Even before 2020, the world of work was subject to a lot of change – flexible working models, work from home, more community. Suddenly, all this was no longer just debated, but done. For us recruiters, those pandemic months were probably the most turbulent ones of our careers. Now, in 2022, we understand that New Work is manifesting as the new normal and that the future is a new one. More humanity has entered the workplace, more we instead of me.
Modern work creates space for what we strive for – well-being. It gives us the chance to question the meaningfulness of our work. Many don't find that in their job, which has brought on a huge wave of resignations and willingness to change jobs around the world – The Great Resignation. For us recruiters, this is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Recruiting Trends 2022
Therefore, the acquisition and retention of talent remains a major topic in 2022. We have summarized the top 5 recruiting trends for 2022 and highlight what is important.
1. Expand your talent pool!
Expanding your talent pool is a good way to combat the shortage of skilled workers. One way to do this is through more internal mobility: upskilling or reskilling. Investing in existing employees is less risky, and recognition strengthens employee loyalty.
Likewise, inclusive hiring expands the talent pool and demonstrates zeitgeist, because modern work stands for openness and diversity. Previously left-out groups experience more inclusion and companies profit, too, for example, from greater innovative strength, increased effectiveness and competitiveness – and a broader talent pool. For instance, more women should hold top management positions, even without a women's quota. Their objective-constructive management style is particularly well suited for the new world of work.
Remote hiring will also become a hot topic in the course of New Work. The pandemic has shown that remote working is a valid concept. This means that from now on, talents from across the globe are in your talent pool.
2. Mobile recruiting!
It's on everyone's lips – the candidate experience. It refers to the experience that candidates have with a company during the entire application process, also known as the candidate journey. The "mobile" touchpoint is becoming increasingly important. According to a study from Austria, 70% of candidates pull out their smartphone to look for a new job. 41% would prefer to apply via app.
But even without a professional app, it is possible to recruit successfully via the mobile channel – be-all and end-all here is a responsive design that works smoothly on all devices, especially (application) forms.
As far as content is concerned, brevity is the soul of wit – because, who likes to scroll through long texts on their cell? Digital natives decide within just eight seconds whether a job seems interesting or not. Therefore, be precise and concise – this also reduces the number of unqualified one-click applications.
Those who recruit mobile are usually on social networks, too. Social media continues to be a popular place to track down talent and represents an important touchpoint in the candidate journey. It will be worthwhile to invest in it further in the future, especially time for personal one-on-one dialogs.
3. Recruiting performance monitoring!
With the advancing digitalization of the recruiting process, a lot of data can be collected and analyzed. Candidate responses have become measurable and provide valuable insights – from likes and shares, to the duration of viewing job ads, to the number of applications received. Recruiters receive a wealth of new information that they can use to optimize further recruiting activities – even for specific target groups. SEO and SEA should be considered, too.
4. Rethink job ads!
The job ad is your sales pitch! There is nothing wrong with focusing exclusively on "your tasks, your profile, we offer", but that will not make you stand out either. A study has shown that creative ads get more attention and are viewed longer – you could use image videos, humor or a smart outline in your ad. Gamification and recruiting games – referred to as recruitainment – are also a way to stick out.
Nowadays, a job ad no longer stands for its own, but as integral part of the employer branding strategy. According to a study, around 60% of candidates draw conclusions about the company from a job ad. This makes it a crucial touchpoint in the candidate journey and an important channel for communicating the company's values. A positive candidate experience can be achieved through precise content that gets to the point quickly – you can even take this literally, as bullet points are more popular than continuous text. Likewise, application forms included in the ad should be kept short.
5. Sustainable Recruiting!
Today, a transparent sustainability strategy is essential to remain competitive. That is no different in the recruiting industry – green human resource management is what it's called. The goal is an ecological sustainable human resource management that supports corporate environmental goals from talent acquisition and personnel development to performance management. Therefore, sustainability should be a strategical component of your employer branding.
Wondering how sustainable recruiting can look like? For example, an exclusively digital recruiting process, free of travel and paper. As well as benefits such as bike leasing, incentives for green ideas or bonuses based on ecological rather than solely economic goals.
This serves sustainability as a whole, creates an ecologically sustainable awareness within the existing team and appeals to environmentally conscious applicants.
Climate and environmental problems are among the greatest challenges our society faces – those who recognize this, and act accordingly are likely to attract the next generation of workers, whose future is ultimately at stake.
A lot is happening in the recruiting industry. Implementing all of this is quite a challenge.
But don't worry, we are recruiting experts and will be happy to assist you as a reliable recruitment partner. Get in touch with us, we look forward to working with you.
At Coopers, we are proponents of New Work because we share the same mentality and always put people at the center of everything we do! For example, our internal employees work with a lot of personal responsibility and can flexibly set their working hours. Feel free to see for yourself, because #wearehiring. If you would like to become part of our Coopers family, contact us at jobs@coopers.ch.
We look forward to hearing from you.
The Coopers Family
PS: If you want to learn more about employer branding, you can read up here.
Photo by Leone Venter via Unsplash
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