How Do I Reduce Overall Time to Fill?

If you would like to discuss solutions for reducing your TTF please contact us!

I have been knee deep in analysis of recruitment metrics/organizational performance as we finalize our 2011 Recruitment Benchmark Study this month.

While our client’s Voice of the Customer studies continue to suggest that responsiveness/speed (AKA –time to fill) is very important to hiring managers, most organizations still struggle with: 

• Identifying the root cause issues impacting TTF
• Develop solutions to reduce it

In a recent post – Overall Average Time to Fill Metrics – Does it Really Capture what is going on?, we shared that while overall TTF was 47 days across over 75 organizations: 

• The % of positions filled in less than 60 days: 74%
• Avg TTF for positions filled in less than 60 days: 24 days
• The % of positions filled in 60 days or more: 26%
• Avg TTF for positions filled in 60 days or more: 115 days

Think about that! While we fill 3 out of 4 positions very quickly (24 days), 1 out of 4 positions takes an average of 115 days to fill!

Investigating further, we found that these are also the positions that are:

• Most critical to the organization!
• Have the highest Cost of Vacancy
• Impact customer, patient satisfaction the most
• Very difficult to find candidates for (high demand/low supply)

With that said. . . to reduce overall TTF. . . the focus should clearly be on reducing TTF for those positions trending 115 days to fill!

So what are the solutions?

Working with our clients, solutions usually were found in three categories: 

1. Data integrity – Common issues: TTF data was just inaccurate. Req’s that should have been closed were still open, positions that were on hold were still open. Recruiters were not using ATS status codes correctly. Not consistently tracking TTF the same (some recruiters tracking from Req Posted versus Intake Session with Manager).
2. Requisition Management – Common issues: Recruiters not developing Service Level Agreements with managers to reduce wait time. Infrequent communication rhythm with hiring managers that have positions trending over 45 days (red zone). Positions on hold. Lack of Manager engagement.
3. Sourcing Top Candidates – Common issues: Not dedicating enough time to sourcing quality candidates. Lack of expertise/skills to proactively source passive/quality candidates.

Working with our clients on these issues, we have seen phenomenal results in a short period of time.

If you would like to discuss solutions to reducing your TTF please contact us!