Navigating Challenges and Embracing Innovations for High-Volume Hiring

HR leaders and professionals like you are searching for new tips and tech that streamline hiring large volumes of workers for critical roles. Imagine having the right tools and a platform that makes reviewing a sea of resumes sustainable without requiring candidates to jump through endless hoops. 

Whether you’re hiring retail associates or warehouse workers, hotel or resort employees, critical healthcare staff, or professional salespeople, competition for skilled workers is stronger than ever, and candidate expectations are high. How can you stand out from the competition?

On this episode of Talent Experience Live, Bill Venteicher, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Phenom, revealed the evolving expectations of both candidates and hiring managers regarding high-volume hiring. We also explored what it takes to stay competitive without sacrificing quality experiences or existing employees.

Keep reading to catch the highlights, or watch the entire episode below.

Level up your high-volume hiring efforts by downloading Fine-Tune Your Strategy: A High-Volume Hiring Playbook.

What are the biggest challenges associated with high-volume hiring? 

Suppose you’re in an industry requiring mass amounts of talent to keep business afloat. In that case, you’re familiar with the overarching challenges of high-volume hiring: finding suitable candidates quickly — and hanging onto them once they’re in the door.

Peak hiring seasons can be especially stressful, whether it’s the holiday gift-giving season, gardening season, or summer vacation. Venteicher, who specializes in Phenom High-Volume Hiring, describes it this way: “The challenge becomes, how do I find the right people? How do I do it quickly and eliminate the frustrating parts of the process that are slowing me down? And then, how do I attract people that I’ve been having trouble reaching?” 

Venteicher pointed out that the younger generation of high-volume workers, comprised of teens and recent grads, are working in higher numbers than ever. “But it’s so much more competitive, and there are essential tools and focus areas that companies need to start thinking about to attract those people to work for them.”

What’s the best way to stay connected to previous hires?

One of the most effective ways to ramp up for seasonal hiring is by reaching out to past employees and applicants. A corporate alumni platform that can track this talent pool makes it much easier to maintain relationships with this candidate population, according to Venteicher.

“That’s [how you can] focus on not starting from zero, and that’s really important. Again, it all goes to speed and finding the best talent,” he said.

What about attracting new high-volume talent? 

In addition to tapping into alumni and past applicants, “Make sure you’re attracting new folks to come into your company,” Venteicher said. “An effective way of doing that is by positioning yourself just like you’re positioning your brand.” 

After all, potential frontline job seekers can also be your customers. It’s important to remember that like existing customers, candidates choose employers the same way they make consumer decisions. “Employer branding and that reputational investment in what it’s like to work for your company is super important,” Venteicher noted.

Related: Engage, Qualify, Hire, Repeat: How Circle K Tackles Always-on Recruiting

What are the expectations of talent stakeholders in the high-volume hiring process?

For high-volume success, organizations need to understand what candidates and hiring managers value. Job seekers prioritize the following:

• Simplicity and convenience. Candidates are accustomed to today’s seamless e-commerce consumer experience and expect the same from employers. That means eliminating hiring process redundancies, simplifying interview scheduling, and providing relevant, timely communication.

• Transparency and clarity. From hours and compensation to job responsibilities and company culture, candidates value transparency and clarity. “They want to know a little bit about what a day in the life at your company looks like,” Venteicher pointed out.  “I think that clarity and focusing on exactly what the roles and responsibilities are in your job postings, and telling that story is where you start to attract people because they’re getting all their questions answered right away.”

• Quick and easy apply process. A short, frictionless application experience (i.e., minimal questions and mobile-friendly design) will help you win candidates from the competition. (See how this company cut their time to apply in half and received 11X more applications)

Meanwhile, hiring managers value efficiency to get people into critical roles as quickly as possible — and return to focusing on business operations. 

“From the manager’s perspective, it’s all about speed and accuracy,” Venteicher said. “They want to make sure they’re hiring the right person…they’re getting so many applications, and they don’t have time to review all of them and screen appropriately.” 

That translates to the need for:

• Tools to accelerate screening processes without sacrificing quality

• Reliable assessments to ensure applicants have the basic required skills and experience

How does AI play a role in saving time for recruiters and managers?

Venteicher said AI can bring both efficiency and personalization to high-volume hiring, and some industries are wholeheartedly embracing this technology. “This is exactly one of the areas in high-volume hiring where you can eliminate barriers to getting people in the door.”

Chatbots are one of the most valuable ways to apply AI in high-volume hiring, offering these advantages:

• 24/7 availability. Conversational chatbots can get job candidates the information they need, exactly when they need it. Chatbots can be loaded with answers to FAQs like hours, available shifts, locations, and skill and experience requirements. 

• Time savings for recruiters and hiring managers. Recruiters can reduce the amount of time they spend answering FAQs while managers get time back to focus on running their business. 

• Tailored recommendations to fill roles faster. Chatbots can also offer options to help candidates find the best fit — for example, suggesting an available shift at a closer location, or a shift offering higher pay. “Without the technology, it would take a recruiter or hiring manager talking to that person even to uncover that possibility,” Venteicher said.

In the future, what technology will be essential for employers to stay competitive?

The in-person consumer experience must evolve to compete with e-commerce, Venteicher pointed out. That means it will be more important than ever for retailers to hire talent that can deliver on this demand. 

“You need to be able to attract the best of the best, you need to be able to show them why you’re different, you have to do it quickly, and you need to be flexible…to the ebbs and flows of your hiring needs. That's where innovative technology is going to help.”

Related: 4 Companies That Are Getting High-Volume Hiring Right

Legacy technology systems are no longer equipped to meet the needs of high-volume hiring challenges — like accurate screening, hiring process efficiency, and new-hire retention. In Venteicher’s view, to stay competitive, employers will need to leverageplatforms with built-in automation and AI to eliminate manual tasks and dramatically streamline the experience.

One example? AI-supported scheduling tools, which automate the scheduling process. Phenom’s AI Scheduling, for example, eliminates the typical back-and-forth communications involved in finding a time suitable for everyone, drastically reducing the time it takes to book or reschedule interviews. 

Any final thoughts on high-volume hiring?

The world’s moving faster and faster. Will your high-volume hiring keep up? 

“Seasonality is something everyone is facing. There are so many industries now competing for the same groups of people,” Venteicher concluded. “You have to think about all the different places your candidates are working, and where you’re trying to attract them and be really clear in advance of when you need them.” 

Want to level up for your busy season? Now’s the time. Book a personalized demo to see Phenom High-Volume Hiring in action.