It has been more than two years since the outbreak of the pandemic, and things have started to return to normalcy. However, there is no denying that not everything can go back to pre-pandemic standards. For example, businesses scurrying to meet their ever-increasing talent demands, continue to seek digital solutions, whether in sales and marketing, project and HR management, team communication, or branding. Candidates have a new set of expectations post-pandemic, with many of them being much more self-aware of what they are seeking, both personally and professionally. When choosing applicants, it’s becoming increasingly crucial to analyse whether a candidate and a firm mutually correspond to each other’s needs and requirements.
The following are some of the ways that recruitment has evolved since the pandemic.
Focus on people engagement
During the pandemic, employers found that hiring people remotely was not as much of a challenge as engaging them virtually. In a bid to engage employees, firms established offices in tier-2 cities, instead of asking them to relocate to the office location. This proved to be a more sustainable and effective strategy to directly interact with employees.
Over the next few years, recruiters will continue to prioritise diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Companies are set to attract more diverse talent and boast of an inclusive work culture by facilitating remote working possibilities. This also creates avenues for women on a career break to return to work, by providing more flexible work options.
From process to people-centric
The recruitment landscape has shifted from process-centric to people-centric in many ways. Interview scheduling is no longer solely dependent on the hiring manager’s schedule, and factors in the availability of candidates. This mindset shift has also led to companies setting aside a budget for employer branding, candidate research and developing their communication tools.
Employers have also started investing in talent retention by amending their policies to meet employer expectations. Many physical interfaces, such as lounges, conference rooms, and chat rooms, are being replicated by virtual recruitment platforms. The recruiter’s time is freed up to focus on other crucial areas, such as connecting with the candidate and improving the overall recruitment process.
Measures to facilitate large-scale hiring
As hiring volumes rose, it became evident that companies lacked the necessary bandwidth to efficiently conduct all interviews internally. Seeking external assistance was a wise choice. Outsourced interviews also provide other benefits: inputs from an unbiased external interviewer allowed organisations to consider a candidate across several job applications. The use of technology in the recruitment process has shown to be beneficial. For instance, asynchronous video interviews allow hiring managers to review the candidates’ performance at a convenient time, thereby eliminating the need for mutual availability and saving time.
At the end of every year, recruiting teams strategise for the coming year, re-evaluate and resolve current recruitment gaps and make plans for where to source top talent. The changes that have occurred in the recruitment sector are here to stay. Employers must stay on top of hiring trends to address significant talent shortages. The more willing they are to shelve established approaches in favour of emerging trends, the better equipped they will be to retain top-talent, long term.
Authored by
S. Pasupathi, Chief Operating Officer, HirePro
