Recruiting Trends to Watch for in 2022 to Win the War for Talent
Perhaps every HR manager's worst nightmare is the failure to find, hire, and retain the best talent. According to recruitment experts, the common notion is that "it is hard to find the right talent, harder to recruitment them, and hardest to retain them."
As we approach the halfway point to thrive in 2022, we look ahead to the future of recruiting, and talent acquisition trends in 2022. This would aid in analyzing the strategies that firms or HR managers can use to win the war for talent.
What is the War for Talent?
Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company came up with the term "war for talent" (1997) to describe onboarding challenges and retaining the right candidate. Because the recruitment scenario is becoming more dynamic and demanding, it is no less than a war to find, attract, and retain the right candidate.
Some of the potential reasons for the rise in talent wars include:
- Increased competition due to the increase in small/ medium-sized businesses and start-ups.
- The need for new age industry relevant skills.
- Traditional sectors pique the interest of the Gen Z population.
- Talent poaching.
- The lure of becoming self-employed or entrepreneurs.
It is not only about how superior a company's HR strategies are to win the war but about the mindset that recruiting managers must adopt. Adopting a candidate-centric mindset is allegedly the primary and only way to succeed in competing for talent.
Impacts of Covid-19 on Recruiting Trends & Talent Tech
Before discussing the strategies that companies can adopt to win the talent war, it is essential to learn how Covid-19 has impacted recruitment trends.
As the world shut its doors to stay safe indoors, brick-and-mortar businesses opened their virtual doors. Hence, we noticed a new trend in the workplace: work from home, which brought virtual hiring processes. Companies are increasingly interested in hiring full-time remote workers to help them get their work done. According to a Times of India report, roughly 80% of employees prefer working from home to going back to work. As organizations shift to more remote work operations, they hire candidates virtually through online platforms such as Google Meet, Zoom, MS Teams, etc.
In the post-Covid era, internal hiring is also a new trend. According to LinkedIn, there has been around a 20% increase in the internal mobility of candidates. In addition, companies are expected to increase their learning and management budgets by more than 60% in the coming years. According to some experts, employers are likely to build their labor pool through internal mobility schemes linked to reskilling measures.
Additionally, companies are increasingly focusing on the Hire-Train-Deploy (HTD) strategy to reduce hiring costs and processes. It is a model that benefits both employers and employees by selecting the right talent, training them to meet the company's needs, and deploying them.
The War for Talent: Ways To Win It
The only way to win the war for talent is to implement best practices in talent acquisition. The pandemic is over, but its effects on the job market will linger long. As a result, new recruiting trends have emerged to accommodate the new job demands. Employers are now fighting to attract and retain the best talent to gain long-term market advantages.
Keeping this in mind, here are the top strategies for recruiting and assisting brands to win the war for talent in the future.
Candidate-Centric Recruitment
As 2022 approaches its halfway point, there are still plenty of job openings and a scarcity of qualified candidates. Due to the high demand for similar job opportunities, candidates choose companies that provide more than just a good salary. As a result, recruiters must become candidate-centric. The new trend is to use creative hiring ploys that keep candidates in the spotlight. Employers can stay ahead of the war for talent by focusing on employee health, work-life balance, remote/hybrid work opportunities, on-the-job training, and other strategies.
Flexibility and Remoteness
As the fallout from Covid continues, many companies continue to offer remote or hybrid work. They appear to be in no hurry to begin working from the office, even in the second half of 2022. In fact, eight out of ten candidates in India prefer working remotely with certain flexibility. According to Scikey's Tech Talent Outlook report, more than 60% of employees said they are extra constructive when working remotely. Hence, the new recruiting strategies for HR have transitioned from face-to-face interactions to remote communication. The future of recruiting has now taken a digital turn as hiring, training, onboarding, working, and exit are taking place remotely.
Focusing on Retention
The best talent must be recruited, but they must also be retained for an extended period. And this is supposed to be the most difficult part for a company. Because India is a thriving ground for start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses are sprouting almost daily. As a result, prospective candidates have more options to choose from. Thus, the only way to win the war for talent is to focus on retaining the best minds in the organization. In addition, employee retention would benefit greatly from an increased focus on employee engagement. It is now more crucial than ever to make employees feel heard, significant and empowered to retain them.
Upskilling the Candidates
Employee upskilling is an important part of retaining talent within the company. Even if it appears costly, on-the-job training is required for all businesses. It is a method of making feel valued, skilled, and empowered enough to contribute their best efforts. It is important to remember that it is less expensive to keep an existing employee than hire a new one. As a result, it makes employees feel empowered and recognized to increase their overall level of engagement with the company.
The "Gig Trend"
The "gig trend" is the way of the future in recruiting. People nowadays are quitting their permanent jobs to pursue their dreams according to their terms. As a result, freelancing and contract work are gaining prominence, subverting the traditional full-time workforce. The gig economy provides flexible work opportunities for candidates willing to work on their own schedules and conditions. It is a win-win strategy for both- the candidates and companies. Candidates can choose their ideal job roles while companies can save money by not having to conduct a full-time recruitment process. It all boils down to making work more adaptable to the demands of the point of time.
The Hire Train Deploy Model and 2COMS Solution to Win the War for Talent
The Hire Train and Deploy (HTD) model emphasizes "hire first, train later" rather than "train first to get hired." It's more like providing financial security for apprenticeship opportunities. If properly implemented, the HTD model could benefit both employees and employers. This model focuses on upskilling job seekers following the needs of recruiting firms, ensuring that employers get the right candidate with the talent and skill set. The HTD is a component of upskilling, as discussed in the preceding section.
Process
We, at 2Coms, understand how important it is for you to find and keep the right candidate. And, to make it easier to find the right candidate, our staffing solution prefers hiring candidates who are proficient in the relevant talent through multi-stage assessments. Following onboarding, we arm them with the right skills based on the client organization's customized training courses. Finally, they are sent for final evaluation. Candidates who pass the final assessment are interviewed by client companies to be placed on direct payroll, contract, or manage staffing by 2COMS Consulting.
Verdict
The new challenges in recruiting skilled resources will be with us for a long time. So, what needs to change is how companies hire potential employees. The ultimate goal of thriving in a highly competitive market is to win the war for talent and retain skilled employees. And to do so, HR managers must devote time to developing innovative, flexible, candidate-centric, and humane recruitment strategies.
