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Frontline workers make up a large percentage of the US workforce. In fact, research indicates that more than half of all U.S. employees are considered frontline workers, making it essential for businesses to streamline and optimize their hiring processes. That's why we've compiled for you 5 fundamental elements to focus on if you want to streamline frontline recruitment in your organization.
What is a Frontline Worker?
In the past, people often thought of frontline workers as those working as police officers, firefighters, and EMTs, but in the modern workforce, the term is used much more broadly today.
In short, any employee within an essential industry (healthcare, retail, hospitality, supply chain, manufacturing, public schools, agriculture, and more) who must physically show up to their jobs to perform in-person labor is considered a frontline worker.
#1 Showcase Your Jobs Where Candidates Will See Them
Let’s start out with a few stats:
Fifty-nine percent of applicants search job boards and career sites for openings.
Nearly half of all applicants prefer to hear of jobs through word of mouth.
Seventy-nine percent of job seekers use social media in their job search (increases to eighty-six percent for younger job seekers.)
When bringing in high volumes of candidates, you need to place those job ads where people will see them. Social media such as Facebook can be a great way to get your job post in front of thousands of both active and passive candidates at a time.
Tip: Did you know that there are 4.6 billion social media users in the world as of 2022? Leverage that volume to meet your applicants where they are.
Help word-of-mouth spread by implementing a social job-sharing referral program for your staff. Not only does this get the word out about your open positions, but it’s also a great way for employees to bring in new candidates from their networks, which increases your candidate quality.
#2 Make Applications Short and Mobile Friendly
We live in a mobile age. US statistics show that 97% of the population owns a smartphone, furthermore, 72% of active candidates report using their mobile devices for job searches. In light of these statistics companies that want to gain traction in the race for candidates need to focus on short, mobile-friendly applications.
Repetitive and lengthy applications have become outdated. Modern employers must focus on keeping the application process as lean as possible. Only ask the questions you really need to and don’t ask candidates to provide the same information multiple times! Research from LinkedIn shows that 60% of candidates will quit your application if it takes too long.
#3 Cut Back on Hoops and Omit Bottlenecks
Along the same lines, it’s important to review your hiring process and cut back on unnecessary hoops, and remove bottlenecks. Efficiency will always make a good impression. If your hiring process is messy, time-consuming, and disorganized, it could leave your candidates with the impression that disorganization is the norm at your company. Job seekers are more likely to withdraw applications from companies with inefficient hiring processes and instead focus their efforts on organizations with a more efficient application process.
When reviewing your hiring process ask yourself questions like, is this step really necessary? Do we need 3 interviews, or will 1 or 2 suffice? How can this process be made more efficient? With a critical eye, you can remove excess redundancies and lengthy steps.
#4 Stay in Touch
It’s important to maintain constant, transparent contact with potential candidates. Seiza's research indicates that a candidate will abandon a job opportunity in under a week if they haven’t heard back from a recruiter. One of our clients, Sodebo (in France) reported that candidates could be lost within less than a day if the applications weren’t being processed fast enough.
When you make an effort to send messages throughout the hiring process, informing candidates of their progress goes a long way toward making the candidate feel respected and appreciated.
#5 Track and Evaluate Metrics
Just like marketing data is needed to sell products effectively or accounting data is necessary to keep budgets aligned, you need to track hiring metrics. Tracking your metrics helps you to continuously refine and improve your hiring process to consistently produce better results. Below are some of the top metrics you should be monitoring to ensure the success of your frontline recruitment process.
Applicant-to-Hire Ratio
If you have a high applicant-to-hire ratio for your industry, you’ll need to take a close look at your hiring sources, application, and interview process to see what you can do to balance this ratio.
Candidates by Source
This metric measures the number of candidates that each source pulls in. Knowing these numbers allows you to use your marketing budget wisely by focusing on the most productive channels.
Conversion Rate
Similar to your applicant-to-hire ratio, the conversion rate tells you how many candidates convert to hires. A low conversion rate may indicate that you need to reassess your hiring funnel for bottlenecks. Keeping an eye on drop-off points can help you identify where there may be issues that need to be resolved.
Applicant to Interview Ratio
This number tracks how many of the applicants you receive who move forward to the interview stage. You can use this metric to discover which points in your application process may be causing people to drop out before the interview stage.
Interview to Hire Ratio
You can use this metric to evaluate the interview process itself. If you are performing a lot of interviews but making very few hires it could indicate that your pre-screening process needs improvement, or that a complex interview process is turning people away.
Time to Hire
Lengthy time-to-hire numbers can spell bad news when it comes to frontline recruitment. Even if you aren’t in a hurry to fill a position, chances are high that your candidate is hoping to go from job seeker to new employee quickly, a long time to hire can cost you qualified candidates.
Cost Per Hire
This measures your spending on labor hours, marketing materials, advertising costs, training, and more. Keep a close eye on this metric so that you can keep your hiring costs down.
#5 Use Recruitment Automation
Even though we’re mentioning it last, recruitment automation is the key to all of the other points on this list. When it comes to frontline recruitment, particularly if you’re hiring at volume, you need the right tools for the job. With Seiza, you can:
Create highly targeted sourcing campaigns in just a few clicks that target candidates you won’t find on job boards
Post job ads that have simple mobile-friendly applications
Omit bottlenecks by screening candidates from every source within a single platform
Use custom SMS to keep candidates informed of their progress through your hiring funnel
Access a real-time analytics dashboard to track your most essential hiring metrics
Our platform can also help you quickly and easily sort and filter applications, reducing strain on recruiters by eliminating redundant and time-consuming tasks.
Embrace the New Normal of Recruiting
In conclusion, upgrade your frontline recruitment process with Seiza. Frontline workers are the backbone of our nation and it takes the right tools to make great frontline hires. Seiza is here to help! Use our new recruitment automation platform to screen for the right candidates, ensure contact with 90% or more of your applicants, reduce your time to hire, and handle many of the repetitive tasks associated with frontline hiring.
Enjoy cost savings, a streamlined frontline recruitment process, and better hires with Seiza. Embrace the new normal of recruiting and start hiring in “fast motion” Contact us today to request your demo and get a free trial of our platform.