Quality of Internet-sourced hires

Posted on June 25, 2007
Filed Under Online Recruiting, Employment Websites, Best Practices, War for Talent |

A recent study conducted by Weddles, digs into the “quality” of hires sourced by the Internet. It is a good read and validates the value of job boards for any company looking to find “qualified” employees. Read on:

WEDDLE’s continuously conducts both primary and secondary research on the Best Practices in employment and HR leadership. Recently, we began to explore what kind of results recruiters are actually achieving online. Previous WEDDLE’s research revealed that that over half of all employers now fill over a quarter of their openings with candidates sourced on the Internet. But, how good are those hires? How do they stack up against employees acquired from other sources?
The responses below were collected between March 10 and June 20, 2007 for the following question: “How would you rate the caliber of your new hires sourced online?”

31.3% said they were among their best employees

47.9% said they were above average employees

16.7% said they were average employees

2.1% said they were below average employees

2.0% had no opinion

What the Findings Mean:

For some years now, there’s been a debate about whether the Internet actually delivers new hires. Pundits and bloggers have opined, one way or the other, about the efficacy of online sourcing and recruiting methods, especially job posting, datamining and electronic networking. The issue is important, of course, given the limitations that continue to be imposed on staffing budgets and resources. The key question, however, is not if the Internet delivers, but rather, how well it does so. These results indicate that the Internet is among the most effective methods recruiters now have for acquiring top talent and, ultimately, for winning the War for the Best Talent.

Almost eight-out-of-ten (79.2%) of our respondents rated the new hires they sourced online as above average or better. No less important, fewer than one-out-of-five of the candidates sourced online were rated as average, and a minuscule two-out-of-one hundred were considered below average. These very positive results rival the high marks given to employee referral programs, which are often viewed as employers’ best source of quality hires, and networking, which staffing firms typically consider their most reliable source of top candidates.

Online recruiting typically requires a financial investment (at least for job posting) and a commitment of both recruiter time and effort. While this input is typically less than that required by other sourcing methods, it is not insignificant. As these findings indicate, however, the return that online recruiting yields–the superior employees it delivers to the organization–more than justifies the investment. They provide the empirical data necessary for making the business case to continue investing in the Internet.

These results also pose an important question: If Internet recruiting is so effective, should we ignore other sourcing methods? The answer, of course, is absolutely not. The Internet performs best as a source when it’s integrated into a multifaceted strategy that enables you to reach into the prospect population from a number of different but mutually reinforcing access points. For example, search engine marketing and banner ads on job boards will promote your organization’s employment brand which can increase the yield you generate from career fairs and campus visits as well as drive traffic to the Career area on your corporate site.

Finally, these findings also testify to the growing expertise and sophistication of recruiters online. Whether they are working for a direct employer or a staffing firm, using the Internet effectively is now one of their core competencies. And there’s the rub. The capabilities of technology and its application to sourcing and recruiting requirements are constantly evolving. In addition to their heavy workload, therefore, recruiters must also find the time to refine and expand their skill set and do so all of the time. In other words, investing in online recruitment involves more than the advertising fees you pay and the money you spend on an applicant tracking system. To produce the best results, it should also include an organizational commitment to continuous recruiter and sourcer training, backed up with a rigorous performance appraisal process and a meaningful, performance based compensation system.

There is no debate about the importance of high caliber talent. The organizations that have it have the potential to win; the organizations that lack it can only lose. Internet-based recruiting enables organizations to achieve their potential. More than a means of simply filling requisitions, it has proven itself to be a powerful resource for finding, connecting with and ultimately recruiting the top talent every organization needs and deserves.

Please Note: As a part of our ongoing research, WEDDLE’s has been surveying both job seekers and recruiters on the Web since 1996. We’ve amassed hundreds of thousands of data elements probing:

what they do and what they don’t do,

what they like and what they don’t like, and most importantly,

what they think works best.

To add your insights and opinions to our research, please visit the Polling Station at the WEDDLE’s Web-site.