As we slowly come out of the pandemic the labor market is tight with many job openings unfilled. This labor market has record-level turnover and job openings, increased stress and significantly changed candidate expectations. Here are the post-Covid recruiting best practices you can use to improve your ability to hire.
Remote Interviewing
Virtual interviewing exploded during the pandemic. An Indeed survey found that 82% of respondents said they started doing virtual interviews during the pandemic and 93% of them plan to continue. Those who used it discovered that online recruitment speeded up the hiring process and saved money for the company and the candidate. It reduced stress by avoiding the need for time off to interview and by providing increased privacy for the process to play out – a positive post-covid recruiting best practices.
Passive Candidate Recruiting
Recruiting passive candidates has always been important in the hiring process. Improving and better communicating your positive employer brand in this tight labor market becomes essential in attracting the best candidates. HR Daily Advisor found that 50% of job seekers said they won’t work for a company that had a bad reputation even if they received a higher salary. Businesses with excellent employer brands receive 50% more qualified applicants.
Engaging passive candidates directly through online marketing and social media helps to foster a relationship over time so that when they become interested in changing jobs they think of you. Of course this requires considerably more effort than running an ad and waiting for the response, but in this type of market maintaining this type of program is essential for filling open positions and obviously a post-covid best recruiting practices.
Target Gen Z
By 2030 Innoflow predicts we will have a talent shortage of 85 million people. Gen Z is the technology generation. They are “digital natives” immersed in technology since they were born. Outdated technology in the workplace or in the interviewing process won’t be tolerated. The application process has to be fully mobile friendly and information has to be shared in bite-sizes preferably in video!
Maximize Employee Retention
The cost of losing a bad hire is $15K. The cost of losing a good hire is $30K. Focus on keeping the employees you already have. Searching for talent within your organization increases company loyalty, but focus on promotions in title AND salary because vertical or horizontal transfers without a salary increase aren’t perceived positively.
Offer Flexible Work Schedules
Remote or hybrid work schedules are becoming a minimum requirement for post-covid recruiting best practices. While 20% of candidates worked from home pre-pandemic, 71% worked from home during the pandemic. Pew Research Center says 54% of candidates claim they want to keep working from home after the pandemic and 80% say they would turn down an offer without a flexible work option.
SHRM.org says 64% of Talent Acquisition departments “expect recruiting budgets to increase in the next six to twelve months, with the largest recruitment investment going toward external recruiting agencies and internal hiring programs.”
Smith Hanley Associates’ Executive Recruiters stand ready to assist you. Contact Data Science and Analytics Recruiter, Nancy Darian at ndarian@smithhanley.com.
