Written by Noura Dadzie, VP Sales UK & International Markets at Talent.com
The role of in-house recruiters has evolved significantly in recent years, with ongoing legislative changes, the introduction of new technologies, and significant shifts in skills demand all contributing to the development of internal talent acquisition. The recent pandemic, however, has brought a whole new set of challenges.
Over the past 12 months, the UK has swung from facing an unemployment crisis to a recruitment crisis. Businesses that may have been struggling to keep the lights on last year are now attempting to attract staff amid a hiring frenzy – and not always successfully. A shortage of migrant talent post-Brexit, and the fact that many professionals retrained or switched sectors when job opportunities were thin on the ground, have helped to exacerbate existing skills shortages. In fact, according to the latest data from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, there were 1.7 million active job adverts in the UK in the first week of August this year.
Post-pandemic challenges
The Institute of Directors (IoD) has warned that staff shortages at British businesses could hamper the country’s recovery from the pandemic and stoke inflationary pressures, after a survey of its members found that 44% are currently struggling to source talent. Of those affected, 65% said the problem was caused by the UK’s long-term skills gap, while 40% are grappling with a lack of potential workers from the EU. A further 21% said the shortages were caused by the so-called pingdemic, with employees forced to self-isolate due to covid contacts. What’s more, the research also found that three quarters of employers also said the current situation was impacting salary costs.
Against this backdrop, how can in-house recruitment teams ensure they are future fit and able to thrive in today’s market?
Harnessing the power of employer brand
At a time when businesses are all scrambling for skills amid the ‘great rehire’, organisations must create and communicate a compelling employer value proposition (EVP) to differentiate themselves from the competition. Developing and maintaining a great employer brand is a collective effort. Often, recruitment, marketing, and HR departments work together to ensure there are no discrepancies between how the organisation wants to present itself, and how it is perceived by active and passive candidates.
As a recruiter or hiring manager, you want to present your company’s EVP to the public in your job postings in a way that is both accurate and attractive. The experience that jobseekers are offered throughout the hiring process – and, indeed, once they land in your business – should be reflective of the vision they were sold.
This authentic employer brand should be consistent across every touchpoint. Among these channels are job platforms (both general and industry-specific) and social media sites (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Snapchat). As well as being an ideal outlet to share overarching EVP messages, social media can also be harnessed to engage with job seekers, run targeted hiring campaigns, reach passive candidates, supplement your employee referral programme, and perform background checks.
Toolbox 2.0
Just as external forces such as Brexit and Covid have had a significant impact on the everyday activities of internal talent acquisition teams, so too have a series of major technological advancements.
Aside from generic social media channels, businesses now have access to a wide array of specialist platforms. The next generation of recruitment tools enable in-house hirers to automate processes, mitigate against risk, and access valuable, detailed, data relating to their candidates and wider talent pools.
In the realm of recruitment, favouring a data-driven approach enables businesses to sort through large volumes of applications, allocate budgets more efficiently, detect problems, and speed up the hiring process. As such, the job of modern recruiters includes using a variety of data software & analytics tools (such as CV parsing programs) to drive volume and profitability.
By delegating the heavy-lifting to machines, talent acquisition teams can free up time to do what only humans can – communicating genuinely and empathetically with their candidates.
Before the pandemic, there was no doubt that cutting edge tech tools could give an employer an advantage over the competition where recruitment was concerned. However, Covid put into sharp focus the fact that harnessing technology is now an absolute necessity. Yes, hiring slowed during the peak of the pandemic. However, without video interviews, remote assessments, and online right to work checks, bringing on board new talent would have been virtually impossible. Post-Covid, employers are continuing on their digital journey and looking at how else they can utilise technology to gain a competitive advantage, for example, by upgrading to video job ads.
There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted recruitment practices and the wider world of work in ways we never thought possible just a few short years ago. However, by exploring and utilising all the tools at their disposal, in-house talent acquisition teams stand the best chance of victory in the 2021 war for talent.
About the author
Noura Dadzie has over 15 years’ experience working within the digital and hiring space servicing Enterprise level clients in both sales and account management.