KPIs should be a carrot and not a stick if you’re managing your recruiters properly. This is particularly important in a candidate market where it seems like everything is stacked against us. If your recruiters are falling short of their KPIs, it could be the market or it could be that you’re using KPIs in a way that doesn’t motivate your team to do their best work.
Some people view key performance indicators (KPIs) as a kind of necessary evil. They’re a way to follow a path toward turning a candidate into an employee. KPIs are an “if you build it, they will come” strategy that should tell recruiters that putting one foot in front of the other will eventually lead to their destination. But all too often KPIs are used to micromanage teams.
Are You Falling Short Of Your KPIs?
The Realities of Today’s Job Search
Recruiting teams continue to face unprecedented challenges in today’s labor market, which is characterized by record turnover and job openings. If your team isn’t hitting their KPIs, don’t worry—no one else is, either. However, you can’t just allow the market to slow down hiring. You know that your recruiting teams must make the extra effort to perform. What should you do?
First, look at your KPIs and reevaluate them with the perspective of the marketplace in mind. Your recruiting teams should be carefully building talent pipelines with proactive strategies to reach passive candidates. Are you working smarter with the right tools to reach passive candidates?
Second, your company should take a look at all of the tools you’re using to determine whether they offer your recruiting team the right kind of automation that improves the candidate experience.
Third, make sure you have also evaluated the candidate experience during the application process. You may miss out on applications because your online resume submission process is outdated or not mobile-first.
These three steps will support your recruiters in their efforts to hit the numbers. But do your KPIs demotivate instead of supporting your team in reaching goals? How are you managing KPIs?
A Different Way to Use KPIs
The old-school way to use KPIs required a manager to hold a recruiter up to the microscope every week (often in front of their peers) to measure their output. This makes KPIs a punitive blunt tool that does nothing to really help your recruiting team succeed. Your goal should be to create an environment where the team can talk openly about their goals and what’s blocking their success. You should also engage your recruiters in creating KPIs; they shouldn’t be handed down by management with no feedback from recruiters.
Ready to Increase Your KPIs?
The goal, ultimately, is to hit your KPIs. To do that you need the right tools and techniques to create the environment in which your employees want to succeed. Exelare offers recruiting teams a powerhouse applicant tracking system designed to support their best efforts. Call on us for a demo to find out how our technology can help you meet your goals.
