High-Volume Hiring Is Here To Stay. Here’s How You Can Do It Better.

Learn how successful teams achieve their high-volume hiring goals and how you can reach yours too

By Doug Leonard, Clovers

Talent acquisition teams that engage in high-volume and hourly hiring are used to getting a lot done fast. And with the state of high-volume hiring today, it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down any time soon.

New to high-volume and hourly hiring? Or looking to adjust your current approach? Keep reading because high-volume hiring is here to stay.

In this article, we’re digging into high-volume and hourly hiring. We’ll cover what it is, how successful teams manage it, and how you can up your game too.

Before we get started,

Let’s clarify a few things before we tackle the state of high-volume hiring today.

What’s High-volume Hiring?

High-volume hiring is getting a lot of people hired in a short amount of time. You’re looking for hourly workers or staff to fill gaps for a season or two.

How Is High-volume Hiring Different from Traditional Hiring?

When you’re looking to hire long-term or salaried employees, the process is more involved. First, a candidate applies for a job. They get pulled into an ATS. They’ll wait to hear from a recruiter. A screening interview takes place, then more interviews, and sometimes even more. There are assessments, internal conversations, offers, counter-offers, then onboarding. Basically, it takes a lot of time. Usually weeks or months.

On the other hand, high-volume hiring can get done in just a few hours or days. A candidate applies, moves through a brief hiring process, and can be hired the same day. Candidates usually interact with automation or artificial intelligence (AI) to get through screening, assessments, or initial interview questions. Once hiring teams decide to hire an applicant, AI can pick back up with a condensed onboarding process. The process is standardized, streamlined, and scalable.

Who Does High-volume Hiring?

Companies looking to meet seasonal demands will do high-volume hiring. Organizations that see periods of rapid growth, are opening new locations, or are making up for turnover will also need to engage a high-volume hiring strategy.

Retail, hospitality, entertainment, trade, construction, and healthcare are industries that most often do high-volume and hourly hiring. Companies that hire gig workers or independent contractors might do high-volume hiring too.

What Are the Most Common Challenges of High-volume Hiring?

High-volume hiring risks losing the human touch. Consistent employer branding might suffer too.

Most commonly, recruiters need help with the large number of applications. They either don’t have enough qualified applicants or enough time to review each profile.

Candidate dropout and poor candidate experience are also issues that hiring teams face. Guiding a hiring process that’s both fast and candidate-friendly is a constant balancing act.

High-volume Hiring Today (and into the Future)

The State of High-Volume and Hourly Hiring 2023 report says that 89% of companies doing high-volume hiring expect to keep doing so for at least the next two years. Almost half of those organizations also plan to increase their high-volume hiring budgets.

If you’re someone engaged with high-volume hiring and you don’t already have a clear strategy, it’s time to start building one. This part of your recruiting pie is not going anywhere—it’s only growing larger.

How successful teams approach high-volume hiring

In the face of challenges, the most successful hiring teams have these three things in common: strategy, outsourced support, and trackable metrics.

They have a strategy

Per The State of High-Volume and Hourly Hiring 2022 report, teams who met their hiring goals were five times more likely to have a defined strategy. They have a standardized, scalable process and a clear “ideal candidate” profile.

They outsource

Successful high-volume hiring teams also outsource at least part of their recruitment process. They take advantage of job boards, staffing agencies, or recruitment organizations.

They track metrics

Effective high-volume hiring teams are four times more likely to have transparent metrics. They’re measuring time to hire, attrition rates, and quality of hire. And they regularly update stakeholders.

How You Can Do it Better

Are you in a place where you need to start doing high-volume hiring? Or do you want to tweak your current process? Here are a few ways to start improving today:

1. Get the right tech

Automation is your friend. Take time-consuming tasks and let the software support you as much as possible. Recruiting solutions can help you track open roles, screen potential candidates, quickly review applications, and automate candidate nurtures.

Incorporate chatbots. SHRM reports that 65% of candidates will drop out if conversational AI isn’t used to streamline the hiring process.

High-Volume Hiring Is Here To Stay. Here’s How You Can Do It Better.

Make sure, too, that your hiring platform has mobile capabilities. For an efficient, positive experience, candidates need to be able to apply and onboard on their smartphones.

2. Consider outsourcing

Staffing agencies, temp agencies, or job boards like Indeed or Monster can help with high-volume recruitment and advertising.

Recruitment process outsourcing organizations (RPOs) like Cielo can also help deliver a seamless hiring experience. RPOs support all steps of the hiring process, from sourcing to onboarding.

3. Improve the candidate experience

Make it easy for candidates to navigate your hiring process. User-friendly hiring tools will make them less likely to drop out. On top of that, clearly define job titles and responsibilities. Be transparent about compensation.

When building a high-volume hiring strategy, know who your candidates are. Hourly workers, gig workers, and independent contractors will appreciate quick follow-up and seamless tech.

Consider learning more about Gen Z’s habits and preferences too. 1 in 5 Gen Z workers are hourly workers, which means they’ll make up a good portion of your applicants. And if you’re sourcing candidates from previously untapped talent pools, like formerly incarcerated workers, take some time to learn what they’ll need from your hiring process.

4. Prioritize inclusion

Even when hiring at scale, it’s still important to promote inclusive hiring. Know that rapid hiring is even more susceptible to bias than traditional hiring, so educate your hiring team on the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Make sure your job descriptions are free of exclusionary language. Blind resume reviews, skills assessments, and data-backed decision-making help combat bias too.

5. Track analytics

Use metrics to get a clear picture of your high-volume hiring process. Good data will help identify your strengths and weaknesses.

At a minimum, keep track of these data points: source of hire, conversion rates, diversity metrics, and sourcing effectiveness rates. Take what you know, optimize your hiring process, and grow.

What’s Next?

High-volume and hourly hiring is becoming more common and more important, so learn how to do it quickly, and do it well. Examine your current processes and see where you can adjust to become more successful.

Want to learn more? Check out LinkedIn’s Tactical Guide to High-Volume Hiring, listen to the High Volume Hiring Podcast for tips, news, and interviews, or download the HR Research Institute’s state of hourly and high-volume hiring infographic to share with others.

Doug Leonard is Co.Founder and CEO at Clovers. Doug is a trusted leader in the recruitment industry (and just a really great human) working toward shaping a more inclusive and human-first hiring process for both candidates and companies.