Quality or Quantity- What Should Be Your Focus for Recruiting Talent?

June 15, 2017

Staffing agencies need a large pool of potential hires. They also need the best talent possible.

So how should your agency focus on recruiting? Should you try to bring in hundreds of applications, or should you focus on finding the one perfect candidate for the job?

As you’ll find out, there are many factors to consider when you are debating quantity or quality in your recruitment efforts.

When to Search for Quantity

While we all want to have the single best candidate possible, there are certain situations in which quantity should be your focus. It’s kind of like fishing: if you want to catch a trophy, you will need to fish a great deal, likely bringing in many average catches; but if you stay at it, you’ll inevitably catch the exact prize you have been searching for.

No matter what position needs filling, quantity should be your focus at the very onset of the process. Before contact is made, focus on getting your message to as many potential candidates as possible. After you have amassed a pile of applications, you can begin to focus on finding the right one; but at the onset, it’s a numbers game.

In certain cases, you might consider enhancing the reach of your candidate pool. For example, you will want greater emphasis on quantity if you are attempting to fill high-volume, entry-level positions. For these assignments, you often need reliable people with basic skills, meaning that the vetting criteria used to evaluate candidates might not be as thorough as other, higher-level positions.

How You Can Enhance the Quantity of Potential Hires

There are many different techniques you can use to enhance the overall quantity of applications. Listing a position is often like selling. In your messaging, focus on how the applicant will perceive the information, and not necessarily on exactly what the employer is insisting on. Use clear job titles, offer as much salary and benefit information as permissible and use keyword optimization to deliver outstanding results. Your goal is to create a listing that meets your clients’ requirements, while also resonating with the candidates you are looking for.

When to Focus on Quality

When should you shift gears and start to focus on the quality of the candidates instead of how many applications you can bring in? As you will see, there are specific situations and jobs that require a greater attention in the quality or quantity discussion.

As we said earlier, when you are just beginning, you need to focus on quality. However, the deeper you get in the process, the more you need to focus on quality candidates. When seeking people to bring in for personal interviews, take a much closer look at their basic education levels, experience, and skills to ensure that your time is spent vetting qualified candidates. It’s much like a filtering system, in that in each step, including second interviews, testing, and meetings with clients, should filter out candidates and help you finish with the best possible choice.

You should also focus on quality when the job requires greater skills. If the position requires a very specific skill set, you will need to adjust your efforts accordingly so that you can efficiently identify the candidates for your clients to select.

How to Improve the Quality of Potential Hires

There are many ways that you can enhance the quality of candidates. Start with a thorough job description that has all the important information about the position. This will enable candidates to decide if they are a good fit, as people are less inclined to apply if the position is not aligned with their skill set, education or experience; in addition to the clarity you provide, you are also decreasing your chances of a lengthier hiring process by not receiving as many applications. You should also filter out candidates through multiple interviews, testing, and background checks to ensure the person you send to your client is of the highest quality.

Bottom Line: Focus on the Right Candidate to Determine Quality or Quantity

In the end, the quality or quantity debate comes down to your client’s needs. By understanding what they need from an employee, you can decide whether this assignment calls for a fast recruitment of hundreds of candidates, or targeting a small number of candidates that exhibit specific skills or have unique backgrounds.

Use all of the available tools, including proper job descriptions, comprehensive communication, and thorough vetting, and you’ll be more likely to increase not only the number of your candidates (if desired) but also the quality.

Get the Payroll Funding You Need with Scale Funding

Scale Funding can help make your staffing agency a success. With our payroll funding programs, we relieve you of the burden of worrying about making payroll each week, allowing you to put your energy into increasing the quality of your candidate pool and to look for new clients. Staffing can be a difficult business to maintain, but we can help smooth the edges and provide greater stability to your agency.

About Scale Funding

Scale Funding is an invoice factoring company serving businesses across the United States. For more information on factoring, call (800) 707-4845 for a free, no-obligation consultation and quote.