Reshaping the face of recruitment in a new world

Farai Mugabe, Content & Research, The HR Congress

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
Like many other areas of HR, the recruitment process has changed significantly during the past 2 years. The use of digital tools became the new norm and in the absence of personal interaction, the way organizations attract talent needs to be transformed as well.

Recruitment and attracting talent has changed shape over the past years. The global COVID 19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technology and the manner in which we interact.¹ This has heavily impact recruitment forcing recruiters to be more agile and innovative in their approach. Recruitment is no longer recruitment as usual. Recruiters now need to adapt and change the way they recruit and attract talent so that they adapt to the changes happening in the world around us²

Technology is increasingly becoming more important

Technology has reshaped recruitment and continues to do so. The rise of technological advances such as social media, increase in mobile phone usage, the internet, recruitment software has radically reshaped recruitment. Recruitment is now more agile, data-driven and innovative due to the use of technology. Companies and recruiters must focus on digitalizing their recruitment process as there are a wide array of benefits associated with it.³A few decades ago, the work of  a recruiter was highly clerical and administrative with a lot of manual processes to deal with. There were very few computers in place and the internet was still not as developed as it is today. Candidate databases were stored in paper format and advertising was usually done in print newspapers. Very few candidates had cellphones and hence calling candidates for interviews was quiet difficult. ⁴

Video recruitment increasingly becoming more important⁵

The pandemic took away face to face interactions making it a touchless society. This meant that all interactions at work were to be done remotely through a number of digital tools such as Slack, Teams or Zoom. More face to face interactions used to give employers the power to physically connect with a candidate. Research indicates that 55% of communication is non-verbal, 38% is vocal and words contribute only 7%.⁴ Non-verbal cues and body language such as frowns, smiles and eye-movement enable recruiters to understand candidates better when recruiters communicate with them. This has become almost impossible because there is less time to meet with a candidate and much communication is done off-video.  ⁵

The power of video and emotional connection that you get when you interact with candidates seeing them talk, smile or frown.⁵ For you to get the best business results and make profit, you should have the right talent with the right mindset. This talent should have been carefully selected through the use of a powerful recruitment platform which help you to identify the right talent, sieve through thousands candidates on your behalf and hand you the best candidates that you want.

Employer brand increasingly becoming important

In a market where employers are competing for top talent, employer branding and image is very critical. The Workforce Institute at UKG reports that work flexibility, hybrid working, care benefits and digital experience are very critical in winning the war for talent. This should be critical for an employer’s brand message.¹

Increasing need for great candidate experience

The interview experience tells candidates, a lot on the company’s culture and values. It is important for recruiters to manage candidate relationships in a people centric manner. This starts with good communication with the candidate. When a recruiter calls a candidate, chances are high that the candidate will be pre-occupied with work or might be in a very uncomfortable place. If an email or message is sent, there are high chances that it will not be read at the prompt time.

The Harvard Business Review, indicates that, “On average, professionals have more than 200 emails in their inbox and receive 120 new ones each day but respond to only 25% of them.⁸ The Harvard Business Review also reported in 2016 that the proportion of time people spend collaborating in (online) meetings or on the phone hovers around 80% of their worktime.⁹

This means that recruiters have to be patient and put the candidate at the center of the recruitment process. A great interview experience is great for ultimately getting the best talent on the market.

The rise of analytics in recruitment

These days, data and information has undeniably become a key source of competitive edge in the business world. He who has knowledge has power, those with data and ability to access and quickly interpret it are able to outsmart their competition to nothing. Key recruitment metrics to track when dealing with recruitment analytics include, cost per hire, time to hire, quality of hire and manager satisfaction rates.

Conclusion

Recruitment is changing as indicated in the write up above. Employers should also change the way they recruit and attract talent if they are to help their companies to win in the market place.

¹2022 Annual Workplace Predictions from The Workplace Institute at UKG, by The Workforce Institute at UKG, The Workforce Institute at UKG

https://workforceinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022-WFI-Predictions.pdf

² What remote recruiters can learn from the reality show ‘The Circle’ by Cammio

https://cammio.com/blog/remote-recruiting-the-circle/

³AI making HR  a winner, by Farai Mugabe, HR Congress

https://hr-congress.com/2022/02/15/how-ai-makes-hr-a-winner/

⁴ The ever-changing face of recruitment, by Brewster Partners, Brewster Partners 

https://www.brewsterpartners.co.uk/news/the-ever-changing-face-of-recruitment

⁵What different types of video interviews are there?, by Cammio

https://cammio.com/1o1/video-interview-types/

⁶How much of Communication is Nonverbal? ,by The University of Texas Permian Basin

https://online.utpb.edu/about-us/articles/communication/how-much-of-communication-is-nonverbal/

⁸How to spend way less time on email every day, by Matt Plummer,

https://hbr.org/2019/01/how-to-spend-way-less-time-on-email-every-day#:~:text=We%20can’t%20help%20it,plan%2C%20the%20backlog%20keeps%20building

⁹Collaborative Overload: Too much teamwork exhausts and saps productivity: Here is how to avoid it, by Rob Cross, Reb Rebele and Adam Grant
https://hbr.org/2016/01/collaborative-overload