Whereas until recently the recruitment market was driven by a scarcity of vacancies, today’s recruitment landscape has flipped and is rapidly changing towards a candidate-led market. In 2015, already 90% of employers indicated that they experience the hiring market as candidate-driven (Glassdoor, 2016). While there are evidently still companies that believe they can continue to recruit from a position of power, the majority of employers already feel the new reality of their candidates being in the driver’s seat. Most employers will need to revamp their hiring practices and employer brand in order to attract and retain the highly needed talent to move their organization forward.
The rate at which top performers are rejecting job offers continues to grow. Motivation and expectations have dramatically changed. With professionals seeking for greener pastures again, candidates are making informed choices on where and under which conditions they want to work. Salary, education, growth opportunities and other benefits are obviously still playing an important role in landing the right talent. However, companies shouldn’t forget that the process before ‘closing the deal’ is as, and sometimes even more, important. Too many organizations are still relying on their ‘pre-power-shift’ recruitment approaches, while many of these methods simply do not yield results anymore.
Here are the first 3 things an employer will need to do to stay ahead:
Although lengthy processes have never been good for the overall candidate-experience, in today’s candidate-driven marketplace, skilled professionals simply no longer tolerate painfully slow hiring processes. The average interview process now takes 23 days, up from 13 days just four years ago (Glassdoor, 2015). A painful statistic as the expression ‘you snooze, you lose’ has never been more true when it comes to securing talent these days. Employers that are taking too long to woo their candidates run a high risk of losing the best talent to other organisations. Today’s candidate demands a smooth, fast and effective process. Employers who are able to optimize their processes for today’s fast-track reality will gain a competitive edge, improving their chances of recruiting the best candidates.
While a few year’s ago the market was still characterized by security-seeking employees, the roles are now reversed. Skilled talent will explore multiple job opportunities and will be able to select between multiple job offers. They will make a deliberate decision on whether they want to work for a specific employer or not. If you want your highly needed talent to give your company and offer serious consideration, you need to be able to sell your corporate identity and value proposition throughout the entire recruitment process. This means employers need to adjust their approach in order to provide a process that is not only fast and effective but also fully aligned with the company identity. People are attracted to companies that align with who they are and can encourage them to do what they do best.
With the power shifted over to the candidate, creating a process that meets the candidate’s preferences and needs is a good way to build a favourable candidate experience. Today’s candidate is busy and demands a flexible, engaging and accessible process. Mobile enabled, humanized and transparent processes that allow candidates to connect with prospective employers at a time and place convenient for them are becoming more and more important to engage with today’s qualified talent. Companies that are able to create a process that fits the preferences and lifestyle of their candidates will gain a competitive edge and hold the best cards to recruit the greatest talent.
When modernizing your recruitment approach, implementing the right tools will allow you to regain your competitive recruitment edge in the race for talent. The use of innovative technologies like video recruitment will help create a more efficient and modern process that fits the lifestyle and demands of today’s candidate while strengthening your employer brand. Candidates can present themselves in a modern, more visual way, while enjoying a fast, flexible and engaging interview experience. With the candidate-driven market being more evident than ever, employers that want to take their business to the next level will need to pay attention to the changing recruitment dynamics. While upgrading your hiring processes is necessary to stay in the race for today’s top performers, a modernized recruitment process will also result in an improved time-to-hire, reduced recruitment costs and better matches. Everybody wins. Happy Hiring!
