How Businesses Can Hire Faster

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For this week’s Workplace Intelligence Newsletter, I interviewed Raj Mukherjee, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Employer at Indeed, the leading global hiring platform with more than 300 million job seekers each month. In his role, Raj is responsible for shaping product and go-to-market priorities for millions of employers around the world, from small businesses to enterprise organizations, to help them match and connect with talent to hire with speed and simplicity. Raj was previously Indeed’s GM of SMB and oversaw product growth in the SMB segment and in international markets. Prior to joining Indeed, Raj was Senior Vice President of Product at GoDaddy and was responsible for helping their 14 million customers build successful businesses online. He has significant experience with customers of all sizes and led multiple successful acquisitions for the company.

In our conversation, we discussed the current state of the job market, why the hiring process is inefficient, and the role technology plays to improve it. We also explored Indeed’s new employer data, as well as recommendations for employers looking to hire better talent, faster.

Below is a sneak peek of our conversation — subscribe to my?FREE Workplace Intelligence Insider?newsletter and you’ll immediately receive the full Q&A.

Read on for Raj’s insights about this important topic. And be sure to join us during our LinkedIn live event TODAY (June 26) at 2:30 PM EST, where we’ll continue our discussion.

How has the current economic climate, the aging population, less migration, changing worker preferences, and emerging technology impacted the hiring landscape??

What we’re seeing is unprecedented. All of these barriers that you mention are making it a uniquely difficult time to find and hire quality talent. To put it bluntly, there are more jobs available than there are workers to fill them.?

The stakes have never been higher. Less talent available means that companies are spending a lot of money sourcing talent. Believe it or not, companies are shelling out an average of $4,129 per hire in the U.S. That’s a lot of money, especially for small and mid-sized businesses. Additionally, businesses are simultaneously looking to tighten budgets due to economic uncertainty. According to recent data, over half (57%) of U.S. employers report experiencing financial loss as a result of open job roles, and 64% report higher turnover because of open/unfilled job roles, which only worsens the situation.

Why is today’s hiring process inefficient, leaving companies struggling to try to find qualified candidates, and what can be done to improve it?

The hiring process is inefficient because it has struggled to keep up with the demands and needs of both the employer and job seeker. If you think about it, every other industry has leaned into recommendations; what to order for dinner, what apartment you might like to rent, and what show to watch next. But HR and talent acquisition have struggled to provide quality recommendations for employers who are hiring or to job seekers who are searching for their next role.?

According to a recent Indeed survey, over half (52%) of employers report that today’s hiring process is inefficient. Many U.S. businesses are planning to hire in the next year, yet employers say their top three barriers to hiring are the time it takes to hire, poor quality of candidates, and competition from other companies.

So what can be done about this?

The future of hiring is about instantly matching employers with the right people for their open jobs. At Indeed, we have been hard at work doing exactly that. While we are perhaps most known for starting off as a jobs site, we continue to evolve into a leading matching and hiring platform focused on connecting employers with quality talent faster. This was a significant moment not only for Indeed but also for the overall industry. We’re already seeing phenomenal results; on Indeed, more than 20 people are hired every minute – up more than double from three years ago.

In addition to the need for better matching technology, there are a few other things employers can do to cast a wider net for quality talent. Here’s what I would suggest:

1. Limit your requirements to the most essential: Only include the preferred skills and qualifications (no more than five) for each job posting. Too long of a list often leads to fewer candidates, who self-eliminate after seeing too many requirements in a job description and thinking they don’t qualify.
2. Focus on quality over quantity: Focus on measuring the quality of applicants’ accomplishments and skills, not the quantity of time they’ve spent on the job.
3. Prioritize skills over degrees: Rather than making arbitrary degree requirements, vet your candidates based on the skills, capabilities, and talent they bring to the table. A skills-based hiring approach can help remove barriers for candidates that might not have access to traditional degrees, and widen your talent pool so you can find the best match.

Be sure to join us during our LinkedIn live event TODAY (June 26) at 2:30 PM EST, where we’ll continue our discussion.

Want to read the full article? You can access it in the?Workplace Intelligence Insider Archives. To receive the new edition every Monday morning,?subscribe?for free.