Recruitment In The New Age

There is a perennial war for talent as the work environment and rules are ever-changing.

The pandemic has impacted us all, especially the company’s unsung aspect of ‘Talent Acquisition’. With the hybrid work model becoming the new normal for many companies, a company’s recruitment function should have face-to-face and virtual interfaces.

The team handling the recruitment process acts as a ‘gatekeeper’. They decide whether should a candidate be sent for further evaluation or get rejected at the preliminary stage.

The recruiters also have the Herculean responsibility of ensuring that the company’s strategy is reflected in the talent strategy. This includes the diversity and inclusion mandates or hiring candidates with a very specific set of skills to meet their business targets.

A lot of companies are training recruiters before the talent hunt even begins. When tasked to screen candidates in the preliminary stage, there are high chances that the recruiters might fall prey to biases like unconscious bias or affinity bias.

Recruiters acting as gatekeepers when not trained, tend to reject resumes when they act the apt ‘keywords’. In order to overcome these biases, experienced recruiters or recruitment services are preferred by organizations to make the recruitment process simpler and filter the best candidates.

Job Description (JD) acts as a key in attracting the right candidates for the interview. Most companies use generic job descriptions resulting in interviewing the wrong candidate for the wrong role.

Some companies even borrow job descriptions from other corporate giants. Each company has a separate vision and company culture. A job description should reflect the organization’s vision and the work environment in which he/she will be working. It requires a storytelling approach towards the modus-operandi and the expectations from the role.

Trained HRs or experienced agencies will have no problem understanding the vision of the company and incorporating the same in the job description. But companies having new HRs or in need of magnificent employees in a short time find it very difficult in attracting the right candidates.

Hiring Employees Virtually

Traditional workplaces have evolved into Hybrid work culture all over the world due to the pandemic. This means that a significant number of employees work from home/remote.

Employees get interviewed online over Zoom calls. In a typical face-to-face interview, a hiring manager can ‘go-by-the-gut’ after speaking to a candidate. In a Zoom meeting, the gut feeling might give wrong signals as there are very few non-verbal cues.

Remote hiring emphasizes more on standardized assessment process with multiple tools suiting the needs of the role and the organization.

Hiring remote employees is easier said than done. If you don’t convey your expectations, vision, role, and the organization’s culture to your candidate, you might end up having the wrong employee in your company.

Employees who work from home/remote tend to have their own schedule and finish tasks on time. But that doesn’t deter you from establishing your policies. In a hybrid workplace environment, it is essential to become flexible with timings. It is also essential to be candid about what you expect and how flexible can your organization be to your candidate.

Following up on the candidates consistently is the key. In order to enhance the candidate experience during virtual hiring, it is important to have constant communication with the candidate to make them feel comfortable and get them eager to work in your company. Since the candidate won’t be physically present to have a perspective of your company’s work culture, keeping the right candidate engaged is essential.