Don’t make decisions without big data
What is Big Data?
It’s an extreme volume of data, both structured and unstructured. It can be characterized by volume, variety, and velocity. Big data is important to companies because the more data they have, the more accurately they can analyze it. More accurate analyses may lead to better decision-making, greater efficiencies, increased risk control, and better results.
Companies that are hungry for skilled employees need a streamlined way to find people who can fill open positions, including highly skilled positions like engineers and programmers.
All companies face challenges when it comes to finding and hiring the best talent. That’s why big data is optimizing talent recruiting procedures. Recruiters must understand big data and use technology that helps them to find the right people for the positions they are working to fill.
Why Big Data?
Big Data can help you find gaps in your recruiting process, provide analysis about performance, and give insight into what is working and needs improvement. Big data will help you to make better decisions based on collected information, eg. these technical data could help your recruiting team filter out the vast majority of unsuitable candidates. Big data has incredible value for your hiring process, but it is a tool that must be used carefully and well to be effective.
Big data won’t replace recruiters or HR people soon, but your HR team can use big data to map out talent needs in alignment with the company’s business plans. The benefit of big data analytics is that it allows HR team to collect, analyse and interpret data from everywhere (ATS, HR Systems, Jobboards etc), at any time.
Next Big Thing in Big Data – People Analytics.
If you saw the movie Moneyball, you already know that baseball teams can be created based on a team’s analytical, evidence-based, and saber-metric approach.
Technology in HR has been improving rapidly to where now companies look at predictive analytics. One of the new areas in HR management is people analytics. This method uses big data to create plans for promotion, hiring, and quantifiable performance metrics.
Most companies are just beginning to explore the possibilities of people analytics. But other companies like Google are already using it; all people decisions there are based on data and analytics. They have replaced subjective decision-making approaches with data-based decision-making. These data and their applications can predict people’s careers in the company.
People analytics could also transform our understanding of socialization in the workplace; for example, office layouts and paint colors on the walls would be selected for productivity, creativity, and fostering team cooperation.
Companies like Netflix use people analytics data to personalize your entertainment. They have even created TV hits based on these data (see House of Cards – Big Data Lessons From Netflix).
Big Data in Recruitment.
Recruitment includes everything from resume databases to LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook profiles, employment records, etc. Advanced algorithms can pair all this information together and present it to the recruiting team in a simple profile report.
This gives you all the data for a particular candidate in your ATS, and you can easily automate these processes to pair people in the database with your open requisitions.
Instead of using multiple search tactics, recruiters are utilizing online databases and creating automated processes to source and search for the right people with the right skills. Now recruiters can use tools to create a targeted candidate list in minutes instead of days.
Big data is the key to hiring great talent and reducing attrition. It can also help you stay ahead of your competitors. Data mining and effective use of your ATS can help your organization open up a much larger pool of talent.
When big data is used properly, recruiters will save time, companies will get the right candidate more quickly with lower advertising costs, and candidates will get a job for which they will be a perfect fit.
Benefits of using Big Data for Recruiting process.
Processing big data is great, but the true power lies in creating a good analysis from it.
Application Processing
Big data is helping recruiters and hiring managers stay on top of job applications. They can process all the details in each candidate’s application quickly to get a complete picture of the candidates.
Analyze Your Recruiting Team’s Strategies
Big data can help you analyze your recruiting team as well. You can track their strategies, sourcing channels, and posting details for effectiveness (time to fill etc.).
Job Board Analytics
Big data is helping companies analyze the way candidates interact with postings. What time is the best for posting the ad? How can the ad reach the biggest audience? This data can uncover click response trends within the posting, response rates, and where online recruitment advertisement gets optimal performance (best source/job board for your posting).
Workload in Recruitment Team
With big data, you can analyze the number of requisitions per recruiter (per month) and understand which team member can handle more open requisitions at one time than the others.
Cost Per Hire by Source
Big data can show which source is generating the flow of the specific types of candidates that the company needs. Companies can analyze the cost of hires made from each sourcing channel and monitor the effectiveness of sourcing activities.
Benchmarks and Comparison with Competitors
You can compare your statistics against similar companies (your competitors), posting similar jobs adverts, in similar locations, with the same requirements. Or you can compare the above metrics with external sources. And you will find out where your competitors are posting jobs more effectively.
Algorithms and big data are powerful tools, but don’t expect that big data analysis is going to solve all of your talent challenges and show you the ideal way for your retirement process.
The Business Impact of Big Data.
Big data makes businesses smarter and has big results when it comes to efficient and effective hiring. And many companies who applied Big Data hiring practices have found they have a competitive advantage over others.
But don’t forget, that personal interaction is more important than data!
Last Updated on January 23, 2024