Recruiters need clear-cut ways to refine their current processes for greater productivity. Here are four ways to ensure efficient, effective recruiting.

Recruiting is a tougher gig than ever. We get it. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done. And talent acquisition feels like a perpetual cycle. The shortage of skilled candidates coupled with a wealth of open positions, plus the need to attract diverse candidates, makes a recruiter’s job difficult.

Your efforts to source, hire, and retain talent can get expensive—with lengthy time-to-fill and time-to-hire rates, unproductive processes, manual workarounds, and the dreaded employee turnover. Given aggressive deadlines and ambitious recruitment goals, recruiters need some clear-cut ways to refine their current processes. Here are a few straightforward techniques to get your team started.

1. Recruit Within Your Applicant Database

You don’t have to start from zero with every new job requisition. Odds are you have a myriad of qualified candidates floating around in your applicant tracking system (ATS) at this very moment.

While they may have been disqualified or eliminated themselves from consideration for a specific position, they likely possess skills and qualities valued by your organization. Your hiring team can mine these candidates and build talent pipelines around high-priority positions, which can drastically reduce the time it takes to fill and hire.

With the deep functionality to identify, collate, and sort through candidates, the next-generation ATS you choose will help create and maximize multiple talent pipelines.

Related reading: 'Choosing Your Next Enterprise ATS: 4 Must-Have Features

2. Streamline Your Talent Acquisition Workflow

How complex are your recruitment processes?

If it takes 10 steps to move a candidate from application through hiring, the process might be too long. And could be causing some of the best candidates to drop off or fall through the cracks. When candidates face a lengthy hiring process, many lose interest, pursue other roles, or stay in their current position. So it follows that faster recruiting equals greater hiring success.

Not every role requires a comprehensive workflow. However, keep in mind that high-impact positions requiring candidates with specialized skills or high-volume roles at risk for frequent employee turnover need quicker workflows.

Drawn out processes for these types of requisitions can make your organization vulnerable to losing quality candidates. Flexible recruitment software equipped with customized workflow functionality turns inefficient talent acquisition into a seamless and effective process.

More from the blog: '4 Tips to Improve Candidate Experience for High-Volume Recruiting'

3. Make Sure Candidates See Your Job Posts

Almost half of job seekers search for open positions daily on their mobile device. But only 39% of career sites and 36% of application processes are mobile-optimized. With numbers like that, it’s possible that mobile sourcing could amplify productivity for your recruiting team.

Some of the top factors candidates want in their recruitment experience include better communication, a swifter interview process, and a simple, efficient online application process.

With the right technology, you can not only field a mobile candidate experience that wins, but you can empower recruiters to make it faster and more personal.

More from the blog: '5 Candidate Sourcing Strategies to Build Your Talent Pipeline'

4. Make Your Applicant Tracking System Work for You

Recruiting technology is designed to make your life easier, so take full advantage of its ability to streamline, automate, and otherwise help you recruit faster and smarter. Take the time to create templated requisitions, program and save searches based on frequent skill profiles you need, and create effective email responses for candidates at each phase in the hiring cycle.

Ideally, your applicant tracking system (ATS) also offers intelligent and adaptable functionality that lowers the burden recruiters face when screening candidates.

Hiring managers can improve recruiter productivity and decrease review time with a comparison module that

• Automates candidate screening – Compare applicant submission materials to job descriptions using the criteria your team designates for each position.
• Identifies qualifying applicants – Flag top talent for further review and comparison.
• Deepens candidate assessment – Gain insight with dynamic scoring tools based on skills match.

Recruiting for Results

An inspiring candidate experience demands speed and flexibility. To strengthen your talent acquisition program, take time to identify elements of your recruitment processes that hinder productivity and find ways to reinvigorate your workflow.

Recruit smarter and watch the business impact of engaged, productive, and loyal employees unfold.

Recommended reading to download today: '5 Recruiting Metrics that Drive Business Value'