6 Hiring Trends to Reinvent your Recruiting Strategy Today

The pandemic of 2020 has had a significant impact on recruiting, depending on your industry. 

While entertainment, travel, and hospitality industries had to undergo a hiring freeze, hiring in health care, food, pharma soared.  

Amidst the changes and challenges, recruiters rushed to make the most of the resources they have had. 

They found that transitioning to a virtual model increased flexibility and reduced bias in the recruiting process. 

A survey by Indeed.com found that   

• 47 percent of employers hired only virtually in 2020.  
• 31 percent of employers credited virtual hiring for giving them wider access to talent.   
• 28 percent said virtual hiring allowed for flexibility and convenience, a priority for job seekers today.   
• Nearly one in five employers also said that virtual hiring reduced bias in the recruitment process.  

Trends to Reinvent Your Recruiting Strategy  

Industries worldwide are unlearning old practices and adapting to the new normal.  

Remote work, hybrid operating models, and the shift of focus from rigid policies to employees’ well-being impact a recruiter’s way of sourcing, evaluating, and onboarding people.  

Here are six hiring trends that can help you reinvent your recruiting strategy.
 

1. Make Technology your partner 
 Technology has created a virtual hiring world — one that connects candidates to their dream companies and helps businesses find qualified talent to thrive in a world of disruptions. 

If you haven’t updated your recruiting technology in the past three years, it may be time to revisit your tech toolbox. Today’s recruiting solutions take you beyond efficiency to building relationships.   

Candidate relationship management tools enable you to manage the candidate experience over the entire recruitment cycle and beyond. CRM can enable you to:  

• Maintain contact with hidden talent pools you may not have considered.  
• Keep in touch not only with traditional job-seekers but gig workers, contractors, and remote workers.  
• Stay in touch with qualified candidates you will need in the future.  
• Segment your talent market for more effective marketing. 

2. Attract candidates by prioritizing Diversity and Inclusion

Social justice movements in 2020 initiated a remarkable shift in candidate’s priorities.  
According to Monster research, more than four in five (86%) candidates globally say diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace is vital to them. 

Additional research found that 62% of people would go as far as turning down a job offer from a culture that doesn’t support a diverse workforce.  

A culture that values diversity, equity, and inclusion earn an advantage. Here’s what you can do to improve how candidates see you.  

• Review and redo your job postings to attract a diverse pool of candidates.  
• Ensure your workplace policies are not unintentionally biased towards one group.  
• Explore new sourcing methods and fill your candidate pipeline with people from various cultures.  

3. Automate your routine and make intelligent decisions with Artificial Intelligence  

We are in an age where machines can read, write, chat, and do many other things for humans. Artificial intelligence has become a friend, colleague, and supporter. 

AI can handle many routine tasks and offer quick suggestions.  

Many recruiters use AI to match candidate profiles with a job description, screen candidates, and manage repetitive tasks like job postings and interview scheduling.   

According to a Korn Ferry survey, almost two-thirds (63%) of talent acquisition professionals say AI has changed how recruiting is done at their company. 

More than half say that since AI was introduced, candidates are more qualified, and roles filled faster.  

4. Engage candidates and shortlist the qualified with Gamification

Many companies use gamification in the initial stage when a candidate applies for a job. They ask candidates to play a game designed to assess skills.  

Practical application of gamification can help you assess: 

• Decision-making capabilities using scenarios. 
• Skills and behaviors. We ask them to face a risk they might have to deal with at work. 
• Creative and strategic abilities, using games that involve planning a strategy to overcome a challenge. 

Do your research and make an informed choice when selecting your vendors and planning your gamification strategy.  

5. Save time, resources and drive performance with Internal Hiring  

Internal hiring is growing as a way to upskill your workforce quickly. 
Hiring people internally into critical business roles can save much of your recruiting and training costs.  

Internal hiring can: 

• Reduce your time to hire because you can use a shorter application window. 
• Maximize employee engagement by creating an opportunity marketplace. 
• Accelerate performance because employees are already assimilated into your culture. 

According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends 2020 report, talent professionals say that internal recruiting delivers advantages in retention (81%), new hire productivity (59%), and speeding up the hiring process (63%).  

6. Lead with Empathy and Trust  

Nothing can attract qualified candidates towards a company more than empathy, compassion, and trust. 

Gone are the days of just talking about policies. Today, companies must show the ways they value and prioritize their people.  

Get into your people’s moccasins to win their hearts, so their minds are naturally tuned in to give their best.  

Find the balance between Business needs and Candidates’ choices 

Reconfiguring your recruiting strategy is an urgency offering you an opportunity to rethink and prepare your ground for the arrival of the qualified.   

Build strategies that find the balance between your business needs and candidates’ choices. If you strive to win your candidates’ trust, commitment soon follows.