case study for recruitment process

Elite Human Capital

Executive search. recruitment. talent advisory. career coaching. outplacement., case studies in the recruitment process – an assessment method for gathering data on a candidate.

Recently I started recruiting for a management consulting company who uses client case studies as part of their selection process. For them, it has proven to be an effective way of gathering information on a candidate to assess suitability.

To better understand the use of case studies in the recruitment process, my assistant Laura and I did research into the topic, this blog post is to share that information with you.

An overview of case studies in the recruitment process

Case studies are used as a method of competency measuring. Competency methods can focus on technical abilities, social and behavioural skills, or a combination of the two.

Case studies are most popular in management consulting (though they are used in some other industries) since they are able to mimic the kinds of tasks that would be required in the job.

They are done face-to-face during a specified time slot or given to the candidate to complete in their own time.

See Hiring by Competency Models, Patty Grigoryev (2006)

University of Sydney, Case study interviews https://sydney.edu.au/careers/students/applying-for-jobs/interview-tips/case-study-interviews.html

Research on case study efficacy

The premise behind administering a case study as an assessment method is that it offers a level playing field, to some degree, by allowing shortlisted candidates to demonstrate their technical abilities and personal qualities irrespective of past experience and qualification(s).

Case studies enable interviewers to see the strengths and weaknesses of candidates in action, including:

• Engaging in logical and analytical reasoning.
• Thinking creatively and generating innovative solutions.
• Problem-solving.
• Working under time pressure.
• Effective communication skills, including presenting in front of one or several interviewers and using a whiteboard to express concepts.

Case studies are detailed in their nature, add cost to the overall recruitment process (because they require time and resources to administer) and are often one of the final stages in the recruitment process.

Reducing the risk of a bad hire

It is well-established that the costs of a bad hire for a business are huge, especially in leadership roles where it can affect the performance of the whole team.

The hard costs of a bad hire are estimated to range between 50% and 200% of the first-year salary. In management consulting, a bad hire cannot only affect the internal team – a poor client experience can have significant impacts from a brand and billing perspective.

Finding ways to reduce the number of bad hires isn’t easy, case studies have been developed to provide additional data points to make a more informed hiring decision. Using competency modelling methods such as case studies, it has been shown to increase success in hiring decisions, with the most significant improvement stemming from a better culture fit.

Talent Management 360, Using case studies to recruit talent https://talentmanagement360.com/using-case-studies-to-recruit-talent/

Case studies and management consulting companies

Big 4 accounting firms and strategy consulting houses like McKinsey and Bain consistently use case studies in their recruitment process, for example:

PWC appears to only use case studies in relation to taxation and when hiring recent graduates. They are described as “provide students with realistic fact situations in which a number of tax problems and opportunities can be identified”. They acknowledge that law students and business students may choose to approach them differently and give some background regarding the issues and deliverables expected, such as that students are expected to “incorporate a certain amount of tax planning into their solutions”.

https://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/university-relations/tax-case-studies.html

By contrast, Deloitte’s approach is broader. The case interview is designed to assess problem-solving and analytical skills, as well as logic and strategy. However, it is also designed to give candidates an insight into their prospective role, since the cases align with real projects. They clearly step out a five-step approach that candidates should use to address the case interview and give a list of helpful tips that they recommend will help interviewees get the most out of the experience. There is also an interactive case interview practice website ( http://caseinterviewprep.deloitte.com/ ) designed to assist.

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/careers/articles/join-deloitte-careers-case-interview-tips.html

McKinsey & Company who are notorious for gruelling recruitment methods, with some prospective employee’s having up to 20 interviews before receiving an offer, including a compulsory case interview.

McKinsey offer four example case interviews, which can all be found at this link:

https://www.mckinsey.com/careers/interviewing

Bain states that any candidate applying for a consulting role should expect a case interview, and those cases will be based on Bain’s client work. They provide two examples, as well as a mock interview for candidates to watch:

https://www.bain.com/careers/interview-prep/case-interview/

Capital One

Capital One also has a detailed case study guide which demonstrates what they will assess (problem solving and analytical skills) as well as providing examples:

https://jobs.capitalone.co.uk/business-analyst-case-study-guide

Time allotted

The PWC case studies are to be done in the student’s own time, but there is a general guideline offered: “The time required of the student to complete the case requirements will vary greatly, depending upon the level of tax knowledge of the individual student, their software skills, and the number and type of issues in each case. As a very general guideline, each case study, with all issues included, should require not less than 10 hours of issue formation, research, and analysis by a graduate tax student, before the final deliverable(s) are developed.”

Deloitte’s case interview preparation page states that each case is 15-20 minutes long but does not give any set time limits and there is no suggestion that responses are timed.

See PWC Case Studies in Taxation https://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/university_relations/documents/Case-Studies-in-Taxation-2018.pdf

Measuring the responses

PWC’s case studies are designed to test both technical skills (tax knowledge, Excel ability) and broader skills such as problem solving and creativity. It is stated that the ‘deliverables’ can be in many forms including “a letter to the client identified in the case study, a memo to the client file, or preparing a ruling request for the IRS. Some case study users require oral presentations. These may take the form of a straight presentation or role-play in the setting of a client meeting, resolution of an audit, or representation of a client in a court.” Actually measuring these is not expressly dealt with, but the document does provide a set of solutions to each case study for comparison, akin to a marking key.

By comparison Deloitte is focused less on finding the ‘right answer’ and emphasises that candidates will do well by clearly demonstrating a logical thought process. Having a clear structure and acknowledging any assumptions are listed as recommendations. Possible answers are given in the example attached and they focus on having both justifications and implications for each point. It’s all about the ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’. For numerical/technical questions however, there is a clear right and wrong.

Other methods of work sample testing

There are alternative methods for collecting data points on a candidate, these include: written questionnaires, take home or in office real life job tasks, online assessment tools and group assessment centres.

One hiring manager I was recruiting for would take a full two hours to conduct an interview with a candidate. In the first hour he would cover off behavioural and company ‘fit’ questions, in the second hour he would launch into a long list of technical questions, including real case study examples from working at his company.

This thorough approach made the hiring manager more confident in his decision to hire the individual (or not hire if the candidate wasn’t strong enough).

Here are some other quality articles on evidence based interviewing and testing.

• The Case for Evidence Based Interviewing: Part 1 and Part 2
• Assessing Soft Skills

When I’m engaged to conduct a recruitment process for a client I recommend gathering as many data points on the candidate as possible – including a type of work sample, if possible.

I’m always looking for ways to help organisations recruit better. Leveraging years of experience in corporate recruiting I can assist with finding the bottlenecks and weak points in your hiring process and improving hiring outcomes.

Find out more about my services here: https://elite-human-capital.com/consulting-services/

To talk with me about how I can help, make contact today.

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Reengineering the Recruitment Process

The skills needed in many roles are continually changing—and sources of talent are too.

The Covid-19 pandemic has upended many traditional business practices. When it comes to recruiting, the crisis has not so much disrupted as accelerated shifts in the talent landscape that were already under way, leaving many companies poorly served by their current hiring practices. In a period of steep unemployment, it might seem that companies looking to add workers would be in the driver’s seat. But job openings have also been rising in recent months, meaning that competition for top talent remains keen—and in uncertain times, bringing on the right people is more important than ever.

Partner Center

Skills-based success: 10 recruiting case studies

The working world has been turned on its head with the pandemic, the Great Reshuffle, and the resulting skills shortage. Companies are searching for a powerful, sustainable way to recruit and retain talent, and 73% of them are now opting for skills-based hiring practices.

Skills-based recruitment practices are for everyone. Don’t believe us? We've put together 10 recruiting case studies that demonstrate how different individuals, industries, and regions have successfully implemented skills-based hiring.

Table of contents

What's the purpose of a recruiting case study, 3 personal recruiting case studies, 3 recruiting case studies by industry, 4 recruiting case studies by region, looking for more recruiting case studies, the state of skills-based hiring 2023.

Read TestGorilla's annual report to discover why over 70% of companies chose to adopt skills-based hiring methods in 2023.

In recruitment, case studies are helpful tools for employers seeking to build, develop, or optimize their recruitment processes. They can be great sources of information and inspiration. By understanding the successes and failures others have had with their hiring processes, hiring managers can take any relevant learnings without having to make the same mistakes that others have.

To make these recruiting case studies relevant for as many people as possible, we've divided them into personal case studies, case studies by industry, and case studies by region. Let's dive in.

Let’s first look at the personal stories of some stellar individuals who were recruited into their ideal industries using skills-based practices. These people didn’t have traditional backgrounds, but because of their unique skills, they got into amazing roles. All that was needed was a chance to prove those skills during recruitment.

1. Justin Hutchinson

Justin Hutchinson wanted a future in football, but he was faced with a hard choice at age 14: Focus on his career prospects or take care of his father with cancer.

Justin, of course, chose his father and has never regretted that choice, but it did mean giving up the chance of achieving his dream job.

After his father’s passing, Justin attended a community college to fulfill his father’s wish for him to get a degree. To pay rent and living expenses, Justin got a job at a smoothie franchise.

His aim was to simply support his cost of living by making fast food – but it turns out Justin’s real skill was people and communication.

Justin would study the cars that drove up, memorize their orders, and have them ready so he could spend time talking and getting to know the customers instead of making drinks.

One of Justin’s customers was a chief executive of a marketing company and was so impressed with his people skills, he offered Justin an internship.

It wasn’t long before Justin used his soft skills to turn that internship into a full-time position. He dropped out of college, poured his heart and soul into the role, and attained the role of Director of Business Development.

Justin attributes his success to his best skills:

Workplace empathy

Strategic and critical thinking

Sales management

Justin didn’t have a typical marketing background – his experience was a partial college education with no degree, on-the-job experience (and not a traditionally “relevant” job), and his internship.

Not everyone can find the perfect marketer in a charismatic smoothie server, but online skills testing holds the same principles: Look at abilities first and ask questions later.

Sales and marketing are industries that are uniquely dependent on soft skills, which makes skills-based hiring an obvious choice for recruiting. For information on how it helps with the tricky subject of ramp time, read our article on skills-based hiring and ramp time.

2. Latisha Carter

Latisha Carter had a dream of excelling in corporate America, but she never got the opportunity to attend college.

At age 17, Latisha became a single mother. This put her dreams of college on hiatus for the foreseeable future.

Three years later, after having another child, Latisha got a job as a nursing assistant. But she still couldn’t shake her desire to make it in the corporate world.

She secured a call center job with NCR, a software company, driven by their offer of extensive employee training. 

Offering extensive upskilling and reskilling is one of the best things you can put on the table for potential candidates. A study by Lorman showed that 59% of Millennials believe that development opportunities are extremely important when deciding whether to apply for a position.

Latisha used her experience at NCR to get a role in customer service at the software company Sage.

With determination and hard work, she continued to work her way up for 20 years until she became a director at Xero, an accounting technology company.

Latisha is now proudly a director in corporate America with no college degree. Her company is reaping the benefits of her presence and skills. 

In the second half of 2021, Xero’s approach to skills-based hiring and its emphasis on diversity pushed a 7% increase in racial and ethnic diversity.

Jana Galbraith, the executive general manager for people experience partnering for Xero, says: “ [H]istorically, hiring based on degree exclusively has perpetuated discrimination .”

This boost is great news for Xero because the benefits of diversity are broad and include increased productivity, innovation, and financial performance.

Latisha’s struggle to succeed is unfortunately common for working mothers. To learn more about this, read our article on the motherhood penalty .

3. Cindy Veach

Cindy Veach didn’t have a traditional background. She had all the tech know-how, but she only had experience involving massage therapy and social services.

But she had the skills and she knew it. Cindy says it was a happenstance that she stumbled upon her perfect role; she just wanted a role where she could use her best talents.

“I was looking for jobs I had the right skills for, organizational skills in particular,” said Cindy.

She happened upon a tech administration apprenticeship program at IBM. Before then, she saw her tech skills as just a hobby and never imagined herself in the tech industry – but she applied and was accepted.

Cindy had a steep learning curve ahead of her. She possessed the base tech skills but needed the training to reach the right level.

She attributes much of her success to the flexibility of her mentors. They continually told her that if a path “didn’t feel right,” she was welcome to experiment and try something new.

At the end of the apprenticeship, she applied for a network operations technician role and was hired. She took a position with flexible work options so she could still care for her two children comfortably. 

Skills-based hiring made this outcome possible. Cindy’s communication skills, digital expertise, and problem-solving abilities helped her secure her role, and the focus on continuous improvement is helping her develop it .

She says that the combination of her appetite for learning and her employer’s support for her success is the perfect duo for creating limitless growth.

We’ve heard plenty of people say “skills-based hiring doesn’t work in my industry.” But that’s just yet another myth we’ve debunked . Let’s take a look at a handful of case studies about how companies within certain industries have succeeded with skills-based recruitment initiatives.

4. Healthcare

Healthcare administration is an industry that’s notoriously difficult to get into. Between receiving a bachelor’s degree and completing a master’s program, it can take six to eight years of rigorous commitment.

However, more opportunities are arising that allow equally qualified candidates to get in without obtaining specific educational requirements.

Sam Saucedo-Hernandez had a tumultuous life, but she only ever wanted a solid career. As a child of parents who emigrated from Mexico, she wanted to be the first generation in her family to attain a degree.

Sam watched her parents struggle with low-wage jobs and promised herself she would do better for herself.

Her first attempt was at law school where she spent several years studying hard. Sam was ecstatic to get her degree and begin a career in law.

But two weeks after she got her associate of science degree, the school got shut down for fraud, leaving Sam jobless and $60,000 in debt.

Sam faced many challenges, but the turning point in her story was the day she received a letter promoting a no-cost medical administrative assistant job training program from JVS.

JVS is a program that helps people build skills and find solid career connections – particularly in the healthcare industry.[1]

JVS has seen amazing success with over 500 employer partners and an emphasis on promoting diversity: 88% of their participants are Black, Hispanic, Asian, or a wide range of other ethnicities.

Sam applied for the program and was accepted. She secured a position as a medical administrative assistant, but her training has led her to her current role in the audiology department.

Though she’s fortunate for her position, Sam says she’s still looking forward, wondering where her skills can take her from here. 

Programs like JVS are working tirelessly to make more stories like this possible. With a focus on skills over experience, they bring in valuable candidates to industries that may otherwise be restricted to them.

5. Manufacturing

Steelcase, a furniture manufacturing company, wanted to build a fairer place for employment opportunities and encourage better representation for employees of color. So they adopted skills-based hiring practices.

They’re far from the only ones. According to TestGorilla’s State of Skills-Based Hiring report, 85% of businesses in 2023 had the goal to increase diversity.

And companies are succeeding at this by implementing skills-based hiring: 91% of organizations saw an increase in diversity due to skills-based hiring.

Steelcase realized that if they truly wanted to boost their DE&I initiatives , traditional hiring methods wouldn’t do.

They decided their hiring processes needed to be revamped for the better, so they adopted some new practices:

Prioritizing skills over resume and pedigree

Removing experience requirements wherever possible

Favoring continuous improvement over perfection

Revamping job descriptions to reduce biased language

Prioritizing diversity among equally qualified candidates

Steelcase decided that practices like these would enable them to reach diverse talent organically, and it worked. Since the program started, Steelcase’s new hires are 55% women and 30% racial or ethnic minorities.

Steelcase’s initiatives are amazing, so we encourage similar active moves to boost diversity. To read more about this topic, read our blog on why being intentional about workplace diversity is non-negotiable .

6. Software

ADP, an HR management software company, adopted a recruiting strategy to focus on skills , rely less on credentials, and make an effort to provide opportunities for candidates with nontraditional backgrounds.

This strategy included training talent acquisition professionals on best practices, hiring specific diversity recruiters, removing degree requirements from high-volume recruiting roles, and leveraging better training and mentorship for new hires.

What were the results? ADP saw great success in one year:

An increase in the number of candidates with no college degree

An increase in Black representation in the candidate pool

An increase in Hispanic representation in the candidate pool

This program was heavily inspired and backed by Maria Black, the chief executive of ADP, and her strong belief in corporate social responsibility.

She has a strong passion for supporting working women, veterans, and other underrepresented talents.[2]

Maria is an excellent example of the power of leading from the top. When your company’s leadership supports a great cause, it benefits both employees and company alike and builds a better organizational culture .

Next, let’s take a look at some case studies about the regions and countries that are taking on skills-based recruitment practices. For more on this subject, check out our post on skills-based hiring around the world .

7. Maryland, USA

In 2022, the state of Maryland dropped four-year degree requirements for thousands of jobs in the government sector.

The aim of this initiative was to draw attention to the value of alternative credentials and experience. State officials want to give people a better shot at securing a stable, fulfilling job.

Governor Larry Hogan was quoted as saying:

“[W]e are ensuring qualified, non-degree candidates are regularly being considered for these career-changing opportunities.”[3]

Over 38,000 people work for the state of Maryland and it’s estimated that more than half of those jobs can be performed by people whose alternative skill routes can easily substitute for a college education.

These alternative routes include:

Life experience

Non-relevant job experience

Hobbies and volunteer work

Alternative training

Community college education

Maryland estimates that about 47% of its working population are STARs (skilled through alternative routes). That’s 2.8 million workers, and these people need solid opportunities – opportunities that they can access through skills-based hiring.

To learn more about how unnecessary degree requirements are holding top talent back, read our blog on degree inflation .

8. Indiana, USA

Indiana’s tech leaders are struggling to attract and retain great talent. They’re facing a major skill shortage and they can’t solve it with the “usual” hiring methods.

Traditional recruiting methods exclude over 95% of Indiana’s workforce.

Indiana has a workforce of 3,332,239 people, but consider this:

A four-year degree requirement removes 75%

Biases can eliminate up to 30% of the pool

Requiring specific past experience removes 93% of the talent pool

With all of that in mind, a pool of more than three million candidates is reduced to just over 42,000.

Indiana’s Office of Technology (IOT) realized that skills-based hiring practices could fix this problem and solve their shortage.

They started by removing degree requirements from most job descriptions, then took the next step and started offering reskilling opportunities to workers from alternative industries, such as line cooks and truck drivers.

Tracy Barnes, IOT’s chief information officer, said that the results of the program have been positive and they’re “very pleased” so far. She also said that she’s equally excited to see the positive life impacts for the candidates involved.

9. Asia-Pacific

Skills-based hiring is quickly gaining traction in the Asia-Pacific area.

One study showed that 79% of businesses in the Asia-Pacific area look for skills when hiring versus the 21% that prioritize education and experience.[4]

The same study found that internal mobility is more important than ever and that companies want to prioritize gender equality and disability inclusion . These points can also be accomplished by adopting skills-based hiring.

Asia-Pacific is looking to skills-based practices to improve the future of their recruitment processes, but Singapore-based TruTrip is already reaping the benefits .

TruTrip is a business travel management company that needed help assessing candidate skills and hiring the best candidates, so they gave TestGorilla a try.

Here are a few ways that TestGorilla’s pre-employment skills testing helped TruTrip’s recruitment processes:

Gives them a way to objectively assess applicants’ skills and knowledge

Helps them eliminate bias from the hiring process

Enables them to consistently make better hiring decisions

Reduces their reliance on resume screening

Enhances teamwork and communication

Improves the employee experience of new hires

According to Hugh Batley, the founder of TruTrip, their new hires are a better fit. These employees become great contributors and have a better initial experience with the company.

TestGorilla also helps TruTrip save thousands of dollars by reducing the chances of a costly mis-hire. 

This isn’t unusual. According to TestGorilla’s State of Skills-Based Hiring report, 92.5% of organizations using skills-based practices saw a reduction in mis-hires in 2022.

10. The UK and the EU

The UK and the EU have developed a strong focus on skills over the past few years.

Interest in skills-based hiring in the UK rose 63% from 2021 to 2022 . This drastic increase is due to employers wanting a wider talent pool and candidates prioritizing and valuing their alternative experience.

This move is helping job opportunities reach the 73.6% of people in the United Kingdom who don’t possess a four-year degree. [5]

As for the European Union, they developed the “Pact For Skills” program in 2020. This program was created to encourage and fund better upskilling and reskilling while also promoting greater diversity and gender equality.[6]

A good example from both areas is the British-Lithuanian bank, Revolut.

Revolut adopted skills-based hiring by using TestGorilla’s skills tests and, as a result, improved their time-to-hire by 40% .

Among many other benefits, Revolut found TestGorilla’s language tests life-saving. Assessing language proficiency is essential for a multinational company, but traditional methods are time-consuming and laborious.

TestGorilla’s language tests help Revolut to quickly and easily evaluate their candidates’ reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. This helped them to nearly fully automate their screening process, improving time-to-hire greatly.

To read more case studies and success stories about skills-based hiring, check out our 10 stories that demonstrate the power of skills-based hiring or our collection of customer case studies .

Here are 3 top picks from our case studies:

Revolut improves time-to-hire by 40% using TestGorilla

Design Pickle uses TestGorilla to boost application completion rate by 25%

TestGorilla helps TruTrip to save money and improve employee experience

If you’d like to acquaint yourself with a solid skills-based hiring practice, browse our test library and review our skills tests.

“JVS 2022 Impact Report”. (2022). JVS . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://impact2022.jvs.org/

“Maria Black, president and CEO”. (n.d). Business Roundtable. Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://www.businessroundtable.org/about-us/members/maria-black-president-and-ceo-adp

McGraw, Mark. (April 4, 2022). “Dropping Degree Requirements: Do Employers Still Care About Education?”. World at Work . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://worldatwork.org/resources/publications/workspan-daily/dropping-degree-requirements-do-employers-still-care-about-education

“The Future of Talent”. (2021). LinkedIn . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/pdfs/future-of-talent-whitepaper.pdf

“Overview of the education system”. (2022). Education GPS . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?primaryCountry=GBR&treshold=10&topic=EO

“Pact for Skills”. (November 10, 2020). European Commission . Retrieved March 6, 2023.  https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1517&langId=en

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• 21 Nov 2023
• Cold Call Podcast

Cold Call: Building a More Equitable Culture at Delta Air Lines

In December 2020 Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and his leadership team were reviewing the decision to join the OneTen coalition, where he and 36 other CEOs committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and advancing one million Black Americans over the next ten years into family-sustaining jobs. But, how do you ensure everyone has equal access to opportunity within an organization? Professor Linda Hill discusses Delta’s decision and its progress in embedding a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in her case, “OneTen at Delta Air Lines: Catalyzing Family-Sustaining Careers for Black Talent.”

• 14 Nov 2023
• What Do You Think?

Do We Underestimate the Importance of Generosity in Leadership?

Management experts applaud leaders who are, among other things, determined, humble, and frugal, but rarely consider whether they are generous. However, executives who share their time, talent, and ideas often give rise to legendary organizations. Does generosity merit further consideration? asks James Heskett. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 07 Nov 2023
• Research & Ideas

When Glasses Land the Gig: Employers Still Choose Workers Who 'Look the Part'

Is an eyeglass-wearer more likely to be a strong web developer? Employers that use online talent platforms tend to consider profile photos in final hiring decisions, says research by Isamar Troncoso. What's the role of recruiting platforms in preventing bias?

• 16 Oct 2023

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

By emphasizing skills and expanding professional development opportunities, the airline is making strides toward recruiting and advancing Black employees. Case studies by Linda Hill offer an inside look at how Delta CEO Ed Bastian is creating a more equitable company and a stronger talent pipeline.

• 26 Sep 2023

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Many companies want to bring a wider variety of lived experiences to their workforces. However, research by Summer Jackson shows how hiring managers' fears of seeming transactional can ultimately undermine their diversity goals.

• 21 Aug 2023

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Younger workers are rejecting the idea of sticking with one employer for the long haul and are instead finding happiness by job-hopping and creating dramatically different boundaries with work. In a new book, Christina M. Wallace maps out a step-by-step guide to building a flexible and fulfilling life that includes rest, relationships, and a rewarding career.

• 26 Jul 2023

STEM Needs More Women. Recruiters Often Keep Them Out

Tech companies and programs turn to recruiters to find top-notch candidates, but gender bias can creep in long before women even apply, according to research by Jacqueline Ng Lane and colleagues. She highlights several tactics to make the process more equitable.

• 18 Apr 2023

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

Recruiting new executive talent to revive portfolio companies has helped private equity funds outperform major stock indexes, says research by Paul Gompers. Why don't more public companies go beyond their senior executives when looking for top leaders?

• 31 Jan 2023

It’s Not All About Pay: College Grads Want Jobs That ‘Change the World’

Many college graduates will accept lower salaries for roles that have the potential to give back to society, says research by Letian Zhang. Could trading pay for altruism help shrink the income gap?

• 05 Dec 2022

5 Companies Where Employees Move Up the Ladder Fast

IBM, Southwest Airlines, and other companies proactively help workers advance their careers to try to retain them, says research by Joseph Fuller. The findings show just how important an employer can be to future salary and job prospects.

• 30 Nov 2022

Recruiters: Highlight Your Company’s Diversity, Not Just Perks and Pay

Many job seekers want to join inclusive companies that reflect their values. Research by Joseph Pacelli shows how employers can attract more talent by promoting the diversity of their workforce.

• 22 Apr 2022

Companies Can Expand Their Talent Pool by Giving Ex-Convicts a Second Chance

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• 05 Nov 2021

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• 08 Dec 2020

Why Companies Hunt for Talent on Digital Platforms, Not in Resume Piles

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• 17 Nov 2020

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The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion

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• 30 Jun 2019

The Comprehensive Effects of Sales Force Management: A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Selection, Compensation, and Training

When sales forces are well managed, firms can induce greater performance from them. For this study, the authors collaborated with a major multinational firm to develop and estimate a dynamic structural model of sales employee responses to various management instruments like compensation, training, and recruiting/termination policies.

Case Study: Improving Recruitment Processes – Part 1 of 2

Published: May 26, 2014 by Niraj Goyal

In this case study, a team strives to improve the recruiting process in a large, fast-moving consumer goods company. Part 1 focuses on reducing the recruiting cycle time. Part 2 focuses on decreasing the effort required to fill a job opening .

Rising attrition is a common problem across industries. Tight monthly, quarterly and annual objectives leave little room for error when it comes to having the required manpower being available consistently. Unwanted attrition results in two significant challenges for human resources (HR) teams. They must work to continuously:

• Decrease cycle time to fill a job opening.
• Decrease the effort required for a successful recruitment.

The case described here uses total quality management (TQM) to address these problems in a large, fast-moving consumer goods company in India. ( Note: The details of the process have been condensed and modified for the sake of confidentiality and easy of storytelling .)

A two-day quality awareness program introduced the cross-functional project team members to TQM (including just-in-time [JIT], total quality control [TQC] and total employee involvement [TEI]). Fortnightly meetings then started to address the problem at hand through the seven steps of problem solving:

• Define the problem
• Research the causes
• Generate countermeasure ideas
• Test and modify the ideas
• Implement ideas
• Standardize procedures
• Compile quality improvement story

The case study is described in two parts: 1) decreasing cycle time and 2) decreasing effort.

Step 1: Define the Problem

Following the recommend practice of TQM, the project team began by defining the beginning and end of the process – in this case, the start and finish of the recruitment process . The possible starting and end points are shown in Table 1 below.

After discussion the group agreed to take up the process between HR’s receiving an email to initiate recruitment (Point 2) and an offer being mailed to a candidate (Point 3). It was concluded that the events between Points 1 and 2 and then between Points 3 and 4 were not within the control of the project team.

To measure the current state ( problem = desired state – current state ) of cycle time data, an overview of past recruitments was pulled.

The team members agreed (after heated discussion) that they would be happy with the result if they could reduce the current state of A + 3σ of 219 days to 45 days – an aggressive 80 percent reduction target.

Steps 2 and 3: Research the Causes/Generate Countermeasure Ideas

In JIT problems, the process of improvement typically involves the following three steps:

• Draw current state process map .
• Apply JIT principles to generate countermeasure ideas.
• Draw proposed process map including both value added and non-value added (NVA) activities.

The current process steps from HR’s receipt of the initial request to fill a position through to the offer letter being accepted are shown in Table 2.

The key JIT countermeasure ideas to reduce cycle time are to:

• Reduce waiting time (typically 50 percent to 70 percent of cycle time) between finish of one activity and start of the next activity, and
• Eliminate NVA activities – activities that add time to the process but no value.

Step 4: Test and Modify the Ideas

The team first focused on reducing waiting time. In order to quantify the potential of reducing waiting time, a test was proposed: process one job opening with all members of the team being briefed to not let the activity wait at their desks and to record how much time it took to complete the relevant tasks. The results are detailed in Table 3 below.

The team was greatly enthused with the result of 33 overall process days when compared to the past average of 64 days and A + 3σ of 210 days. The team believed that the targeted reduction of 50 percent was achievable.

Next the team turned to reducing NVA activities and rework. Looking at the activities in the existing process revealed that not finding enough suitable candidates was a recurring problem. The effectiveness and breadth of the initial candidate search was enhanced to avoid rework. This led to the elimination of seven out of the 29 steps in Table 3. The now 22-step process is shown in Table 4.

The group was asked to estimate a fair time for each step with no undue delays. The revised process includes some waiting time when it comes to directly interacting with candidates, whose availability is an uncontrolled variable. The total of all times added up to eight working days and a reduction of 75 percent in cycle time. The drop from 33 days (shown in Table 3) to eight days pleasantly surprised the group.

Testing this idea was achieved by treating one recruitment as a special case and ensuring the minimum waiting time through the process. Team members recorded how long each step took to complete.

The test recruitment took 18 days compared to 33 days originally. Two further recruitment test cases took six days each.

Step 5: Implement Ideas

The process was implemented for all future recruitments. The cycle time for each recruitment was plotted in a graph shown below. The reductions in cycle time achieved in 25 recruitments are shown here.

Step 6: Standardize Procedures

The 22-step process shown in Table 4 was documented, and the staff were trained to adhere to the new recruitment process. Regular tracking of each recruitment was introduced to preempt slack from creeping back into the process. In addition, each recruitment’s cycle time was recorded and graphs were produced to monitor the results. Any delays were analyzed for root causes and addressed.

Step 7: Compile Quality Improvement Story

The quality improvement story was prepared and presented to the company’s management team.

About the Author

Niraj Goyal

making HR better, one HR pro at a time

13+ HR Case Studies: Recruiting, Learning, Analytics, and More

Reposting a piece from the blog over at Lighthouse Research because I know not all of you subscribe over there!

While much of the work we do at Lighthouse Research & Advisory focuses on quantitative research studies, we do a fair amount of qualitative research as well. We’ve collected case studies over time (and continue to) that highlight interesting approaches and examples of innovation within human capital management. The list below offers a wide variety of industries, examples, and flavors for you to learn from.

Want to see another topic or example not listed here? Comment below and and I will see what we can do to find that for you!

Wal-Mart, Automation, and Compassion Training

Walmart’s Fastest Growing Line of Business is Delivering Experiences

The Motley Fool: Blending Talent Management and Engagement

Motley Fool: The Coolest Talent Processes You’ve Never Heard Of

Chipotle: How Internal Mobility Reduced Turnover by 64%

Internal promotion-how Chipotle reduced turnover by 64%

Adtran: Using Hackathons for Employer Branding, Employee Development, and Retention

Using Hackathons for Branding and Retention

Stout Advisory: Performance Management, Peer Feedback, and Employee Engagement

How to Radically Change Your Performance Management Practice [Podcast]

H&R Block: Seasonal Hiring, Strategic Recruiting, and Hiring Manager Communications

Patagonia: measuring the roi of hr programs, hr strategy, employee perks and benefits.

Measuring the ROI of HR Programs is Critical: Here’s How Patagonia Does It

Hot Chicken Takeover: Employee Benefits, Corporate Culture, Leadership, and Social Responsibility

Can a Business Grow Competitively While Doing Social Good? [Podcast]

AlliedUniversal: Talent Acquisition, Employee Referrals, and High-Volume Hiring

How Does AlliedUniversal Hire 90,000 Workers a Year? Referrals and PURPOSE [Podcast]

Duie Pyle: Remote Worker Engagement, Blue Collar Challenges, and Competitive Recruiting

Talent Lessons from the Transportation Industry [Podcast]

Ohio Living: Core Values, Company Culture, and Employee Recognition

We’re Only Human 39: Ohio Living Serves 70,000 Clients Annually with Core Values

Cox Enterprises: HR Analytics, Business Impact, and Strategy

We’re Only Human 53: How to Partner with Your Talent Analytics Team

McDonald’s: Learning Measurement, Business Impact, and ROI

Southwest airlines: corporate culture, employee perks, and employee engagement.

We’re Only Human 40: How Southwest Airlines Lives and Breathes Corporate Culture

HJF: HR Technology Selection and Implementation, HR Leadership, and Modernization

We’re Only Human 55:The HR Leader’s First Year on the Job

Dr John Sullivan Talent Management Thought Leadership

Amazon recruiting – a case study of a giant among children.

January 17, 2022

Compare their results to all others, and you too will call Amazon… A Giant Recruiting Machine.

Note this case study is designed for quick scanning.

Yes, Amazon recruiting is in a class by themselves because they relentlessly hire when others cry for applicants. Of course, I don’t loosely use the phrase “A giant among children.” However, after doing numerous corporate case studies over the years covering other recruiting powerhouses (including Google, Apple, and Facebook). I quickly found that their record recruiting volumes across a broad range of jobs and locations could only be labeled as breathtaking. And just by chance, if you think that I’m not giving enough credit to most other corporate recruiting functions (even Google pales in comparison). You should realize that only a mere 18% of HR professionals even describe their own recruiting function as “top-notch” or “advanced.”

The Six Pillars Of Recruiting Excellence At Amazon

This Amazon case study reveals the many factors that cause Amazon’s recruiting function to be so far ahead of the competition. They are truly a giant because they excel in each of the six pillars of excellence in recruiting. The six pillars that make Amazon so successful are:

• Their recruiting impacts business results
• Their proven capability of handling huge recruiting volumes across a wide range 
• Their fanatical insistence on quality hires
• A scientific data-driven recruiting approach is the foundation of their success
• They utilize a one-size-fits-one agile hiring process 
• Their targeted recruiting sub-programs are second to none

Let’s jump immediately to the first and most important strategic pillar – Amazon’s record-breaking strategic business and recruiting results. 

Pillar #1. Amazon’s Recruiting Impacts Business Results

Amazon recruiting is aiming to go beyond simply producing recruiting results. And to also directly impact their corporation’s business results. Those results include:

• Hiring is the single most important element in Amazon’s business success – Jeff Bezos made it clear. “Setting the bar high in our approach to hiring has been, and will continue to be, the single most important element of Amazon.com’s success” (that’s not just the most important HR function, but the most important business function). Jeff began making this recruiting priority clear in the company’s very first annual shareholder letter in 1998. Most other corporations don’t admit this reality. But, it’s simply not possible for a large corporation to innovate and grow rapidly without fully funded exceptional recruiting. 
• Yet with all this emphasis, recruiting remains their primary challenge – The CFO recently publicly revealed that even with its current high priority, recruiting maintains a primary challenge. When he noted, for example, in the package movement area, “The availability of workers is Amazon’s primary challenge .” Rather than resting on their laurels, they realize that they continuously need to get much better is a primary reason they continue to improve in recruiting. 
• Amazon’s size and growth are made possible by its excellence in recruiting – the prime limiting factor that restricts the company from maintaining its quantum growth rate is the ability to successfully recruit a huge volume of employees each year. And because Amazon employs about 1.4 million people globally , they have already done a high recruiting volume. The employee headcount makes them the US’s second-largest private employer (after Walmart). I predict that they will soon surpass Walmart for the #1 spot as the largest employer in the US. I would also note that Amazon has helped to reduce unemployment. Because of the 400,000 people they hired for their U.S. operations network, 45% were previously unemployed. Their new CEO, Andy Jassy, reinforced the importance of continuous growth through recruiting by announcing that he was planning to hire 55,000 people for corporate and technology roles globally during his first months. That’s close to all of Facebook’s current headcount and nearly 1/3 of Google’s headcount.
• Recruiting has made a major contribution to its stock value – businesswise, their recruiting and operational excellence have directly contributed to the corporation’s incredibly high stock valuation. Currently, Amazon is the fifth most valuable global company in market cap valuation, nearly 1.65 Trillion dollars. 
• Recruiting has made a major contribution toward having an extremely productive workforce – the average revenue generated by each employee last year was $353,000, which is an amazing ROI. HR helped maintain that productivity by increasing management prerogatives by remaining a 100% union-free workforce. 

————————————————-

Pillar #2.  A proven capability for handling a huge volume of recruiting across a broad range of positions and locations

Amazon recruiting has proven over the years that it has the capability of recruiting a huge number of new hires across many different job families and locations.

• Recruiting volume and capability are second to none – the fact that during 2021 Amazon’s recruiting increased headcount by a whopping 63%  in a single year. The largest percentage increase in headcount ever accomplished by any large employer during peacetime! This is but one startling indication of recruiting’s agility and capability to ramp up their recruiting capability dramatically. Amazon, of course, must have an exceptional recruiting capability because it is America’s second-largest employer (and I predict that it will soon surpass Walmart). The workload handled by their recruiting function is unparalleled because it has as many as 30,000 openings at a single time.
• Powerful Employer Brand means that everyone considers them – it is clear that because of its HR work, Amazon is recognized as an excellent place to work. And its rankings, notoriety, and exposure are major contributors to its recruiting success. Some of their notable recognitions include:
•  This year, LinkedIn’s top US employer ranking – Amazon ranked by the prestigious professional network LinkedIn as the #1 company where Americans want to work and develop their careers. 
• A global best employer also – this year and a ranking of global employers, Amazon was ranked #2 on the “World’s Best Employers” list by Forbes. 
• Fortune’s world’s most admired companies – this year, Amazon was ranked #2 on Fortune’s prestigious “World’s Most Admired Companies” list for the fifth year in a row. (After Apple). 
• BCG’s most innovative firms – this year, the Boston Consulting Group rated Amazon #3 on their “most innovative firms” list (after Apple and Alphabet). 
• Amazon is the best at attracting a record-breaking volume of applicants – as previously noted. In 2020 Amazon received a record-shattering 30 million applications , an all-time record. But it is especially impressive because it occurred when almost every major corporation and business struggled to get even a few applications for each job. The attractiveness of Amazon is illustrated by the fact that they received a breathtaking “ 1 Million Job Applications (in 1 day) ” as part of their 2021 annual Career Day event.
• Amazon has the capability of recruiting over an amazing range of jobs – companies like Google and Facebook have an easy recruiting job because they recruit mostly engineers. In comparison, Amazon must have the capability of recruiting everything from AI experts, pilots, book specialists, entertainment specialists, and cloud experts down to package handlers. In fact, Amazon can recruit across five extremely diverse business units (Amazon.com, AWS, Alexa, Whole Foods Market, and Amazon Prime) and 32 distinct technical groups. Their new Project Kuiper will even require them to hire rocket scientists as they attempt to launch satellites into orbit to widen their broadband access. In my view, their recruiting leaders deserve major kudos for developing their recruiting capability in so many completely different skill areas. And because they are a technology company, they rely heavily on technology throughout their recruiting function. 
• Amazon’s recruiting capability is truly global – because it is a worldwide e-commerce company, Amazon operates and recruits in 13 countries. In the US alone, it operates more than 930 facilities (including two headquarters locations). And last year, it received job applications from 170 different countries.

Pillar # 3. Fanatical Insistence On Quality Hires

Their third and most important pillar of recruiting excellence is their fanatical insistence on only hiring quality candidates. In comparison, few corporations spend the time defining and measuring the quality of hire (i.e., top-performing new hire). And only 36% even attempt to measure the quality of hire . Amazon ensures that they will get those quality hires using seven unique recruiting approaches. They include:

• Their goal is to be the “Earth’s Best Employer” – yes, Jeff Bezos’ stated, and only a little bit outrageous, goal is to make Amazon “ the world’s best employer . However, in my experience, it is a goal that they have already met. Executives, managers, HR professionals, and recruiters work together to reach it. In their words, they reach that goal because  “Their leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher-performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: “Are my fellow employees growing?” “Are they empowered?” “Are they ready for what’s next?” “Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.”
• The Bezos approach to hiring is laser-focused on quality – their hiring managers and the recruiting function’s insistence on quality has remained solid throughout the years. I find that this fanatical insistence on quality is in direct contrast to the approach taken by most hiring managers at other corporations. During this candidate shortage, managers have been allowed in desperation “to fill butts in chairs.”

Amazon’s #1 advocate of hiring only quality employees is Jeff Bezos. He has shown his expectations in many often-repeated quotes, statements, and expectations. Including: 

• “It would be impossible to produce results in an environment as dynamic as the Internet without extraordinary people… Setting the bar high in our approach to hiring has been and will continue to be the single most important element of Amazon.com’s success.”
•  “If you can’t hire quality, don’t hire at all.” “I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.”
• “Don’t “settle for second best” when hiring. Instead, “Do what it takes to find the best people available.”
• “Every time we hire someone, he or she should raise the bar for the next hire so that the overall talent pool was always improving.” Bezos “ doesn’t care about an efficient hiring process .” “And he certainly “Doesn’t believe in making a hire, simply for the sake of filling an open role.”
• At Amazon, raising the bar means answering three questions for each candidate. First, “Will this person raise the average level of effectiveness of the group they’re entering?” Next, it asks, “Will you admire this person?” And last, it asks, “In what important area might this person be a superstar?” (In cases where they should be placed in a different job than they applied for). 
• Amazon utilizes “bar raisers” as its primary way to ensure quality – a key Amazon expectation for leaders – “Is to raise the Amazon’s use of “ bar raisers .” They get that name because their sole role is to ensure that each new hire will “raise the bar over the last incumbent” in each open job. The work during the interview process is to provide outside and neutral candidate assessments. To prevent a candidate from focusing on these individuals, they are anonymous to the candidate. These quality control individuals are from outside the team that is doing the hiring. And as a result, they are more likely to be critical because they don’t face the same “pressures to immediately fill the job” that hiring managers and teammates do. With this volunteer role, they accept the responsibility to literally “veto” any candidate they feel will not be a good fit for Amazon. Amazon’s new hires are quality employees because Amazon promoted more than 68,000 employees globally during 2020.
• Hiring is a unanimous team decision – a second method for ensuring that they only hire a quality candidate requires a unanimous team decision. One prominent former Amazon executive noted that Bezos “ Believes hiring should not only be a team effort. It should be a team decision.” So in most cases, “After final interviews, each member of the hiring team meets in a room to share their opinions on each candidate. And after a discussion, a vote takes place, and the results have to be unanimous for the person to be hired.” A single “no” vote would mean that the team will have to go back and search again for the ideal employee. 
• Amazon’s “unregretted turnover metric” helps fix hiring errors – Amazon assigns an “unregretted turnover metric” to its managers. It serves as an imperfect post-hire check on weak performing employees that somehow made it through their hiring process. This after-hiring double-check mirrors the approach that General Electric had under Jack Welch. Under this “regrettable turnover metric,” Managers at Amazon have a target rate for annual employee turnover. This means they are expected to lose a specified number of employees that they “ wouldn’t regret losing ” (i.e., below-average performing employees). Although this practice may appear harsh on the surface, it forces hiring managers to reassess each new hire periodically. 
• Paying employees to quit – this “Pay Employees to Quit” approach is a second post-hiring check on quality under this program (borrowed from Zappos). Amazon proactively offers incentives to unhappy recent hires during their first five years. The goal is to force unhappy recent hires to take a minute once each year to decide if they “really want to stay.” Based on the premise that keeping workers unsure of their commitment to Amazon will harm both the customers and the team. So if a worker decides that they don’t want to be here, they can get between $1000 and $5000 for walking away.
• Finally, improve new-hire quality by assessing candidates on Amazon’s leadership principles – one of the primary ways Amazon maintains quality hiring and fit. By assessing every candidate on Amazon’s published “leadership principles.” So each candidate at Amazon is expected to know and commit to following them ( these principles are posted on their jobs website ). As a result, everyone involved in hiring is expected to assess every candidate’s knowledge and commitment to these principles. At least 3 of these 15 principles relate directly to recruiting. Those three principles are below:
• Hire and develop the best – leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take their role in coaching others seriously. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.
• Insist on the highest standards – leaders have relentlessly high standards. Many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders continually raise the bar and drive their teams to deliver high-quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed, so they stay fixed.
• Deliver results – leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle. 

If you’re interested in the 12 remaining leadership principles, click here . The remainder mostly focuses on key workforce capabilities, including customer obsession, innovation, learning, and ownership of problems.

Pillar #4. A scientific data-driven approach is the foundation for their success

During my assessment, I found that a primary reason why Amazon recruiting excels in so many different areas is that it operates under the umbrella of one of the most strategic HR functions. Their HR function is guided by 7 HR tenets , which are the guidelines that every HR function follows to “Maintain a Culture of Builders and Innovators. In my experience, shifting to a data-driven approach is required to maintain a culture in a large organization. Fortunately, Amazon is one of only a handful of HR functions (along with Google, Sodexo, and Nestlé Purina) that already makes decisions based on data and results metrics. Find that HR tenet in the box below. 

Every strategic recruiting function should know and follow three additional Amazon HR and leadership tenets. They are:

• Recruiting must focus on directly impacting business results – because BCG research revealed that “ recruiting has the highest impact on business results .” Therefore, it makes sense to follow and adhere to their HR tenet “We manage HR as a business.” Acting like a business starts with, rather than simply “aligning with business goals,” recruiting leaders purposely set recruiting goals and manage recruiting actions and resources to produce the maximum direct and measurable impact on business results. The next step is to reduce recruiting approaches that can’t demonstrate their business impact. And the final step is to convert recruiting problems and results into their dollar impact on corporate revenue (e.g., our recruiting efforts on sales jobs allowed us to maintain $232.5 million in sales revenue). Reporting recruiting results in dollars of revenue impact allow executives to quickly compare your dollar impacts to those from other HR and business functions.
• You must assume continuous obsolescence along with rapid learning – you should also follow another of Amazon’s HR tenets. Which is “Learn and Be Curious.” Because in an unpredictable world, you simply can’t prepare for most things. The secret to thriving is rapid continuous learning immediately as new problems and opportunities arrive. So the first step in a recruiting world where everything changes should be operating under the assumption that every current thing in recruiting will soon become obsolete. And, of course, you won’t be able to detect that obsolescence without collecting and applying performance data. Next, you must also continually be looking for a replacement for every current recruiting approach and tool. And that can only be accomplished by continuously learning about evolving business and recruiting approaches at other advanced companies. To identify the ones that might be applied to your recruiting situation. And finally, you won’t be able to determine if your new solutions are superior without following the tenet hypothesis testing covered in the next bullet point. 
• The utilization of hypothesis testing and experimentation – perhaps the most prominent difference between traditional and scientific recruiting is an insistence on hypothesis testing to discover what works and what doesn’t. The HR tenet is “ We form hypotheses about the best talent acquisition, talent retention, and talent development techniques and then set out to prove or disprove them with experiments and careful data collection.” For example, a split-sample experiment could prove or disprove the hypothesis that “Diverse interviewers select more diverse candidates” (They don’t). Google HR has also long been a supporter of hypothesis testing. An outrageous example of Amazon’s hypothesis testing occurred when their AWS group experimented by placing a job ad on the Tinder dating site.

Amazon Recruiting – A Case Study Of A Giant Among Children (Part 2 of 2 parts)

Today, every manager needs to learn great recruiting… and to find it, they need only follow Amazon!

The title of this case study includes the phrase “A Giant Among Children.” That’s just how large I found the differential between Amazon’s recruiting and the recruiting practices at most corporations. And if you take the time to read this case study, I am sure that you will agree with the sharp assessment. Of course, many managers already justifiably study Amazon because of its excellence in well-known areas, including customer service, supply chain, and cloud computing. However, most don’t realize that Amazon can only excel in so many divergent business areas because it is “a recruiting machine .” It recruits effortlessly even during our current talent shortage when most others starved for applicants. This case study is designed to show you their best practices and what makes them “a recruiting giant among children.” 

Pillar #5. Amazon’s amazing array of targeted recruiting programs

In my view, the most surprising of all of Amazon’s 6 pillars of excellence is their willingness to develop and offer numerous individual recruiting and career transition programs that are “customized” to the needs of distinct groups of candidates and employees. Targeting subprograms is essential because different groups are attracted and motivated by different offerings. At Amazon, they specifically target a wide array of people, including diverse women, veterans, the elderly, and those that need internal movement or an upward push. Unfortunately, space limitations prevent me from highlighting all of the amazing, targeted programs in operation at Amazon. However, you will find a representative sample of 14 of their exceptional targeted recruiting programs below. The programs that likely have the largest impact appear first on the list.

• The Returnship program helps the unemployed reenter the workforce – The Returnship is a reentry program designed to help the underemployed and those who have been out of the workforce for at least a year (usually due to unemployment, children staying at home, or Covid concerns). This program aims to provide this target group with a rare opportunity to restart their careers by joining Amazon. At the beginning of the program, “returners” work on a specific project. And after four months, they have earned the possibility to move into full-time positions at Amazon. During those four months, participants work remotely from home. If they need it, they provide child and elder care assistance. So they can ease back into the workforce without making any major life changes while they are in this program. And when they accept a permanent role, Amazon will also pay for their relocation if needed. Since their Returnship pilot initiative in January of 2021, Amazon reports that the program has enrolled more than 60 people, and 95% of them received an offer for a full-time role at Amazon. In the future, Amazon has stated that they plan to hire 1,000 professionals into the program during the coming years in roles ranging from finance to engineering.
• The Best Fit Program makes it easier for software engineers to find their perfect job – this best fit program is an accelerated job identification program. Designed specifically to help software engineers that are applying find their perfect job fit among all relevant Amazon jobs. This program helps make their job search at Amazon quicker and more accurate. Those in the program can avoid putting in the traditional multiple hours of searching for their right job. It allows these software engineers to apply once and then be automatically considered for thousands of relevant jobs across the company. A combination of electronic and human matching approaches finds the jobs that fit their preferences during the first step. For their ideal kind of team and their desired working style. But the program will still recommend jobs in new areas in which Amazon thinks they would also be successful. During the last part of the process, applicants get to meet all of the hiring managers for each of the recommended jobs. And finally, they get to choose their first job at Amazon.
• The Career Choice Program supports employees who want a college degree – support for getting a college degree or GED is a major attraction factor. One of the goals of this Career Choice educational opportunity program is to help lower-level Amazon employees transition into more lucrative paying and high-demand fields (and perhaps even leaving Amazon). For eligible employees, Amazon will now pay 100% of its employee’s college tuition and fees for earning a diploma or certificate in a qualified field of study at eligible schools. Recently the program has been updated to allow more flexibility.
• The UX Apprenticeship – It encourages development in research and design – Amazon’s User Experience Design and Research Apprenticeship program provide a combination of instructor-led training and real-world experience in a one-year program. It offers employees the opportunity to learn and develop research and design skills on Amazon teams, including Prime Video, Alexa, AWS, and Amazon Fashion. Apprenticeship graduates can move into jobs that help improve the experience of Amazon customers, from making payments easier on Amazon sites to designing features that make devices more accessible.
• Surge2IT – Proactively encourages career advancement in IT – their Surge2IT program is another career transition program designed to help entry-level IT employees across Amazon’s operations network. It focuses on IT employees who don’t possess a software development degree. After completing this program, they can become software development engineers after about nine months. This program allows lower-level IT employees to pursue careers in higher-paying technical roles through this self-paced learning resource. The course helps employees develop the skills necessary to advance their careers in the information technology field. Participants who complete this course and move up at Amazon can make up to an additional $10,000 a year.
• The Amazon Technical Academy makes you a software developer in nine months – this career transition program requires nothing more than an interest in software development. It started as an experiment, and since then, it has successfully enrolled hundreds of employees. Amazon Technical Academy builds on their initial interest by training them in the essential skills needed to transition to an entry-level software developer engineer role at Amazon. The program is free for their employees. And it requires a high school diploma or GED. And the fortitude to get through a rigorous nine-month, full-time program that expert Amazon software engineers created.
• The Mechatronics program prepares employees for robot maintenance jobs – under this career transition program in robotic repair . It is designed for employees interested in learning engineering and mechanical skills necessary to repair and maintain the equipment and robots inside Amazon facilities. Those that are accepted get the opportunity to go back to school for a free 12-week course. After that, employees begin a year of on-the-job learning under a technical maintenance specialist. After completing this final step, employees who now have these highly sought-after skills are eligible for a full-time role as a mechatronics and robotics technician, which may increase their paycheck by up to 40%.
• Project Juno – aids in relocating current employees – this internal movement program helps out when a current employee must relocate. After they have decided that they must move, this Amazon job finding process electronically finds the relocating employee the same or a similar job available at the Amazon facility in their new city.
• CamperForce – This Program offers jobs to traveling seasonal workers – CamperForce offers jobs for those who travel in RVs and work along the way. They are known as Work Campers. And because Amazon especially needs people to work in its warehouses during the holidays. They now encourage and hire seasonal help that live in a trailer or RV. In addition to welcoming them, Amazon pays them a small monthly stipend to live in their own trailer at an RV facility close to an Amazon warehouse site where they will work.
• The Military Spouses Program –  provides jobs for military spouses – the goal is to find jobs for the spouses of Amazon’s 45,000 veteran and military employees. Designed to find military spouses an appropriate job at Amazon. Either for the first time or when he or she must relocate along with their military spouse. In addition, Amazon recently pledged to hire over 100,000 U.S. veterans and military spouses by 2024, further building on their commitment to military families. 
• Amazon Warriors – provides support for transitioning veterans – this veterans support program is designed to help recent veterans transition into Amazon’s workforce. It helps by offering a professional network of Amazon employees that are veterans. It also provides a mechanism for community outreach.
• People with disabilities – They have their own targeted website – Amazon offers a targeted site specifically to meet the needs of applicants with disabilities. The site also educates them on how to take the best advantage of what Amazon has to offer applicants and employees with disabilities.
• Amazon hires felons – Amazon has no blanket policy against hiring felons. In fact, they are open to hiring them into seasonal jobs. Depending on the type of felony, time since they fulfilled their sentence, and the corrective actions completed, however, after successfully completing that initial assignment and based on their performance. The felon may then be considered for a more permanent position. 
• Amazon employee referrals – like most large corporations, Amazon has a formal referral program. Unfortunately, I only rate it as a little better-than-average because only 11% of those interviewed are employee referrals . And they pay a range of bonuses up to $5000 for a referral that is hired .

Pillar #6. Unique elements in their “one-size-fits-one” agile hiring process

I have discovered 7 unique hiring process elements that contribute to making Amazon’s hiring process highly agile, flexible, and adaptable. These seldom found elsewhere elements make it possible for their hiring process to adapt to the recruiting needs of every Amazon business unit and location. Those unique elements include:

• By design, their hiring process flexes to fit every unique job – they hire in so many global locations and across so many jobs from pilot to janitor. Their candidate assessment process must be modifiable to fit the unique assessment requirements for each job family. We call this capability “one-size-fits-all one.” Of course, the hiring process includes the basic elements for all jobs, including the standard ATS/recruiter resume screen, a phone screen, and at least one structured remote or live behavioral interview. Some portion of that interview will be devoted to assessing the candidate’s understanding of Amazon’s culture through its leadership principles .  However, the interviews will likely last all day for most professional jobs. Often it will include an online test and a verbally presented work sample or problem to complete. The candidate may also be asked to write up an idea in a press release format (because that’s the way ideas are presented at Amazon). Or, developers may be required to participate in a virtual or in-person interactive whiteboard exercise for developer jobs where they have the candidate walk them through the steps they would take to solve a current software problem. In the end, the team will always make the final hiring decision, and the “bar raiser” gatekeeper will have the option of vetoing that choice.
• To increase innovation, Amazon specifically targets problem-solving skills – one thing that is common across all business units at Amazon is the need for innovation. And as a result, Amazon targets candidates that thrive at solving a never-ending queue of complex problems. They consider a spirit of innovation part of their DNA at Amazon. They clearly state upfront that they are looking for “analytical and critical thinkers with great judgment, who can both think big and roll up their sleeves to solve hard problems on behalf of our customers.” 
• Amazon increases its applications by removing the mystery from its hiring process – many firms talk about their “candidate experience.” However, I have found that applying for a job at most firms is a long way from being user-friendly. We know this because the number one complaint from applicants is almost always that the hiring process that they are about to face “is a complete mystery.” Amazon, instead, leads the way ( along with J&J ) in removing the mystery out of what the candidate can expect during their hiring process. They offer an extensive array of numerous free resources that guide applicants ( our hiring process website ) to meet this goal. It highlights what any candidate can expect from the day they apply until they begin work. In addition, they also offer suggestions on the best interviewing practices for its candidates to follow on its YouTube channel and its LinkedIn feed . They also make it clear that serious candidates must study the company’s leadership principles mentioned earlier. Finally, they help applicants understand the different teams they can work in. By providing them with a list of the 32 possible teams , a description of what they do, and how many open jobs are currently open in each team. They even have a “best-fit program” that uses artificial intelligence to help software engineers find their perfect job within Amazon.
• Amazon holds a national Career Day event like no other – many firms, including McDonald’s and Walmart, hold “national hiring days.” However, I find that they pale in comparison to Amazon’s. They call their unique Career Day “America’s biggest training and recruiting event.” It actually is unique because it goes well beyond the typical job fair. In addition to displaying open jobs, it offers remote personalized career coaching sessions and even some tactical training. It further provides candid advice on how job seekers can start, build, or transition their careers at Amazon. Last year, they received 1 million applications for their Career Day event.
• Amazon relies heavily on seasonal workers as a talent pipeline source – research has shown that often the new hire has the highest probability of success. Someone that has recently successfully served as a temp, intern, or contractor at the organization. Amazon takes advantage of this high-quality source by hiring well over 100k seasonal workers each year. In addition to filling their seasonal need, the seasonal workforce serves as an effective screening process for determining which seasonal workers should be offered a full-time job. It also gives the worker a chance to determine if they really want to work at Amazon.
• They use FC brand ambassadors to improve their brand proactively – I’ve never seen this done before. But, to counter the massive amounts of negative Twitter messaging found about working at their warehouses. Amazon has asked long-term employees at its fulfillment centers to act as brand ambassadors in an extraordinary move to improve their online employment branding. They don’t get extra pay, but they get $50 gift cards as a small reward for tweeting positive things about working in their warehouses.
• A shift in emphasis to remote and broader college recruiting – makes college recruiting more effective, diverse, and remote. Amazon is curtailing some campus visits and heavily emphasizing virtual student meetings. It has also broadened its reach to many more campuses to get added diversity to the point where for example, last year, it extended offers to students from 80 M.B.A. programs (instead of exclusively going to a few elite schools).

Amazon Utilizes Data To Identify The Most Powerful Attraction Factors

Rather than assuming that applicant attraction factors stay the same in a fast-changing world. A critical part of Amazon’s highly agile and adaptable recruiting process is continually gathering data to update “the most effective attraction factors” for their targeted potential applicants. Here are 8 examples of how they identify the attraction factors and the current ones.

• They start by using data to identify the most current attraction factors – most corporations simply guess at them or assume that they are the same as last year. In comparison, Amazon uses data to identify its current attraction factors. At Amazon, these attraction factors currently fit into four categories. Each of the four is emphasized on their main career website . The four primary attraction categories include benefits , career advancement , work/life balance, and culture . As part of their data-driven approach, they continually survey new hires to determine the general and the specific factors that actually attracted them to Amazon. And last year, 93% of their new hires cited Amazon’s Career Skills and Upskilling training program s as their top attraction factor. As a follow-up, Amazon is investing $700 million in upskilling 100,000 employees in the U.S. by 2025.
• They proactively encourage work/life balance – although some may argue about their level of success. Amazon boldly lists work/life balance as one of its four primary attraction categories. And on its work/life balance website , it describes how Amazon strives to help its employees reach that balance.
• Amazon is acting to reduce applicant health and injury concerns – during the pandemic. Amazon has focused on reducing Covid risks and workplace injuries as roadblocks that reduce potential warehouse applicants. So in that light, Amazon is currently developing a new automated staff schedule process. It reduces the risk of injury by utilizing computer algorithms to rotate employees between jobs when completed. A more frequent rotation is needed because their data reveals that roughly 40% of their work-related fulfillment center injuries are due to sprains and strains caused by repetitive motions. 
• Higher base pay – Amazon was one of the first companies to realize that they needed to raise employee pay and its hourly jobs in a tight U.S. job market. So Amazon’s average starting wage is now over $18 per hour, with an additional $3 depending on their shift.
• Sign-on bonuses – like many companies, Amazon has begun offering significant sign-on bonuses at some of their fulfillment centers (up to $4000).
• Being dog friendly is surprisingly an attraction factor – in work areas where it is safe. Amazon is one of the few companies that actively encourage dogs in the office. And because of their efforts, Amazon was listed as the #1 dog-friendly company in the US by Rover.com . Their leadership has noted that “Amazon has found that dogs in the office actually contribute to their collaborative company culture.” 
• They stopped testing applicants for cannabis –   in many states recreational or medical cannabis use is now legal. Amazon has been a leader in announcing that it will no longer screen finalist candidates for marijuana use. In part because this testing was unnecessarily reducing their candidate pool. But Amazon went one step further. It alerted its independent delivery service partners that if they too stopped testing for marijuana during their application process and prominently advertised that fact. They could boost their own business’s job applications by up to 400%.
• They offer anytime pay – this last attraction factor may not seem like much. However, it has proved to be an attraction factor for the many hourly workers that live paycheck to paycheck. Amazon’s free fast pay program offers the option, in some jobs, for eligible employees to receive 70% of their eligible earned pay whenever they choose (24×7).

Of course, Amazon is working on its weak points

Amazon is still far from perfect in areas other than recruiting despite all its efforts. Despite its ranking by LinkedIn as the #1 employer. They still receive relentless criticism because of their corporation’s size, speed of innovation, impact on small businesses, their percentage of diversity, and the waste they produce. Even some innovators criticize them for excessively keeping some innovative projects secret from other internal teams (just like Apple). 

In management, they have also received volumes of criticism, especially because of their anti-union stance and their common practice of continually replacing “human jobs” with robots. The media revealed that they once selected which workers to release using an algorithm, and they subsequently fired them via email. Its managers have been criticized for not telling their employees when placed under a performance management plan. They are also well-known for their fast-paced work environment that some argue can lead to excess injuries and employee burnout. And as a result of that work stress, in some cases, they have had to pay “show up bonuses” to reduce their sometimes-rampant warehouse absenteeism. Finally, as most great firms do, they have a relatively high employee turnover rate. This can be partly explained because they are constantly under attack by their competitor’s recruiters, who are logically targeting their exceptional talent. 

Final Thoughts

Today when I am asked by those beginning their career where they should work, I, without hesitation, say Amazon. It is primarily an innovation machine that dominates in so many different product areas and across so many industries. In the same light, if you are a recruiting leader, your goal is to lead your industry in recruiting and HR eventually. It’s time to realize that you must focus your best practice research exclusively on Amazon. You can learn so much so fast (Note: the previous recruiting leader, Google, has lost its luster since Laszlo left).

If you’re interested in past case studies by Dr. Sullivan 

The initial landing pages for Dr. Sullivan’s previous case studies on Google, Apple, and Facebook can be found on his www.drjohnsullivan.com website by clicking here . You can go directly to the introductory part of his four-part Apple case study by clicking here . The first part of his Google recruiting case study can be found here . Part 1 of his Facebook case study can be found here .

Author’s Note  

• Please share these best practices by sending this case study to your team and network or sharing it on social media. 
• Next, if you don’t already subscribe to Dr. Sullivan’s weekly Talent Newsletter, you can do that here .
• Also, join the well over 11,000 that have followed or connected with Dr. Sullivan’s community on LinkedIn . 

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Home » Management Case Studies » Case Study: Google’s Recruitment and Selection Process

Case Study: Google’s Recruitment and Selection Process

Google Inc., the world’s largest and most popular search engine company, is also one of the most sought after companies in the world. Due to the popularity of the company caused by its highly attractive compensation and benefits packages for its employees, millions of job applications are constantly received by Google on an annual basis. While other companies envy Google for attracting and acquiring such highly-talented and highly-skilled individuals from all over the world, the company finds it as a serious cause of dilemma.

When Google Inc. topped the ranks for the most popular companies in the world , it could no longer contain the number of applications it receives from thousands of job hunters from all over the globe. And since the company aims to hire only the best employees that fit the organizational culture and standards of Google , the company started thinking of ways to better improve its recruitment and selection process for its would-be employees.

In an article released in New York Times in 2007, Google Inc shared its non-traditional, highly creative and unconventional approach of selecting and hiring employees. Initially, the Google management sought the aid of its highly-competent and well-skilled technical staff in order to find ways to quickly go through and review the millions of applications it stored in its recruitment database.

The Google Inc management also decided to focus on the distinct behavioral characteristics and personality that separates Google employees from any other employees in other known companies. It shifted its focus from academic qualifications and technical experiences to the applicant’s personality , creativity , leadership capacities , innovative and non-conventional ways of thinking and the applicant’s overall exposure to the world. The academic qualifications and the intensive job experience just came in as second priorities of the company in choosing the best candidates for any open positions.

Since then, the Google Inc company not only became known for its outstanding and “luxurious” job compensation and benefits packages it offers its employees, but also in making use of some of the most powerful recruitment assessment tools capable of picking the best employees in the world that fit the standards set by Google.

The Google Recruitment Process

One of the most notable statements of Eric Schmidt , the CEO of Google Inc. is that “Google invests in people.” The main reason why people from different cultures, have been dreaming of being recruited and hired by Google is that the company offers possibly the most outstanding job compensation packages any normal employee could ever enjoy.

In order to attract the best employees, Google draws them by the promise of wealth and luxury, providing their employees with almost everything an employee could possibly need, from absurdly high compensations to extravagant and luxurious benefits like gourmet food, carwash, gym, snacks, exercise classes, dry cleaning services, car services, haircuts, oil changes, massages, checkups and many more, all for free.

Nevertheless, the recruitment process was also far beyond ordinary. Several people who have had experience in the Google recruitment process narrates that the experience was totally nerve-wracking. One applicant who underwent interviews for Google has had five to seven interviews in one day for two to three straight days. That applicant claims that the interviews were really tough with some of the brightest people in the world, conducting the interviews filled with brain teasers, algorithmic problems, and IQ tests.

Another applicant who also have had experiences in the recruitment process of Google claims that his Google experience was one of the most nerve-wracking adventures of his life. The interviewers were looking for extremely bright individuals and so the recruitment method was filled with IQ tests, brain teasers, algorithms, data structures, and a lot of mathematics involved in it.

The Google Selection Process

Google is no doubt the world’s best recruitment leader. Google is known for various unique approaches that it has utilized in order to attract the cream of the crop or the best of the bests. One way is through employment branding. Google has so successfully utilized their brand in order to attract the most talented and highly-competent individuals in the world. Because of their claim of providing the best employee-employer experience supported by the many perks, benefits and high salaries that Google employees get to enjoy, Google became the most desired companies for men and women in the world.

While the work and job responsibilities in Google are not that easy, the stock options benefit is one of the key drivers of retention and continuous acquisition of the best employees for this company. In 2007, employee turn-over at Google was reportedly less than 5% which was simply phenomenal. People didn’t want to leave the company because the amazing provisions and benefits that the company offers its employees. Moreover, the creative approaches of Google when it comes to hiring and retaining employees were simply exceptional. Employees claim that money was never an issue for Google in terms of utilizing it to take care of its employees.

One notable recruitment technique that Google utilized in 2006 was the targeted and unobtrusive approach to sending recruitment messages. Google crafted a simple technique to recruit the best students in certain schools and universities to work for them. They allowed people from these schools to access the search portal of Google wherein the students’ IP address would be identified to see from what organization the person belongs into. The technique was successfully executed using a minimalist and unobtrusive style of recruitment wherein below the search box, the Google system would know whether the targeted student is graduating or not and whether or not they intend to work for Google after graduation. The approach was definitely a successful micro-targeted approach. It was also in the same year when Google opened up to the idea of an Employee Referral Program. In putting up this program, Google made sure that it would deliver them a world-class employee whose personality, qualifications and work ethics reflect the Google standards.

A year passed by and Google’s attempts for recruitment innovations continued to improve. In 2007, Google developed a simple and effective assessment tool to screen its millions of applicants all over the world via an algorithm assessment tool. The algorithm technique effectively separated the top and the best performers from thousands of candidates vying for a position. Moreover, the assessment tool was made sure to successfully predict the best possible candidates from the least and the average and has managed to resolve the issue on the usual assessment tools being used by most companies, relying mainly on the academic qualifications and intensive industry and job experience.

Truly, what separates the Google recruitment process from the typical and the usual recruitment methodologies that other companies employ is its ability to accurately identify the best candidates for the position using a more data-based and scientific approach to the recruitment process. Also, it has significantly reduced the reliability of interviews, which for most companies, serves as the final indicator of how well an employee will perform at work. Furthermore, the algorithm approach which is a common business model that the company employs was effectively used to assess whether potential candidates can indeed perform given the high performance standards of Google.

The secret to be selected as a Google employee is that one has to think a lot like an “engineer”. Apparently, Google expects their employees to be highly quantitative and highly analytical as well as highly capable of dealing with too many data all at the same time. During the interviews, an applicant must also be able to demonstrate his skill or capacity by writing codes, intelligently analyzing case studies and brain teasers and solving algorithmic problems on the spot. Also, Google is searching for applicants who are highly practical and are capable of making something out of nothing that people can make use of.

The Google Interview Process

Since Google is known to be the ultimate recruitment and selection machine, its interview processes are also the most grueling experiences an applicant could ever have. Usually, the interviews begin using the telephone. Once the phone interviews conducted have been successful, the applicant would be scheduled by the recruitment officer and be invited for a series of five to ten interviews in one day with ten different people. For some people who have successfully undergone this process, they described it as the most excruciating employment experience of their lives as a lot of mental gymnastics were necessary to prove your skills.

There were many instances when the applicants were asked to write codes, brain storm, role play or solve mathematical equations on the spot just to prove that they are highly-skilled and competent. In other instances, the applicants are even tested of their marketing skills even though the position an applicant is applying for is highly technical. The interviewers seem to have control and power over the applicants letting them do everything just to prove that they are worthy for the position. Common questions involved computer network problems, Java programming and algorithms by which Google is known for.

Moreover, other applicants can rate and share comments on another applicant which Google can track and use as another basis for hiring or not hiring an applicant. Overall, the process was a lengthy, tedious and nerve-wracking experience which can possibly traumatize anyone whose dream is to work for one of the most prestigious companies in the world. Nevertheless, the perks and benefits are limitless and are more than enough to compensate for such a tough employment experience.

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Evaluation of online job portals for HR recruitment selection using AHP in two wheeler automotive industry: a case study

• ORIGINAL ARTICLE
• Published: 12 May 2024

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• S. M. Vadivel   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5287-3693 1 &
• Rohan Sunny   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0002-2347-3081 2  

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Automotive companies are booming worldwide in the economy. In order to sustain in the highly competitive world, every organization tries to create itself a trademark in the market. In our research, we looked at how two wheelers automotive company's selection enhances an organizational performance, which ensures the company's future growth. In today's fast-paced, globally integrated world, human resources are one of the most important production variables. It is critical to preserve and improve economic competitiveness by properly selecting and developing these resources. The main aim of this study is to identify the best online job portal website for recruitment at Two Wheeler Company and to suggest an HR strategy which resonates company’s values and culture. In this study, we have selected 6 criteria and 6 online popular job portals for recruitment with a sample of 15 candidates have been selected. Findings reveal that, AHP method has significant results on the selection of best employer, which helps HR Manager to finalize the decision making process/strategies. Towards the managerial implications section, the researcher aims to design an functional and effective HR strategy that can grasp, engage and retain the top talent in the organization.

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Abbreviations

Analytic hierarchy process

Artificial intelligence

Analysis of variance

Chief Human Resources Officer

Consistency index

Curriculum vitae

Consistency ratio

Decision making

Faculty Development Programme

Hierarchical linear modelling

Human resources

Research and Development

Randomized index

Structural equation modelling

Search engine optimization

Triple bottom line

Technique for order preference by similarity

Maximum Eigen value

The normalized value of ith criterion for the jth alternative

The normalized value of jth criterion for the ith alternative

The number of alternatives for a certain MCDM problem

The number of criteria for a certain MCDM problem

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to two wheeler Automotive Industries in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, for their invaluable assistance and cooperation. We greatly acknowledge Ms. Ruchi Mishra, Research scholar from NIT Karnataka, for editing this manuscript in better form.

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Vadivel, S.M., Sunny, R. Evaluation of online job portals for HR recruitment selection using AHP in two wheeler automotive industry: a case study. Int J Syst Assur Eng Manag (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13198-024-02358-z

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9 Steps to Creating an Effective Recruitment Marketing Strategy

March 14, 2024 6 min read

Playback speed:

New research from ERE Media finds contentment among job candidates — a measure of how they feel about the hiring process and the candidate experience overall — continues to decline and candidate resentment remains higher than a few years ago. Other recent recruitment data shows almost 96% of people who applied to jobs online didn't finish their online application, a trend that runs across industries.

It's all leaving many employers with reduced candidate pools, missed opportunities to secure top talent, and employee engagement, productivity, and business performance at risk.

Today more than ever, attracting top talent requires more than just a standard job posting. Recruitment marketing has emerged as a strategic approach to finding, engaging, and nurturing candidates before they ever apply. HR professionals, recruiters, and hiring managers who want to master this evolving discipline to significantly elevate the quality of their hires and improve overall recruitment efficiency can benefit from following nine critical steps in developing a successful recruitment marketing strategy supported by research, data and today's technology.

1. Leverage Your Employer Brand

In today's competitive job market, it's essential to have a strong employer brand that resonates with potential candidates. After all, it's the first perception of your organization for a job seeker and includes elements such as company culture, values, and employee satisfaction.

A critical consideration is that your brand be accurate — from describing your company culture to your employee benefits. One Gartner study found that nearly 90% of job candidates said they have exited a hiring process due to at least one mismatch with their own preferences around the company's employee value proposition (EVP), which includes compensation and benefits as well as things like flexibility in working hours, career pathing, skills development, team diversity, and management style.

Your recruitment marketing strategy should ensure you showcase your employer brand through social media, career pages on your website, and employee testimonials.

2. Define and Understand Your Target Audience

Before you start promoting your job openings, it's important to identify who your target candidates are. This will help you understand their needs and preferences, what motivates them and where they spend their time online. This way, you can tailor your recruitment marketing efforts for greater effectiveness.

Conducting candidate persona research is a useful technique for creating a detailed profile of your ideal candidate. Consider factors such as demographics, career objectives, preferred communication channels, and the factors that most influence their job choice. By tailoring your recruitment efforts to meet the specific needs and behaviors of your target audience, you can ensure your messaging resonates and attracts the right talent to your organization.

3. Optimize Your Career Site

Your career site is often the first point of contact between your company and potential applicants — a true reflection of your employer brand. Making it informative, engaging, and user-friendly can significantly impact application rates.

A poor career site experience not only deters qualified and desirable candidates from applying with your organization, it has an incredibly detrimental ripple effect, because p eople who have a negative candidate experience tell others about it. Nearly three in four (72%) of job seekers say they have shared a poor experience on sites like Glassdoor, on social media, or directly with a colleague or friend. Over 1 in four ( 27% ) would “actively discourage” others from applying for a job with that company, according to a LinkedIn survey.

Ensure your career site is optimized for mobile, showcases your culture, and provides a seamless application process.

4. Build an Employee Referral Program

A study by LinkedIn found that employee referrals are the No. 1 source of quality hires. In short: Your employees are your best resource for snagging top talent. Encourage your employees to refer their friends and acquaintances for job opportunities in your organization. To make the process more effective, consider implementing a referral program with incentives for successful referrals.

5. Utilize Data and Analytics

Data-driven decision-making stands at the heart of modern recruitment marketing. LinkedIn research demonstrates that companies using data analytics for recruitment are twice as likely to improve their recruiting efforts and three times more likely to reduce costs.

Start by analyzing your current recruitment metrics to identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement. Utilize applicant tracking systems (ATS) and recruitment marketing software to track sources of top candidates, engagement rates, and conversion rates from initial contact to hire. This data will allow you to refine your approach and allocate resources more effectively.

Additionally, use social media monitoring tools to gain insights into your target audience's online behavior and preferences.

6. Personalize Recruitment Marketing

In a digital age where personalization dominates consumer experiences, candidates now expect the same from their job search. The best way to think about personalization in recruitment is to think about it in terms of customization. It involves tailoring the whole recruitment process to meet each applicant's unique needs and preferences.

Strategies for personalizing your recruiting efforts include:

• Tailored communication — customized emails, messages, and communication strategies based on the candidate's profile and preferences
• Individualized application processes — creating unique application processes based on the specific skills and experiences sought for each position.
• Data-driven personalization — utilizing data analytics and machine learning to personalize recruitment efforts based on historical candidate interactions and preferences.
• Personalization in recruitment marketing — customizing marketing materials, including job advertisements and social media content, to resonate with the target audience
• Tailored job descriptions — crafting job descriptions that appeal to the targeted candidate audience, using language and content that align with their aspirations.

7. Measure Success with KPIs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are vital for assessing the effectiveness of your recruitment marketing strategy. Commonly tracked KPIs include time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, source of hire, candidate engagement rate, and conversion rate. The Aberdeen Group found that companies using data-driven recruitment strategies are twice as likely to improve their recruiting efforts.

Leveraging the right metrics in a timely way can enhance the effectiveness of your recruitment strategy over time. Establish clear KPIs early on, then regularly review them to be clear about what's working and where you have room for improvement.

8. Employ Storytelling

Integrating storytelling into your recruitment marketing can differentiate your employer brand in a crowded marketplace. Authentic stories about your company culture, values, and employee experiences resonate with potential candidates and help them envision being part of your team.

Data from LinkedIn's “Global Talent Trends” indicates that candidates are 2.4 times more likely to consider your job opportunities if they feel connected to your organization. Harness various media — videos, blogs, and testimonials to convey your company's narrative and values compellingly.

9. Leverage Recruitment Marketing Automation

A recent survey by Aptitude Research found that companies using recruitment marketing platforms reported a 3x improvement in candidate engagement and a 2x increase in conversion rates. Select tools that integrate well with your ATS and CRM systems to ensure a seamless flow of candidate data across your recruitment ecosystem.

It's an important consideration. Recent recruitment data research found that almost 96% of people who applied to jobs online didn't finish their online application. A Glassdoor study , meanwhile, shows that most companies have a worrying 80% candidate drop-off rate during their application process.

Recruitment marketing automation has the potential to revolutionize the recruitment process, making it more efficient and effective for everyone involved. It can streamline many aspects of recruitment marketing, from sourcing candidates to nurturing them through the application process. Tools like chatbots for initial interactions, automated email nurturing campaigns , and AI-driven job advertising can not only improve the candidate experience but also free up significant time for HR teams to focus on more strategic tasks.

Creating an effective recruitment marketing strategy requires a blend of understanding your employer brand, knowing your audience, leveraging the right tools and platforms, and continuously optimizing based on data insights. By following these steps, HR professionals, hiring managers, and recruiters can significantly enhance their ability to attract, engage, and hire top talent in today's competitive job market.

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A new method for estimating under-recruitment of a patient registry: a case study with the Ohio Registry of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Meifang Li [1], Xun Shi [1], Jiang Gui [2], Chao Song [3], Angeline S. Andrew [4], Erik P. Pioro [5], Elijah W. Stommel [4], Maeve Tischbein [4], and Walter G. Bradley [6]

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This paper proposes an alternative statistical method to capture-recapture in order to estimate under-ascertainment in the collection of ALS data for a disease registry in Ohio. The study utilized three statistical methods (z-score, straight section in a series, and Jenk’s natural breaks) to identify reference counties in Ohio with normal case-population relationships to build a model to estimate case counts in target counties with unrecruited cases. The researchers believe that this method has advantages over capture-recapture that allow it to be used to identify disease hotspots and associations between ALS and environment.

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TCU will be a case study on the impact of making the Playoff: Recruiting mailbag

Recruiting never stops. Neither do your questions.

And if we didn’t get to your question, don’t be discouraged! We will be addressing some on “Stars Matter,” our weekly recruiting podcast.

Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Considering the current honor code restrictions and that 70 percent of BYU ’s roster has no other scholarship offers, will it ever win another national championship? — Grant G. 

As someone who has been accused of being a prisoner of the moment, I took some extra time trying to figure out how to phrase this properly. Here’s what I came up with: BYU will probably never come close to winning another national championship, but it certainly isn’t impossible.

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Sometimes I think about the ridiculous amount of money and assets (including for-profit businesses) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is sitting on and think, “If it ever wanted to own the NIL space, it could throw money at prospects and sign elite-level recruiting classes.” The checks might not have The Church’s logo on them, but there are plenty of avenues money could be legally used for in the NIL space. For instance, City Creek Center, a shopping center in Salt Lake City, is owned by the LDS Church. There are plenty of advertisement opportunities there. But even then, with BYU’s strict honor code — no drinking, no pre-marital sex, limitations on caffeine — would money be enough?

This is all interesting to ponder, even more so now that BYU is taking a huge step to a new conference. Many have wondered whether the Cougars will see a major uptick in recruiting. My stance has been that BYU will benefit the least of the new Big 12 members because it still wants to have a high ratio of LDS players on its roster. And the players who aren’t LDS still have to follow the honor code. Assimilating to the lifestyle in Provo simply isn’t possible for everyone, which is a unique hurdle that maybe only Liberty also faces in this sport.

When you think about the amount of talent on rosters such as Georgia and Alabama, how could you possibly get to a place where you believe BYU could win multiple College Football Playoff games in a row against those behemoths?

The only route to that being a reality that I can conceive would be for The Church to spend a ton of money on non-LDS players to enroll — enough money to make adhering to the honor code a worthy sacrifice. Then, on top of that, you have to hope that those non-LDS players come to campus and refrain from drinking and sexual activity, which is a problem BYU simply doesn’t want to deal with.

The reality is that BYU can build a really good football team comprised of LDS players. It has proved that over the years. But there is a ceiling to the Cougars’ success that is far below beating Alabama and Georgia.

I have read the tagline “ NFL bloodlines” in a recruit’s profile. How much does a relative competing in the NFL affect a high school/college player, in terms of value? I would think this means that player is tapping a higher percentage of their potential by having insider insight and training from a young age. Therefore, I believe a similarly performing recruit actually might have a higher ceiling. Am I missing a driving factor here? — Alston B. 

You hit the nail on the head. If you have a relative — most likely a father — who has been in the NFL, there is simply a more keen understanding growing up of what it takes to compete at the highest level. That also probably means there’s more money in the household to dedicate to athletics, whether it be nutrition, equipment or plain old mentorship.

What made Arch Manning such an attractive prospect? Sure, he was a 6-foot-4, 212-pound high school recruit with a big arm. But analysts were most excited about the X-factor with him, which is that he’s a Manning and comes from the first family of football. Maybe he’s an extreme example, but every person I spoke to about him couldn’t say enough about his poise and football IQ, hallmarks of what made his two uncles and grandfather NFL stars. Football IQ can be passed down from generation to generation if it’s something that is emphasized in the household. Spoiler: It’s probably emphasized in the household because you don’t become an NFL star if football isn’t your passion.

The thing you failed to mention, Alston, is just DNA. If your father was athletic enough to make it to the NFL, there is a strong possibility you are going to have some physical gifts your peers just don’t have.

It would be an interesting case study to see if the bust rate for NFL legacy players is less than it is for recruits without ties to professional athletes. To answer your question, though, coaches do like the “NFL bloodlines” and take them into account during evaluations.

If TCU follows up last year with another solid nine- or 10-win season, what are the chances the Horned Frogs can finally make the leap to a top-15, top-20 recruiting class? With Texas and Oklahoma leaving the conference, they seem primed to lead the new Big 12 in getting talent, but what’s the ceiling on that in the new league? — Jason B.

TCU is going to be a wonderful little case study for everyone who believes the expansion of the CFP is going to lead to the wealth being spread around in recruiting. There is this notion that simply making the Playoff will lead to significantly more recruiting success, and frankly speaking, that’s just not how it has worked in the four-team field. Some programs that have made the Playoff have seen a small uptick, and some even regressed, but there hasn’t been some major transformation of a program shortly after making the Playoff for the first time. There are a few one-offs from the four-team era.

Recruiting truths or myths: SEC's dominance, 5-star QBs, Playoff breakthroughs

Is Michigan State a new program? Is Washington ? Is Cincinnati ? Maybe Michigan is on its way to becoming one, but the Wolverines have made the Playoff in consecutive seasons, and you could make the case they are a little further down the line as a program than the aforementioned one-off teams. There is so much more to building a much better program than making the Playoff one time, and that has been true in the four-team field. It will mean even less in an environment where 12 teams make it.

My hope for TCU is that it uses its run to the national title game as a platform for Sonny Dykes and his staff to prove what it was doing before the Playoff berth works.

Your question is about TCU, which has had a ton of success since joining the Power 5. It has a winning record over Texas in the recent past — 7-2 in the past nine meetings — and it’s located in an advantageous geographical area. The Horned Frogs could have made the Playoff in their inaugural season in 2014. There’s a lot to like.

And interestingly enough, TCU has already signed a top-20 class. It finished No. 20 in the 247Sports Composite in the 2023 cycle. Literally last year.

I do have some questions about how Texas’ and Oklahoma’s departure from the Big 12 will impact the remaining programs. The notion of Power 5/Group of 5 is going to be eliminated eventually as expansion continues, and there isn’t a traditional blue blood remaining in the Big 12 to carry the flag. In five years, will the Big 12 be looked at as a conference that plays a lower brand of football in the same way we view the Group of 5 now? That’s possible.

Oklahoma and Texas leaving won’t enable TCU to all of a sudden gobble up all of the Texas talent. The Longhorns and Sooners are still going to use their traditional recruiting bases to fill their rosters, which overlaps directly with what Dykes wants to do in Texas and, more specifically, the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

It seems reasonable to pick TCU as a candidate to own the new iteration of the Big 12. But it is going to have to do it by signing quality recruiting classes and improving incrementally year over year. This takes time. The Playoff isn’t a magic pill to sustainability. The coach has to do it. The good news? Dykes is someone I’d trust can do it. He gets it.

This is a two-part question. (1) I read that a three-star player has an offer from a big-time program, but that program is holding off taking his commitment until it sees if it can get one of its higher-ranked targets at safety. Since he has an offer, can’t he still commit to that big-time school? Why can that big-time program tell him to hold on if it offered him? (2) Let’s say that big-time program signs three other four- and five-star safeties. Should that three-star player still go to the big-time school for access to its resources or go to a middle-tier school that needs him more? — Scott E.

There is no reason to make this only about powers. A ton of prospects find themselves in similar situations all the time.

1. The prospect doesn’t have an offer. No prospect has an offer unless he has the option of that school accepting the commitment. You can call it whatever you want, but it isn’t an offer. The school is interested in his talent and might feel comfortable taking him later in the process, but it isn’t right now. So what happens is these schools use verbal semantics to make a prospect feel wanted so the door is open down the line if that option is necessary. That’s how uncommittable offers work and why they exist.

2. If I were a three-star prospect, I’d go to the best school that’s willing to take me. In this transfer portal world, you might as well go to the biggest/best place and give it your best shot. Best-case scenario: You’re better than you thought — or better than the recruiting analysts thought — and get to play at a big-time place. Worst-case scenario: You go to a big-time place, get access to state-of-the-art equipment and nutrition, develop under top-tier coaches, redshirt and then transfer to a place that needs you. Being scared of competition in a sport that allows you to move so freely just doesn’t make sense.

(Top photo of Sonny Dykes: Norm Hall / Getty Images)

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Ari Wasserman is a senior writer for The Athletic covering college football and recruiting nationally. He previously spent 10 years covering Ohio State for The Athletic and Cleveland.com, starting on the Buckeyes beat in 2009. Follow Ari on Twitter @ AriWasserman

Governor Newsom Unveils Revised State Budget, Prioritizing Balanced Solutions for a Leaner, More Efficient Government

Published: May 10, 2024

The Budget Proposal — Covering Two Years — Cuts Spending, Makes Government Leaner, and Preserves Core Services Without New Taxes on Hardworking Californians

Watch Governor Newsom’s May Revise presentation here

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  The Governor’s revised budget proposal closes both this year’s remaining $27.6 billion budget shortfall and next year’s projected $28.4 billion deficit while preserving many key services that Californians rely on — including education, housing, health care, and food assistance.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today released a May Revision proposal for the 2024-25 fiscal year that ensures the budget is balanced over the next two fiscal years by tightening the state’s belt and stabilizing spending following the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic, all while preserving key ongoing investments.

Under the Governor’s proposal, the state is projected to achieve a positive operating reserve balance not only in this budget year but also in the next. This “budget year, plus one” proposal is designed to bring longer-term stability to state finances without delay and create an operating surplus in the 2025-26 budget year.

In the years leading up to this May Revision, the Newsom Administration recognized the threats of an uncertain stock market and federal tax deadline delays – setting aside $38 billion in reserves that could be utilized for shortfalls. That has put California in a strong position to maintain fiscal stability.

“Even when revenues were booming, we were preparing for possible downturns by investing in reserves and paying down debts – that’s put us in a position to close budget gaps while protecting core services that Californians depend on. Without raising taxes on Californians, we’re delivering a balanced budget over two years that continues the progress we’ve fought so hard to achieve, from getting folks off the streets to addressing the climate crisis to keeping our communities safe.” – Governor Gavin Newsom

Below are the key takeaways from Governor Newsom’s proposed budget:

A BALANCED BUDGET OVER TWO YEARS.  The Governor is solving two years of budget problems in a single budget, tightening the state’s belt to get the budget back to normal after the tumultuous years of the COVID-19 pandemic. By addressing the shortfall for this budget year — and next year — the Governor is eliminating the 2024-25 deficit and eliminating a projected deficit for the 2025-26 budget year that is $27.6 billion (after taking an early budget action) and $28.4 billion respectively.

CUTTING SPENDING, MAKING GOVERNMENT LEANER.  Governor Newsom’s revised balanced state budget cuts one-time spending by $19.1 billion and ongoing spending by $13.7 billion through 2025-26. This includes a nearly 8% cut to state operations and a targeted elimination of 10,000 unfilled state positions, improving government efficiency and reducing non-essential spending — without raising taxes on individuals or proposing state worker furloughs. The budget makes California government more efficient, leaner, and modern — saving costs by streamlining procurement, cutting bureaucratic red tape, and reducing redundancies.

PRESERVING CORE SERVICES & SAFETY NETS.  The budget maintains service levels for key housing, food, health care, and other assistance programs that Californians rely on while addressing the deficit by pausing the expansion of certain programs and decreasing numerous recent one-time and ongoing investments.

NO NEW TAXES & MORE RAINY DAY SAVINGS.  Governor Newsom is balancing the budget by getting state spending under control — cutting costs, not proposing new taxes on hardworking Californians and small businesses — and reducing the reliance on the state’s “Rainy Day” reserves this year.

HOW WE GOT HERE:  California’s budget shortfall is rooted in two separate but related developments over the past two years.

• First, the state’s revenue, heavily reliant on personal income taxes including capital gains, surged in 2021 due to a robust stock market but plummeted in 2022 following a market downturn. While the market bounced back by late 2023, the state continued to collect less tax revenue than projected in part due to something called “capital loss carryover,” which allows losses from previous years to reduce how much an individual is taxed.
• Second, the IRS extended the tax filing deadline for most California taxpayers in 2023 following severe winter storms, delaying the revelation of reduced tax receipts. When these receipts were able to eventually be processed, they were 22% below expectations. Without the filing delay, the revenue drop would have been incorporated into last year’s budget and the shortfall this year would be significantly smaller.

CALIFORNIA’S ECONOMY REMAINS STRONG:  The Governor’s revised balanced budget sets the state up for continued economic success. California’s economy remains the 5th largest economy in the world and for the first time in years, the state’s population is increasing and tourism spending recently experienced a record high. California is #1 in the nation for new business starts , #1 for access to venture capital funding , and the #1 state for manufacturing , high-tech , and agriculture .

Additional details on the May Revise proposal can be found in this fact sheet and at www.ebudget.ca.gov .

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A guide to moving out sustainably

Are you moving out of your accommodation at the end of this term? We have put together this guide to help you move as sustainably as possible, including easy places to donate items on campus!

16 May 2024

As we approach the end of the academic year, thousands of UCL students will be moving out of halls to return home for the summer or to move into next year’s accommodation. Each year, a significant amount of waste is generated during move-out – whether that is fresh food, furniture, books or clothes.

Last year, during the check-out weekend, we collected 15 extra tonnes of recycling, 20 extra tonnes of general waste and 3 extra tonnes of food on top of the normal monthly waste collections. Combined, that’s the weight of 20 cars or more than 12 times the weight of all 54,250 tennis balls that are used at Wimbledon each summer!

As part of our Sustainability Strategy: Change Possible and The Loop campaign, we are committed to reducing, reusing, repairing, and sharing - eliminating single-use items and maximising the value of our products.

> The Loop  > UCL Sustainability Strategy 

We have put together this guide to help you move out as sustainably as possible and reduce waste this summer.

The moving process: 

The process of moving is always a difficult one when you have gathered items throughout the academic year and need to find efficient ways of packing all your belongings. Here are a few top tips for moving efficiently and reducing waste: 

• Reduce waste ahead of moving out : Take time to sort through your belongings well before your move-out date. This allows you to donate or sell unwanted items gradually, avoiding a last-minute rush. Aim to complete this process in the week leading up to check-out to avoid rushing to do everything in one day. 
• Use second-hand boxes:  If you need cardboard boxes for your move, you can sometimes make use of leftover cardboard boxes by asking at supermarkets or pubs, or from Freecycle . That way, you are making use of existing materials, and saving yourself some cash!

If you cook for yourself often, you will naturally be approaching moving out day with some food left that you can’t take with you. There are a range of options to avoid as much waste as possible.

• Have a moving-out dinner party : In the week before moving, invite your friends over for an end-of-year dinner, with the aim of using up as many of your leftover ingredients as possible. Cooking in bulk will help you use up any half-open jars or packs of pasta, for example. Making a ‘buffet’ can be a clever way of using up all of the random things left in your freezer!
• Get some recipe inspiration : There are lots of ways to find inspiration for zero-waste cooking and to use up your ingredients. Some websites can give you ideas based on ingredients list, such as Tesco’s recipe finder tool or Supercook . Hubbub also have tips for reducing food waste.
• Ask around and share : There are always plenty of people in the UCL community who would be happy to take any unwanted food items from you. Think about who you can give things to - do you know anyone who is staying longer over summer? Speak to your hall’s SRAs and ask in any group chats. If you have friends from societies in other years who are already living in private accommodation, they might be interested in coming to collect unwanted items.
• Donate to local foodbanks : Local charities and foodbanks will gladly accept donations of in-date, unopened food items. Cans and non-perishable items are best for donations. You can read guidance on the Trussell Trust website .

Kitchen items, furniture, books and clothes:

Common items that are left behind in halls include kitchen utensils, pans, lamps, and books. Often, there is nothing wrong with these items, but students do not have the room or storage to take them. Here are some ways we can reduce this waste and give these pre-loved items a good home.

• Donate to your hall reception :  Do you live in Astor College, John Dodgson House, John Adams Hall, or New Hall? Consider taking part in a new trial by UCL Accommodation . From May, you can donate items at your hall reception, which will benefit the UCL community or local charities. Remember to take the items directly to reception. We aim to expand this scheme to more halls next year. For those not in these halls, please explore other donation options.
• Sell through Hazaar : Hazaar is the zero-waste student marketplace which is new to UCL. It allows you to sell your pre-loved items, and for other students to buy them as a more sustainable and affordable option.
• Clothes donation station : We are also running a donation station for clothes on campus, in the Student Centre ground floor foyer area, on Friday 21st June, 10am-3pm. These donations will be used for next year’s Swap Shops, donated to homeless shelters, or be recycled.
• Sell elsewhere : You might also consider using platforms such as Ebay, Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree to sell unwanted items outside of UCL, particularly more substantial things like TVs or furniture. For clothes, you could sell these on Depop or Vinted. It can be a nice way to make some money to put towards your summer!
• Donate to charity shops : For any smaller items good quality items, or things you don’t want to sell, you can donate to charity shops – there are lots around UCL Accommodation sites. You can use this website to find nearby charity shops .

Other waste:

For guidance on disposing of items which cannot be reused or donated, you can visit our website. Please ensure you recycle waste whenever you can to reduce our carbon emissions and contributions to plastic pollution! 

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