Our Forecast of the Top 2024 Recruitment Trends That Will Help Grow Your Business

In every industry and sector, there are trendsetters that lead the way, and trend followers that travel at the back. As we embark upon a brand-new year (welcome 2024!), our team decided to closely examine what our trendsetting clients are doing in their hiring and engagement practices, that are notably growing their business. We included both quantitative and qualitative considerations in analyzing and arriving upon our 2024 recruitment forecast, and we are excited to share this intel with you.?

To start, there are three words (serving as principles) that we predict will dominate our industry’s most successful recruitment and employee engagement strategies over the next 12 months. These are:

·?????? Transparency

·?????? Trust

·?????? And Teaming (defined as: coming together as a team to achieve a common goal)

Why have we chosen these three themes? Because we’re seeing that trendsetting employers who are winning with in-demand job candidates and with retaining their current employees are actively promoting transparency and trust at work, and are creating strong, resilient, and focused teams. They are actively listening, promoting two-way dialogue, actioning on stakeholder feedback, and helping team members feel like they have a personal stake in the game.

If you are looking for the same kind of results with your recruitment and employee engagement practices this year, embrace the following thinking;?

1.???? DEMONSTRATE HOW YOU PRIORITIZE YOUR PEOPLE - Think like a multinational organization in your branding by focusing on consistency: Invest in your employer branding by communicating the same messages across all of your channels, i.e. your website, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms. I was quoted in an article recently by Intuit QuickBooks, on why employer branding matters more than ever. In my interview, I shared that too many companies bury their employer branding content in the sub-pages of their “About” sections. They effectively make it difficult for time-strapped jobseekers to find this critical information. It also inadvertently communicates to potential jobseekers that people are not as important as other organizational goal posts. Companies who prioritize employer branding will often feature this information right on their home page, demonstrating how they walk their talk.?

Net takeaway: If you make employer branding a communications priority (and live by it), your employers and prospective job candidates will feel like they are a priority too. This builds trust at a foundational level. After all, as the saying goes, “we are only as good as our teams” so showcase the best of your organization publicly with pride.

2.???? ENGAGE YOUR PEOPLE IN THE BIGGER PICTURE - Think like a small business in your approach to employee engagement: We are operating in a workplace culture today where employees are craving a sense of purpose in their jobs. They want to know that they are contributing to something bigger than themselves. Prospective jobseekers often plan to leave their jobs because they are not getting this at work. The feeling of serving a bigger cause can only be fostered when employees are privy to the “bigger picture” of your business too. If you want your business to grow, you need to help your employees grow too. Get front line staff involved in projects from an early stage, and mentor them the way small businesses often do.?

Net takeaway: When employers see themselves contributing meaningfully at work, their loyalty to the company grows, because their loyalty to the cause is emotionally rooted. This is when teaming takes on a whole new level of importance and impact.

3.???? CARE FOR YOUR PEOPLE FIRST SO THEY CAN THEN CARE FOR YOUR BUSINESS - Think like a good friend, when considering workplace structures that impact work-life balance: North Americans are accused by many other world regions of living to work instead of working to live. All of this changed for our employees however, when the pandemic necessitated people working from home. Suddenly, workers got a taste of what it it’s like to have more balance, more free time. They felt like they earned their employers’ trust by being at home and getting their jobs done as needed. Now, they refuse to let go of that freedom, born from trust that they feel like they rightfully earned. As a company, if you trust your workers and give them more freedom, they will give back more to you through their jobs as well. This is about showing your workers and prospective candidates, that you not only trust your teams, but you care about your people’s well-being, as much as you care about your business’ well-being (and isn’t it interesting that this is a symbiotic relationship). Case in point: This time last year, our company moved its operating structure to a 4-day work week to give our staff more personal time at home, and I’m so happy to report that this move has been successful for our team.?

Net takeaway: Good friends look out for the betterment of each other, and employer-employee relationships that operate as such, thrive in workplaces, because employees feel cared for at a fundamental level.?

4.???? TRUST YOUR PEOPLE AS SMART DECISION-MAKERS - Think like a teacher when deciding what company information you should share with staff: Teachers are tasked with engaging students in learning. Similarly, business leaders must task themselves with engaging employees in growing their business. This can only be done when employees understand your high-level growth strategies – and how and why their role and responsibilities contribute to that. Companies that treat employees across all levels of their organization as key decision-makers, are the ones who foster the highest amount of trust with their workers. This starts with being more transparent about top line business prospects and planning: When you share more information with your staff, you arm them with knowledge to perform better.?

Net takeaway: Employees can’t shine in their work if they are kept in the dark. Involve them with trust and transparency at the highest levels of planning. Remember: your company is the sum of every macro and micro decision made by your workers.

There you have it – our 2024 recruitment forecast. What stands out for you among these strategies? Has your organization worked on transparency, trust-building, and teaming for their people? What results have you witnessed? Please share your insights with us on your favourite social media channels. We’d love to hear from you!

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