In terms of numbers, high-volume hiring ranges from the low hundreds of employees to many thousands. But volume is not the sole marker of this type of recruitment. Velocity, flexibility, repeatability matter too. Typically, high-volume hires have to be turned around fast – and employers need the agility to scale volumes up or down fast. Additionally, the vast majority of recruitment is to a limited selection of positions and/or job families – hiring is to the same vacancies, so the roles are repeatable.

Although features and functionalities vary, all modern Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are equipped to handle high-volume hiring. They key is to optimize relevant functionality and use the best plug ins and add-ons. Korn Ferry is technology agnostic. Nimble provides off-the-shelf integration with all of the primary ATS products. To maximize Nimble’s features, it is easy to deliver a custom integration – such as embedding chatbots. Or, you can even run Nimble outside of an ATS or HR system for high-volume recruiting.

Recruitment functions often lack the resources or agility to scale hiring quickly, especially in-house teams. Hiring at pace is another key challenge of high-volume recruiting - employers struggle to hit time-to-hire targets. This issue is worsened if candidate dropout rates are high during the hiring process. Additionally, employers can find it difficult to find the desired quality and/or diversity of candidates for mass hiring. In terms of costs, employers often do not realize the cost-efficiencies of recruiting at scale. Cyber security challenges and rapidly changing legislation also provide data security, privacy and protection challenges.

In high-volume hiring, the vacant roles are repeatable. You are recruiting a large number of employees into the same limited range of positions on an ongoing basis. In high-volume hiring, it is also common to scale hiring up or down quickly. On the other hand, regular recruiting covers the full range of roles within an organization, which will include many unique roles and positions that are rarely advertised. In regular recruiting, hiring volumes and needs will fluctuate at a much slower and more predictable rate.

First, you need a good marketing strategy to promote awareness of your employer brand – and to directly target and relevant candidates by meeting them way they are. Once you have sourced candidates, you need a fast and engaging process that prevents dropouts and provides a smooth and positive candidate experience. Fast, but thorough, screening and assessment delivers the right quality of candidate - each aspect of that process should be optimized and reviewed to remove any potential bias. Underpinning everything, there should be a solid framework for data management and regulatory compliance.

To manage mass hiring, you need the right combination of people and technology. Your ATS system can handle the admin of high-volume hiring. When paired with advanced technology such as Nimble, your ATS can provide a premier candidate experience and an accelerated hiring timeline. However sophisticated the technology, you still need the right headcount of recruiters to handle the volume of hires – and rapid fluctuations in volumes. The need to scale is why high-volume recruiting is so commonly outsourced.

Technology enables you to hire in faster, better way through automation and process innovation. For example, you can make it easier for candidates to apply through text message application. Technology such as Nimble enables you to source and sift candidates faster, and you can enhance the candidate experience by using features such as chatbots, virtual assessments and real-time feedback. Employers can also adopt new recruitment marketing, employer branding and candidate attractions techniques.

Recruitment technology has to a role to play in every aspect of high-volume hiring. Technology enables you to attract and source candidates, and then manage every part of the assessment process and candidate journey. From sifting candidates, to scheduling interviews, to answering candidate queries, technology can take care of the process faster, more accurately and more cost-effectively than a human – leaving recruiters with more time to focus on tasks that technology cannot perform. Technology also provides the data and reporting to make rapid, informed, decisions on hiring tactics and recruitment strategy.