Recruitment Best Practices and Trends For 2021

Introduction

2020 has been a year of unprecedented situations and social and economic upheaval. This year has left an indelible mark on us collectively. With the COVID-19 situation disrupting many industries and how they function, to the rising awareness of the need for equality to all people regardless of race, gender, class, creed or orientation, we have seen and lived through events that we will talk  about for the rest of our lives. These situations have given way to some very pertinent questions. The question of how to effectively acquire and manage human resources is one of the most pertinent ones.

With the close of this year, this question is on everyone’s mind. Rise in the need for more Diversity and Inclusion (click here to know more), the new normal of work-from-home mode of operations and the challenges therein have forced many organizations to take a serious look into their management of human resources.

One of the key aspects that have been affected is the hiring of new employees. Remote hiring and remote work are just some of the factors affecting talent acquisition. If you have a hiring plan for the year 2021, then there are some important points to consider before proceeding to hire new talent in the coming year.

Here are some of the best practices and trends for recruitment in 2021.

General Trends

1 – Employer Branding

There is a direct correlation between employer branding and the efficiency of your recruitment methodology. In today’s highly interconnected world, where many micro level social media interactions might go unnoticed from an organizational point of view, the value of investing in a proper branding efforts that portray your unique value propositions is one of the best ways to attract good, and sometimes unreachable talent. Proper branding creates a loop where highly motivated potential candidates can actively find you on the right job boards and portals.

This is an indirect way of avoiding a lot of money going waste because of issues such as attracting the wrong talent, unclear objectives and goals etc. All these factors contribute to increasing your average hiring cost cost-per-employee. Investing in a positive employer brand pays off in the long run. It helps you stand out in a crowd of recruiters on various social media platforms and job boards such as Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster etc.

With many people having lost jobs due to the COVID-19 situation, the market is ripe with talented individuals looking for employment opportunities. This is the best time to create a strong value proposition for candidates, to ensure that the right talent reaches and will stay with your organization for longer.

2 – Recruitment Budget Planning

These are uncertain times indeed and recruitment planning takes center stage in these situations. A well thought out and planned methodology is very important to control costs and avoid overshooting the budget. Even though adhering to budget seems like a very common thing that should be on everyone’s radar, this point is often missed. And in these times, it makes more sense to have a well-defined budget plan.

3 – Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion are important aspects to consider and more so in today’s time. Organizations should be focusing on a healthy diversification of their workforce. More and more job seekers are now looking at diversity at workplace as one of the major factors when looking for employment opportunities. Therefore, it makes sense for today’s organizations to enter 2021 with a healthy strategy for keeping an eye on diversity and inclusion.

Trends Related to COVID-19

1 – Remote Work. The new normal?

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced much of the world to function remotely. Clients are open to accepting remote work and are open to waive on-site work on request now. Many large organizations have now stated that remote work will continue even in the post COVID-19 times. This indicates a clear shift towards acceptance for remote work.

Remote working has its advantages and disadvantages. Disadvantages are apparent, because remote work creates a dissonance between employees and different teams and departments. Also, it could lead to alienation and lack of team spirit in the employees. However, the major advantage for recruiters is that it has given them the ability to reach out to a larger pool of talent spread across various locations that were previously untapped. Most organizations have adapted to this new situation well. Recruiters can leverage this situation to hire better talent. We will see a clear shift in recruitment strategy aligned to remote working and remote hiring.

2- Potential Surge in Hiring

A lot of people have lost their jobs because of this pandemic. According to surveys, around April 2020, the unemployment rate spiked up to 14%. However, as we move towards 2021, situations have definitely improved. Experts believe that there will be an increase in job openings across all sectors in the early months of 2021.

This is the time for recruiters and recruiting agencies to align themselves to this trend and prepare for the upcoming increase in the opportunities. The competition for leveraging this hiring surge is going to be fierce and any recruitment strategy or methodology should focus on proper sourcing of candidates and being ready with a ready database of skilled talent or partnering with the right IT Staffing Services provider. Recruiters need to focus on both short term needs as well as from a long term perspective.

Conclusion

In these challenging times, the right way to strategize is to closely analyze the effects, forecast upcoming situations and then move ahead with these findings in mind. A more structured approach will ensure your success and you will be adequately prepared to meet the recruitment goals in 2021.