5 Tips for Volume Hiring
In an organization’s growth journey, there often arises a need to hire a large number of people within a short timeframe. Whether it’s meeting aggressive growth targets or addressing seasonal demands, volume hiring comes with unique challenges.
For industries like BPOs, FMCG, or consumer durables, these challenges can vary, including geographical constraints, language complexities, or high turnover rates. To help you navigate these challenges, here are five proven tips to make high-volume hiring a success.
- Start with Internal Hiring
Before looking externally, tap into your internal workforce. Post openings internally to encourage employee mobility, like shop-floor workers moving into field sales roles. This not only boosts morale but also leverages employees’ institutional knowledge, which is invaluable during onboarding.
Additionally, build a strong employee referral program to encourage your current team to recommend candidates. A good referral program can reduce costs, improve new hire retention rates, and ensure cultural fit. Ideally, referrals should contribute to 20-40% of your total hires. Make sure your referral rewards are simple, transparent, and appealing.
- Set Clear Expectation:
The purpose of volume hiring is to onboard candidates quickly while maintaining quality. However, many candidates may quit early if their expectations of the job differ from reality.
To mitigate this, present all job conditions and requirements upfront, such as:
- Shift timings and transportation options.
- Working conditions (e.g., non-air-conditioned spaces in logistics).
- Uniform and double-shift policies for sectors like hospitality.
Being transparent from the start reduces misunderstandings and ensures candidates are better prepared for their roles.
This can be avoided if all facts and conditions related to jo are presented upfront to candidates this could include shift working , transport , reporting time , meal availability on work place, uniform etc. One should also highlight aspects like double shift to cover co worker absence in sectors like Hospitality, and working in confined and often non Air conditioned spaces in logistics sector .
- Implement a Robust Applicant Tracking System (ATS) :
A reliable ATS is critical for high-volume hiring. It helps you screen, sort, and manage a large pool of applicants efficiently. Look for ATS features like:
- Candidate gateways for application tracking.
- Pre-screening questions to filter candidates early (e.g., “Are you willing to work night shifts?”).
- Integration with job boards for seamless applicant flow.
For unskilled or semi-skilled roles, you may need to rely on manual tracking tools like spreadsheets. Ensure application forms are concise to speed up the process while still capturing essential candidate details.
- Are you willing to work in night shifts
- Our job involves travelling thru interior areas are you willing to do this .
However job boards may not be suitable specially when hiring for Unskilled or Semi Skilled employees in this case one will have to revert to good old excel sheets to keep track of candidates .
Candidates job applicant form should be so designed to take minimal time for candidates to fill and help you in identifying which candidate to take forward for next round of screening process . One always has an option of doing a detailed data collection at the time of final round .
- Maintain a Fair and Consistent Screening Process :
Consistency is often lost in high-pressure hiring scenarios, leading to mismatched hires. To avoid this, prepare a structured interview guide that all stakeholders can follow.
Your screening process should include:
- Minimum knowledge requirements.
- Key behavioral traits to assess cultural fit.
- Standardized questions to ensure fairness across multiple interviewers.
Conducting interviewer bootcamps or training sessions can also improve the quality and consistency of your screening process.
- Set of minimum necessary knowledge to go by
- Important behavioral patterns one is looking for
One can always improve depending on the situation but a standard reference and boot camp for interviewers can dramatically improve the throughput of entire process .
- Assessing for Job Fit :
High-volume hiring often overlooks behavioral and motivational fit, leading to high attrition or no-shows. Use open-ended questions to gauge candidates’ preferences and adaptability, such as:
- “What motivates you to work in this role?”
- “Are you comfortable with flexible work hours or frequent travel?”
Where feasible, conduct interviews at the actual workplace (e.g., warehouses for logistics roles). This helps candidates visualize the job environment and improves their decision-making.
Conclusion :
The volume hiring process can feel overwhelming, especially in today’s competitive job market. However, a well-planned strategy focusing on transparency, internal resources, and consistent screening can set your organization up for success.
Remember, candidates aren’t just potential employees; they’re also potential customers of your brand. Providing a positive candidate experience ensures your organization is remembered favorably.
Need expert support for high-volume hiring? Get in touch with us to learn how we can streamline your recruitment process.