HR Pros Struggling to Meet Goals Says New Report

HR leaders are falling short of their recruitment and hiring goals and experiencing such severe burnout that 61% have considering quitting, according to a new State of Hiring and Recruiting study from vendors KarmaCheck and Findem.

Missed Goals and Burnout Could Hinder Long-Term Hiring Success
The study of more than 300 HR leaders at large U.S. employers shows most are consistently failing to hit their goals, causing them to miss key hires and adding to their stress. More than half (51%) say they’re missing their cost-per-hire target–shown to be the most-tracked metric, while 47% are not meeting goals around average time to fill roles and 42% are failing to get candidates through the hiring process on time.

Unmet goals, inefficient processes and a volatile hiring market are all driving high levels of burnout that have ramifications for HR teams and organizations as a whole. Seventy-three percent report experiencing recruiting and hiring burnout and, of that group, a 51% majority deal with signs of burnout regularly with 22% saying their burnout is near daily. As a result, 61% have considered quitting in the past year.

“There’s a perfect storm brewing with HR leaders telling us they’re missing key hires, missing critical cost-per-hire goals and losing team members left and right to burnout,” said Findem CEO Hari Kolam. “Companies that fail to address these issues will undoubtedly suffer from a talent drain and miss their overarching organizational goals, but those that do take quick action will be well positioned for takeoff as the economy rebounds.”

Tech Hiring Hindered by Inefficient Processes, Healthcare by Goal Pressures
HR challenges are shown to be especially concentrated in specific industries, namely healthcare, tech and financial services. While 69% cited inefficient recruiting and hiring practices as a reason for missing key hires, that figure jumps to 90% for HR leaders in the tech industry and to 84% for financial services. Meanwhile, healthcare HR leaders were most likely to cite hiring goal pressures as a source of their burnout–54% in healthcare versus 34% across other industries studied.

“HR leaders are responding to the pressure and performance expectations of their roles by implementing increasingly sophisticated benchmarking and goal-setting practices. These recruiting and hiring process improvements deliver a competitive edge to employers while proving their value to executive leadership,” said Eric Ly, CEO of KarmaCheck. “Inefficiencies caused by ineffective processes and a lack of technology make it difficult to plan ahead and pivot in a volatile environment. As a result, already-stretched HR and recruiting teams struggle on the front lines.”

Top reasons HR leaders are missing goals included:

• 37% reported inefficient hiring and recruiting processes
• 32% reported the biggest barrier is the pool of candidates not being the right fit
• 16% said they need more automation/technology
• 12% reported that staffing shortages present the biggest challenge
• 3% indicate a mismatch between the technology they use and their needs

Tech Has Potential to Help HR Play Catch-up to Other Departments
According to the study, HR leaders see technology as a means to improve efficiencies and increase scale within recruiting and hiring across all industries. Technology is also viewed as a key way to improve coordination among internal HR teams and drive alignment with hiring managers, which was cited by half of HR leaders as a major contributor to their burnout. Of the respondents who previously quit a job due to hiring stress, 95% said they would have likely stayed if their employer had provided more or higher-quality technology. It’s little surprise, then, that 86% of HR leaders plan to purchase more technology next year.

“HR and staffing professionals are among the most technologically underserved in the enterprise, the labor market remains very tight, and talent competition is still fierce,” Ly said. “The right technology can make a huge difference in the success and welfare of these essential team members, and it’s clear that HR departments will be looking for the right tools in 2023.”

To read the full report–which also reveals HR staffing plans, diversity goals by industry, candidate funnel metrics, AI use-cases in hiring and other key findings–visit https://www.findem.ai/guides-and-infographics-thank-you/state-of-hiring-and-recruiting-report or KarmaCheck.