TALENT ACQUISITION

Talent Acquisition

Hiring at Scale

In these unsettled times, the competition for top talent is stronger than it has ever been before. In order to have an effective workforce for 2022 to 20next, a talent acquisition strategy must be put in place today to continually attract, select and hire the people to fill your growth and leadership pipeline for all the tomorrows.

The key to effective, ongoing talent acquisition at scale is implementing a STRUCTURED, data-driven, unbiased plan.

Over many years working with some of the largest organizations across multiple industries, APTMetrics has developed a Structured Hiring model that aggregates the most effective elements and methodologies that work at the scale and the pace aggressive companies require.

The model is NOT a generic, one-size-fits-all assembly line. Instead, it is built to map into your unique hiring process and can be adapted to a particular company’s management culture and competitive requirements.

Structured Hiring Model Phases

Talent Acquisition Funnel

Structured Hiring Model

There are six phases in the APTMetrics Structured Hiring model. They can be used in any combination depending on the needs of the client. The content and workflow used in each phase can be tailored and adapted to reflect company branding and values, and describe the vision for the future of the business to help applicants engage more deeply.
Elements can integrate with most standard Applicant Tracking Systems to automate much of the talent acquisition workflow.

1

Applicant Attraction

Before you turn your recruiting teams loose to start filling the funnel for open positions, there needs to be clear agreement and concise descriptions of the roles to be filled and the skills necessary to succeed in them.

Job Analysis & Competency Modeling

APTMetrics will work with your team to develop detailed Job Analyses and Competency Models that provide a foundation for your recruiting efforts.

Realistic Job Previews

To strengthen the recruiting efforts, instead of typical text-based job descriptions on a posting page that don’t fully convey the value of the roles you need to fill and the kinds of people that would thrive in the opportunities, APT can create Realistic Job Previews. These can leverage a variety of methods and formats, from narrated animated PowerPoint presentations to full video simulations. A Realistic Job Preview lets potential applicants clearly understand what an opportunity would encompass, enabling them to either opt out early if it is not a good fit or choose to more seriously pursue the opportunity now that they really see the potential. Both responses help optimize the applicant pool.
Applicants

2

Initial Screening

If the good news is that your recruiting efforts are generating lots of applicants, the bad news is that you have lots of applicants to sort through to find the best qualified ones. Initial Screening should be fully automated and integrated with your ATS so that:
  • All applicants get a quick response
  • High quality applicants are efficiently identified
  • Accurate records are kept to ensure compliance with internal policies and external regulations.

Online Assessment

When dealing with large volumes of applicants for open positions, you need a mechanism to efficiently, effectively and fairly sort through the pool to narrow the focus. Unqualified applicants should be identified early to allow for better targeting of top potential. APTMetrics offers a family of online assessments specifically designed for the early stages of talent acquisition. They can be administered remotely via automated response systems integrated with your ATS, and can be taken on an applicant’s home computer or mobile device. A typical assessment takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes to finish, and provides sufficient data to clearly make an initial decision to pursue or reject. A specific example of a screening tool is our Cultural Dynamics (CD) assessment. This tool presents an applicant with a “Journey” through one or more dimensions of your organization. While the applicant experiences the Journey, there is a two-way exchange of information. You gather screening data while the applicant learns about the job opportunity and corporate culture.

Screening Interviews

If your Talent Acquisition process includes an initial phone screening interview, it is important that the people executing those interviews be properly trained to perform them in a fair, unbiased and comparable manner. APT offers a highly engaging, interactive, multimedia-based Structured Interview Training program where participants get to experience both correct and incorrect interviewing styles, and truly understand why a consistent, structured approach leads to the best hires.

3

Evaluation Interviews

Once applicants have cleared the initial screen bar, they are typically scheduled for a series of interviews with current employees to gauge their experience and attitude. In large enterprises where there are many people who may be involved in interviewing different applicants, it is vital that all interviewers are properly trained to guide an interview such that the process is fair and unbiased, and collects the necessary information in a manner that is comparable across different interview teams. APT offers a highly engaging, interactive, multimedia-based Structured Interview Training program where participants get to experience both correct and incorrect interviewing styles, and truly understand why a consistent, structured approach leads to the best hires.
Self-Selection

4

Quantitative Assessments

After more than 25 years working with very large enterprises, APTMetrics is a strong proponent of “data-driven HR.” This means that, to as great an extent as possible, quantitative methods are used to collect hard data for evaluating fitness for a position and the potential for future success, and providing a rigorous basis for comparing candidates. As a global leader in Assessment-Centered Talent Management Solutions, APTMetrics has developed a comprehensive library of powerful assessment tools that can effectively measure the skills and competencies of candidates in a fair, unbiased and legally-defensible manner. Our assessment library includes instruments that are constructive for evaluating entry-level individual contributors, to emerging managers, to experienced executives, to C-Suite leadership. All of the assessments are designed to be easily tailored and adapted to each client’s specific needs, enabling rapid deployment and agile responsiveness. The net result of an APTMetrics assessment process is valid data that clearly describes skills, knowledge and competencies, enabling you to narrow the focus to the top potential candidates for a given position.

5

Manager Interviews

When job candidates have passed all assessment thresholds and have made it to hiring manager interviews and final job negotiations, it is critical that those managers follow a clear, thorough protocol with regard to the interview process. These days, enterprises are very aware of the importance of diversity and inclusion in hiring, and do not want to introduce unintended bias into the process due to poor interview skills. APT offers a highly engaging, interactive, multimedia-based Structured Interview Training program where participants get to experience both correct and incorrect interviewing styles, and truly understand why a consistent, structured approach leads to the best hires and desirable diversity. Versions of the program are available targeting either more junior management staff or more senior executives, and can be tailored to reflect a company’s branding and style.

6

Offering Process

When it is time to extend an offer to a job candidate, most enterprises make the offer conditional on the individual passing a drug screen and a background check. However, it is critical that employers ensure that their background check policies satisfy important business objectives and can withstand legal scrutiny.

Background Check Evaluations

The APTMetrics background check evaluation service will help you identify appropriate job-related criteria for excluding criminal offenders from hire. We have developed a solid methodology for validating criteria that leverages our firm’s expertise in developing validated and legally defensible selection procedures.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity

Promoting active awareness of the enormous value of diversity/equity/inclusivity to a corporation throughout the talent acquisition process should be a fundamental goal. APTMetrics offers a range of consulting services and tools to help make this aspect of effective hiring highly successful.
Additional Reading
Cultural Dynamics WP