Experts Share 6 Key Talent Acquisition Trends for 2021 And Beyond.
It goes without saying that 2020 was a year like no other, and 2021 continued to bring even more unprecedented challenges, innovations and creative solutions. With the future of work well and truly here, HR professionals are being forced to look beyond the horizon and decipher key talent acquisition trends to survive and thrive. Once, people teams had the luxury of time to plan, test and tweak approaches. Now, many of us are taking it day by day: ten-year plans have been scrapped, and ‘business as usual’ is a distant memory. Many TA teams and HR leaders are looking for guidance. In times like these, we look to the experts for advice and predictions in an unpredictable landscape. Industry commentators like Hung Lee have their finger on the pulse of what it means to recruit in 2021, and can help make sense of a landscape that’s shifting every day. Speaking in a PageUp webinar, Hung Lee outlined his 8 key talent acquisition trends for 2021 and beyond. This is by no means an exhaustive list – but it is a good way to check that your organisation is on the right track. Here’s what we know so far about what matters in recruiting in 2021: Everyone is an international recruiter Digital transformation and automation take centre stage There are new challenges and considerations for diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) Alumni (former employees) become an organization‘s greatest asset Employer branding becomes a non-negotiable Internal mobility evolves into a key source of quality talent. 2020 was the year that HR truly stepped up and took a seat at the table. In 2021, it’s time to continue that momentum and take the lead in transforming workplaces for the new world of work. Talent acquisition trend 1: The global talent pool COVID-19 has accelerated once-distant trends and forced the world’s biggest work-from-home experiment. Even laggards have been forced to adopt remote tech – and organizations are realizing it can work. In spite of organizational complexities and the challenges of remote work, up to 37% of jobs can now be done fully remotely. In the US, there was a 150% increase in remote jobs from 2019 to 2020. In the UK, there was a 342% increase in the same period (Iain Moss, Adzuna, 2020). Organizations are getting into the groove of remote work, and this has opened up possibilities for a global network of talent. No longer constrained by brick and mortar offices, organizations can hire the best people in the world – not just their city. In 2021, everyone is an international recruiter. “Moving the job to where the people are is increasing,” says Hung Lee, curator of recruitment industry newsletter Recruiting Brainfood. Lee observes that “remote means anywhere” – and with technology improving and C-suite leaders enjoying the cost reduction of work-from-home arrangements, TA will shift from on-premise to remote hiring. This brings about major changes: Moving away from the traditional full-time hiring cycle, remote workers can be freelancers and contractors. This trend lends itself to a “try before you buy” approach, according to Lee. There is zero friction for talent to move from company to company – which means the employee experience is more important than ever Compensation is set by elite organizations. No longer confined to local salary benchmarks, smaller players may struggle to compete with salaries offered by large organizations. For many jobseekers, the ability to live in their hometown but get paid a New York-level salary is appealing – and makes it hard for local organizations to compete Competition for top talent is global. Talent acquisition trend 2: Digital transformation and automation becomes a priority In a year of constant disruption, even the most progressive companies have had to think on their feet. They’ve achieved this agility through workforce automation. Research shows that 92% of senior executives agree that the lockdown period has made digital transformation a priority. COVID-19 has forced the automation of in-person human roles, where possible. At the same time, remote working has flourished and given way to a raft of digitization and automation. RPA (recruitment process automation) has delivered unparalleled efficiencies in the recruiting process, spurred on by reduced TA headcount and recruiters simply having to do more with less. What was once paper-based, manual and resource-intensive (multiple recruiters and interviewing rooms, onerous rounds of shortlisting and assessments) has become streamlined and fully digital. Talent acquisition trend 3: Alumni form part of the talent community “Retain the relationship, not the employee” recruiting guru Bill Boorman advises. This year, cash-strapped and time-poor recruiting teams are turning to the ‘talent community’ – alumni, silver-medalists and internal talent – as a source of pre-vetted, quality hires. The return of the talent community creates a new job for recruiters – engaging talent even after they’ve left the organization. In the past, once someone walked out the door they were often gone for good. Now, HR teams are acquainting themselves with the concept of ‘Boomerang employees’ – those that leave the business then eventually return. These people are an invaluable source of qualified talent, external referrals and, when treated well, should become lasting employer brand champions. As people flow through the company from candidate to employee and eventually alumni, someone has to own and track this experience to ensure it’s a great one. Some organizations are approaching this by having a community manager that manages and engages people outside of the company. Others are developing alumni networks and using their career site as a leveraging point to attract alumni back. Hung Lee shares key ways to engage alumni: Make relationships the entire point Bridge community & company. Careers sites are a great way to do this Treat talent mobility the same as career development That development might exist outside the company Not a single career path but career optionality Talent acquisition trend 4: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) In a year that’s brought us a global pandemic, political unrest and a worldwide shift to remote work, it would take a lot to capture our attention. And yet in 2020, DE&I did just that. As Black Lives Matter protests spread awareness
