The pandemic has massively accelerated the rise in changing technologies and has also changed our normal day-to-day working life, shaping the way organisations hire new talent. With 84% of employers planning on expanding their remote working teams, traditional approaches need to be evaluated in order to maintain the competitive edge. In this blog, we decided to list some of our top recruitment trends that should be taken through to 2022.
As our world continues to change, the recruitment and selection trends also continue to adapt with them. New technologies and advanced recruitment practices have also contributed towards the changing trends. Although, despite the technological advances, the recruitment process ultimately stays the same - businesses still source their candidates, evaluate their fit for the roles, and of course put them through to a unique selection process.
However, what has changed, are the recruitment trends, which is more about how we do things within the process. How we source and evaluate candidates has changed exceptionally fast over the last few decades, and continues to do so. With the rise of social networking and social recruiting, it has shaped the way we manage to locate potential candidates. Recruitment trends such as people analytics, work place assessments, and cultural fit are a lot more effective when evaluating potential candidates over the traditional means such as interviews and CV checks.
Recruitment trends will always continue to evolve into the future, especially with the next wave of technology. The disruption of the pandemic and new technology shows no signs of slowing down. Here are some of our favourite trends worth mentioning ahead of 2022.
Our Top Trends
Diversity, equity & inclusion - Within the last two years, the awareness of social issues has risen significantly. Candidates tend to now align themselves with the businesses that share their values and are always committed to their DEI policies.
Cultural diversity has been known to contribute towards higher probability, drive innovation and creativity and also increase overall productivity. These diversity and inclusion strategies in recruitment have been on the rise and will only continue to become more prevalent in 2022. As stated in the McKinsey's Diversity Wins report, the companies in the top-quartile for ethnic diversity on executive teams are 33% more likely to have a bigger probability. Additionally, those with higher gender diversity on their executive teams were 21% more likely to outperform.
Businesses are turning to technology such as AI and workplace assessment tools in order to remove any unconscious bias in any recruitment process, which helps to build diverse workplaces.
Virtual Recruiting - The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the speed of the transition to remote working, which has since proven that in certain industries, geographical barriers are no longer a significant issue. Many businesses have now started to hire fully remote employees and have transitioned to a virtual workforce, using the right tools to allow this adoption. Virtual recruiting benefits not only the employer, but also employees. Employers have the ability to gain access to a larger talent pool, whilst employees reap the benefits of flexibility in their work - which may not have been possible before.
Companies have pivoted to a remote-first model, so recruitment processes need to be able to reflect this clearly. So with the benefits and also uncertainty of the pandemic, you need to expect virtual recruitment to continue through 2022 and further, making the most out of it.
Hiring Soft Skills - Soft skills have become strong drivers of productivity, cooperation and communication. They are also deemed to be a lot harder to recruit for in comparison to hard skills which can be taught. Soft skills are becoming significantly more important than previously, as a lot more recruiters and employers are calling for a good workplace culture, job flexibility, diversity and inclusion from employees.
A potential candidate may have all the correct hard skills, but it now comes down to whether they will fit into the company culture. We are currently transitioning into a period where businesses and recruiters increasingly recognise the need for these soft skills.
Employee Experience - Due to experiencing a high employee turnover and the impending talent shortage across the last few years, businesses have now turned to the employee experience in order to understand why their employees resign. It's a lot easier and most cost-effective to retain talent. Candidates also want to know that their future organisation has a great employee experience, so taking strategic steps to make it clear and visible will benefit your current and future employees in the long run - you can do this by offering great benefits and perks, whilst creating a great working environment with your missions and values.
Employer Branding - With the increasing demand for new talent, employer branding is an incredibly important trend to carry through to the new year. Branding, which includes the company's reputation, has become a critical element in the recruitment and retention strategy. The more information candidates have about the company and its mission, culture and purpose, the more likely they are to have a positive impression - resulting in more job applications.
Having a strong employer brand can also lead to a 28% reduction in staff turnover - which is extremely important whilst the world is experiencing 'The Great Resignation'. You will have the ability to take advantage of a greater reach at a lower marketing costs, simply because word of mouth travels fast across candidates' networks.
Focusing on Retention - Finally, as the market continues to be driven by candidates, fully understanding employee engagement and retention makes a great starting point. A lot of employees have had a large amount of time to think about their future in their current employment and other career opportunities. As we head into 2022, there are more opportunities than ever for people to make changes with their careers.
With so many different companies and industries competing for the best talent out there, whilst offering increased salaries, onboarding bonuses and flexible work, retention should be the first thing employers need to focus on when devising growth plans for the new year. People are valuing company culture and loyalty rewards more and more, so businesses need to take this into account when trying to attract and retain employees.
Here at Talented Recruitment Group, we think it's extremely important to carry these recruitment trends into 2022 and adapt to any new obstacles in order to achieve a great hiring process or retaining your current employees.
Using some of these recruitment trends in 2022 can offer businesses a wealth of practical applications. Since recruiters search for candidates amid extreme talent shortages, uncertainties due to the global pandemic and with emerging technologies, knowing effective recruitment strategies will always provide a company with a considerable edge over competitors - and the same can be said for recruitment agencies.
Since this is our last blog of 2021, we want to wish you a happy new year - see you in January!