Talent acquisition challenges will continue into 2022–no question about it. 

Pre-2020, there had been a job-hopping trend already in motion. Now, after lifestyles have changed due to unforeseen circumstances, this job-hopping trend has been exacerbated. 

“With the rise of work from anywhere, hire from anywhere and an easier interview process all done virtually, there’s no reason for employees not to be looking for a better opportunity,” said Evan Sohn, CEO of Recruiter.com, a hiring platform based in New York City. “Companies now need to be thinking about having a constant stream of potential candidates to fill their workforce.”

And if companies are constantly needing to hire, what does that do to their bottom line? 

Hiring is not a cheap endeavor–not only in money but in time and resources. 

Current challenges when hiring talent

Four in 10 employees in the United States say they are always looking for the next job opportunity, which presents a significant retention challenge for HR, but at the same time, a remarkable opening for talent acquisition efforts.

Some of these challenges include:

Hiring volatility

It’s an employee’s market right now meaning that there are so many available jobs out there and not enough employees to fill them. This means that employees can come and go as they need to and there will be available options and opportunities for them. This makes hiring new talent extremely unpredictable and a consistent challenge for HR teams around the nation as they forecast and plan. 

Process changes

Organizations have had to severely adapt and make changes in the last couple of years. This also means that processes have had to change. Many organizations have even had to completely redesign their hiring processes. While this can be highly beneficial to the organization, it’s a lot of time and energy which means something else usually gets put to the side in the meantime.

Candidate experience

Video interviews took a huge leap forward. While video has been around, most interviewing processes happen in person because up until two years ago, most roles were in person rather than remote. With many positions being offered as remote or hybrid roles, the need for in-person interviews becomes less important. This gives candidates and interviewees more opportunities to find what works best for them and to play the field a bit more…

Hiring new employees is costly and time consuming so, what can employers do to retain current talent?

4 tips to retain your employees

Listen to your employees

Highly engaged employees are three times more likely to say they feel heard at their workplace (92%) than highly disengaged employees (just 30%). What are your employees asking for? Are they asking for more flexibility? More opportunities to participate? To take on leadership roles? What benefits do they want? There are so many different ways to listen to your employees.

Offer programs that benefit them

So many organizations provide programs or benefits that they think their employees want and need, but what do they actually need? The best example of this is around 401(k)s. These are so important and so many employees want them, but there are also a chunk of your employees who won’t be able to participate in your 401(k) plan because they barely have enough money for their basic necessities. What do they need?

Provide opportunities for growth

More times than not, employers seek to hire new employees rather than looking internally to see if they already have the right candidate within the organization. And, these employees already know your business and are primed for a promotion or a role swap. Take a look internally first and gauge interest within current team members. You might be surprised. 

“Organizations are realizing that you can’t just bring in people externally,” Lenka Burnett, Vice President of global client services at international recruiting firm Korn Ferry in London, said. “There has been an increase in interest in internal mobility since the onset of the pandemic, and in 2022, companies are looking at workforce planning and talent acquisition more holistically.”

Technology and fool-proof processes win

There is nothing more frustrating to employees today than working in an environment where their tech doesn’t work. Considering most organizations remain remote or in a hybrid scenario, when tech doesn’t work, employees can’t be as effective as they want to be. This is especially important to millennials and gen-z employees… 

2022 expectations

Attracting candidates who have more options and more say in the roles they take will be much more apparent this year. 

What does your hiring process look like? How do benefits play a role in this process?

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