3 Hiring Tactics That Will Propel Growth Without Robbing You Blind

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Rapidly growing companies are done — and you should be, too.

They’re done waiting around for extra money to drop into their hiring budgets. In fact, 77 percent of these companies plan on growing by 25 percent this year, but only 16 percent say they’ll grow because of extra money from corporate tax cuts. That’s according to “2018 Growth Hiring Trends in the United States,”  a report by my company, Spark Hire.

So, what’s their secret?

Rapidly growing companies are getting creative. Hiring professionals are propelling growth through efficiency — without dropping a ton of dough. To do this, they’re testing out new and exciting hiring trends for themselves.

Here’s a look at how rapidly growing companies are maximizing their resources and propelling their hiring processes forward:

1. Uncovering Unique Talent Pipelines

Finding and tapping into new talent pipelines is a struggle many organizations face. It is especially challenging for rapidly growing companies that need a large amount of talent in a short period of time.

The proof is in our recent report, where 67 percent of respondents said finding more reliable talent pipelines was a top priority for 2018.

Talent pipelines are all around you. It’s just a matter of understanding which will be valuable to your unique hiring needs. One way to create a pipeline full of eager candidates who already understand your company and its mission is to share job opportunities with customers and newsletter subscribers.

You may also want to reach out to former employees and contract hires for referrals. Because these people have already been part of your team, they understand the type of skills, experiences, and personalities potential candidates need to be successful employees.
Give them job descriptions and specific deadlines to speed up the process for current openings, but also let them know you’re always looking for fresh talent to keep your pipeline flowing.

2. Shaving Down Time to Hire Even More

Some of the trends identified in the report — like decreasing time to hire — aren’t new but are increasingly important. In fact, 51 percent of companies surveyed said they’re looking to shorten their time to hire. Remarkably, even those companies that claimed an average hiring time of less than a week said they were looking to expedite the process further.

That said, 85 percent of the companies surveyed also pointed out that their highest hiring priority for 2018 was improving quality of hires. It’s important to strike a balance here: Don’t shave so much time off your time to hire that you stop properly assessing candidate quality.

Have candidates take skills tests and personality assessments to filter out unqualified and mismatched talent. These assessments produce more accurate results in less time, compared to making assumptions based on resumes or spending weeks on interviews.

Once you’ve narrowed down your talent pool to qualified candidates, use an automated interview scheduling tool to send out mass interview invitations. This gives candidates the power to choose a time that works best for them, and it takes painstaking hours of back-and-forth emailing off your plate.

3. Keeping Tabs on New and Improved Hiring Trends

Few hiring budgets are overflowing these days, so I wouldn’t ask you to throw money into hiring trends that haven’t been proven to work. Our report found rapidly growing companies aren’t willing to do this either.

Instead, these companies are more likely to adopt established technologies like social media (44 percent adoption rate among respondents) while passing over not-yet-proven technologies like artificial intelligence (22 percent adoption rate).

Follow other organizations and up-and-coming HR technology companies to find the latest and best tools. Network with other hiring professionals who have similar hiring needs. Share notes on what’s working and what new tech should’ve stayed in research and development.

Josh Tolan is the CEO of video interview solution Spark Hire. Connect with Spark Hire on Facebook  and Twitter.

By Josh Tolan