Research shows four key themes organizations can leverage to improve their recruiter training programs.
By Larry Basinait
In the U.S., the July 2020 Employment Situation Summary by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed the tightest labor market in half a century. As companies recover from the impact of COVID-19, many are once again looking for specific skill sets when bringing on new employees. Employers should prepare to be inundated by candidates, many of whom may not have the needed background. Effective recruiter training is key to parsing out the best from the rest.
To determine the importance of and satisfaction with recruiter training initiatives, as well as reveal any gaps in practices, Sevenstep partnered with HRO Today to conduct a research study. One hundred executive-level HR professionals took part in the study between January 8 and March 13, 2020.
Providing recruiters with comprehensive, ongoing training around company culture, sourcing, and social networking while offering the latest tools and technologies will enable recruiters to find qualified candidates more efficiently. As they become better trained, they will also be able to identify the best fit talent given hiring manager expectations and company goals and objectives.
Neglecting recruiter training is risky at a moment when good hiring experience is more important than ever. Candidates have come to expect a superior experience that starts with the initial outreach and carries throughout the entire onboarding process. Not surprisingly, the research found that nine out of 10 HR professionals agreed that highly skilled recruiters are key to acquiring top talent, with nine out of 10 saying that a comprehensive training program is critical to success. HR leaders are willing to invest an average of nearly one week per year in recruiter training programs.
Recruiter training has a direct impact on key recruiting metrics like quality of hire, time to fill, and retention, which are the most common metrics TA uses to assess its performance. Study participants nearly universally agreed that candidate satisfaction was the area most impacted by recruiter satisfaction, with hiring manager satisfaction ranking second.
But despite its importance, satisfaction with existing recruiter training programs is tepid, with less than 20 percent of HR leaders reporting that they are very satisfied with the initiative. Organizations need to prioritize recruiter training to better address its importance in obtaining the best workforce possible.
Working with top-tier RPOs can guarantee a good result by facilitating the recruitment process, including access to RPO tools and technology, while delivering a candidate experience that is engaging and generates loyalty. Overall, four key themes emerged as ways organizations can improve their recruiter training.
1. Recruiter training must be comprehensive. The research shows that one of the ways recruiter training programs can reach the next level is through comprehensive industry and company-specific training. This training may include content about:
- the organization’s employer brand;
- culture and values;
- HR technology;
- business model;
- company performance; and
- client knowledge.
2. Communicating business goals matters. While just over one-third (36.5 percent) of HR executives feel training programs address business goals to ensure full alignment with corporate objectives, twice as many who are satisfied with their recruiting programs feel there is full alignment compared with those not satisfied with their programs.
3. Recruiter training has core offerings. There are areas in training programs that can be considered fundamental elements, meaning the programs must include them as a core deliverable before other areas can be addressed. Process compliance was the most often cited area (63.5 percent) addressed by training programs. This would include privacy compliance like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in EMEA and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA); salary history restrictions; and diversity hiring. Tools and technology use were ranked as the second highest (62.7 percent) area most addressed by training programs.
4. RPO programs can enhance recruiter training. To get the most from their RPO partnerships, organizations should demand comprehensive recruiter training, although less than one in five reported receiving training from their partners. Recruiter training greatly impacts satisfaction with the RPO relationship, even though delivery of training is not widespread.
- Those satisfied with their RPO partnership were nearly twice as likely to be receiving training from their partner than those who indicated they were not satisfied with their partner.
- Average RPO satisfaction scores were higher for those clients who get training from their RPO partner versus those who do not -4.33 versus 3.75 out of 5, respectively.
- Just over one-half (55.0 percent) of respondents indicated they are satisfied or very satisfied with how well-trained their RPO recruiters are, resulting in an average satisfaction score of 3.55 out of 5. But among those satisfied with their RPO partner, the average score for how well-trained the recruiters are is 3.86 versus 2.83 for those not satisfied with the relationship.
Beyond increased client satisfaction, RPO partners have good reason to include recruiter training among their deliverables. A training program greatly impacts the likelihood that they are invited into the request for proposal (RFP) process. Over two-thirds (68.8 percent) of respondents indicated they were more likely to ask an RPO partner with an extensive recruiter training program to join the RFP process than one without a program.
Click here to view the entire report, sponsored by Sevenstep.
