6 ways that prove the recruitment landscape in 2020 is changing fast

6 factors that prove the recruitment landscape is changing drastically

About a generation ago, finding jobs was quite easy, and highly relied on your academic achievements. So easy it was that on getting your academic certification a job was already waiting for you.

Companies posted jobs and got people in the door, their new hires fulfilling tasks within the first days of employment.  Today, the dynamic of employee-employer relationships has shifted. Employees are increasingly eager to reach the next stage of their careers sooner.

They want to know what is expected of them, what skills they need, and how they can move forward. Employers, on the other hand are in search of the best possible talent rather than someone to manage a task list. Employers are seeking employees who provide added value and a return on investment.

To find these best possible hires, employers have had to evolve their recruiting strategies. Since the onset of the COVID 19 Pandemic early this year, things have also become harder with the recruitment landscape changing significantly mostly affected by factors like: remote working, distributed workforces, and a greater demand for flexibility.

These and other factors are affecting how businesses and candidates think about work opportunities. As countries now come out of lockdown, many organizations are starting to think about recruitment once more. Over the period, recruiters and employers in SMB Companies have gathered lessons on how the space has changed and are now forced to embrace the new ways that will shape the industry. Here are the few lessons gathered and this is how they will shape the future of hiring.

Work-from-home (WFH) skills will become a great deal

Moving forward recruiters will be looking for employees who can easily embrace remote working/ working from home with so much ease and little supervision. ‘WFH capabilities’ are new differentiators that recruiters must look for in potential candidates.

These capabilities include being purpose-driven and self-motivated and having both a large professional network and a suitable physical workspace. In addition to the posted qualifications for any job.

The appeal of a flexible workforce

Due to COVID-19, organizations will need to focus on hiring candidates for flexible roles. This shift will help companies save money by only paying people for the work needed in the moment. Yet the other benefits of hiring for flexible roles will extend far into the future.

Research shows that flexible jobs help diversify teams, which, in turn, boosts a business’s bottom line. This will also see recruiters outsource some of the roles as opposed to having them as full-time employees.

This will also ensure that employers do not move into larger office space but also hire spaces that fit the core team. This in turn will see growth in flexible workspaces where companies will opt for options like coworking spaces for their teams.

Growth in video interviews

Before video interviewing was available to talent acquisition managers, interviewing and hiring were typically restricted to candidates within the hiring manager’s radius.

However, video conferencing platforms like ZOOM and Google MEET have changed how we communicate of late. Moving forward we will probably see the first-round of interviews done via video. Video Interview offers flexible options for recruiters and job applicants alike since they help eliminate chances of delays in schedule and lengthy hours preparing for a face-to-face meet.

According to a Gartner HR Survey publiished in April 2020, over 86% of Organizations currently are conducting virtual interviews to hire candidates. This is obviously a trend that might not go away any time soon.

. The interview process may continue to happen via video for a long time, so SMBs will want to get better at using it well, with more structure and hiring team coordination.

Furthermore, onboarding is now being done via video conference and companies have started to move their learning and development programs online to deliver more eLearning materials and training than before.

However, recruiter will now be tasked with exploring more creative ways to use it during hiring, too, including for group interviews, and candidate presentations.

Recruiters are becoming more flexible

To be truly flexible, SMBs will need to make smart, fast hires in order to fill short-term roles at the pace of demand. There may also be more instances where they need to assess whether a long-term or short-terms hire is the best call.  There’s a reason many businesses will look to use flexible office space to hold meetings and interviews.

Tech driven approach to improve hiring quality and efficiency

Technology has many prominent features, among which are its collaborative nature and its preponderance to data-driven analysis.

These two attributes find great favor with hiring managers and recruiters when it comes to finding the candidate with the best fit for a role or company as well as employee retention.

Moving forward recruiters will also be forced to rely on technology to give them analytical data and insights in monitoring employee performance or tracking sources of hire so they can target the right candidates on the right channels.

Use of data to find the best candidate

For one, when firms use technology to collaborate with one another, they are deemed to be “best in class” for making it easy for their recruitment teams to manage the hiring process – from assessing candidates to exchanging feedback and making hiring recommendations.

While hiring patterns vary from company to company, and industry to industry, some will take longer than others to return to pre-pandemic levels. While most workers won’t return to ‘normal’, we’ve already seen business operations begin to resume. Recruitment will change from merely filling an empty role, to tasking hiring managers with the need to consistently develop multiple avenues to secure top talent.

Recruiting will continue to be more about perks and a demonstrated investment in the organization’s people. In addition to offering more robust benefits and rewards packages, upskilling your existing staff and allowing room for growth will also be imperative. As a collaborative effort, hiring managers should liaise closely with HR and business executives to ensure they have fast access to the resources needed.