Talent Acquisition "Wrapped"
At the beginning of 2021, many HR leaders likely were looking forward to the pandemic winding down and a new world of work starting to get underway. However, as the year comes to a close, the start of a new normal continues to remain elusive. So, what lessons have talent acquisition leaders taken from this year of uncertainty? In our talent acquisition “wrapped” blog, we take a look at 10 key learnings and as a bonus, we’ve created a playlist to coincide with each lesson (because Spotify shouldn’t get to have all the fun)!
1.) Virtual hiring is here to stay
While virtual hiring wasn’t a new concept prior to the pandemic, many companies were forced to attract and screen prospective talent using video interviewing platforms. In fact, according to Jobvite, 53% of talent acquisition teams conduct half or more of their interviews via video and 40% believe that virtual interviews will become the default. In addition, remote interviews save time and money. Previously, you had to bring people into the office, which sometimes could have been a half-day affair…now you can schedule a multitude of interviews during this timeframe instead. In the same way that a hybrid workforce of onsite and remote employees will become more normalized, a hiring process that combines virtual and in-person processes will become increasingly standard as well.
Song #1: And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going (Jennifer Hudson)
2.) Recruiters play a bigger role in DE&I
70% of job seekers want to work for a company that demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion. More and more recruiters are advocating for a diverse pipeline of candidates and hold hiring managers accountable for moving those candidates through the hiring process. Diversity is a business-critical imperative and is one that recruiting can lead through restructuring hiring processes to reduce bias, building diverse interview panels, and mandating reporting against diversity goals.
Song #2: One Love (Bob Marley)
3.) The biggest barrier to successful talent acquisition is finding the right talent
54% of HR departments consider hiring great talent one of their top priorities…because after all, people are the most important ingredient to a company’s success. Companies need to continually rethink what is likely to attract candidates to their organization versus a competitor. This is why a shorter hiring process, easy application process, and an exceptional candidate experience are key to keeping your 5-star applicants engaged.
Song #3: No Scrubs (TLC)
4.) The right technology moves people and organizations forward
The pandemic has been a stark reminder of how teams with the right tools and solutions in place are far more effective in navigating huge changes in the business than those that are struggling with outdated systems. The most obvious example of this was the scramble among organizations to implement collaboration tools for a newly remote workforce. Talent acquisition teams learned right away how essential it is to have an agile tech stack in place — one that allows them to respond immediately to rapid shifts in hiring demand.
Song #4: Technologic (Daft Punk)
5.) Recruiters can now find talent anywhere in the world
Many organizations today are able to hire people from literally anywhere, which is a benefit brought about by the tremendous increase in remote work. 40% of Generation Z and Millennial professionals want flexibility in choosing where they work, and many of these employees are interested in relocating from high-cost metropolitan areas to more affordable suburban areas. Organizations that are able to adopt remote-work policies are in the best position to benefit from the short-term talent surplus by drawing from the most qualified candidates, regardless of location.
Song #5: All Around the World (R3HAB)
6.) Consistent communication is a crucial ingredient to candidate experience
Interviewing today is compounded by unique stressors, and the antidote is to over communicate and over prepare. While this can seem like an additional investment, it’s one that pays off as an organization’s employer brand is more important than ever. Recruiters should become a candidate’s “hype person” by sharing what’s next every step of the way and ensuring there are plenty of opportunities for their questions to be answered throughout the hiring process.
Song #6: Talk (Khalid)
7.) Candidates want more feedback
No one enjoys the process of rejecting applicants, but recruiters are becoming increasingly aware of how important it is to provide constructive interview feedback to both successful and unsuccessful candidates. Doing so is a mark of respect that not only gives candidates the closure they need but protects your brand’s reputation. If a candidate feels they have been treated unfairly, they’re likely to spread the word. Failing to provide a positive experience for applicants can wind up being quite costly. For example, Virgin Media calculated that bad candidate experience was costing them as much as $5.4 million a year!
Song #7: Gimme More (Britney Spears)
8.) Skills testing has increased
Evidence is mounting that skills testing works much more effectively than other traditional hiring methods with 64% of experts claiming that this is a vital practice to establishing faster candidate screening. When candidates are assessed and recruited based on their intrinsic talent, rather than former experience, they are more likely to perform highly. In addition, skills testing contributes to removing unconscious bias from the recruitment process.
Song #8: Work It (Missy Elliott)
9.) There’s been a continual rise in data-driven recruiting
Today’s talent acquisition leaders use real-time analytics and insights to routinely hire the best talent. This data could be anything from candidate feedback scores to candidate experience scores to offer acceptance rates and cost-per-hire. It’s becoming more and more imperative that hiring decisions are based on data and not a gut feeling. In fact, talent orgs that don’t embrace data will continue to have difficulty in hiring top candidates in an efficient, predictable manner.
Song #9: This Is How We Do It (Montell Jordan)
10.) Recruiting on social media is key
A natural step for recruiters is to go where their prospective candidates are and the majority of them are already on social media. Recruiters will increasingly catch job hunter’s attention on social media platforms as mobile usage and on-the-go interactions rise. Many organizations urge their workers to share their successful content in order to attract new employees and increase their recruitment strength. Because after all, social media allows potential recruits to get a feel for what the company is like before they apply.
Song #10: New Friend Request (Gym Class Heroes)
Add Intelligence to Your Interviews
Hiring great talent is non-negotiable, and Pillar can help with many of the lessons presented above. Take the guesswork out of hiring by using our interview intelligence platform that empowers teams to hire the right talent efficiently and equitably. Through a number of helpful features, such as skills-specific interview guides, AI-generated highlight reels, and side by side candidate comparisons, Pillar dramatically reduces the failure rate in hiring, increases candidate acceptance rates, and significantly cuts time to fill. Ready to see more? Head to pillar.hr/get-a-demo.
