Without a doubt, the pandemic has reshaped the business world in many ways. In order to adapt to the new normal, companies were required to make fundamental changes, notwithstanding the various challenges, in order to continue operations. The health crisis quickly forced the economic world to evolve at all different levels in order to survive.
Far from unscathed, the areas of recruitment and hiring had no choice but also to evolve to overcome talent acquisition hurdles. With the stress from high employee turnover, recruiters found themselves constantly shifting from one strategy to the next. All this to meet the fluctuating and often unpredictable hiring demands. More so, applicant expectations are significantly different compared to the expectations pre-pandemic.
The labor market will continue to shift as the world handles vaccination issues and emerging Covid-19 variants. With this, now is the most crucial time to review recruitment strategies and implement processes to sustain and help recruiters thrive in these challenging times.
Challenges in Talent Acquisition
In order to design key strategies in hiring during and post pandemic, we must first understand the challenges that talent acquisition leaders are facing. Proper evaluation and planning can help recruiters come up with effective resolutions and action plans.
Forecasting Acquisition Needs
Predicting hiring needs during a pandemic is next to impossible. What may seem feasible this month may turn out totally off the mark in the next month or quarter. With businesses trying to adapt to conditions like health protocols, no one can tell precisely how operations will go within the next few weeks or months.
Work Load
One result of the Covid-19 pandemic is the reduction of the workforce. This includes the number of recruiters retained by companies. With fewer people running the show, there is a significant increase of responsibilities per recruiter. This means all hiring processes implemented prior to the pandemic may no longer work.
Shift to Technology
To adapt to strict health protocols, recruitment teams shifted to emerging technologies that help facilitate virtual interviews and hiring. Challenges in this department are not only limited to tech knowledge, as recruitment continues to struggle when it comes to candidate experience.
Reputable Outsourcing
With the economy showing signs of revitalization, the surge in hiring requirements has led recruitment to outsource some hiring processes. With the off-loading of some responsibilities, challenges with vendor timeliness and effectiveness arise.
Key Hiring Strategies to implement this 2022
With the unpredictability of hiring, recruitment leaders should focus on building and implementing strategies that are beyond the norm. It is clear that traditional processes will no longer work in these unprecedented times. So, it is time to re-invent and develop methods that will work in this new business landscape.
Use data-driven recruitment
According to research by the US Department of Labor, the average cost of one bad hire can go as high as $240,000, depending on the role. It costs a lot to hire the wrong person. Resorting to data-driven recruitment can help eliminate this problem.
This intelligent recruitment analyzes talent pool and candidate data to identify skills and career mindset, helping recruiters zero in on the right people. With the right technology, the system can help analyze other metrics like cost and efficiency, among others. This can include the use of an ATS and other performance management applications. This gives the recruitment team crucial data at their disposal while making it manageable with a limited workforce.
Focus on employee/candidate engagement
One of the effects of the pandemic is the major shift to the remote working setup. This means a fun work environment no longer entices candidates to apply. These days, candidates are more careful in choosing jobs and are more likely to wait for a job that aligns with their values. Moreover, they now have the advantage to be more selective of salary and compensation offers. The power has definitely shifted since recruitment is facing a low volume of applicants, especially for hard-to-fill roles.
The best course of action is to brand your company with elements specific to your targeted applicants. Now is the best time to rethink and revise your employer value proposition. With tough competition when it comes to hiring the best people, recruitment must focus on candidate engagement. This includes making the process enticing and stress-free to deter any hesitations when it comes to applying for the job.
Making candidates a top priority can result in positive results in hiring. According to How to Prepare for a Job Interview, although each interview is different, the questions stay the same from one to the next. With all the data gathered regarding the candidate, recruiters must tailor each interview. Gone are the days when you simply jumped from one question to another.
 Expand your talent pool
Instead of just focusing on those actively applying for a job, widen the scope by reaching out to passive candidates. Some of the best talents may be satisfied with their current jobs, but this does not mean that you cannot offer better opportunities. You can tap them to transfer to your organization for career growth and better compensation.
Another way to expand your talent pool is through lead generation. This has been a foundation for recruitment and considered a holy grail for talent acquisition. While the old lead generation tactics may no longer serve you well, you can implement new strategies.
Understand your market
Attract a more robust market by identifying your target applicants. Proper identification will help you create your next course of actions and the best channels for networking.
Identify networking channels
Once you have identified your target market, you can pinpoint the right channels to find them. These days, social media and networking platforms are your best bet. When using a marketing platform, ensure that you measure the success of each strategy.
In current times, it is safe to say that we can expect hiring requirements to stay volatile for the next several months. However, with the strategic implementation of innovative hiring strategies, recruitment can still thrive and remain effective despite a worldwide crisis.
HR Future Staff Writer
