Scaling Fast With The Right Recruitment Technology

So your startup business is up and running. After countless market research and sleepless nights, it’s time to scale it up. But, there are many difficulties that you must overcome as you are doing it - circumstances that most businesses aren’t prepared to handle.

A survey among startup owners showed that 38% said their businesses don’t scale successfully because funds dry up, while 35% said there was no market need for their product. On the other hand, CBInsights found similar findings. They found that 42% of startup owners misread the market demand. In addition, 29% ran out of funding and personal money.

In addition, it’s worth noting that there’s always more than one reason for a company to stop operation.

The reality is, rapid technological and market changes can have strong blowback effects on business plans. To mitigate this, companies that are scaling fast must have a solid strategy in place to keep the business resilient. Key among the actions in this strategy is talent - highly skilled and agile employees, strong company culture and a good talent pipeline. 

For this to happen in a disruptive world of technologies and uncertainties, recruitment technology is a must-have in order to cut the time taken on manual tasks, accelerate talent pool growth and simplify the hiring process.

Before we go down to the nitty-gritty of how to scale up with the right recruitment technology, let’s clarify some definitions.

Scale Up Vs. Growth

Most people use the words scale-up and growth to mean the same thing - an organization getting bigger, reaping more market share, and turning in profit.

However, scaling a business indicates the ability of the business owners to manage a rise in revenue, work, or output in an acceptable, cost-effective manner. They can drive growth with minimal negative effects, like staff turnover in this context.

Speaking about turnover, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 4.25 million workers resigned early this year - a clear increase from 3.3 million in 2021.

What does that mean for a business owner? It means that organizations are incurring additional costs to replace employees. According to Gallup’s estimation, you can expect to spend somewhere between one-half and two times the employee’s salary with every replacement.

Hence, turnover because of wrong hiring decisions would force you to replace that employee. That means more costs, negative impact on a team’s productivity, output and overall culture. 

So how can recruitment technology help mitigate this, especially when a business is at that critical juncture of scaling fast?

Setting Up A Recruitment Strategy To Scale Right

To scale your business right, you must carefully plan everything, especially during the talent acquisition process. You need to ensure that you have every foreseeable need outlined so that your plan can be fruitful. You must have the right systems, processes, talents, and technology.

Generally, your recruitment strategy is the most fundamental factor in successfully scaling up your business. Your recruiters need to hire suitable candidates for the right roles. Plus, those candidates need to produce results at the right time.

Nevertheless, the hiring process is time-consuming and costly. So, the right question is, how do recruiters develop a strategy that meets the business needs without breaking the bank.

Establish a company’s employer brand

Most businesses nowadays understand that to attract candidates, they need to establish their brand first. They know that candidates want to work with a company that supports their well-being and growth as much as they would support the growth of the company.

So, show prospective candidates what your organization has to offer and more. Promote your branding on social media.

Take Starbucks as an example. They use Twitter and Instagram to communicate their employer branding profiles to the public. The company uses just those two platforms to project what they stand for and the stories of the people who make the brand what it is. 

Make Impact Hires

That said, you need to hire the right people from the very beginning. Look for candidates that were part of scaled-up businesses in their previous employment. Also, don’t leave out candidates that don’t have experience but can adapt to any changes.

The first thing that you want to do when you want to hire the right people is to create clear and attractive job descriptions. This goes back to both the recruiter and the hiring manager knowing exactly what they want from an employee in that role - if you aren’t sure what this hire is supposed to do, you’ll have a hard time hiring the right one.

Second, prepare well-structured interview questions. Use behavior interview questions to gauge candidates’ problem-solving skills and how they perform under pressure. You can also offer them a scenario featuring a challenging circumstance and ask how they would respond.

Make the right investments in recruitment technology

Today’s technology is affordable, and with the right judgment, you can automate your operations and generate significant profit margins. Research shows that 67% of companies invested in recruitment technology last year. In 2022, the number is expected to increase to 73%.

So, investing in technology is the right first step in your recruitment strategy, particularly during the scaling stage. Automate as many procedures as you can to speed up delivery, expand production, and improve quality without raising prices.

Be Transparent, Maintain Accountability, and Have Control

Keep in mind that when a business is growing aggressively, hiring would involve more than the recruiter or hiring manager. Everyone in the organization - executives of all levels, heads of departments, and others - are involved. In addition, the recruitment process becomes more complex because you’re not just hiring people to fill an open position - it may be a cross-functional role.

Hence, you need a recruitment technology where you can be transparent about who and why you are hiring. Therefore, recruiters or hiring managers can be held accountable during the hiring process and can control it on a platform. 

Before we move further about recruitment and how technology can help businesses to scale up fast, let’s look at some of the typical hiring challenges that you need to tackle.

Most Common Hiring Challenges

Recruiters know that today’s job market is very competitive. So, they see that no employees are truly “off the market” now.

Plus, Gallup’s recent research shows that most employers are not prepared for a new reality where:

• In the previous three months in 2022, one in four American workers claims to have been recruited.
• Even though they weren't actively looking for a new job or even keeping an eye out for prospects, one in ten employees claims to have been recruited in the last three months.

What this means is that since 2015, 57% of non-job seekers are being actively recruited - marking a new chapter in the “Great Resignation” season.

Securing The Best Candidates

The challenge begins with finding candidates. With so many job boards, channels and methods of hiring both passive and active candidates, the possibilities are endless. On top of that, recruiters know very well that overcoming this hurdle leads to the next  - arguably more important - one. 

Securing the best candidates from a mountain of applications is a Herculean task. Not only does it take up the valuable time of a recruiter, it also shaves off time better spent sourcing and getting to know outstanding candidates. 

A Lack of Data to Make Informed Decisions

Gathering and processing data might be difficult especially when you are hiring fast for many open roles. Although spreadsheets have been used to keep track of applicants and other recruitment metrics, it is often a time-consuming, manual task which may even be prone to errors in data entry.

Inconsistent Candidate Experience

Other than a company’s employer brand, candidates - much like customers at a restaurant, for instance - often evaluate their experience during the hiring process. In other words, the decision to work for a company is also dependent on how consistent the candidate experience is. Are updates communicated in a timely manner? Are unsuccessful candidates left in a lurch with no communication or are they engaged and informed of their status in the application process? 

These are key markers of a candidate experience. An inconsistent one is often tied to a lack of communication internally, or even the hectic workload of a recruiter. 

Therefore, hiring teams must be able to evaluate candidates quickly, communicate effectively, and be aware of everything that is happening at all times. Coordinating all of this communication is a duty given to recruiters, and it is not always straightforward. Below are some features you can find with the right recruitment technology tools.

How Manatal Recruitment Technology Can Help Find The Right Fit

Job Board Integration

Despite the constantly shifting hiring market, job boards have maintained their importance as one of the crucial recruitment channels for employers and job seekers worldwide.

Like other recruiting methods, job boards have developed, enabling recruiters to market career possibilities more effectively while facilitating job searchers' access to employer job postings.

Time is the primary factor in successful hiring over competitors as recruitment - particularly for talent in technology - has become increasingly fierce. Job boards must be at the center of businesses' recruitment strategy since they make it possible for job adverts to reach a sizable population of job seekers from all over the world, 24/7.

Social Media Enrichment

The spike in remote working has led to a new era of recruiting without borders. Recruiters have access to a wider pool of candidates now more than ever before. This is where one recruitment technology, specifically the applicant tracking system (ATS), comes into play.

An ATS comes with features that simplify how you post job vacancies across multiple channels. More importantly, the ATS, like Manatal, lets you get to know candidates through publicly available information on social media, revealing nuanced insight into who they are, what their preferences might be. 

You Might Be Interested In: How To Source Candidates With An ATS

AI Recommendations

The fact that recruiters are overburdened with their duties and less effective as a result is one of the main problems with the modern labor market. The ability of AI technology to process enormous amounts of information quickly is one of its most notable advantages.

AI technology that is integrated into conventional hiring and selection procedures can drastically cut the time needed to complete specific HR tasks, such as screening resumes. It also gives recruiters vital time back to devote to more crucial duties, such as candidate engagement and relationships with clients.

Talent Pipeline

In addition, ATS capabilities make managing candidates simple and easy. HR managers can quickly view hiring pipelines and progress by using hiring funnels, for instance. 

Workflows can also be streamlined and made simpler, and automatic communications can be set up to contact applicants as soon as their resumes are received.

Try Manatal’s ATS To Scale Up Fast

The majority of business owners have been known to struggle with operating expenses and many, as mentioned earlier, have resorted to shutting it down. However, by recruiting the right talent and building strong technology foundations, a business can focus on ensuring that it survives and thrives through the scaling phase. 

Modern technology, particularly that used in recruiting, is affordable and can automate recruiters' hiring processes.

On that note, sign up for our 14-day free trial and discover how it can improve your recruitment management. Manatal ATS platforms can also help you to scale your business fast.

Manatal ATS platforms have been adopted by all types of businesses around the world, and if you want to tap top talent, we invite you to sign up for a 14-day free trial to see how our solutions manage leads, clients, and candidates seamlessly, effortlessly and in-line with your budget.

‍