Why the “Old” Hiring Process Doesn’t Work in 2022-23 – How to Fix What’s Broken in Recruitment with Outsourced Solutions
Hiring talent is a challenge across Canada. Amidst poor market conditions, people are scrambling to snap up jobs that can pay them well enough to survive rising living costs, but the hiring process isn’t effectively connecting people to employers.
As Canada continues to fight against labour shortages which have proven to be a formidable opponent, it’s clear that the existing hiring process is simply not equipped to keep up with what’s happening in the world.
The problem with the hiring process
The most common issues that companies face are relying heavily on referrals, struggling to find a big enough talent pool, and having an inefficient and unwieldy recruitment process.
The poor economy and the pandemic exacerbated these issues and introduced new ones. It disrupted, slowed down, or even halted the normal flow of recruitment while also giving recruiters the extra headaches of making the hiring process entirely virtual.
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Prospective employees were also interested in new perks such as mental health training and support, the option for hybrid and/or fully remote work, and how the companies they were considering were responding to the pandemic and following government guidelines.
Now that the pandemic isn’t raging as it once was, recruiters are still facing some issues. These include difficulties in grabbing candidates’ attention, inefficient processes, and an inability to make a choice from multiple options, but they also include more current issues such as labour shortages.
Small to medium-sized businesses especially struggle with a lack of a dedicated human resources department that is up to date with technology, knows where to find labour, and knows how to recruit labour.
Without a HR department, businesses rely on managers and/or owners who think that they know employment laws, practices, selections, and job descriptions. They often get it wrong, much to the detriment of the company. Increasingly, companies are supplementing their old system with outsourced solutions, such as Pivotal Solutions.
As a result, they tend to lean heavily on referrals, therefore resulting in a small candidate pool. This pool often isn’t diverse, as people who network with others and like them enough to refer them for a job will usually be like-minded and/or from similar demographics. Sometimes, these referrals don’t even have the required skills or experience for the job in question.
This reliance on referrals also creates a barrier for other talent that may be relying on websites like LinkedIn, Indeed, or others that are similar in nature to find work. This means that people who are qualified and would make great fits for a role never even realize that role exists. This is to the detriment of both prospective employers and companies.
An impersonal feel
In addition to all of these issues, recruiting’s move to virtual reality has meant that it’s gained a more impersonal feel. Now, when people apply for a job they have no idea what’s happening until (or unless) they get a call or email from the recruiter. Even then, they don’t know if their interview will happen online or in real life, they may have to be interviewed by a panel, and they won’t know how many interviews they will have to complete.
The virtual hiring process is messy due to its relative infancy and many organizations struggle to settle on a single way of doing it. They therefore also struggle with being transparent about it and communicating it to prospects, which turns even more prospects away.
Changing priorities — what team-members want
Beyond the issues with the hiring process, people have also experienced changing priorities which has affected their job preference. 2021 saw “The Great Resignation”, an event where a record number of people were leaving their jobs. This was due to myriad reasons; an extended period of working from home without a commute became a desire that some employers refused to indulge, a new kind of work-life balance, and a far lower tolerance for substandard treatment by employers. On the heels of that, world events, inflation and cost of living increases — that often exceed annual salary increases — are resulting in a growing pool of available jobs.
Among other things, people now desire:
- Fairer compensation to keep up with increasing living costs and inflation
- More respect and recognition from their employers
- A positive work environment
- Flexibility with how they work (remote, hybrid)
- Mental health support and training
- The opportunity to develop as an individual as well as an employee
How to fix recruitment issues
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Have employees at the heart of all decisions
For a business to have a hiring process that’s truly effective, finds the right candidates, and is able to retain those candidates, they must have the employees and their best interests at heart.
Research must be done into what employees are looking for when they are job-hunting and care must be taken to provide that to the company’s best abilities. If the most desired benefits in jobs are sufficient salaries, mental health support and training, or remote working capabilities, then a company must offer them to candidates if they can.
What’s more is that when an organization cares about employees, all of their decisions and actions will show it. There won’t be any pretence and candidates will be able to tell, meaning that more and more will be drawn to a job opening with that organization.
Treating and valuing employees as human beings also has a profoundly positive effect on retention and turnover rates, which candidates will see as a massive green flag.
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Cast a wider net
It’s a good idea to network, but it isn’t a good idea to network with just a small group of people. The problems that organizations face when relying on referrals can be mitigated by casting a wider net and making a more concentrated effort to find the right type of candidate.
Employers should look for candidates in a wide, diverse group of people in the local community. This group may be found in career centres, chambers of commerce, university alumni groups, and more.
Employers need to step up and take responsibility for looking for and catering to their target audience. This will not only reduce the amount of time it takes to screen candidates, but it will also discover more diverse talent.
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Use the internet
Effective networking shouldn’t stop there either. The value of the internet simply cannot be understated when it comes to finding candidates. The onset of the pandemic has proven that most jobs can be done remotely to at least some extent, meaning that organizations don’t have to hire someone who will come into the office everyday, or even at all. This has widened the talent pool to a global scale.
Organizations must make use of the internet to create a LinkedIn profile, post jobs on job recruitment websites like Indeed, write about job postings on social media like Facebook or Twitter, and constantly connect with prospects wherever they can.
Beyond just posting job openings, organizations can also post about their company to build their brand image and let customers and candidates know what their company is like. Additionally, posts about what it’s like working at the organization will go very far with candidates because they will help candidates see what their work lives could be like. These posts could be made with current employees, be funny or serious, and give candidates a taste of their possible futures.
This is a great way to showcase job perks and benefits without explicitly stating them, which is more relatable, humble, and subtle.
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Make use of a dedicated HR solution – like Pivotal HR
Increasingly, in the difficult recruitment market, outsourcing to experts such as Pivotal Solutions is the cost-effective way to bring in qualified candidates — and to manage HR resources. Not only do w have a wide network or resources, we have the expertise to handle all fluctuations in the HR market. We can help you with your hiring process — to keep up with trends in employee and candidate desires caused by world events. We can also screen the most qualified candidates and manage the resources for you.
In the face of dynamic changes we can help optimize and supplement your HR department — and to improve hiring methodologies and recruitment networks. Outsourcing to a reputable and experienced HR Solutions team provides a company with the extra tools it needs to succeed in the face of market upheavals, such as the current trends of “quiet quitting”, “early retirement” and the “great resignation” that continues to challenge companies.
Pivotal HR Solutions has been a leader in small-to-midsize company solutions since 1981. We’ve helped companies fill tens of thousands of permanent positions and countless temporary positions. Our expertise in recruitment is supplement by our complimentary solutions in HR Management, Payroll Management and other solutions.
Do you need assistance with recruitment in the difficult 2022-23 market? Contact the experts at Pivotal Solutions:
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