5 Ways to Master the Science of Hiring (As Well as the Art)

October 7, 2014

Consistently hiring the best candidates often means listening to the numbers more than your gut. Here are five ways to leverage data to your advantage.

Historically, hiring has been anything but a objective process. Even today, when the majority of business functions adopting more data-driven approaches, HR is typically lagging behind. According to a recent article by Dr. John Sullivan, “When you survey most frequent users of analytics and metrics in the corporate world…HR ranks at the very bottom.”
That needs to change. And it starts with a shift in mindset to acknowledge that great hiring is as much a science as it is an art. By focusing on hard stats and objective considerations such as recruitment metrics, compensation, and headcount companies can begin taking a data-driven approach to recruitment, as well. Methods such as behavioral interviewing and skills-based tests can also cut down on a lot of the subjective decision making that may or may not be delivering the best results. That’s important, because few companies can afford to waste the precious time and resources swallowed up by mis-hires.
That’s not to say that gut feeling doesn’t have its place. The “art” side of hiring can come into play when recruiters and hiring managers gauge subjective aspects such as assessing cultural fit. But with so much at stake, the bottom line is that feelings shouldn’t be guiding your decisions.

5 Ways to Master the Science of Hiring (As Well as the Art)

How can you make the transition to establishing a more data-driven hiring function? Here are five places to start.

  1. Define Success: What are the specific goals of your recruitment function? Define the metrics that are most important to your company strategy.
  2. Measure Success: Use your metrics to measure progress against your goals. Over time, you’ll be able to develop benchmarks for each recruiting metric you chose to measure, and track these numbers to get an understanding of where you’re succeeding and where you’re coming up short.
  3. Demonstrate Impact: To reiterate, all recruitment programs should have performance goals. Implementing metrics allows you to focus on these goals, and — more importantly — the activities that go into achieving those goals. Having metrics in place will also allow you to dig into the results of each step in your hiring process, from candidate outreach to candidate engagement, interviews, and the offer process. The data you collect can also drive your strategic decision making. Ex: Determining resources vs. volume of hiring.
  4. Strive for Continuous Improvement: Are the current recruiting strategies in place effective? Are you obtaining high ROI on different recruiting channels? If you are tracking the success rates of each recruiting program, then you will be able to continuously tweak programs to ensure you’re achieving your expected ROI. This allows for iteration and improvement within recruiting practices.
  5. Develop Actionable Insights: Once you have implemented and started tracking your metrics, use them to advance the recruiting function and to make informed decisions such as forecasting to drive behavior and new programs.

Recruitment is a strategic function that is critical to success. The people you hire are central to your competitive advantage, especially when hiring in the expansion stage, when the goal is to scale your teams rapidly and each hire is responsible for making a big impact very quickly. By leveraging data, you will be better equipped to optimize your hiring and rely on its success when you need it most.


Photo by: Andrew Huff

Director of Talent

<strong>Carlie Smith</strong> was the Senior Talent Manager, Sales & Marketing at OpenView. She worked directly with hiring managers and key stakeholders within OpenView and its portfolio to lead vital searches and provided process guidance on recruitment strategy, including talent identification, strategic sourcing, relationship building, and competitive intelligence. Currently, Carlie is the Director of <a href="https://www.circle.com/en">Circle</a>.