Teem
October 20th, 2022

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The past few years have accelerated the evolution of the workplace. The job market has gotten much more competitive, with Zoom interviews becoming the new normal. As a result, it’s easier for candidates to apply and interview for more positions than in the past. With a low 3.5% unemployment rate and hiring remaining strong, companies need to shift their focus to new recruitment trends.

5 Top Hiring and Recruitment Trends for 2023

As we move towards 2023, how are you preparing to succeed in hiring today’s best talent? Incorporate the following top hiring trends to improve your recruitment strategy.

1. Positive Candidate Experience

First impressions matter not only in our personal lives but our professional lives. Candidates no longer go into interviews, only asking, “Do they like me?” They now enter interviews with the thought, “Do I like this company?” Companies must prepare for candidates to interview them, as well. Where questions at the end of interviews used to be few and far between, interviewees now come ready with their inquiring minds.

Companies must do more to attract and impress candidates during all stages, not only the actual interviews but also email and phone communications, along with other preparations.

Recruiters are the face of their company. To attract the best talent, they must improve the candidates’ experiences. Some tips for recruiters that better the hiring process are:

  • Be transparent about the hiring process
  • Share the profiles of the interviewers with candidates ahead of time
  • Make sure interviewers are prepared before interviewing candidates
  • Respect candidates’ time during the interview and recruitment process
  • Know your company’s values, mission, and benefits
  • Communicate with candidates often
  • Respectfully let candidates know if the job has been filled or if they were disqualified at any stage

2. Employer Branding

Long gone are the days when branding was only about marketing – such as the company logo, brand messaging, and customer perception. Today, employer branding is a necessity for building brand awareness in recruitment. The way companies recruit candidates and retain employees has changed thanks to technological advancement, social media, and career review sites such as Glassdoor.

Without a strong employer brand, companies miss out on top candidates. So, what exactly is employer branding? Employer branding is how you communicate the entirety of the employment experience – including an employer’s reputation as a place to work, their employee value proposition, and additional reasons for their popularity among current employees.

Overall, it is a way to attract a new workforce while also communicating with current employees. 83% of employers say that employer branding plays a significant role in their ability to hire talent. Additionally, employer branding can positively contribute to a candidate’s interview experience.

Here are steps for implementing a successful employer brand strategy:

  • Define your employer branding goals
  • Identify your ideal candidate’s persona
  • Define your employee value proposition
  • Define the channels to promote your employer brand
  • Measure your employer branding success

While employer branding is new to many companies, it’s not something that can be skipped out on. It can often be the make or break of whether a top candidate applies for your role or accepts a job offer.

3. Hybrid Work Model

Post-pandemic, the hybrid work model has become more normal than the traditional office model. When state lockdowns first occurred, most assumed they would return to the office full-time. But as those lockdowns continued to get extended, employees became more accustomed to working from home. With that said, workers lacked the social aspect they once got from the office. Thus, hybrid work became the go-to option to offer employees.

Companies that ignore the popularity of hybrid work will find themselves struggling not only to hire top talent but get applications from top talent. During their job search, many candidates filter out jobs that require them to be in the office full-time. Without offering hybrid work, you’re starting at a disadvantage.

Hybrid work is a flexible work model that supports a blend of in-office, remote, and on-the-go workers. It offers employees the autonomy to work in a mixed environment that promotes productivity. With that said, there are multiple types of hybrid models.

The four most common hybrid work models are:

  • Flexible hybrid work model – employees choose their location and working hours based on their priorities for the day
  • Fixed hybrid work model – companies set the days and times employees are allowed to work remotely or go into the office
  • Office-first hybrid work model – employees are expected to be on-site but have the flexibility to choose a couple of days a week to work remotely
  • Remote-first hybrid work model – employees work remotely most of the time with the occasional visits to the office for team building and collaboration

83% of workers prefer hybrid work. Offering a hybrid model benefits companies in terms of recruitment and retention, which helps boost employee productivity and support healthy company culture.

4. Diverse, Equity, and Inclusion Strategy

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) should be top of mind for talent acquisition leaders. But unfortunately, more than 50% of employees feel their employer isn’t doing enough to promote diversity.

To better understand what DE&I means, let’s break down the three pillars:

  • Diversity – the presence of differences within a setting that includes race, gender identity, ethnicity, nationality, apparent and non-apparent disability, and sexual orientation
  • Equity – the process of ensuring that procedures and systems are just and impartial, eliminating unfair advantages, and providing equal opportunities for all
  • Inclusion – the practice of creating an environment where everyone feels heard, supported, and secure in sharing their perspectives

Our population is – as a whole – by definition, diverse. Diverse teams better align with the demographics of the people companies serve. The overall goal of diverse and inclusive practices is to build a workforce that reflects the available labor market, with all talent groups equally represented and not excluding anyone because of what makes them different.

Companies without a DE&I strategy lack innovation and fresh perspectives for their business. In fact, companies with ethnically or gender-diverse leadership teams are more likely to outperform others by 25-36%.

Here are some actions organizations can take to create a more diverse and inclusive sourcing strategy:

  • Make job ads more inclusive
  • Target diversity referrals
  • Source from different pools of talent
  • Leverage a diverse internship program
  • Sponsor networking groups or “affinity networks”

The bottom line is, building a DE&I hiring strategy opens your talent pool tremendously and creates a more welcoming workplace. The best DE&I plans include company-wide goals, ensuring diversity in specific functions and seniority roles. If not already, DE&I should become the heart of each company’s recruitment strategy.

5. Company Values

Core values help lead candidates to the right company. However, many companies’ values are vague and generic. Making your values clear helps build relationships with candidates from the start and attracts workers more likely to stay.

Think of company values as the true north of your brand compass. Regardless of your company’s direction, they remain fixed, steady, and true. A company’s core values should reflect its daily culture, employee experiences, and overall policies.

Values set an organization’s identity, laying the foundation for what the company cares about most. It provides a common purpose for all employees to understand and aim towards. These values help candidates recognize what will be expected of them if hired.

So, how can businesses communicate their company values during the hiring process?

  • Design a recruitment process to elicit core values
  • Have company values written in the job description
  • Encourage recruiters and hiring managers to reiterate values during interviews
  • Send candidates additional information on company values and overall mission

Not only are company values important for hiring, but they are also crucial for retention. Therefore, when interviewing candidates, companies must scout and hire candidates who best align with their values.

Set Your Recruiting Process for Success

To appeal to candidates in today’s job market, companies can’t be afraid to make changes. The trends outlined above will help companies adjust to the newly evolved workplace. But they are more than trends; they are necessary if you want to attract and retain top talent.

As we move towards Q1, businesses must develop a concrete action plan that improves their recruiting process. Companies hire the most in January and February, when the candidate pool will be at its best. So, get a head start as we get closer to the new year.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Teem

Teem by iOFFICE provides enterprises with space scheduling and management, workplace analytics, building, and campus wayfinding, and visitor management to help cultivate workplaces that fuel productivity, efficiency, and creativity.

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