Skilled employees are more valuable than ever. That’s because they’re in short supply. Talent shortages have mushroomed in the past decade, with 78% of UK companies facing them in 2022 compared with just 11% in 2012. The result is that the competition for good staff is fierce, necessitating a new approach to recruitment. Find out the benefits of modern hiring and learn how to improve your hiring process.

Treating candidates like customers

In today’s competitive business environment, it’s crucial to treat your customers well even if they’re not transacting with you at that moment. Doing so makes them more likely to transact with you next time, fosters loyalty, and increases the chance of them recommending you to others.

In a competitive recruiting environment, why wouldn’t you do the same? That means creating a welcoming, people-focused candidate experience that’s relevant and memorable. This begins from the moment they respond to a job posting or recruitment call, through the first impression and interviews, to them accepting or rejecting an offer. And if it turns out they aren’t the right fit or vice versa, then handle that parting interaction with respect and grace – they might be the right fit one day in the future. Try auditing your candidate’s journey from their perspective to make sure you’re getting it right.

The rise of reputation

Everything is being reviewed and rated these days, from that new restaurant on the corner to the hiking trail up the nearest hill. This stands true for companies too, and that information is easily available on sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, Monster, and LinkedIn Job Search. It’s increasingly common practice for job seekers to research how present and former employees feel about working at a particular company before applying for or accepting a position there. Just another reason companies need to treat their most valuable asset – their staff – well. As Warren Buffett said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it”. Be sure your company’s reputation is portrayed as a progressive, fulfilling place to work.

Speeding up the recruitment process

Vacancies have a cost – both financially and in terms of opportunity. Every day you have an unfilled position is one where your company loses out on that potential staff member’s productivity. But that’s not all. Consider the productivity lost by others filling in for them, along with the revenue loss that this entails. Moreover, with the war for top talent so fierce, a sluggish hiring process is a sure way to lose candidates to your competitors.

Auditing the steps of your hiring process enables you to identify inefficiencies or bottlenecks. Are your job descriptions clear and carefully worded to weed out unsuitable candidates? Are you cultivating a pool of internal and external talent that you can dip into the moment a vacancy arises? Technology is a huge help in this regard, with 99% of Fortune 500 businesses using applicant tracking systems that automatically screen and rank candidates. They also organise information about present and past applicants for easy reference – essential in building a sustainable talent database. These systems are increasingly being built as platforms that integrate with other recruitment technologies.

Given its ubiquity and enormous reach, social media is an indispensable part of the talent acquisition strategy of many companies. It enables easy access to job seekers, 86% of whom use the technology to search for relevant opportunities. A social media recruitment campaign goes beyond merely posting job openings. Companies can use these platforms to position themselves as attractive places to work by promoting company culture, industry-leading innovations, or benefits. Doing so enables them to access those elusive passive candidates who may not be actively looking for work but might be receptive to the right opportunity. With active job seekers also forming part of your audience, you’ll find that your recruiting costs are lower than if you used traditional methods.

The vast range of sites and platforms means you need to be astute if you want the best results. You can do this by seeking out potential talent where they’re most likely to be and tailoring your message according to the personality and format of each. You also need to develop appropriate metrics based on your objective, be it boosting company awareness or attracting candidates to apply for an open position.

Employing a data-driven approach

Big data is used to inform most business decisions these days, and recruitment should certainly be no exception. Employing data analytics allows employers to build a more accurate profile of their ideal candidate based on historical data and predictions about future business needs. They then crunch all the available data about candidates to find those who are the closest matches. It enables companies to understand their staffing needs at a more granular level and even predict them, meaning the talent search can begin earlier. While it involves upfront investment, big data analytics ultimately saves money in terms of more accurately targeted job ads, fewer bad hires, and shorter vacancy periods.

Online interviews and skills assessments

COVID-19 accelerated the global adoption of videoconferencing in all walks of life. It’s become common practice to conduct initial interviews online, with 82% of businesses adopting them during the pandemic and 93% planning to continue using them. The rise of the distributed workforce has also spurred these, with companies now able to broaden their talent selection by interviewing candidates across the world, rather than only those who can make it to their offices. Virtual interviews can be synchronous, where the candidate speaks to hiring managers live, or asynchronous where they record answers to a set of questions. Hard skills can also be appraised using online tests and assessments, as can personality traits and company fit through online psychometric tests.

Using psychometrics to find the right people

A tried-and-tested approach to sourcing the best possible talent is psychometric testing, which is used by three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies. With decades of experience in employing a range of psychometric tests, Talent Select is a market leader in helping businesses make informed hiring decisions. Contact us to find out more.