Media tracking

The ongoing saga of tracking where hires come from is still a challenge many employers still face.  A few on the ATS vendors such as iGRasp do automate the process but it often comes with quite a hefty cost and is not really viable for ad-hoc advertising.

But is the ability to track by channel to hire actually that important?  Is it actually missing a key point about the whole attraction strategy and is it only because the tracking in place is not in place that it creates a need to track what they can't track?

A vicious circle that in lieu of a technical solution needs to be turned on its head and looked at in a different light.

Why do we need to track?

• Because a lot of money is being spent across too many channels that are not working. 
• Because the adverts that are created are not standing out/doing their job so more advertising is needed.
• Because too many recruiters are relying on advertising to fill their vacancies.

Some options

• Use fewer job boards, maybe just one niche or just one generalist for the volume jobs.
• Only use one niche site for ad-hoc vacancies e.g. IT.
• Use the free job aggregator sites.
• Use more search.
• Use Google Adwords and track conversions.
• Use Google Analytics to track both online and offline advertising.
• Use search more often; maybe before advertising!
• Build an online talent pool using e-mail marketing and CRM technology to manage the database of people.

I know there is nothing radical here, but is the cost of getting the tracking, fully automated, actually viable?  Is it not a better option to focus your efforts on being a bit more proactive, commit more spend to one key job board (who will then work harder) rather than a bit to many (who see you as a small customer and treat you accordingly)?  Is it not better to go to a cleaner source for candidates i.e. search which is where job boards get most of their candidates anyway?

So, until we have low cost and very accurate tracking of hires, recruiters need to think a bit smarter.  Or, carry on as they are but just accept that they won't get the tracking and just focus on the quality applicants through to hire.