The Most Common Recruitment Process Challenges Hindering Business Growth

In today's ever-evolving business world, competition is fierce. To attract, hire, and retain the best talent, organizations are striving to out-complete others in their industry. Hiring has become a tough nut to crack - irrespective of the fact whether you're hiring a mill worker or a CEO for a big giant - the challenge is industry-agnostic and universal. Attracting and convincing more senior talent, such as VPs, CTOs, or other C-suites, is more challenging these days; organizations have to take support from a plethora of executive search agencies - solely specializing in finding leaders. There are several other techniques to lure and hire the best talent for your company. While you struggle to fill roles and wonder how to make the top candidates lists, ensure your recruitment processes are well-organized and smooth.


74% of employers have hired the wrong person due to ineffective recruitment practices.


There are multiple reasons why traditional recruitment processes can go wrong. First, most companies often tend to pay more attention to the revenue-generating teams, completely freezing out human resources. This way, you never get to acknowledge the challenges your recruitment teams are facing. So, here's a list of challenges faced by the company's recruitment processes that will give you a comprehensive view of potential growth areas.

The most common challenges in the recruitment processes

Employee recruitment processes are the most complex processes human resource professionals have to deal with. From creating strategies to plans for recruitment, every action has an equal impact on the business's progress, for better or worse. There are employee recruitment tools and recruitment process outsourcing firms that make the process smoother. However, it is crucial to understand the challenges first. Here are some of the common challenges faced by the company's recruitment processes.

  • Forgetting about the measurable goals and metrics
  • Every recruitment process has one wholesome goal – to onboard more top talent. Having this goal is crucial, but it has one fundamental flaw - it has no numbers. As a result, it is challenging to find weak points if you don't have enough recruitment metrics around your hiring process. For instance, if you don't have measurable goals, you can't find the root cause of challenges - whether a lack of job seekers is because of a complicated application process, low traffic on the career page, or a lackluster job description.
  • Your recruitment processes should follow an intelligent framework that is measurable, attainable, relevant, specific, and time-based. You can use metrics such as job posting views, traffic to your career page, hiring rates, the number of applicants, time to hire, time to interview to streamline your processes, etc. These numbers can be tracked from your website analytics or an applicant tracking system.
  • Promoting the wrong brand image through recruitment marketing and the careers page
  • Now more than ever, employees look for employer brands that align with their needs and values. Some of the top contributing factors to why most employees leave their jobs include fewer opportunities for advancement, low pay, and a disrespectful work environment.

  • 75% of job seekers consider the employers' brand before even applying for a job.


  • Employees are more likely to discard job applications or reject the job offer if they don't like what they see.

  • 75% of employees would not take a job from a company having a bad reputation - even if they were unemployed!


  • Your recruitment marketing, LinkedIn, job board listings, social posts, appropriate job materials, and career pages must communicate your company culture, values, and benefits. You can even opt for testimonials or positive stories from your existing employees to share what they enjoy and love most about your company.

Also Read: Withholding HR and payroll data from employees? Unnecessary!

  • Not using the 'social' part of social media
  • Most recruitment processes make the biggest mistake of using social media as just another job announcement platform instead of using it as a community-building space. There are multiple other ways to have one-way communication, from your website to job posting sites. But, you must use social media to go social.
  • Use your best content strategies to start conversations, gather views, enhance engagement, and attract more candidates. People are more likely to confront your content if they can see personal values in it. Moreover, you can get more views when your posts get more interactions, as social media algorithms prioritize engagement. Enhancing engagement with your community is also a great way to stay in touch with passive candidates.

  • 70% of the global workforce is comprised of passive talent who aren't actively looking for a job.


  • And the good news is that 90% of these passive candidates are interested in hearing about new job opportunities.
  • Inconvenient application process
  • A cumbersome application process can give candidates a poor first impression of your brand. In addition, if people find it difficult to interact with your brand from the get-go, they may feel it will be a headache working with you full-time. Outsourcing your recruitment processes or using efficient recruiting software can help streamline your hiring processes with automation, mobile-friendly applications, applicant tracking, and more.

  • 76% of hiring managers admit that attracting suitable job candidates is their greatest challenge.


  • To ensure you have a convenient and efficient application process, compare the metrics, find the root cause, and work toward betterment. You can also take the help of your existing employees to understand the ways you can improve your application process.
  • Absence of an employee referral program
  • As they say, "Family and friends are hidden treasures; seek them out and enjoy their riches" - reach out to your family first. You can always get better leads from your current employee base. Sometimes referral incentives do wonders in encouraging employees to reach out to their connections and share job listings. However, relying entirely on more significant bonuses to drive referrals isn't a good idea. Instead, get to know your employees through surveys or questionnaires and find out what you can do to address any hesitation in referring. Moreover, give them easy ways, incentives, and bonuses to promote job postings.
  • Impersonal communication
  • Everyone wants to feel appreciated – at the workplace, in homes, or in public areas – and candidates are no different.

  • 81% of candidates say that better communication would immensely improve their overall candidate experience.


  • Most employees expect personalized communication that respects their ideas and values. However, creating a personalized experience at scale can sometimes become tricky and overwhelming; this is where automation and templates come into the picture. An outstanding and unique interview invitation email can set your company apart from the others. Consider sharing short videos, testimonials, or employee experiences with new hires to make the recruitment process more exciting and encouraging.

The Bottom Line

If you are still using age-old techniques, recruiting processes can be challenging. Siloed processes tend to hinder organizational growth and must be acknowledged on priority. The above-listed challenges will help you get a comprehensive view of areas with scope for improvement. If you are still facing issues getting past these recruiting process challenges, you can opt to outsource your hiring practices to hire and retain the best talent. Exela HR Solutions is an exceptional HR outsourcing service provider that will help you attract, hire, and retain the best talent for your organizational requirements. Speak with our experts at Exela HR Solutions today and learn more about transforming your HR functions and maximizing ROIs!

DISCLAIMER: The information on this site is for general information purposes only and is not intended to serve as legal advice. Laws governing the subject matter may change quickly, and Exela cannot guarantee that all the information on this site is current or correct. Should you have specific legal questions about any of the information on this site, you should consult with a licensed attorney in your area.