How to make the hiring process more efficient and less costly

A recruitment expert has shared how companies can sharpen their hiring processes amid ongoing talent shortages.

According to Ben Townshend, technology sales recruitment leader at Bluefin Resources, the opportunity is ripe for managers to make their hiring processes more efficient.

“Technology and recruitment have gone a long way. Every week, I see new tech companies that are popping up that are specific to recruitment … there are lots going on there, particularly around automation,” explained Mr Townshend.

“There is lots of technology out there that enables you to actually reduce your costs overall in recruitment. And what I mean by that is your internal and external recruitment functions.”

“I’m not saying that technology is going to take away the use in recruiters, but there are certain tools out there that will really help you reduce and automate a lot of processes.”

Some of these innovations include video interviewing. This removes the need for face-to-face meetings with candidates, which can chew up time. By implementing video interviews, you can save time and resources.

Mr Townshend commented: “So instead of having spent five hours interviewing five people, they’ll have links of five videos that they can quickly scan through. And what we’ve found with that is you soon get a gist of if someone is going to be your right fit for your business and by answering those five core questions.”

“[It’s about] trying to reduce your time to hire by implementing technology like video interviewing software; it’s really going to help you do that.”

Skills assessment software is key in this regard, Mr Townshend said.

“It allows you to measure salespeople’s skill level before they join. So that’s a good one because, unfortunately, in sales and some revenue-generating roles, people are great at interviewing, they’ve had a lot of practice in it, perhaps over a 20- [or] 30-year career, but you don’t actually know if they’re necessarily the best person for your role that you’re recruiting for,” he said.

“So, having some sort of skills assessment software really allows you to actually get an understanding of what that person’s ability is.”

Outside of tech, Mr Townshend said companies could benefit from looking at hiring overseas talent. Doing so might see a cost-saving for the business, he noted.

“Hiring overseas, it’s something companies have always done, but it really feels like there’s a massive turn in the market around everyone’s talking about it,” Mr Townshend explained.

“Everything I see every day on LinkedIn is around growing overseas, hiring overseas. And I totally see the benefits. The benefits are massive. So, you can reduce your recruitment spending first off.”

He continued: “Let’s say if you’re in Australia and you’re going to move your development team into the Philippines, your recruitment spending is halved, if not more, by doing so. And in the short run, you’ve also reduced your headcount costs as well.”

Utilising overseas talent not only opens up avenues for more recruitment opportunities but can also boost the diversity at an organisation.

“And also, what we’ve realised as well is you’ve naturally just improved diversity. If you’ve always been based in Australia and you’re hiring in Australia, companies quite like the fact that when they do hire overseas, they start to bring in new ideas, new cultures to their business,” said Mr Townshend.

By expanding your diversity, you also boost your diversity of thought. With this, you open yourself up to new ideas, opinions, values, and innovations, he concluded.

The transcript of this podcast episode, when quoted above, was slightly edited for publishing purposes. The full audio conversation with Ben Townshend on 4 April is below, and the original podcast article can be found here.