Predictive Analytics: The Next Big Thing in Talent Acquisition

Predictive Analytics: The Next Big Thing in Talent Acquisition

 As the world progresses and technology advances, our lives change rapidly with each passing day. The domain of recruitment is no exception. Today, the overall process of hiring and recruitment has undergone substantial changes especially with technology foraying in.

Gone are those days when hiring and recruiting largely depended on the gut feelings of employers and they fell back on the years of experience that a candidate has. Today, analytics plays a very significant role in the overall process of recruitment and has substantially redefined the practice of hiring. Let’s explore predictive analytics in this purview.

What is predictive analytics?

The branch of advanced analytics that is used to make extrapolations about the unknown future events is referred to as predictive analytics; in this case, it is about recruiters predicting for probable candidates for a vacant position. Predictive analytics implements many techniques including data mining, statistics modeling, machine learning and artificial intelligence to scrutinize existing data and make predictions about the forthcoming.

Predictive analytics allows organizations to become proactive, advancing, anticipating outcomes and behaviours based upon actual data rather than falling back on a hunch of assumptions.

Predictive analytics in recruitment

Essentially founded on worker-based statistics, predictive analytics is becoming more and more appealing to the HR departments across the globe. It is permitting HR branches to be more tactical in predicting about next resources and also possessing the right skills for various teams a few years down the line. According to a daily, The Globe and Mail, companies investing in predictive data analytics “use statistical models to identify trends and develop short- and long-term strategies for hiring, retaining and developing talent”.

Predictive analytics is growing rapidly in the realm of HR these days and this increased attention is due to the following reasons:

1. The amount of data that can be collected online from social media posts to purchases.
2. An increasing range of workforce analytics software and technologies that are becoming more accessible and available.

• The capability of companies to generate algorithms from GDP, unemployment rate, and growth, turnover rate, and other workforce trends to predict their future needs for human resources.

1. Companies becoming more proactive in their process of hiring
2. To understand how to engage and retain employees for a long time

Benefits of predictive analytics in hiring

The effectiveness of predictive analytics is pretty much evident, right from the pre-hiring process. It enables HR and hiring managers to make a much better recruitment that would ensure business benefits in the long run. Three main ways in which predictive analytics assist in the pre-hiring process are explained below:

1. Improve quality of hiring process

 The first benefit provided by predictive analytics is that it improves the quality of hiring. By linking the hiring process to production performance, attrition data, engagement survey information, and other data from the employee lifecycle, models can be developed that will predict the potential future performance of a job candidate. While substantial gains may be possible, constant adjustments to the hiring model will lead to marginal improvements in overall hiring process. Hiring managers should also ensure that their hiring models have processes and data that are reliable. Some examples include engagement survey data, recruiting sources, turnover data, pre-employment assessment results, interview results and performance results.

2.Makes sourcing more effective and efficient

Well, sourcing the right candidate for an open position is something that recruiters grapple for days together. This is where predictive analytics come to the rescue. Proper implementation of predictive analytics in the process of hiring, enables managers to optimize their recruitment marketing strategies and eliminate poor sources. In addition to this, the same method can be applied to evaluate in-house recruiters, job boards, third-party recruiting firms, and other sources.

3. Enhances the speed of hiring

The final benefit of predictive analytics is that, it substantially enhances the speed of hiring. As the hiring model is developed, the understanding as to which candidates are the best for the company also improves substantially. The organization then, will be able to deploy tools that will serve as leading indicators of potential job performance. Once a potential candidate hits on the hiring radar and fits your job models, recruiters will be able to move quickly, connect with them and eventually take things forward. Because of the confidence on the hiring model, recruiters will be able to focus on candidates who are apt for the business.

Of late, several organizations have implemented predictive analytics and have been reportedly performing better in the realm of recruiting and even retaining candidates. Within the domain of talent management, Google has excelled by implementing predictive analytics in the process of hiring, in leadership and even in retention. Other organizations that have progressed with the implementation of predictive analytics is Cisco and Sprint.

Going forward, it is estimated that predictive analytics will be adopted by most organizations globally for both, hiring external and internal candidates. Given the number of tools available in the market, it is somewhat evident that predictive analytics has become much more than just a buzzword. In the near future, every organization must leverage the power of predictive analytics to be able to make the best hires and ensure that businesses work out to their fullest potential.

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