How we hire is changing – here’s why

How businesses hire new talent has changed a lot over the last two years – initially as a result of necessity, but more recently also in an effort to tackle what is perceived to be a crisis in the number of suitably qualified candidates on the market.

There’s now a general feeling within the recruitment sector that the future that awaits businesses that are resistant to the need to be more agile, less conventional, and more tech-savvy in how they hire is one of stagnating talent and growth.

Looking at the recruitment market today, there appears to be three key trends that HR directors and their business leaders need to get their heads around:

1. Decrease the time it takes to hire by streamlining process

Even though we’ve seen the so-called ‘Great Resignation’ that saw a sudden spike in the number of people who, six months into the pandemic, decided to abandon their existing roles for new challenges, the time it takes to bring in a new hire is going up, not down.

Logically, the Great Resignation should have had the effect of flooding the market with highly qualified, immediately available talent, putting would-be employers in the box seat when it came to bringing the right people on board in double-quick time.

In fact, the reverse happened.

A recent report suggests that 40 percent of respondents identified a lack of available talent as the biggest barrier to hiring the best of the best. This apparent shortage of talent extends the time it takes to bring someone onboard because the search process takes longer.

In 2021 it’s thought that around 15 percent of roles could be filled within 1 or 2 weeks. A year later, only 7 percent of roles are being filled as quickly – and more worryingly, it’s taking up to 3 months to fill many posts that were previously being recruited within 4 weeks.

If you can streamline your process by using digital technology – whether through automated systems or advertising in digital environments where responses can be sent instantly, you may well find your lead times reduce.

Similarly, much of the lag in hiring times is caused by an obsession around experience rather than skill.

Not only does taking a ‘skills first’ approach offer you the possibility of seeing different candidates than you would through a traditional approach, it also helps to remove bias from your recruitment process because it necessarily requires you to have a more open mind.

Your candidate communication also needs to be streamlined. Make sure everyone is on the same page, but structure your onboarding process to minimise the number of emails and messages your successful or intended candidates need to respond to.

2. Use digital tools to streamline further

Digital tools alone are not necessarily the answer, but they can be used in a blended approach that combines in-person activity with digital tools. This may mean automated and standardised assessments, chatbots to address candidate FAQs, and improved data management.

And while it’s always nice to meet a candidate in person, video interviews are fast becoming the norm now, rather than the exception. Seeing 6 or 7 candidates in person in a day is time-consuming. Virtual interviewing is faster, more efficient, and can draw out all the information you’d get from a physical process.

And there’s nothing to stop you making an in-person chat with the preferred candidate part of the process.

3. Recruit with an eye on employee retention

Staff turnover is higher today than it has ever been, and broadly speaking there are three factors that influence whether your new hire will stay or leave: compensation, learning and development, and employee recognition.

In the end high turnover is often a result of hiring the wrong candidate to begin with. One solution is to use job-matching technology to get the candidate who will be the right fit for your organisation.

Ensuring you have the right tools to find, attract and appoint the right person will almost always drive down your staff turnover rates.

And one strategy that seems to be working well with many recruiters in today’s market is to expand the talent pool by considering candidate profiles that their conventional or traditional approaches may have overlooked previously, such as retirees and graduates who demonstrate the right skills.

If you’d like to find out more about how Constantia Consulting can help you or your HR team to hire the right person quickly and efficiently, please get in touch for an informal chat.