The labour market is facing its most significant shift. There are thousands of job openings, and nowhere near enough applicants have created a change in power that has given job seekers the upper hand in recruiting and hiring.
Labour market data coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented – a record number of available jobs and historical highs in workers quitting (also known as the Great Resignation) and retiring have pushed employers to offer higher wages, signing bonuses and other perks. Data shows that the share of job postings listing “no experience necessary” and “hiring urgently” are well up from 2019 levels, and the share of job ads promising a starting bonus has more than doubled year over year.
In the United States, hiring optimism is hindered by the deepest talent shortages in 15 years, where
69% of companies stated that they experience talent shortage and difficulty in recruitment. After a year of crisis, uncertainty, and soul-searching, people have a clear idea of what they are looking for in a job and would not settle for anything less. Employers that cannot meet their demands will find themselves at a severe disadvantage, unable to attract the talent they need or retain who they’ve got.
This being said, there are ways that employers can attract talents and retain them while providing the power of choice to jobseekers.
1) Focus On Employment Brand, Culture and Leadership
One of the biggest factors in recruiting top talent is being able to create an irresistible company. If your organisation is not well known for its fair pay, work culture, values, good deeds, and a solid commitment to customers and the community, you will have difficulty attracting and retaining talents.
69% of respondents are likely to apply for a job if the employer actively manages its brand by responding to reviews, updating their corporate profile, and continuously sharing about their company’s culture and work environment. Therefore, companies must foster a supportive environment that promotes lifelong learning at work. Offering an educational program as part of your workforce’s career path can help encourage employee loyalty and productivity at work while empowering their personal growth.
2) Identifying Culture and Skills Fit
Previously, it was customary for employers to look for a talent that has done the job before. Recruiters used to look for a specific job experience, validate the candidate’s success in prior roles and call their references for feedback. These days, more often than not, talents are hired based on skills. Recruiters are hiring for culture, intelligence, ambition and potential.
That being said, recruiters and hiring managers are more important than ever to organisations. They need to be able to assess the fit, culture and growth mindset along with skills, job fit and experience of potential candidates. Human-centred recruiting is now extremely vital. Therefore, HR must harness technology that promotes bite-sized learning which can accommodate the workforce’s schedule, making their learning at their own pace.
3) Take Care Of The Employees You Have
Nothing works better than word-of-mouth marketing. The most important recruiting strategy to have is to focus on employee experience, and it is all about treating your employees well. Employees who have great experiences within an organisation will share their stories with their connections.
Recruiting will always be crucial because if you do not bring in the right people into the company, no amount of management can fix the problems. However, transitioning current employees into new roles is more cost-effective than recruiting new employees. Several industry giants such as
Mastercard and Amazon have invested in reskilling and upskilling programs before the pandemic.
References
David Morel 2021, Job Seekers Are Calling All the Shots, Here’s What They Want, Forbes, viewed 14 February 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmorel/2021/06/17/jobseekers-are-calling-all-the-shots-heres-what-they-want/?sh=2dea92ff3104
Josh Bersin 2021, The Job Market is Going Crazy and It’s Going To Get Worse. How Do We Recruit? Josh Bersin, viewed 14 February 2022, https://joshbersin.com/2021/11/the-job-market-is-going-crazy-and-its-going-to-get-worse-how-do-we-recruit/
Roy Maurer 2021, Job Seekers Are Gaining Control over Hiring, SHRM, viewed 14 February 2022, https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/job-seekers-are-gaining-control-over-hiring.aspx
