As we begin to come back to work from the Covid crisis what do you think will be the biggest challenges facing corporate recruitment going forward? We asked our network to comment on what they felt would be the biggest obstacles in a post pandemic work. Here’s a short synopsis of what they said.
Candidate Experience
Not having the ability to control the whole candidate process was an issue before the pandemic and will be afterwards. What I mean by that is, in recruitment you could be doing all of the exact right things. You’re building your employer brand, you’re strategically advertising, you’ve got sourcing in place, everything’s going great. And then you get a candidate through the door after a great conversation with the recruiter, and then they’re in an interview and you don’t know how the interview is going to go if you’re not in the room.
And so you let go of the process at that point to the hiring manager. You worry about that experience. Will they be polite? Accommodating? A lot of recruiters often wonder if hiring managers are thinking about that candidate experience like we are. And now with remote interviews going more mainstream, this adds another potential barrier. Also if you haven’t moved to a digital onboarding experience for new hires yet this could put you at a disadvantage against other savvy employers.
Empathy
In my experience on average, leadership, doesn’t appreciate what goes into recruitment and what’s required. And so I’ve heard things like, “what’s so hard about it? I’ve been hiring for years” or, “it’s like widgets, or ordering a steak” one recruiter told me. So if this is the organization’s perspective on what recruitment is doing no wonder they struggle to get the people that they need to support their organization.
Leaders need to have more empathy all around for the their recruitment team and giving them the tools and support they need to excel at their job. After all if the recruiting team is frustrated, then that’s going to be a direct reflection on the applicant and the applicant’s experience. Empathy (for your workers) just might become the new employer brand strategy.
Turnover
Turnover and retention are still going to be a major stumbling block. A lot of employers fail to think about the top talent they have until its too late. Now with massive job losses, candidates are becoming jittery. The short term affect may be that they stay longer in a job they hate but eventually this will catch up to everyone. Start to think about how your organization will respond.
Talent Attraction
With so many jobs going remote, some roles are deemed to change forever. If you hire college grads for example are they going to want to work 100% from home? Probably not. They crave the office environment so they can learn from and absorb the company culture and build their skills. A lack of face to face communications may hinder your ability to attract certain talent in a post pandemic world.
Now is also a good time to think about automating your screening process to help streamline applicants. Recruiting chatbots and texting can certainly help with this. The employer of tomorrow will need to close the digital divide gap when it comes to attracting and converting job seekers online and on their phones.
