How recruitment can sabotage your HR analytics

With more businesses taking a data-driven approach to identifying talent, increases in productivity and profitability have inevitably followed suited. This is according to Brandon Rigoni, associate director for selection and development at Gallup, and Bailey Nelson, writer and editor at Gallup.

Following Gallup analysis, when firms hire the top 20% most-talented candidates for a role, there is a 10% increase in productivity, 10% decrease in turnover and 25% decrease in unscheduled absences. This is topped by a 30% increase in profitability.

However, both Rigoni and Nelson say that poor recruitment methods could be undermining the effectiveness of interviews driven by big data analysis.

“When state-of-the-art predictive analytic models are used correctly, they can identify potential. But they can never make candidates more talented,” they wrote. “For leaders, this means that a lack of focus on the recruiting phase can produce a less-talented candidate pool.”

Honing the recruitment process to effectively target the right candidates can be achieved through a combination of two different methodologies.

Use data analysis for recruiting

“Big data is for recruiting, too. Targeted, data-driven recruiting, complemented by scientific interviews, is vital to a hiring strategy that positions companies for long-term success,” Rigoni and Nelson said.

Because recruitment is basically a numbers game, employers should examine candidates for identifiable characteristics that predict their chances of success. This is something companies can do very early in the recruitment process, they explained, a long time before anyone has even been interviewed.

Form a set of clear expectations

Employers should also have a very clear, consistent idea of what they are looking at throughout their recruiting strategies, Rigoni and Nelson said.

“Setting crystal-clear role expectations for employees at all levels is one of the most important elements of creating an engaged and productive workforce.”

According to Gallup data, employees are 8.5 times more likely to be engaged at work if their manager helps them set performance goals.

“Setting the right expectations for recruiters not only encourages employee engagement, it also increases recruiters’ effectiveness,” they added. “For example, if a company rewards recruiters for filling roles quickly rather than for finding applicants with the right talents for success in a role, that company risks recruiting and hiring less-talented employees.”