Make your life easier with a recruitment audit

You may even be tempted by quick fixes that do nothing to address the root cause of your challenges.

Conversations with our clients across the industry suggest that there’s often little time given to reviewing the fundamental mechanics of their end-to-end recruitment processes. In fact, this is where relatively minor improvements can impact significantly on cost, resource and, of course, candidate quality and experience.

But how is a cash-strapped, time-poor Resourcing Manager meant to identify and prioritise areas for improvement? Well, with an audit by Penna of course.

Granted, audits might not be quite as sexy as some of the more exciting aspects of resourcing candidates with innovations such as chatbots or virtual reality. But if you’re looking for minimal investment with maximum returns, having an independent review of your end-to-end processes is just the ticket.

At Penna, we’ve completed numerous resourcing audits across a wide range of organisations. But what do we typically cover off in an audit? Well, that’s entirely up to you and your specific needs. No single audit is the same. You may want to review just one aspect of your process in great detail - such as your assessment and selection tools, or the functionality of your Applicant Tracking System. However, most of our clients choose to look at the entire end-to-end process - with maybe an increased emphasis on one or two priority areas. Below is a brief overview of the types of areas we tend to focus on.

Strategy overview

Understanding your overall strategy provides us with valuable context for the remainder of the audit activity and allows us to prioritise our recommendations. That said, some of our suggestions may be aimed at improving your strategy, but it’s certainly the best starting point.

Recruitment metrics

Of course, reviewing your metrics will start to help us identify some of the pinch points in your process such as high drop-out rates at a specific stage of the process, adverse impact, or a long time to hire. However, we’ll also look at how you gather data as well as the ease of your reporting to see what improvements can be made that ensure you’re getting the most out of your data.

We’ll also be keen to take a snapshot of key KPIs as a benchmark against which to measure improvements made on the back of the audit.

Roles and responsibilities

We’ll find out if your stakeholders know their role in the recruitment process, as well as the role of your team.  Clarity on ‘who does what’ is a vital ingredient of any recruitment process. We can also take a look at any upskilling requirements.

Recruitment practice

Reviewing this area will enable us to understand the recruitment practices followed across your organisation. We’ll establish each of the processes involved - from authorisation of vacancies right through to a new hire’s first day in the business. And we’ll even identify any policies or procedures that may impact your processes.

Applicant tracking system

A great Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can make a world of difference to your processes – we know because we’ve worked with just about all of them. We’ll review your system from both a candidate and internal team perspective. This allows us to spot potential areas for development, ensure you’re maximising its functionality and make sure team members are fully trained. 

Attraction strategy

Are you: getting the best ROI from your attraction budget? Doing enough to attract a diverse range of candidates? Maximising engagement through your website? Engaging high-calibre candidates? Up to speed with the latest technological developments? (The list goes on.) Our attraction experts (of which we have many) can identify quick wins and longer term priorities for you in this area.

Candidate experience

This enables us to gain an understanding of the how your candidates view your process from the day they see the advert through to starting their new role. Are your candidates feeling loved and nurtured? Do they become ambassadors of your brand? Through a review of your comms and engagement plan - and ideally a candidate survey – we’ll identify potential areas for improvement.

Screening, selection and assessment

Our in-house Occupational Psychologists are super keen to look at selection tools and – importantly - how effectively they’re applied by hiring managers. They’ll be on the lookout for potential adverse impact, and ways your assessments can be enhanced - or maybe even how you could incorporate new technology into the mix.

Onboarding and induction

Are you doing all you can to keep your new hires engaged in the lead up to their start date? Do you have anything in place to help them hit the ground running? And are hiring managers making sure they have a great experience on their first day and beyond?

Analysis and reporting

Gathering information is the easiest part of an audit – the real value comes from what we do with it. Once back at the ranch, our consultants will analyse the data with a fine tooth comb, and employ the expertise of our subject matter experts to compile our recommendations. We’ll prioritise them against a timeline, which will be included in our written report. Finally, we’ll present the findings back to you, and help you map out how to implement our recommendations.

If you think your organisation would benefit from a Recruitment Audit by one of Penna’s experienced consultants then please contact Victoria Smith, Lead Client Partner on 07718 652881.