Easy Ways to Reduce Time to Hire

Improve applicant volume and attract ideal candidates.

The danger of taking too long to hire.

In any industry, a long recruitment process can be a turn off for your applicants. They could think it’s caused by disorganization or disinterest. If they’re feeling overwhelmed by seemingly never-ending paperwork, they could abandon the process entirely, leaving you back at square one. 

In the cleaning and security industries, you have the added hardship of already operating in high-turnover environments. Even as you do succeed in hiring and onboarding employees, companies experience turnover ranging from 100-400% and you have to start the process all over again to ensure shift coverage. 

Lessen the risk of finding yourself in this situation by taking steps to quicken your recruitment process.  

Speed up time to fill, without sacrificing quality of hire. 

One of the top six ways to decrease the time it takes to hire new employees is by making the process easier through the use of technology. 

People don’t want to spend time filling out long resumes that stretch back multiple years. They don’t want to track down their old supervisor names, or answer endless questions about their experiences.

Focus on what really matters to the requirements of the job you’re posting for. Does the position require reliable transportation? Ask them that. If the job has physical requirements like the ability to lift, be sure to include that. 

In fact, requesting certain types of information can actually get your job listing removed by some posting sites. For example, one of the most popular posting sites can remove your listing if it includes age or background check requirements. 

Still, some of this information is actually important screening information demanded by the nature of your contracts and clients. Keep in mind, these rules don’t apply to applications, only job postings. So, start your posting with clear, concise messaging about job expectations, benefits and compensation, and necessary hours. Then, include only the bare minimum of information needed to move a candidate forward in the hiring process during their application. 

Some examples of what to include in your first application: 

• Full name (first and last)
• Email address
• Phone number
• Any automatic disqualifying information (Do you have a valid driver’s license? Are you over the age of x?) 

Don’t make your candidates do more than that. After you get a sense for how good of a fit the candidate could be, you can use your interview time to clear up any other information that might be needed. 

Better yet, don’t even make them go to a job posting site or your company website. Instead, offer applications via text. 

Benefits of text messaging in your recruitment process. 

According to recent statistics, the average person spends an average of 4.5 hours on their phone every day. Although Gen Z and millennials spend more time on average per day than older generations, Boomers are still topping out close to three hours a day.

In our recent security labor trend report, we found that Gen Y and younger millennials make up nearly one third of the total security workforce. In the cleaning industry, Millennial and Gen X employees make up nearly 65% of the workforce. Knowing their presence in your workforces, combined with trying to attract more applicants in a tight labor market, offering text to apply methods may be a strong move in reaching those audiences. 

How do you apply by text? 

Text recruiting software is easy to roll out to your prospective applicants. 

By scanning a QR code in the field or texting a number or keyword you’ve advertised on a job posting, applicants can send their basic hiring information to your team. Job candidates then receive an immediate confirmation response with directions for next steps (if there are any). After your hiring team clears the candidate for consideration, your hiring process proceeds as normal. You can respond via text to set up interviews or follow up, but you can also reach out through your other contact methods, like phone or email. 

If you’re already using an applicant tracking system, you can stay on top of their hiring status every step of the way, collecting necessary paperwork and onboarding documentation as you go.

Start decreasing time to fill your openings. 

Do you want to learn how you can start speeding up your hiring process with tools like text to apply? Check out Kwantek, our applicant tracking and onboarding system, specifically geared towards the hiring processes for security and cleaning. 

Read more about attracting and hiring employees in a tight labor market – and keeping them once you’ve hired them – in our eBook: The Get and Keep Playbook.