It comes as no surprise to CEOs and business owners that recruitment of top-flight job candidates will continue to be a priority in the new year. The job market has steadily tightened over recent times, making it far more challenging than ever before for companies to attract and hire their “ideal” candidates.
But in order to keep growing, virtually every business must adopt a recruitment strategy that works best for them—or risk losing out on the small pool of talented job-seekers out there.
In 2020 and beyond, look for these trends to influence how businesses seek out and recruit new employees:
1. Deliver a positive candidate experience.
Increasingly, HR recruiters are exploring ways to enhance the job candidate’s experience with their potential employer. They look closely at all touchpoints in the recruitment process—from the wording of job postings on their websites and job boards to the level of professionalism in the interview process. The idea is to make the entire experience as positive and upbeat as possible, not to make individuals feel like they’re being “herded” through a job search and treated with minimal respect.
2. Maintain flexibility regarding a job applicant’s experience.
These days, it may be a luxury to focus exclusively on finding individuals with specific, relevant experience within your industry. HR experts advise broadening the parameters of what is considered “experience” when seeking out prospective employees.
In 2020, “hiring will not necessarily be based on the prior job experience, but based on the candidate’s potential for growth and the ability to be trained on the spot,” notes HRMorning. This grows out of a new emphasis on identifying a candidate’s transferable skills, “things like dependability, strong communication skills, organisation, adaptability and leadership”—traits any employer would value.
3. Improve your employer brand.
Branding isn’t restricted to how consumers perceive and experience your business. “Employer branding”—that is, the status of a company’s reputation among those actively pursuing a new position—is increasingly a decisive factor when candidates decide whether or not to accept a job offer.
It’s vitally important to ensure that your brand messaging remains clear and consistent among all the channels and platforms by which you seek to attract job applicants. (If the message is muddied or uneven, job-seekers may skip past your opening for something with more clarity and appeal.)
Boost your employer brand by accelerating efforts on social media (and on your website) to depict your upbeat, employee-focused culture. Tap into those elements of your workplace that employees value most, then promote those elements wherever possible—and highlight them during job screenings and interviews. If you’re in doubt as to what those elements might be, do the simplest thing—ask your employees.
4. Stay engaged with passive candidates.
Also expected to trend in the new year is the practice of inbound recruiting—defined by Human Resources Today as “proactive and continuous attraction and engagement with the goal to make passive candidates consider you as their next employer.” This effort involves maintaining contact with individuals who aren’t necessarily ready to apply for a current job opening, but who could be tempted to do so in the future. This “is a long-term strategy to authentically engage candidates, regardless if they are interested in an open position.”
5. Think video!
As a recruitment tool, video continues to resonate with both employers and prospective employees. Companies are producing short videos designed to highlight their company culture, employee events and recognition programs, and an overall sense to applicants about the benefits of working for their organization. Employee video testimonials are another high-impact strategy to appeal to job seekers. It’s also a way to engage with prospects across great distances and a great tool to leverage for interviews that can’t be conducted in-person.
As you formulate your hiring plans for the new year, keep these popular and emerging HR trends in mind.