- The pandemic challenged businesses to be agile enough to deliver meaningful candidate touchpoints despite the global disruption – including shrinking HR teams, limited face-to-face interactions, and ever-changing hiring needs.
- As more and more employers are looking for more innovative ways to manage their workforce, companies need to be on top of their recruitment strategies.
- In the wake of the Great Resignation of 2021, candidates are more discerning when it comes to choosing the jobs they want.
- Organizations face the following hiring challenges in a post-pandemic world: volatile hiring market, hiring process changes, technology and analytics, candidate experience, and hiring agility.
As part of their business recovery plans in the aftermath of the global pandemic, many organizations are starting to use new hiring strategies and technologies to reach the best candidates. This is essential to overcome the increasing global talent shortages.
With the need to deliver a more resilient workforce, recruitment professionals employ more robust talent acquisition strategies than they did three years ago.
As more and more employers are looking for more innovative ways to manage their workforce, companies need to be on top of their recruitment strategies too. In the wake of the Great Resignation of 2021, candidates are more discerning and have more choices when it comes to choosing the jobs they want.
Hiring Challenges in a Post-Pandemic World
A NelsonHall Whitepaper sponsored by IBM provided a road map that addresses the critical challenges talent acquisition firms face from the high levels of hiring volatility brought about by the pandemic. Based on interviews with talent acquisition leaders from various industries, the whitepaper discusses the following hiring challenges that organizations are bound to face in 2022:
CHALLENGE 1: Volatile hiring market
The whitepaper noted that approximately 85% of talent acquisition leaders expect difficulty forecasting talent acquisition needs. Such occurrence is unsurprising since, up until now, organizations are still continuously adapting to the ever-changing global economic conditions. As a matter of fact, 95% of the respondents anticipate that their talent acquisition requirements will be more volatile over the next 24 months, with a moderate fall in permanent recruitment and a significant increase in the contingent (gig economy) workforce.
CHALLENGE 2: Hiring process changes
The IBM whitepaper showed that 95% of the respondents had reduced their internal recruitment capability. As the result of a smaller recruitment workforce, organizations are compelled to redesign their talent acquisition process. Since redeploying existing resources is no longer enough, some organizations are hiring third-party recruiters and even specialized executive recruitment firms like CDA for their hiring needs.
CHALLENGE 3: Technology and analytics
60% of respondents showed they are leaning towards increasing automation over the next 12 months. By combining human touchpoints and leveraging the benefits of hiring technologies, organizations can improve their hiring and candidate experiences. While the process may take some time, implementing intelligent workflows and reimagining how hiring gets done requires the right technologies and access to the current data and analytics.
CHALLENGE 4: Candidate experience
In a volatile market, attracting and retaining top talent remains pivotal to an organization’s success, including the well-being of employees. The IBM whitepaper respondents showed that over 50% of the surveyed talent acquisition leaders admitted that they lack a balance between digital and high-touch candidate experiences. Now more than ever, it’s essential to understand where an organization’s candidate experience needs improvement. A more robust onboarding and training experience are necessary to prevent attrition and deliver a more memorable candidate experience.
CHALLENGE 5: Hiring agility
Findings from the IBM whitepaper also noted that 70% of the respondents identified gaps in their capability to scale their talent acquisition teams to manage variations in hiring volume. In times like these, organizations are compelled to use third-party recruitment services to support the fluctuating recruitment surges in the industry. As a result, 30% of the surveyed talent acquisition leaders noted that they have a high intent to use third-party recruitment services with an end-to-end talent acquisition capability for their organizations. With the right recruitment partner like CDA, organizations can deliver top-notch recruitment services that will provide the right expertise for the application management process, regardless of the volume.
Tips and Tricks to Overcome Hiring Challenges
TIP 1: Lean on technology to manage communications and recruitment.
Utilizing HR technologies will not only play a key role in candidate recruitment but it can also be used to keep employees engaged and aligned for firms that have a remote and hybrid workforce. Adopting technologies that will create a more “personal” touch for the HR team will enable them to create a more memorable experience for both new hires and the current staff.
TIP 2: Go digital with recruitment and flexible online onboarding.
The past two years have seen a heavy reliance on digital technologies in all aspects of recruitment, from the interview, onboarding, and even the termination pay. It’s about time to institutionalize these best practices and make the hiring process similar to how the candidate works at the company. For companies with remote and hybrid workers, there should be technologies that will support both setups, and the hiring process needs to reflect those capabilities.
TIP 3: Remote hiring is here to stay.
Companies need to revamp their job openings online to create a better candidate pool that reflects their corporate culture. The hiring team should create new job postings to get the most traction. Once these are in place, they should focus on enhancing their remote hiring capabilities and develop a complete remote hiring process from screening, recruiting, training, and developing a work routine that complements the remote workforce.
TIP 4: Pivot hiring candidates for flexible roles.
In the wake of the global pandemic, companies have shifted their focus to hiring candidates for flexible roles that can also be done from home. Hiring for flexible positions is a long-term investment that pays off since these flexible jobs help keep the team diversified. It also allows parents, especially women, to retain leadership roles.
TIP 5: Invest in agile solutions to support talent acquisition.
To help speed up the organization’s business recovery strategies, companies need to have agile solutions to support and upgrade the firm’s talent acquisition process. At the same time, companies also need to align their recovery strategies with agile talent acquisition solutions to build a solid talent pipeline for the firm. Companies need to find ways to stay connected with top-tier candidates to fit specific job openings. Digital tools are an essential element for this endeavor. By tapping into the organization’s existing talent pipeline, HR teams can reduce their time to hire.
Related: Key Emerging Talent Acquisition Trends Making an Impact on Executive Search in 2022
Five Steps to Attract Top Talent for 2022
STEP 1: Transparency
Transparency is an essential factor that candidates look for in organizations. The push for transparency will continue in 2022 as candidates become even more discerning and inquisitive about an organization’s past actions and stand on social issues. As a result, top candidates will also be more upfront and direct in nature when it comes to figuring out the right organizational culture for them.
STEP 2: Flexibility
Remote work is the transformative paradigm shift most candidates aspire for even when the New Normal returns. Although this may not be feasible for every role, more candidates expect a semblance of work flexibility. While a fully remote workforce may not be possible, organizations need to think about incorporating flexibility into the company culture, such as extra time off, flexible working hours, or hybrid work arrangements, to build a more attractive organizational culture.
STEP 3: Tell your story
Candidates are more likely to work for a company that shares their values. Think about the nature of your organization’s product and services, share your journey, identify what sets you apart, and make sure to apply those in your talent strategy. In these turbulent times, candidates seek stability when it comes to exploring new opportunities. Tell them about your culture, teams, successes, and present an optimistic future that they can be a part of.
STEP 4: Think outside the box
It’s time to be more innovative when it comes to hiring talent. Take a chance on an unconventional candidate and see if an innovative mindset will provide new opportunities to take the business in the direction of growth, especially during an economic recovery.
STEP 5: Be bold
Now is the right time to take risks and be bold in this current economic climate. It’s a great opportunity to try new things that will appeal to top talent and also decrease attrition. Since Millennials and the Gen-Z are already dominating the workplace, embracing a bold mindset by reinventing work processes, office culture and revenue generation will drive the business forward in the long run.
CDA is here to help you find the best executive talent for your organization.
As one of the top executive search firms, CDA can help you hire top candidates for executive leadership positions that will enhance business recovery strategies in 2022.
Partner with us and work with one of the most trusted retained executive search firms in Asia and the Pacific. Contact us now.
References:
Consulting, I. (2021). Talent acquisition leaders identify the challenges of hiring in a post-pandemic world – Smarter Business Review. Retrieved 21 April 2022, from https://www.ibm.com/blogs/services/2021/04/12/talent-acquisition-leaders-identify-the-challenges-of-hiring-in-a-post-pandemic-world/
Kulkarni, N. (2022). 15 Tips to Hire Talent Post the Coronavirus. Retrieved 22 April 2022, from https://www.toolbox.com/hr/recruitment-onboarding/interviews/hire-talent-post-coronavirus-pandemic/
Peart, N. (2022). 5 To-Dos In Recruiting To Prepare For A Post-Covid World. Retrieved 22 April 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanpeart/2020/06/12/5-to-dos-in-recruiting-to-prepare-for-a-post-covid-world/?sh=32d1079e3a08
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