This article about talent acquisition trends was originally written in June 2020, and all relevant information and statistics have been updated as of October 2022.
For the last few years, talent leaders have been focused on bouncing back from the initial impact of the pandemic. Following early 2020, talent acquisition was hit particularly hard, like many other industries.
While we are nowhere near “out of the woods” just yet, we are experiencing The Great Shift – or the consequences of remote or hybrid working decisions made during the pandemic.
Unlike The Great Resignation, The Big Quit, or The Great Shuffle, the current great shift is giving us unprecedented insight into current talent acquisition trends and how employees feel about the decisions their employers made during the height of the pandemic.
Some employers are requiring employees to work in the office full time, some have hybrid plans in place, and others are still sticking with the fully remote model. But how do you go about navigating the current talent landscape when hiring has changed drastically over the last few years? How do you keep up with the latest talent acquisition trends?
While we may never go back to how things were pre-pandemic, forward-thinking #TALeaders can (and should) apply a human approach to #hiringmethods in the future. Read more from @TalentTechLabs: Click To TweetReprioritization of Human Connectedness
Many companies were walking the walk regarding human-centered candidate experience and hiring practices. But even more heads of talent were trying to balance that concept with higher req loads and a technology ecosystem that seemed to grow daily. The pandemic has forcefully shifted the focus back to connectedness.
Potential candidates are looking to see how you treated your current employees at the height of the pandemic, how leadership handled it, and if your talent management processes care about employee well-being.
Hiring managers will have to step up when it comes to assessments and onboarding to create a seamless transition between talent acquisition and management to keep up with talent acquisition trends. Zoom calls and remote work have become second nature to many candidates and employees, making video interviewing and recording far more acceptable and convenient.
Focus on Employee Experience
Because we’re all more digitally connected than before, employee experiences have become even more crucial. Employee experience has always been connected to the employer brand, but now that connection is stronger and easier for candidates to follow.
Focus on getting regular feedback from your current employees and use that feedback to reshape everything from your job ads to your interviewing processes. Today’s employees may have a more critical eye toward things they didn’t notice before: medical policies, mental health days, remote work policies, and family or medical leave. Employee listening will be critical during this time.
While it’s difficult to change hiring budgets and compensation bands overnight, it is possible to make an impact on engagement when considering talent acquisition trends. Actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. $450 billion to $550 billion annually.
Recruiting from Within or From the Recently Lost
Hiring boomerang candidates, or those who’ve previously worked for your company, has long been touted as smart use of an active and already qualified talent pool. Before embarking on a massive hiring campaign or blowing your budget trying to lure passive candidates, focus on furloughed and dismissed workers first. The advantages of recruiting from within include:
- Less initial training and development
- Internal employee goodwill
- External reputation and brand
- Established cultural fit.
Bottom line? You might not need to start fresh to keep up with talent acquisition trends. You know previous employees’ abilities, so see if they’re willing to come back for a slightly different opportunity.
Especially now, candidates need to get a fair shake. Your company cannot afford any accusations of #bias or unfair treatment. See the latest #TAtrends & predictions from @TalentTechLabs: Click To TweetAdopt Talent Analytics
First, the reasons for using this period to adopt talent analytics:
- Right now, the playing field is a bit flattened. Implementations, normally frustrating during highly active hiring periods, may be easier right now.
- If you can see a hiring flux in the near future, having analytics in place before then can reap some great data for use in the future.
- Creating a baseline for your entire team can boost engagement, as the numbers will almost certainly show an upward trend over time.
But how does adopting analytics help boost a human approach? Surprisingly, by removing emotion from TA with an analytics focus, you’re giving all candidates a fair playing field. More now than ever, candidates need to get a fair shake. Your company cannot afford any accusations of bias or unfair treatment.
Having analytics in place helps avoid this and can help justify keeping up with talent acquisition trends. It can also help you predict attrition, spend, and assist with workforce planning. Your current employees and your team need consistency and normalcy. Stopping and starting recruitment campaigns because you haven’t kept the proper records and don’t have talent analytics in place will further shake your employees and dispel the concept of normalcy for your workforce.
Like other industries, talent acquisition has been shaken to its core. While we may never go back to the way things were before 2020, forward-thinking TA leaders can (and should) apply a human approach to hiring methods in the future.
The future of TA is certainly still foggy, and talent acquisition leaders like yourself are naturally trying to make sense of what’s to come next. This is what Talent Tech Labs does — we’ve mapped out every form of TA tech that touches the space and plans for what’s to come. Get in contact with our team today.