If you’ve ventured out and about lately, you’ve probably seen them: those strategically placed signs in the windows of restaurants, retail stores, and just about everywhere else that cheerfully proclaim, “We’re Hiring!”
Maybe in the back of your mind, you’ve thought: “Right – you and everyone else.” And you wouldn’t be wrong. Maybe you’ve even got a sign of your own.
From fast food places to marketing boutiques to Fortune 500 companies, everyone is desperate for talent these days. Robert Half reports talent shortages in accounting and finance, technology, creative and marketing, healthcare, legal and just about everywhere else.
More than two-thirds of companies across the globe are struggling to find the right blend of technical and soft skills, while at the same time working through technology transformations in the wake of the pandemic.
The bottom line is: Companies are ready to bring employees back to work, but an imbalance in supply and demand has left employers scrambling to fill crucial roles.
While global talent shortages probably won’t resolve any time soon, that doesn’t mean your hiring efforts are hopeless.
Here are five things you can do to make your open positions more attractive to the right candidates.
1. Invest in Digital Transformation for HR
Digital transformation has become a strategic imperative in our post-pandemic world. From remote work to virtual hiring to increased automation, technology that was once considered a long-term goal has now become a short-term necessity.
Digital recruiting tools that solve problems like inefficiency, hiring volume, and reach have been top of mind for quite some time now. So have tools that enhance the employee experience. The pandemic, however, has urgently ramped up the pace, especially in light of global talent shortages. So what exactly should you consider as you supplement or upgrade your HR software?
- Recruitment Automation – Automation can save you hours of work during the recruitment process. From resume screening to interview invitations to generating job descriptions, automation tools make your process more efficient and less prone to error. For example, SentricHR includes pre-configured recruiting workflows that move candidates through the process automatically.
- Virtual Capabilities – Virtual interviews, virtual teams meetings, virtual learning opportunities – all of these will be integral to the future of work. As you consider ways to support an increasingly virtual workforce, look for tools that can integrate with one another as they streamline the process.
- Online learning – Many HRIS platforms include an online learning component such as a class library or the ability to upload your own resources. In addition, you can utilize a comprehensive tool such as LinkedIn Learning to help employees develop their skills.
- Gig Economy Integrations – Employers are increasingly turning to gig workers (like freelancers and independent contractors) to fill talent gaps. Some HRIS platforms include tools designed to help you manage these contractors and associated costs (WorkDay’s People Analytics tool, for example).
2. Recruit Beyond Your Geographic Location
Almost half of employers anticipate a hybrid of remote and in-office work going forward, and an additional 34% plan to remain fully remote. That sounds good to employees as well, with 51% of workers saying they would be open to relocating as long as they wouldn’t take a pay cut.
That’s good news for hiring, because it means you aren’t limited to the talent available in your local area.You can take your recruiting efforts where the talent is.
Candidate sourcing and management technology gives hiring managers the ability to automate the process of matching roles and skills with candidates, with or without geographic indicators. Your ATS may already have desirable candidates stored from previous applications, and you can use your HRIS sorting and matching tools to find them. As new candidates come in, you can match those resumes to job descriptions and necessary skills as well.
If you’re ready to invest in additional applicant tracking software, look for these capabilities:
- Ability to integrate with your current HRIS and CRM
- Full customization options
- Extensive reporting
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion sourcing tools
3. Include Teams in Your Hiring Decisions
Involve your current team members in the interview and evaluation process when filling an open role. There are several benefits to this approach:
- Current team members know the work best. They know what it takes to the fill the role and what skills are necessary.
- Participating in the selection process helps teams feel invested in the success of the new employee. Your teams will be more likely to welcome a new team member and help them through the acclimation process when they have had a say in the decision.
- Teams can help you identify and overcome blind spots. No one interviewer can ask every question or consider every angle. Collaborating with current team members will help you make better decisions overall.
- Team members are vital to retention. According to SHRM, strong workplace relationships play a key role in retention. In fact, two out of three employees with at least one friend at work said they would reject a new job offer. When you involve team members in the hiring process, they are more likely to get to know the new employee and form the kinds of relationships that help people feel valued at work.
4. Hire for the Skills, Not the Role
Skills-based hiring (as opposed to credentials-based) has been trending for several years now. In 2021, we will see recruiters take it a step farther by becoming more fluid with specific requirements and prioritizing adaptability and learning potential as essential components of success.
It may seem counterintuitive not to prioritize the specific role you’re trying to fill. In today’s world of work, however, job skills are evolving so rapidly that adaptability may soon outrank hard skills in terms of job fit. Of course, some jobs will always require specific credentials. However, the ability to learn quickly and adapt to new skills is essential – so essential that SHRM has listed it as the top requirement for recruiters. If recruiters themselves must be agile in the face of evolving talent needs, so must the employees they want to hire.
5. Consider Outsourcing
Outsourcing isn’t just for back-office processes anymore. With talent gaps looming large in the workforce, companies have turned to outsourcing to fill needs across the organization, from HR to IT to finance.
Outsourcing is attractive because it gives you access to top minds in a given space without having to pay top dollar to hire an expert in that role. It’s best for areas that do not comprise your core competencies, and it can give you flexibility to focus on filling the roles that will give your business a stronger competitive advantage.
What’s the Next Step?
No one knows exactly what talent will look like a year from now, but we do know that the future of work is evolving rapidly. We expect to see stronger reliance on digital technology as more processes are automated, more companies build remote work into their permanent workforce structure, and more employees expect flexible work arrangements.
If you are mapping out your next steps in the HR digital landscape, we recommend prioritizing your HRIS platform. Once you have that strong foundation in place, you can supplement with tools that fill specific needs in areas like recruiting, learning, or performance management.
Ready to start your HRIS search? We’ve got you covered! Our HRIS Comparison Tool uses your unique requirements to create a software shortlist in just twenty minutes.
