Recruiting is an important activity, the inability to generate enough qualified applicants can be a serious problem. When recruiting fails to bring in enough applicants, a common response is to raise starting salaries. This action initially may help recruiting, but often at the expense of other employees already in the organization. It also may create resentment on the part of employees who started at much lower salaries than the new hires.
In a cost/benefit analysis to evaluate recruiting efforts, costs may include both direct costs (advertising, recruiters’ salaries, travel, agency fees, telephone) and the indirect costs (involvement of operating managers, public relations, image).Benefits to consider include the following:
• Length of time from contact to hire
• Total size of applicant pool
• Proportion of acceptances to offers
• Percentage of qualified applicants in the pool
Cost/benefit information on each recruiting source can be calculated. Comparing the length of time applicants from each source stay in the organization with the cost of hiring from that source offers a useful perspective. Further, yield ratios from each source can help determine which sources generate the most employees. In summary, the effectiveness of various recruiting sources will vary depending on the nature of the job being filled and the time available to fill it. But unless calculated, the effectiveness may not be entirely obvious.
By Priti Shah
In a cost/benefit analysis to evaluate recruiting efforts, costs may include both direct costs (advertising, recruiters’ salaries, travel, agency fees, telephone) and the indirect costs (involvement of operating managers, public relations, image).Benefits to consider include the following:
• Length of time from contact to hire
• Total size of applicant pool
• Proportion of acceptances to offers
• Percentage of qualified applicants in the pool
Cost/benefit information on each recruiting source can be calculated. Comparing the length of time applicants from each source stay in the organization with the cost of hiring from that source offers a useful perspective. Further, yield ratios from each source can help determine which sources generate the most employees. In summary, the effectiveness of various recruiting sources will vary depending on the nature of the job being filled and the time available to fill it. But unless calculated, the effectiveness may not be entirely obvious.
By Priti Shah