London, 15 June 2010: The increase in job seekers seen since the economic downturn
has led to extra expense for businesses as they struggle to manage an
unprecedented rise in applications, according to research by SHL, the leader in
talent assessment solutions.
The survey of over 500 in house recruitment professionals in
a range of industries has found that a quarter have taken on more people to
cope with the increased demand, with more than one in ten (12%) taking on two
or more extra staff. With the average salary for a recruitment manager standing
at around £35,000 (Reed
Salary Survey, February 2010), this could be putting a big strain on budgets at
a time when many businesses are already struggling. Plus, almost half (49%) of
those questioned admit to incurring further costs for people time, technology
or external suppliers, in order to help manage the increased number of
applicants.
To help screen out unsuitable candidates, a quarter of
employers have added more stages to their recruitment process and 70% have
introduced additional methods of selection, such as increased entry
requirements (28%), increased detail required at the initial application stage
(26%) and realistic job previews (24%).
However, almost a fifth (18%) admit that their process has
now become too onerous for applicants and this could be costing businesses even
further. Of these, one in ten say it puts candidates off applying, a fifth
(20%) say this has led to a longer time to hire leaving a gap in the business
and almost a quarter (23%) say it is leading to candidates accepting offers
elsewhere.
Furthermore, where companies haven’t taken on extra staff to
cope with the increased demand, this seems to have taken its toll on existing
employees with a quarter (25%) admitting that they or their team is now overstretched.
Worryingly, this could be leading to a drop in recruitment standards, with many
admitting that they are now unable to let candidates know when they have
received their application (19%), provide detailed feedback to interviewed
candidates (17%) or let candidates know if they haven’t been successful after
the initial application (15%).
David Leigh, CEO of SHL, said: “With unemployment high, it is
unsurprising that employers are struggling to deal with the increased number of
applicants going for what is likely to be a fewer number of jobs. However, it
is important that they deal with this situation effectively so that it doesn’t
end up costing them, both in terms of extra tools and resources, as well as a
loss of reputation if they are failing to treat applicants fairly.
“There are a number of ways that employers can screen
applicants at the beginning, or a very early stage in the recruitment process,
in order to minimise time spent reviewing CVs and conducting interviews. Tools
such as ability and personality questionnaires as well as job previews all help
to identify those who have the right skills, experience and motivation for a
role. Plus saving this time means that recruitment professionals can focus more
on communicating with candidates to let them know whether they have been
successful and providing feedback. It can be easy to dismiss applicants who
aren’t suitable, but employers must remember that unsuccessful job applicants
are also potential customers and ignoring them could impact the bottom line.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
The research was carried out
in March 2010 by Opinion Matters and questioned 1611 UK
adults and 511 recruitment managers.
About SHL
Group Limited
SHL is the global leader in talent
assessment solutions, supporting organisations in the selection, performance
management and development of people at all levels and across all sectors.
Operating in more than 50 countries and in more than 30 languages, SHL offers
the world’s largest portfolio of assessment tools, creating innovative
solutions to help organisations increase productivity and gain competitive
advantage through improved people performance.
SHL works with thousands of
the world’s best known organisations, including 80 of the FTSE 100 and more
than half of the Global Fortune 500. In the last 12 months, the company has
delivered more than five million online assessments worldwide.
For more information, please
visit www.shl.com
