For most people, recruiting operational roles is simply hiring more people to fill the position. For HR managers and talent attraction teams, it's a strategic, multi-step effort to keep the business running. So how can you guide candidates through every step of the recruitment process without becoming overwhelmed?

The answer lies in the application of more efficient and effective recruitment practices that make candidates move more smoothly through the recruitment funnel. According to Industry Today, the The average time to fill a vacancy is 42 days. However, this time can be reduced by simplifying the hiring process, automating time-consuming tasks, and communicating with candidates regularly.

Let's take a closer look at how optimizing each step of your recruitment funnel with an automated platform like Emi can have a positive impact on hiring practices.

Key steps of an effective recruitment funnel

As you already know, the recruitment funnel represents the entire hiring process. A company may already have a strategy for filling vacancies, but perhaps you're not hiring workers in operational roles in the most efficient or effective way.

Recruiting metrics you should measure

While every recruitment experience is different, talent attraction managers and recruiters can know how efficient their recruitment funnel is by calculating and measuring recruitment metrics specific, such as:

• Time to fill the vacancy: indicator that measures the number of days from when a position is posted until a candidate accepts an offer.
• Coverage time: It refers to the time it takes for a candidate to go through the entire recruitment funnel.
• Recruitment source: Where candidates found or found out about job offers.
• Cost of hiring: Calculate how much money the company spent to attract the new employee.
• Hiring quality: An indicator that determines the essential qualities that an employee must possess.

Observing each step of the process in detail and determining which one you are dedicating the most time and energy to is a good way to discover those tasks that could be automated. The following are the main stages of a typical recruitment process:

• Attraction
• Application
• Filtered
• Interviews
• Background check
• Job offer

1. Attraction

The first step of recruitment of operational roles is to generate knowledge and Attract candidates to the job posting. There are a lot of options on the market. To stand out, it is important that the job offer is attractive to the target audience; tasks that can be performed through a well-written and professionally designed job description. According to RecruitingDaily, a strong employer brand can help save costs, reduce turnover and Increase efficiency by hiring up to 50%.

How Automated Recruiting Platforms Can Help

Once you have candidates, be sure to improve the experience throughout the process so that even those who aren't selected are more likely to recommend your company to family and friends.

For example, Emi, the automated recruitment platform, offers several application formats, in addition to those that companies usually use, such as QR codes, text messages and referral links. This increases the candidate's desire to apply for the position.

2. Application

If the candidate is already interested in the position and company profile, it's time to start the application process. The problem is that very few people complete the application because it usually takes a long time, it is difficult to complete it from the cell phone and it requires a lot of information and documentation.

The fact that candidates abandon the process is one of the biggest challenges for any recruiter to face. According to People Management, the 78% of candidates abandon a recruitment process because it's too long or complicated. In turn, people who work on an hourly basis often seek employment outside the typical 9-5 hours, making it difficult to answer their questions in a timely manner.

How automated recruitment platforms can help

Nowadays, there are many opportunities to improve standard application processes that contain lengthy forms, repetitive processes, and outdated platforms. There are several systems that can make it easier for candidates to apply for vacant positions within the company and store candidate information efficiently.

Emi's automated recruitment platform is different because it creates a conversational application that runs completely through SMS, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. This eliminates the need for lengthy forms and formal resumes. By partnering with Emi, operational role recruiters companies such as Walmart, Burger King and KFC have experienced 4X growth in candidate applications.

3. Filtered

Once your team has collected application information, it's time to decide which candidates meet the requirements to continue to the interview stage. The objective is to eliminate people who are not suitable for the job or who cannot fit into the schedule required by the company. Even when hiring for operational roles, it's important to define and find the ideal candidates who will move up the funnel, in order to have a better retention rate in the long term.

How automated recruitment platforms can help

Filtering applications can be one of the most time-consuming steps for HR teams throughout the recruitment funnel, especially in mass recruitment. On average, recruiters only spend a few seconds reviewing each resume or application, but all that time adds up when hundreds or thousands of applications are reviewed.

Emi reduces the time of this stage of the recruitment funnel to a few seconds instead of hours, and eliminates manual labor. In addition to gathering application information by uploading details to your existing ATS and storing them for review by recruiters, Emi can also automate filtering based on company-specific hiring criteria. This allows talent attraction teams to dedicate their time, right from the start, to candidates that best fit the profile your company needs.

Emi's artificial intelligence for pre-filtering gives you the best candidates while giving you the control to accept and/or reject them.

4. Interviews

The interview step is very important because it allows HR professionals and recruiters to talk and get to know the candidates. Scheduling these interviews has always been frustrating for talent attraction teams and recruitment managers because it is often a completely manual task.

The challenge for candidates in operational roles is that they often work long hours and with unusual schedules. These candidates often fill vacant positions outside of working hours. Managers and candidates often exchange emails frequently. For those who aren't interested, a lot of time is wasted waiting for an answer.

The challenge for recruitment managers is not to be available until the end of the workday or the beginning of the next day's workday. Conflicts often arise when recruitment managers try to schedule all meetings, since it's a difficult task when they're not connected and don't know which candidates will ask them to reschedule meetings.

How automated recruitment platforms can help

Automated hiring platforms reduce manual processes, consolidate recruitment managers' schedules, and provide easy access to availability. This allows recruiters to easily schedule interviews with candidates and send reminders.

With Emi, recruitment managers can provide available schedules in their schedule and candidates can select the most convenient schedule, avoiding coordination problems. Emi manages communication between managers and candidates via SMS or Facebook Messenger and sends automatic reminders to candidates to reduce ghosting. This feature has helped Emi customers to reach a first interview attendance rate of 90%.

Emi also collects feedback from recruitment managers after interviews so that recruiters don't have to wait to move the candidate to the next stage.

5. Background Check and Document Verification

Once the candidate gets the green light, there's another time-consuming step: background checks and document checks. The information collected during the background check is criminal history, personal, social, financial information and work experience.

After all the effort and time the recruitment team has put into this process, it's common for candidates to abandon the process at this stage of the hiring funnel. And unfortunately, this variation impacts the team's KPIs, such as: increasing support hours and reducing candidate-to-employee conversion rates.

How automated recruitment platforms can help

An automated recruitment platform can automate the document collection process to ensure that fewer candidates leave the funnel due to complex and lengthy processes.

Emi digitally collects the required signatures and the verification of the information. If a candidate forgets to sign a document, Emi uses an outsourced system to facilitate collection and verification and sends a reminder to the candidate to sign the document. By helping candidates complete this step easily, they can accept the job with confidence and sign all documents without showing up in person.

6. Job offer

If the candidate signs all the necessary documentation and approves their background check, it's time to submit the job offer. This is an important step in the process and should be done as soon as possible so that candidates are aware of the decision and stay informed. The problem is that not all candidates check their email regularly and an offer can be lost if it's not sent by phone, the most common method among candidates. Even if a candidate does all the work of applying, attending interviews, and signing documents, they may not receive an offer.

How automated recruitment platforms can help

An automated recruitment platform can automate the job offer process, saving recruiters time and energy. This allows talent attraction teams to be free to work on other parts of the recruitment process while information is sent directly to candidates.

With Emi, recruitment teams can send offers in the same SMS or Facebook Messenger conversation thread they used to communicate with candidates throughout the hiring process, eliminating confusion and ensuring that candidates receive the offer.

The importance of improving the efficiency of your recruitment funnel

In order to find qualified candidates, it's important to identify parts or areas of your recruitment funnel that can be optimized.

If the recruitment funnel isn't properly managed, it can leave qualified candidates in limbo or lose passive candidates. While not everyone will make it to the bid stage, a poor candidate experience will definitely influence the decision and permanently destroy your company's talent pool. An efficient recruitment funnel is essential for mass recruitment.

‍How Emi Helps Your Recruiting Funnel

Administer a operational role recruitment funnel it's practically impossible when the processes are manual. Emi allows the talent attraction team to automate the parts of their work that are more tedious and produce the least value.

With Emi, talent attraction teams can:

• Recruit 24/7
• Use text messaging and social media for recruitment
• Send reminders for interviews and first work day
• Review thousands of applications automatically
• Talk to qualified candidates faster
• Reduce manual tasks
• Collect documentation and signatures digitally

Do you want to know more about recruiting operational roles using Emi? Do you want to see our platform in action? Request a demo today.

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