Diagnose and Fix Hiring Problems with Trakstar Hire Reports

In Hiring Software & Tools — by Dave Anderson

The journey from posting a job opening to welcoming a new employee to your team is a long one, made up of various stages. And as with any multi-step process, there are stages your organization does well and others that need improvements. There may even be a single bottleneck that slows everything down.

Some problems you’re keenly aware of. Others you know exist but may not be sure what the exact issue is and how it can be resolved.

One benefit of Trakstar Hire is our system collects data as you hire and organizes it into easy-to-understand reports. A glance at the right report shines a light on your organization’s hiring efforts and helps you zero-in on problems big and small.

Let’s explore how you can diagnose common problems using Hire reports and take corrective action to get back on track.

Problem: I’m not attracting enough qualified candidates

Posting a job opening and not getting enough qualified applicants is a typical problem for small businesses and/or organizations located in areas with small populations. And it’s an issue that leads to other problems down the road. With only a few candidates to consider, you might end up settling on a good-but-not-great hire. Or the role could go unfilled for months, as you wait for someone worth hiring to apply.

The Trakstar Hire Source Report displays the number of candidates that come from each job board and other sources and how far in your hiring process they progress.

Solution: Expand your sources

After reviewing the report, you’ll know which sources are working and which aren’t worth your time. If you find the popular job boards don’t fill your pipeline with enough candidates, experiment with unconventional sourcing approaches, like:

Niche job boards or websites – There are online communities and, in some cases, job boards for nearly every industry and occupation.
Employee referral program – Incentivize your current employees to refer people they know to the hiring team.
Proactive outreach – Connect with passive candidates on LinkedIn and encourage them to apply.

Always remember, there are talented people who want to work for you. You just need to do what it takes to find them.

Problem: Unqualified candidates are making it too far in the hiring process

Every job opening attracts people who aren’t quite the right fit. You need to remove those candidates from the hiring process early on and only focus on the people who have a chance to be hired.

Our Candidate End States Report shows how many candidates are removed from each step in the hiring process and the reason they were rejected (rejection reasons are customizable in your Hire account). Anyone who isn’t qualified or a good fit should be rejected before the interview stage.

Solution: Better evaluate candidates early on

The Candidate End States Report will not only let you know if too many candidates are making it past your initial evaluation stage. It will also highlight the red flags you need to look out for early on. Here are a few ways you can effectively evaluate candidates before interviews:

Include application questions – Ask about skills, experience, or salary requirements on the application so you can immediately filter out candidates who aren’t going to be hired.
Conduct phone screenings – Before you invite someone in for an interview, get on the phone with them and make sure they have the basic qualifications for the job.
Request candidates complete an evaluation exercise – Create a short questionnaire or test that gives candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities.

Thorough screening at the start of the hiring process filters out unqualified candidates and streamlines the steps that follow.

Problem: The hiring process is too long

A lengthy, on-going hiring process is the most common problem organizations face. You want to bring on a new team member quickly, and may even get off to a fast start, but at some point, progress comes to a halt. The role remains open as candidates lose interest or focus on other opportunities.

The Stage Movement Report in Trakstar Hire breaks down the average number of days candidates spend in each stage of your hiring process. As you continue to hire, you’ll be able to identify any bottlenecks.

Solution: Remove the bottleneck

Reviewing the Stage Movement Report will tell you what steps in the hiring process take too long. If the remedy isn’t obvious, these tips will help you hire efficiently.

Talk to slow hiring team members – Have a cordial conversation with the people who are slow to complete candidate evaluations and similar tasks. The Trakstar Hire Interview & Reviewer Report shows who takes longer than everyone else.
Simplify interview scheduling – Instead of going back and forth with candidates, let them self-schedule an interview date that works for everyone involved.
Accept e-signatures – Wrap up the hiring process quickly by allowing your new team member to electronically sign their offer letter and other documents.

Hiring bottlenecks are different in every organization. Identify and resolve the ones you face so your end-to-end hiring process moves at an optimal pace.

Problem: The hiring team disagrees on who the best candidate is

You’ve made it through the sourcing, evaluation, and interview stages—now it’s time to select the best person to hire. But there are different opinions on who that is. Perhaps one team member isn’t impressed by the candidate everyone else prefers. And maybe another interviewer likes everyone they met.

The Interviewers & Reviewers Report also shows the distribution of ratings team members gave all the candidates they evaluated. After meeting with multiple people, each person should have a balanced spread of ratings across the five-point scale in Trakstar Hire.

Solution: Come to a consensus

The hiring manager/new-hire’s future manager should usually have the final say in who gets the job. However, other members of the department and the CEO/business owner should also weigh in. Here are a few tips for coming to a consensus on the best person to hire:

Talk in out – Get everyone together to share their thoughts on each candidate and come to an agreement on who to hire.
Have clear evaluation criteria – Make sure team members know exactly what to assess candidates on so they’re not influenced by irrelevant factors.
Coach hiring team members – If an interviewer tends to be either too critical or lenient in evaluations, teach them how to properly assess candidates.

Different opinions are natural in a collaborative hiring process. Make sure everyone knows what they’re looking for when they interview so they accurately evaluate candidates based on the role criteria.

A data-driven hiring process

The goal of hiring is to find talented people to join your organization—as quickly and flawlessly as possible. Using Trakstar Hire’s hiring reports, you can uncover and resolve the inefficiencies in your hiring process.

Trakstar Hire is considered the most user friendly hiring software on the market. If you’re ready to take your recruiting and hiring to the next level, request a Trakstar Hire demo today.