In the professional world, flexibility and adaptability are now more important than ever, especifically for hiring managers. Being able to navigate a challenging job market and sifting through endless job pools to find the right talent has always been a crucial skill. With professional boundaries and cultures changing world over, employers will now need a multi-pronged approach to succeed in 2020 and beyond.
Hiring competent individuals was already a challenging task. It has become even harder following the outbreak of COVID-19. With greater competition for existing vacancies, sourcing top talent will require a lot more work on the part of recruitment teams. They will have to be smarter in their choice of hiring platforms, think out of the box, and be creative when picking a recruiting process to follow.
Of course, if there is one industry that knows how to adapt and thrive in constantly changing circumstances, it is recruitment. In the UK alone, the sector is worth £35 billion today while the value of the industry in America stands at around $120 billion.
So, what challenges are human resource professionals facing when looking for suitable employees in the current climate? What are the best ways to tackle these matters and obtain the desired results? This piece will talk about both aspects in detail.
Recruitment Trends and Challenges in 2020
The year 2020 has been one of massive changes. Not only has there been a shift in recruitment best practices, the motivations and expectations of both candidates and employers have evolved.
What used to be a simple salary expectation from an average job, has now turned into a demand for wholesome employment benefits including career growth prospects, learning opportunities, attractive workplace culture, flexible hours, and adequate work-life balance.
Moreover, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the sudden shift towards remote work arrangements, has made hiring and retention processes more complex. Mass layoffs and loss of business has resulted in many candidates seeking assurances about the viability of a particular workplace before accepting any job offer.
In the wake of these challenges, HR pros have had to reinvent their recruitment strategies. This has resulted in a shifting of trends as hiring managers look for new ways to locate people who would be the right fit for their companies.
Following are some of the recruiting trends to watch out for this year.
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Shift towards remote working and freelancing
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COVID-19 has forced many businesses to go fully remote. However, freelancing and work-from-home options had been gaining popularity long before the coronavirus reared its ugly head.
According to a study, there has been a 159% increase in remote workers over the past 12 years. And in the aftermath of the pandemic, many job seekers now consider it a requirement rather than a special perk. In another survey, 68% of the respondents said that the option to work remotely would impact their decision to accept or reject a new job.
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Re-imagine on-boarding candidate experience
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Candidate experience has now become a crucial factor in new hires sticking around or walking away after just a couple of months in the job. Research indicates that 64% of new employees in the US are likely to quit as a result of a negative onboarding experience. To avoid such high turnover, it is important to have a robust and streamlined onboarding process.
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Growing importance of referrals for hiring value
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Most of us trust the opinions of people that we know and respect. We do that when buying new stuff, seeking medical care, making a career choice, etc. As a hiring manager, you are likely to operate on a similar premise.
In fact, utilizing your professional network to find the needed talent has long been a great untapped resource for recruitment. And with competition for jobs arguably at an all-time high, employee referrals will surely increase.
Top Recruiting Tips for 2020 and Beyond
Here are some top tips to consider when developing a multi-pronged recruitment strategy:
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High time to go digital
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There won’t be a better time to go digital with your hiring process, if you haven’t done so already. While online sourcing of candidates has been prevalent for quite a while, now is the time to take it to the next level and enhance your recruiter productivity.
There are, of course, the usual methods of utilizing social media, recruitment software, and online job portals to find employees. In addition, you should consider upgrading your job adverts with the help of an augmented writing tool. How you phrase the advertising of a vacancy can often determine the quality of candidates that a position attracts.
An augmented writing tool utilizes data (about a particular company and culture) and predictive analytics to help you determine what language will be right for your job ads. As a result, you can attract better candidates while your company culture will be expertly reflected in the advertisement.
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Prioritize internal mobility
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Internal mobility refers to the practice of selecting current employees for new roles within a company. This can save time and valuable resources while also helping in retaining as well as attracting talent. As per the 2018 Workforce Learning Report by LinkedIn, 94% of employees are likely to stay longer at an organization if it actively invests in their career development.
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Build a stellar employer brand
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Employer Brand (EB) is your company’s reputation as an employer. It goes hand in hand with your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) which is a firm’s promise of compensation, benefits, rewards, etc. to employees for their work commitment.
Both these aspects help in luring top quality applicants. When you have a stellar EB, job seekers will be keen to apply to your company. You won’t have to do much to advertise vacancies either. As a result, positions won’t take too long to fill up and your recruitment costs will be lower.
Furthermore, when you have a strong EVP, your people will be proud to work for your company. They will also talk about it to outsiders in glowing terms. This will ultimately lead to more employee referrals and good publicity for your organization.
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Consider outsourcing your recruitment function
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Time is of the essence in business, especially for startups and SMEs (small and medium enterprises). For them, the moments spent looking for talent could be better utilized in performing other tasks that add more value to the company.
This is where outsourcing your recruitment function can help. A third party will take care of finding suitable professionals for you. As a consequence, you can save valuable time and money while gaining access to a bigger talent pool.
Easy2Employ (E2E) is one such recruitment outsourcing service provider that makes it easier for you to hire the best talent without a worry. Utilizing a SaaS-based applicant tracking solution, E2E can fully automate your recruitment life cycle to improve your team’s efficiency.
Here are some of the services the team offers:
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- Posting vacancies on different job boards and portals.
- Preparing and organizing applicant profiles.
- Setting up interviews and overseeing evaluations.
- Managing correspondence with applicants.
- Utilizing various IT tools to match candidate profiles with job descriptions.
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Instances of building an effective recruitment strategy
In tech recruitment, the practices of various software tech giants indicate that an effective staffing strategy can be built in different ways. You can opt for an attractive and engaging careers page on your website like Airbnb. In fact, the online rental marketplace is known to have one of the finest careers websites. The layout is clean so that applicants can easily find the roles they are looking for. Also, the strong EB and EVP are very nicely presented to entice top professionals.
On the other hand, Salesforce promotes its wonderful company culture through social media to lure the best minds in the industry. Through its career-focused Instagram channel, the company regularly shares posts put up by employees about how great it is to work there. This helps Salesforce convey to potential new hires that it cares about them. And with more than 14,000 Instagram followers, it is clear that the strategy is paying dividends.
All in all, the recruitment industry deals with new and unique challenges with every passing year. In the year 2020, HR professionals will just need a lot more planning and strategy to achieve the same goals, with better results.
