remember that, every interaction, regardless how big or small, is a touchpoint.

Did you know that even before a candidate gets a screening call or enters their first interview, most have already had as many as 50+ touch points across the employer brand and organization? — Christopher Mengel

Why is this stat on my list of HR statistic that have transformed recruiting?

Many HR professionals are not aware of the importance of consistency when communicating Employer Brand and EVP throughout all the touchpoints and channels. 

Not having a clear strategy hurts your company's reputation and credibility. As a consequence, you are unlikely to attract high-quality job candidates. 

Have you heard a saying "Candidates should be treated as customers?" This HR statistic is the proof that recruiting and marketing methods are becoming more and more alike. Candidates search for jobs like they search for products, and companies attract talent like they attract customers. 

Attracting high-quality candidates is very similar to attracting customers to buy your product. For that reason, the approach should similar. Many HR professionals have realized that. Now they are teaming up with their marketing departments and learning about marketing strategies. 

So this is my list of top HR statistics that have changed the way we recruit... What is your favorite HR stat?