During the recent winter storms, we were reminded how Texans pull together to help each other succeed. It’s a lesson many employers are taking to heart as they ramp up their hiring.
Last year at this time, recruiting trends centered on attracting talent in a highly competitive job market and innovation goals for building on what’s already working. What a difference a year makes. As business works its way back to full speed, we’re finding a new norm with shifted priorities.
Recruiting trends have changed as employers reinvent themselves in several ways. With this new ground to navigate, many employers are finding that they need help from outside staffing and recruiting professionals, perhaps for the first time.
LinkedIn recently shared results of a Future of Recruiting survey covering how COVID-19 is transforming hiring. We based the following tips on those findings as well as insights from our recruiters.
Using Recruiters To Hire Less Often
You read that right. LinkedIn found that, more than ever, hiring in 2021 is being done with longevity and transferable skills in mind. That’s because, in these volatile times, employees with cross-functional skills who can adapt to changing business needs are in high demand. Retaining talent is key, with recruiting budgets sharing more wallet space with learning and development. Outside recruiters are instrumental in this effort because they have the expertise and resources to assess and hire talent that lasts—who culturally fit for the long-term with strong soft skills and high reskilling potential.
Using Recruiters To Meet Diversity Goals
DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives are in full force. More than half of hiring professionals say hiring managers are now held accountable for interviewing a diverse slate of candidates. But where do you start? What steps do you put in place from start to finish – the job description through onboarding – to honor your organization’s good intentions and eliminate things like unconscious bias and equity and inclusion roadblocks? Outside recruiters can help.
LinkedIn predicts recruiters will hold the key to not only delivering a diverse pipeline of candidates but then advocating for and helping those candidates move through the funnel. Recruiters can help restructure hiring processes to reduce bias, “from building diverse interview panels to mandating data-driven reporting against diversity goals,” the report states.
Using Recruiters To Continue Hiring Virtually
One of the biggest recruiting trends from the COVID-19 era that will stick around is virtual recruiting. More than 80% of talent professionals agree that virtual recruiting is here to stay, with seven out of 10 calling it the new standard of hiring.
Most employers have experimented with virtual hiring in the past year, with mixed results. Fortunately, there’s been plenty of patience from both employers and job candidates regarding glitchy technology and user error. But that grace period is over. “Businesses will need to refine their virtual processes and, as they nail the technology, make sure they continue to look for ways to add human touches back into their systems,” LinkedIn says.
Outside recruiters have the technology and skills to refine those processes and better incorporate trends like video interviews and remote assessments. They can also conduct early-stage staffing interviews and assessments in-person to mitigate risk and save time and resources for employers.
Using Recruiters To Hire Fast
Let’s dig deeper on refining the hiring process through tools like virtual recruiting right now. Doing so also speeds up your time-to-hire, which remains a critical factor in recruiting success. A recent CareerBuilder, Inavero and American Staffing Association (ASA) study shows that hiring managers’ primary reasons for working with staffing firms include the desire to shorten the hiring process (42%).
Recruiters can take much of the hiring burden off your shoulders. They often have access to databases and technology like applicant tracking systems (ATS) to access better candidates and streamline the process, too. The same study cited above found that 81% of hiring managers believe that staffing firms can help eliminate technology limitations.
Using Recruiters To Ramp Up And Down
Seasonal staffing changes are common, but manufacturing, distribution, logistics, warehouse, construction, and accounting staffing have evolved rapidly over the past few months. At the same time, recruiting professionals and executives for startups has ramped up, especially in Austin, where venture funding is in healthy supply. Outside staffing firms are critical in these cases, especially now, as staffing needs remain volatile. What if you don’t need these extra hands a few months down the road, just when you have everyone onboarded and trained? Recruiting partners who specialize in temporary staffing and contingency workforce solutions can often recruit, screen, hire, and even train employees on your behalf. This streamlines your operations and reduces the administrative burden and even the cost associated with hiring employees
FIND GREAT TALENT NOW
The HT Group fills roles in Temporary Staffing, Executive Search, Technical Recruiting, and Retained Search.
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