With a new year finally upon us, many start-ups and small businesses are drawing up ambitious recruitment strategies to ensure 2022 is lucrative and successful. However, the hiring landscape is very complex at the moment. With voluntary resignations at an all-time high and 74% of workers stating that they’d be less likely to leave a company if they could work remotely, hiring managers must think creatively about how to attract and retain the best talent.
If you’re feeling a little daunted at this prospect, don’t fret. To help you optimize your hiring strategy in these confusing times, we’ve collated a list of the top ten recruiting trends for 2022.
Recruitment of remote workers
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered attitudes surrounding work-life balance, with many candidates hoping to work remotely (at least some of the time). As such, it is worth considering whether you can afford to hire remote staff. If you’re wary about the prospect of hiring a remote worker, bear in mind the following benefits:
- Lower overhead costs: Hiring in-person employees carries several expenses, including office rental fees, workers’ compensation insurance, cleaner, office supplies, tech, and more. With remote employees, you can scale up your teams at a low cost.
- Increased productivity: Homeworking is thought to boost worker productivity by around 5%.
- Hire the best talent: Advertising a remote vacancy allows you to select the best talent from around the country (or even the world!)
Remote interviews
Even if you’re planning to hire a non-remote employee, conducting interviews over Zoom or another video conferencing platform has many advantages. Firstly, it allows you to carry out more interviews in a shorter timeframe, meaning you can make your shortlist a little longer than you otherwise would. Secondly, it demands less of your interviewees, particularly if they have several commitments to juggle. Even if you’re keen to meet candidates in person before you make a final decision, remote calls are perfect for first-round interviews.
Greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion
Diversity and inclusion programs aren’t just about creating a fairer world. It’s becoming increasingly clear that hiring a diverse workforce can significantly benefit businesses. According to recent stats, diverse teams tend to outperform more homogenous teams by an average of 50%, while 76% of jobseekers consider inclusivity a key factor when evaluating a prospective employer. If you want to enhance your brand image, attract top talent, and ensure steady growth, enhancing your diversity and inclusion strategy should be one of your top talent acquisition priorities.
Adoption of sophisticated recruitment technologies
If you find yourself inundated with applications or struggling to headhunt appropriate candidates, sophisticated screening technologies such as HireBeat could help you to identify the best talent quickly and efficiently. Assessment technologies can also help to reduce unconscious biases and ensure that your shortlisting process is as fair as possible. If you’re keen to automate the administrative processes associated with recruitment, some online platforms offer special chatbots to help assist candidates with application processes or schedule interviews.
Employer branding
In a hiring market where candidates can afford to shop around for their favorite roles, businesses are under pressure to promote themselves as attractive employers. According to recent talent acquisition statistics, 86% of jobseekers stay away from companies with poor reputations, and 15% have rejected a job offer due to a company’s culture.
As such, employer branding has become one of the top talent acquisition trends for 2022. Try to market your company culture in the same way you would market your goods and services – as ethical, engaging, value-driven, and worthwhile. The better you’re able to convey your mission and promote your brand through appropriate channels, the more likely you are to find enthusiastic and hardworking candidates.
A greater focus on soft skills
Soft skills are the talents that tend to be in-built and difficult to learn, such as cooperation, focus, creativity, adaptability, sociability, and empathy. As the business environment across sectors grows increasingly complex and the world switches to new ways of working, you’ll need flexible and quick-thinking workers on-hand to navigate difficult situations.
While a candidate may have all the hard skills you require such as the ability to code or knowledge of certain legal processes, your business could be negatively affected if they lack soft skills. As such, tests for personal attributes such as resilience or creativity should be included in any startup hiring strategy.
Increase in referral initiatives
HR talent acquisition professionals are increasingly turning to employee referral programs to find the best candidates. Referral programs encourage current employees to refer qualified friends and acquaintances for vacant roles through attractive perks and rewards. This strategy improves your chances of interviewing reliable and impressive candidates, as social and professional networks often contain people of a similar caliber. It could also speed up your recruitment procedure, eliminating the need for extensive headhunting or candidate screening processes.
A greater focus on the well-being of human resources professionals
This year’s most popular talent acquisition initiatives aren’t just about improving recruitment processes. Many HR professionals have found themselves burnt out during the pandemic. Challenged with reducing employee turnover and adapting hiring processes to suit a remote environment, it’s no wonder HR staff feel tired and mentally drained.
The solution? Many small businesses are establishing tailored wellbeing programs for their hiring managers and HR staff. From more flexible working arrangements to mental health initiatives, there are tons of ways you can support workers.
More extensive notice periods
While it has always been common for people in senior roles to have notice periods of three months or longer, companies are lengthening notice periods for employees across all pay grades. As businesses struggle to retain talent in a candidates’ market, you can expect your new hires to face notice periods of two or even three months. As well as causing problems for your workflows, extensive notice periods will increase the likelihood that candidates bail at the last minute after securing a better offer. To prevent this, you’ll need to keep your candidate engagement through regular communications and reminders of the perks they can expect to enjoy with your company.
Less demanding application processes
With more vacancies available, jobseekers are less inclined to fill out extensive application forms. As such, “quick apply” options are rising in popularity. Unless you need to screen candidates for very specific skills, asking for a CV and short cover letter in the first instance could help you attract more candidates. Check out 8 Tips to Increase Resume Screening Effectiveness)
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