Talent Acquisition In The Post-Covid World
Effective talent acquisition in a competitive marketplace
Do you feel like you’re forever playing catch-up when it comes to sourcing qualified candidates? Effective talent acquisition in today’s marketplace takes a combination of creativity and diligence. But how does that look in practical terms?
In this entry, we discuss the challenges faced when finding qualified candidates and how you can use a skills-based talent marketplace to overcome them.
Table of contents
- Candidate sourcing in the post-Covid world
- A shift to a more candidate-centred talent marketplace
- The new recruitment hacks and how to get the most out of them
- The hiring challenges of the future and how to prepare
Candidate sourcing in the post-Covid world
Finding talent in 2022 is increasingly competitive. More and more companies are offering permanent work-from-home setups and hybrid workplace models.
A great number of businesses are growing at hyperspeed, and the market is hot for qualified talent. Combine that with a recovering economy and heightened competition among employers, and the present tight labour market shows no sign of loosening off.
The post-Covid world looks different in many ways. There are new work-related norms in terms of attitudes and practices, which will be with us for the foreseeable. For example, candidates now value remote work and flexibility more than ever.
A year ago, hiring was in a survival mode – both for employers and candidates. But now it’s thriving again. Not because Covid is over, but because we’ve adopted a new mindset…
A more candidate-centred talent marketplace
Companies face the challenge of a job seekers’ market that is no longer interested in working for a paycheck alone. Joblist recently reported that 80% of candidates believe employers should reevaluate the benefits they provide post-pandemic.
Since many people experienced burnout, there are also greater efforts to understand the cultural fit and desired environment of candidates to compensate for the trauma of the last few years. More candidates are looking for a more favourable work-life balance.
With 80% of companies planning to hire over the next 12 months, it’s a brilliant time to be looking for your next role – there are more options than ever.
The current issue for businesses, though, is the shortage of individuals on the market looking for new roles.
This has weighted the power much more towards the individual being recruited. And as a result, there’s a more candidate-focused market. Companies now need to present themselves in the most competitive way possible.
No doubt you’ll be thinking: ‘But that’s always been the case!’ But in post-COVID recruitment, the ability to sell yourself as a company is more important than ever.
As businesses recover and begin to grow again, professionals will have more choices about who to work for and under what circumstances. Gone are the days when we could just roll out a list of technical skills and expect the first candidate offered the role to accept.
In the new interview process, companies are selling themselves and their culture to the candidate as much as the other way around.
To maintain a competitive advantage in hiring top talent, it’s not simply a case of exposure. Companies need to develop a better understanding of the needs of candidates to get the right offer in front of the right candidate.
This is being made increasingly possible due to innovations around people intelligence and hiring software. Moving forwards, companies will need to adopt, utilise and invest in innovation on a continuous basis in order to have a better understanding of candidates.
In the post-Covid candidate-centred market, those who have the best sense of candidates will be the ones to attract the best talent.
The new recruitment hacks and how to get the most out of them
As previously mentioned, being open to innovation is key. Look for new tools, resources and new trends in hiring. And don’t be afraid to look at what your competition is doing. Furthermore, to give you a foot in the door, here are five innovations that will bring huge benefits to your recruitment strategy…
- Don’t be afraid of the virtual interviews
Companies had little choice but to embrace the virtual interview process – and quickly. But it can be challenging to navigate virtual interviews and find top candidates using this method, especially when interviews rarely took place in any format other than face-to-face before.
However, even though the health risks have diminished, the cost and time savings for both parties make video interviews worth the effort. Your competition is doing it, so you need to too.
- Tap into the limitless talent pool
COVID-19 has forced many companies to transfer parts or all of their operations online, proving that location doesn’t need to be a limiting factor for many business transactions. Talent recruitment is no exception.
Where the search for the perfect candidate used to be limited by geography or relocation budgets, now companies have the opportunity to tap into a much bigger talent pool. You’ve got to literally think outside the box and beyond and that’s where you’ll find a wealth of highly skilled candidates at your fingertips.
- Get your employer brand out there
Attractive employer branding can potentially bring in many passive candidates. Leveraging positive employee experiences through testimonials and featuring team members through social media channels is a highly effective way to attract job seekers. Never miss an opportunity to promote your values, your culture and your ethos.
This will play a big part in overcoming the major challenge of attracting passive candidates that aren’t looking for jobs, or who don’t even know they could be engaged…
- Prioritise the candidate’s experience
With so many jobs open for the taking, candidates have the advantage of being extra selective about the roles they choose to accept. A company’s recruitment process can play a large part in a job seeker’s decision-making, which is why it’s crucial for hiring managers to provide a positive candidate experience from start to finish.
To encourage favorable hiring outcomes, create clear job descriptions so candidates don’t waste time applying for roles they’re not qualified for. Also, keep communication lines open even if they’re not getting hired, give honest feedback in a timely manner and make it easy to apply for jobs.
- Mitigate your own bias
Try to think like someone else when you assess the candidate. The best talent is usually missed because we fail to ‘see’ the person from different perspectives. Recruiters are also intermediaries and mediators… It’s their job to help candidates and employers to find a common language and understand better each other.
We also need to think in a new language. Today it’s a language of skills that will allow you to describe candidates and positions in a more complex and non-linear way. This will enable you to find opportunities beyond the traditional search methods, meaning you’ll be able to tap into groups like career shifters.
You may already be aware of or even utilising these hacks. But whatever methodology you choose to adopt, the best piece of advice is to keep an open mind and get out of your comfort zone… Don’t rely on the same tired and outdated recruitment practices..
The hiring challenges of the future and how to prepare
It seems that we have overcome one crisis only to be facing another just around the corner. Covid demonstrated that hiring resilient people can help grow your business. So in the inevitable event of another crisis, it’s important to understand the adaptability and self-discipline of candidates.
The effect on the jobs market will depend on the type of crisis we’ll be facing next. Whether it’s linked to environmental, economic or political factors, hiring will feel the impact.
With the world in such a tumultuous state of flux, it wouldn’t be wise to make specific predictions. But what we can do is prepare for more uncertainty and volatility. And we can do this by using the tools that offer us a prompt assessment of the needs of the job market and the real value of the talent pool in real-time…
The Takeaway
The challenges of the post-Covid world have in turn created solutions. By adopting these you can use the skills-based market to attract the top talent today whilst simultaneously preparing for the challenges of tomorrow.