Three Ways to Promote Healthy Recruiting in 2022’s Tight Markets
It’s always been challenging to develop and maintain a consistent recruitment pipeline to feed workforce management strategies of all stripes. In today’s environment with COVID and other factors driving wholesale changes between employers and the labor force (see the “Great Resignation”), it can be even more difficult to achieve a productive and consistent talent pipeline. Here are three things you can focus on in your efforts, that support robust, healthy recruitment for your organization.
Upskilling
As we explored in a post in late 2021, upskilling has become a critical element to hiring, developing and retaining the best talent in an environment where so many workers are leaving their jobs in search of something better. Upskilling is defined as the process of teaching workers new job skills they can use to advance their career growth goals. Whether upskilling is delivered in your organization through internal training programs, apprenticeships, academic partnerships, vendor partnerships or career training programs, upskilling helps prepare your workforce to fill new positions. And many of these new positions are in fields that require workers to have updated command of newer technology. Which brings us to the next strategy for improving recruitment in 2022.
Tech Balanced Candidate Experience
Its undeniable that technological advances have driven radical workforce transformation experienced by nearly every industry over the last 20 years. However, with COVID forcing so much of the work formerly done on-site into the online space, companies of all kinds have grown even more reliant on tech tools to do business. The reliance on tech in the recruitment process itself has led in some cases to a much colder, more impersonal hiring experience. Three out of four candidates in one recent survey said their experience during the hiring process influenced their decision making when it came to accepting or rejecting an offer. This is why it is critical for today’s hiring organizations to ensure a good balance between the tech tools they use to perform recruitment processes with a healthy dose of human interaction. Don’t rely entirely on tech tools to keep your candidates updated on their applications or to entirely automate onboarding. The more you can make human interaction a priority, the more likely you’ll be to attract and retain good workers.
Develop and Showcase Strong Company Culture
The “Great Resignation” (which we wrote about here) is driven by a number of factors. One of the most commonly noted is the desire among workers to derive more satisfaction from the work they do. It is for this reason that hiring authorities should be willing and able to articulate what it means to work for their organization and how employees fit into the larger picture in the workplace. Letting a candidate know that their thoughts and feelings are important to the prospective employer is highly attractive. Candidates should be briefed on cultural aspects of the job for which they’re applying. From simple nuts and bolts things like the contours of a typical work week and what they feel makes for an ideal workplace, to more philosophical things like what kind of values the company represents. Ask how the candidates’ values may align with the company vision and the impact the organization makes on its industry and customers’ lives. Demonstrating sensitivity to cultural fit makes you a more attractive opportunity than those that fail to do so.
