What leaders can learn from HR and recruitment amid the Great Resignation

Great companies are built by great people, making HR departments one of the most important elements of successful organizations. But the knowledge of human resources goes far beyond simple paperwork and documentation - it is now needed across the whole company, especially among those who manage others on a daily basis, such as managers, directors, and even C-suite professionals.

In this article, you’ll learn why HR skills are becoming so important and how you can improve your leadership by implementing some human resources basics to prevail amid the Great Resignation.

What is the Great Resignation

The Great Resignation is a term that refers to a higher-than-normal resignation rate among American employees that began in the spring of 2021 and lasted until the autumn when vaccination reduced the intensity of the COVID-19 epidemic in the US, the unemployment rate fell, and job vacancies rose.

Wage stagnation despite growing costs of living, long-term job unhappiness, safety concerns related to the COVID-19 epidemic, and a desire to work for firms with superior remote-working policies are all possible explanations. 

HR then and now

Years ago, the human resources department was primarily responsible for maintaining records, ensuring that corporations followed the rules and laws, and setting pay, compensation packages, and other perks.

The current HR department looks practically nothing like the ones that came before, thanks to the introduction of a host of technologies that automate most of the jobs typically done by HR specialists.

There are also tools simplifying the recruiting process and talent management systems that enable companies to quickly determine whether their employees are getting the right training opportunities and programs that automate payroll and streamline the onboarding process. 

While some HR leaders may be cautious about adopting new HR technologies for concerns over loss of skills or data, other experts who have implemented robust technologies have become strategic guides to the entire company - even at an executive level - to help enhance recruitment strategies, morale and, as a result, overall business productivity. 

Transferable HR skills

As mentioned earlier, HR skills - and that includes the intricate knowledge of recruitment - are becoming even more needed across organizations that have had to deal with numerous issues since the pandemic.  Here are 5 skills from HR practitioners that can become useful to leaders dealing with The Great Resignation. 

Soft skills

Communication, persuasion, coaching, advising, confidence, flexibility, and organizational abilities are all skills that professionals in the talent space - including those in recruitment - are adept to. In the midst of the pandemic, communication skills have become increasingly visible, affecting and memorable, especially for senior leaders addressing difficult matters with their teams.

These skills can be developed in a variety of ways. Reading books, participating in public speaking, negotiating and persuasion training, as well as studying conflict resolution are all examples of enhancing communication. You may also use various tools to help with organization and time management.

Branding

In order to attract the right talent to your organization, consider the recruitment strategies put in place by your team. While recruiters work tirelessly to promote the employer brand and present the best experience to candidates, it should not stop there. 

Leaders today are able to use their own social media platforms, for example, to present the company’s employer brand in a thoughtful and meaningful way to candidates everywhere. 

This strategy may promote corporate values, brand messages, and enticing packages to attract possible applicants through social media platforms, omnichannel communication, data drives, automation, and tailored messaging.

Active listening

Your employees are the only ones who know what it's like to work for you. After all, they experience it daily. However, because no two employees will have the same experience, you can't take a one-size-fits-all approach to life at your company. 

When it comes to enhancing your team's work-life balance, you'll need to bring in fresh, different viewpoints to listen to and learn from.

Emotional intelligence

While technical talents such as computer coding and data analytics have become increasingly in demand in recent years, many senior executives are placing a greater emphasis on training workers' softer skills. 

Communication, teamwork, and innovation are in more demand than ever, with good cause. Managers with high emotional intelligence are stronger leaders, according to studies, and may have a more significant influence on company profitability and productivity.

Empathetic leadership

As a leader, it's critical to be aware of what your employees are going through, grasp what it's like to be on the receiving end of a corporate message, and communicate openly. 

It's also critical to empathize with your staff to reassure them that there aren't necessarily holes in the ship, but the bigger economy is through huge upheaval and transformation. Managers who lead with vulnerability and empathy are more aware of what their people require, making them better coaches and leaders.

A HR approach to leadership and hiring

Hiring managers can’t simply wait and watch as their peers in recruitment advance their skills and explore new areas that might become the pillars of the entire organization in the near future. 

To make sure you remain attractive to top talent as a hiring manager or senior leader, you need to improve constantly, particularly in those areas which we believe will see a great increase in popularity among executives of organizations in the near future:

Social media

Today so much of human resources and recruitment success depend on how successfully HR professionals can accept and use digital tools. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are among the most widely utilized digital resources. 

Leaders outside of HR and recruitment can become social media aware and create unique ways to attract people on that platform to attract and retain the best talent.

LinkedIn, for example, offers all users an opportunity to shout out to their team members, colleagues or managers for exemplary performance. This is a great way to show social media savvy and open acknowledgement of your team’s efforts and achievements. Plus, it goes a long way in creating a positive impression on prospective candidates, particularly passive candidates.

Master digital interviews

It might be more challenging to quickly pick up on interviewing skills that recruitment teams and HR professionals have, especially when - as organizational leaders -  you may be firefighting on a daily basis. 

However, taking into account the lasting trend of remote work, mass resignations and a talent pool with vastly different expectations today, it may be worthwhile to pick up this skill and understand how to make the most out of your digital interviews with strong candidates.

Conducting digital interviews is a skill that all leaders must master. It doesn’t imply that they are proficient in using Zoom or other video applications. Instead, they must improve their video interviewing abilities, distinct from in-person interviews.

How Manatal strengthens your people strategies

In addition to the people skills you have or are developing as leaders of a workforce, recruitment technology is key to ensuring that the hiring team plays to their greatest strengths and become strategic business partners in an organization. 

When it comes to recruitment, there’s a variety of tools that can be used to simplify and automate your processes, allowing leaders and hiring managers to have a better view of the speed and accuracy of hiring. Manatal is an applicant tracking system (ATS) that will help your organization in the following areas:

Evaluate candidates

Manatal offers users the ability to evaluate all candidates equally and consistently. Using prescreen questions and tests tools, it helps you monitor objective, pre-set criteria, whether skills or experiences.

One significant benefit is that you may start to minimize unconscious bias in recruiting by using Manatal to make data-driven judgments. Fairly evaluating all candidates is a great beginning step toward expanding your company's diversity - and there's plenty of evidence that diverse firms perform better.

Increase consistency of good hires

Manatal provides the groundwork for a smooth recruiting process. This is the recruiting equivalent of a salesperson devising a plan for guiding a customer through the buyer's life cycle.

You’ll get predictable results by establishing procedures. It begins with prequalifying questions and continues with assessments, phone screens, many rounds of interviews, background and reference checks, among other things.

Make better hiring decisions faster

Many job searchers consider replies that come after the initial application as the most crucial aspect of the applicant experience. Candidates evaluate their interest in a position by searching for timely and clear communication, and this enhances the overall candidate experience especially if they have gone through several rounds of interviews and met with hiring managers.

With a streamlined process and by keeping everyone in the loop simultaneously, Manatal’s unified dashboard and scoring system allows hiring decisions to be made quicker and more efficiently. By getting back in touch with your prospects early - rather than keeping them in the dark - you would gain a considerable competitive edge.

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