5 Steps to Improve Your Recruiting Results

Seventy-one percent of organizations are experiencing recruiting challenges, according to SHRM’s 2025 Talent Trends report. In addition to trying to rise above today’s competitive recruiting landscape, organizations are laser-focused on productivity, adding further stress on talent acquisition teams.   

“This is a great time to make our recruiting workflows more productive, efficient, and effective, without compromising on an exceptional candidate experience,” said Sharlyn Lauby, SHRM-SCP, president of ITM Group, a training and human resources consulting firm in Gainesville, Fla. 

Lauby presented five simple but effective tips for recruiting leaders during a SHRM webinar Aug. 21.

Firm Up Job Descriptions, Maximize Intake Meetings

Outdated or inaccurate job descriptions can create delays because HR is “recruiting for the wrong criteria,” Lauby said. Intake meetings between recruiters and hiring managers is the time to confirm whether the job description is accurate, she said. But those meetings don’t need to simply be transactional. Intake meetings should also be used to develop a recruiting strategy for the open role. “This meeting should be an opportunity to chat with the hiring manager and say, ‘Let’s talk about what we’re doing,’ ” Lauby said. 

Planning out a strategy through the end of the process is very helpful “because now we can debrief post-hire and say, ‘how is our strategy? How did the process work?’ ” she said. 

Sample Job Description: Skills-First Hiring

Evaluate Your Careers Site

Is it easy for people to go to your careers page and apply for jobs? How long does it take to complete an application? Is the experience mobile-friendly? Can someone easily share a job opening with a friend?   

To discover the answers to these questions, Lauby recommended TA leaders conduct an audit of the application process from the jobseeker’s perspective.  

“Have some people on your team test it out,” she said. “What do they see when they look at your careers site on their tablet or phone? Ask them to go in, apply for a job, and tell you how long it takes, and then decide if you want to make some adjustments in order to make it more applicant friendly,” she said.   

Overhaul Candidate Experience

A candidate experience improvement campaign can begin by talking to top hiring managers, Lauby said. “Get your hiring managers together and do a whiteboard activity. Map out your entire candidate journey,” she said.  

This exercise can be beneficial for a couple of reasons. “If managers are not aware of everything that goes into hiring someone, then this is a perfect opportunity for them to see the whole process,” Lauby said 

Secondly, looking at the entire process from a birds-eye view “could be a great moment to say, ‘wait, maybe we can consolidate some things here,’ ” she added.  

Lauby recommended putting together a traditional gap analysis to see where improvements can be made. 

Anonymous candidate surveys, as well as similar surveys for recently hired employees about their hiring experience, are another potential goldmine of feedback. “Let them know that you’re trying to get feedback about how your process works and how to make it better,” she said. 

Specialty Credential: Talent Acquisition

Facilitate Employee Referrals 

Employee referrals have been a consistent top source of hire for years. “There are lots of things that you can do with your employee referral program that are beneficial to the organization,” Lauby said. “First of all, think about being flexible with your referral program. I’m seeing some organizations expand their referral programs beyond just employee referrals.” 

She added that former employees and customers could be given the opportunity to make referrals. 

In addition to expanding the scope of who is eligible to participate in the program, Lauby said that organizations can be flexible in how referrals are rewarded. “I’m seeing an increasing number of employers say, ‘We’re going to do some in cash and give you a day off.’ ” 

When the employee referral bonus is paid out is another long-standing issue. “It might be that the new hire has to work for the company for six months before the bonus is paid,” Lauby said. “One of the things that the company might want to consider is [paying out the bonus] for the referral when the new hire starts, because at that point, the referral program did what it was supposed to do.” 

Assess for Selection

Employers should also consider pre-employment assessments to boost quality of hire, Lauby said. According to SHRM, 78% of organizations using pre-employment assessments have improved their quality of hire.  

“Using tools like pre-employment assessments can help,” she said. “But please make sure that the assessment that you’re using is valid, reliable, and has been validated for the purpose that you’re using it for. Not all assessments are validated for the purposes of employment selection.”