'These inefficiencies deplete valuable resources and are clearly linked to slower business growth'
Despite the resources and budget allocated towards talent acquisition, more than a quarter of business leaders across Australia admit that they have doubts about their hiring decisions.
This is according to a new report from SmartRecruiters, which recently surveyed 500 midsize companies in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.
It found that 29% of business leaders in Australia are unsure whether they've hired the right people for the job.
This is despite the fact that 45% of Australian firms dedicate at least 40% of their company's HR budget to talent acquisition.
More than half also spend between 20% and 40% of their HR budget on recruitment efforts, according to the report.
Additionally, a quarter of Australian businesses said they spend between 40% and 50% of their time on talent acquisition, while a further 34% spend a third of their time on recruitment tasks.
"With nearly half of Australian companies allocating substantial portions of their HR budgets to recruitment, it's concerning that so many leaders still question their hiring decisions," said Rich Lewis-Jones, VP Asia Pacific at SmartRecruiters, in a statement.
"These inefficiencies not only deplete valuable resources but are also clearly linked to slower business growth and a heightened risk to brand reputation."
Impact of talent acquisition issues
These doubts about hiring decisions come as 64% of Australian business leaders describe talent acquisition as somewhat more difficult than in the past five years, according to the poll.
The report attributed the situation to various factors, such as a distributed and global workforce, hybrid and flexible work models, as well as competition for talent.
"The human resources function is expansive and has grown more complex due to evolving business practices, changing legislation, and increasing demands of conduct and compliance standards. Yet talent acquisition teams face resourcing challenges and labour shortages. By adopting smarter, more efficient talent acquisition strategies, organisations can streamline recruitment processes, reduce costs, and make more informed decisions," Lewis-Jones said.
According to the report, by enabling ineffective talent acquisition, employers risk hurting business outcomes, such as:
- Damaged brand reputation (25%)
- Weaker sales performance (25%)
- Bad hires (24%)
- Excessive time allocation (24%)
Rebecca Carr, CEO of SmartRecruiters, said their findings underscore the need for HR teams to "modernise" their talent acquisition strategies to support business growth.
"Advanced technologies like AI are revolutionising the talent acquisition process by streamlining inefficiencies and allowing businesses to make smarter, data-driven hiring decisions," Carr said in a statement.
"Leveraging AI-driven hiring platforms, businesses can enhance decision-making, significantly reduce costs, improve the quality of their hires, and ultimately drive better outcomes."
