Mass Recruiting: Obstacles and Solutions for Industries with High Turnover Rates

Among the different types of talent attraction, mass recruitment is the most challenging. With thousands of applications and vacancies, it's crucial to have an armed recruitment process.

We'll detail some of the most common recruitment obstacles in these high-turnover industries and see how to overcome them.

What is mass recruitment?

Mass recruitment is all about filling vacancies year-round, although some industries have seasonal hiring peaks. This type of recruitment is common in industries with a high turnover rate and a large number of positions such as retail, hospitality, production and transportation.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2021 the Retail turnover rate was 64.6%, and in gastronomy and hospitality of 86.3%. Companies that need to fill these positions and recruit on a large scale can receive between 250 and more than 1000 applications per vacancy.

If we consider the turnover rates in large chains such as Amazon, or Walmart, we will see why recruitment and hiring are complicated in these industries. The pressure to keep up to date and process hundreds of applications for managers and recruiters is high.

Obstacles to mass recruitment

Here we'll look at some of the most common obstacles to mass recruitment and how you can overcome them.

Recruiting with time constraints

In the operational jobs industry, roles need to be filled immediately and this need increases during seasonal peaks. You can't close stores, restaurants, or production lines for months while looking for talent to fill vacancies. You must meet the needs of customers, even in peak seasons.

While mass recruitment comes with time limitations, there are simple ways to work faster and more efficiently.

Solution: Automate key areas of your recruitment process

To resolve this issue, automate the filtering process to find the best candidates as you receive applications. Studies show that recruiters pass About seven seconds reviewing a CV. Multiply that by 10,000 CVs and you waste hours (or days) on this pre-filtering step that could be automated.

You can also use AI chatbots to answer frequently asked questions. This way, applicants can receive answers without taking time away from your recruitment team.

In short, the more tasks you automate, the faster you can fill vacancies and, when you have many positions to fill, speed is key.

Provide a positive experience for candidates

The candidate's experience can take a backseat when you have to fill many positions at once. In any case, the application process and interviews are the candidate's first experience with your brand, so it should be a positive experience.

Solution: Optimizes the application process

Make sure your application process is streamlined. Is the application lengthy or repetitive? Are you asking candidates to complete evaluations or supplementary forms? Eliminate any barriers you can for candidates to complete the application and leave the forms for a more advanced stage of the process.

In turn, it automates interview scheduling to simplify the process as much as possible, for both candidates and recruitment managers. Automating such a process gives results: using automated technology, Heineken saved its recruiters 10,000 hours of work.

Managing resource limitations

Companies where mass recruitment is commonplace have difficulty finding sustainable long-term solutions. Most HR teams don't have the necessary staff or resources to handle mass recruitment on their own.

A recent report from McKinsey highlights the increase in the turnover rate in operating industries, highlighting that around “half of operating retail workers in the US and two-thirds of managers are considering leaving their jobs in the coming months.”

Solution: Use automation to eliminate tedious work

La automation and artificial intelligence can cancel or reduce bottlenecks. However, only 25% of companies benefit from these options that reduce the challenges they face in their recruitment processes.

With the right recruitment tools and techniques, companies can ensure they have the necessary workforce to meet demand and remain effective and efficient when there is turnover.

5 Techniques to Simplify and Improve Mass Recruiting

Now that we've described several solutions for common challenges in mass recruitment, let's talk about techniques that your team can proactively implement to improve your HR team. Here we'll show you five effective techniques to consider:

1) Create attractive, direct and honest job advertisements

Make sure your ads are focused on the candidate, considering what they want as individuals. Job advertisements should mention not only the responsibilities of the position but also its benefits, such as bonuses, incentives, paid vacation and flexible schemes.

That being said, make sure that the notice adequately reflects the expectations of the role. If the responsibilities or benefits of the position don't align with what you post in the ad, it can cause new employees to rotate quickly. Set appropriate expectations for your vacant positions:

• Creating accurate job descriptions: includes information about tasks, salary range, benefits and other important details. Describe the expectations of the position beyond what the job title suggests.
  
  For example, a cashier may be responsible for operating the checkout primarily, but she may also have to manage inventory or perform tasks to keep the store clean. Include these additional tasks in the job description for new employees to consider.
• Having effective and transparent interviews: In the interviews, he reiterates the daily responsibilities of the position (including any extra expectations, as mentioned above). It provides opportunities for the candidate to ask questions and respond clearly and precisely.

Remember that the candidate interviews you just as you interview him. If they can finish the interview with a clear understanding of the expectations of the position, they can make an informed decision.

2) Offer flexibility with virtual interviews

We currently live in an era where recruiters can schedule interviews with candidates from anywhere. Video call interviews tend to be more efficient, helping you to reach the talent pool more quickly than traditional face-to-face interviews. Virtual interviews can also provide a better candidate experience because it's less disruptive to your schedule and his.

Some recruitment software platforms simplify the interview process, automatically scheduling them between candidates and recruitment managers. 67% of recruiters pass Between an hour and a half and two hours scheduling an interview, therefore, automating the process can save a lot of time.

3) Collect information to optimize the recruitment process

Information is our main tool when it comes to attracting and recruiting quality candidates. Las recruitment metrics they provide you with knowledge about how effective your process is in attracting suitable candidates. Here are examples of the type of information your company should regularly collect and measure:

• Recruitment time.
• Candidate Satisfaction Score (NPS of the candidate).
• Stage of the candidate process.
• Application conversion rate.
• Candidates and hiring by source.

Collecting this type of information is hard work for companies that carry out the tasks of the recruitment process manually. Even if you use platforms like LinkedIn or Indeed, the amount of information you can access is limited, making optimizing the recruitment process a challenge.

4) Take advantage of the variety of channels to distribute job advertisements

Don't forget that your current candidate database can be your most effective way to find qualified candidates quickly.

A talent attraction and management tool can help you find candidates in your talent pool who weren't available the last time you contacted them, but are now looking for employment. After all, this is the nature of working in an industry with a high turnover rate. These candidates have already been reviewed and qualified, so be sure to take advantage of your database when vacancies open up.

Social media is another great channel for attracting talent. Depending on your brand and your company's goals, you can choose to use popular platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, or YouTube. Using paid ads on these platforms will direct candidates to your job site and attract applications. Other channels include employee referral programs, recruitment networks and job boards.

5) Use tools to automate manual tasks

As we mentioned, automation can be a valuable tool for your recruitment team. To use Technology with artificial intelligence you can optimize your filtering process, automatically identifying candidates who meet your requirements.

Customize your automated recruitment tool to search for certain keywords or characteristics in applications. This way, you can automatically filter CVs and applications to find the best candidates.

From there, you can use technology to find the right candidates for open positions. In retail, for example, you could choose candidates based on their previous experience and, as a result, get pools of cashiers, sales employees, buyers or inventory managers.

The reality is that any company that needs to improve its recruitment process can benefit from the automation offered by recruitment tools. Recruiting platforms can also provide companies with access to valuable information such as which sources bring in the most applicants and which attract the most qualified talent.

If you're looking for a tool and feel overwhelmed by all the options, This blog details what to look for in recruitment software and offers some good options to consider.

Hire massively with software designed for that job. Try EMI

When you need to hire workers in operational roles quickly and with limited resources, you'll need recruitment tools to organize and simplify the process. Emi's automation tools can reduce your hiring time, ease the burden on recruitment managers, and make the application and recruitment process simpler.

Learn how Emi can simplify your recruitment process to help you attract more qualified talent and reduce turnover.

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