Predicting the Unpredictable: What does the next generation of recruiting look like?

I’ve always found that predicting the future of recruiting is a tricky task, but it’s even more daunting during a time steeped in such confusion and complexity. Recruiters are at the frontline of change – they must be agile creatures, adapting and pivoting to the immediate concerns of the market, new technological advancements, and the needs of the business. It’s a function that is in a state of continuous evolution. What worked to attract and retain talent last year simply won’t cut it in the next twelve months!

Today, LinkedIn released its Future of Recruiting report , a comprehensive study that compiles data from a range of sources to offer a glimpse at where this industry could be headed.

We’re constantly looking ahead at SocialTalent , predicting trends and analyzing the talent space, so this study was of particular interest to me. Given how turbulent the world of recruiting is right now, it’s imperative to seek out guiding lights of success. LinkedIn’s findings corroborated a lot of the trends we’re seeing, but there were three areas which stood out for me:

• Recruiting’s growing potential to enact positive change.
• Understanding candidate expectations.?
• The increasing need to leverage internal mobility.

Talent acquisition as change-makers

According to the report, 87% of recruiting professionals say that TA has become a more strategic function over the past year. I find it heartening to see statistics like this. A lot of discourse around the future of TA constantly speaks to this cohort “gaining a seat at the table” and helping to drive business direction and strategy. But the transformation hasn’t happened overnight. It’s taken time for organizations to fully realize how valuable the insights and knowledge of recruiters is for creating meaningful and lasting change company-wide. Hopefully this trend only continues.

The success of a business is intrinsically linked to its people. Have the right employees on board, engage and develop them, and you create an agile and adaptive workforce. The more onus that’s placed on getting these factors right, the more chance organizations have to grow and scale. TA is essential in this process, and the wealth of real-time information they can bring to this proverbial table has never been more needed. Talent scarcity is a huge issue right now, but it’s your recruiters who can offer practical guidance on how to overcome this challenge. Whether it’s about the motivations of candidates, insight on essential skills, or, as the report pointed out, compensation trends, it’s vital that organizations leverage this underutilized knowledge resource. John Vlasetlica in his Talent Advisor training on the SocialTalent platform , says that “when recruiters operate as talent advisors they have the ability to engage and influence the business to play a much bigger role in recruitment.” And this in turn will only lead to better, more strategic hiring.

What do candidates really want?

As I alluded to above, recruiters have their finger to the pulse when it comes to the ever-altering world of candidate expectation. And if we’re to follow the predictions of this LinkedIn report, which state that the future of recruiting will be more favorable to candidates and employees, then it’s never been more important to fully understand candidate needs. So, what are the main focus areas of concern?

1. Compensation
2. Work / life balance
3. Flexibility
4. Advancement
5. Skills development?

This list didn’t surprise me in the slightest. And to be perfectly honest, any organization looking to attract talent in the next few years needs to be offering these components as standard to remain truly competitive. SocialTalent’s candidate experience expert, Andrew MacAskill , even refers to these as hygiene factors, elements that companies must check off first and candidates simply won’t budge on. By building this foundation, it will give your recruiters a fighting chance in the market and allow you to focus on creating a unique and authentic employer brand. Something that will make you stand-out, because offering a good salary and some work-from-home benefits won’t be the difference-maker it used to be!

And on the note of flexible working, don’t forget to sign-up for our webinar on this topic. SocialTalent Live: Flex or Fail – Navigating Hybrid Work takes place on March 30, see you then!?

Could internal mobility be the answer?

So many of these predictions about recruiting have been made in the shade of the skills and talent shortages – and rightly so. These divinations are about combating the crises, empowering TA to think differently, to find and nurture talent in unexpected and sustainable ways. But is any potential remedy to these issues as under-leveraged as internal mobility ?

According to this LinkedIn report, 75% of recruiting professionals say that internal mobility will play an important role in shaping the future of recruiting over the next 5 years. There’s something so universally positive about internal mobility – it benefits everyone. It helps employees to grow and develop while filling employer’s skills gaps, it bolsters engagement numbers, saves money, and even doubles retention. So why is it so underutilized?

Yasar Ahmad , Global VP of Talent at HelloFresh, spoke to us about this at a recent event and said that there’s a fear factor involved for TA when it comes to internal mobility. That the numbers game of filling a requisition versus moving an employee and creating backfill can cripple this process. And it requires a shift in mindset to overcome something like this. If Talent Acquisition is going to be playing a larger role in the internal mobility space, as this LinkedIn report predicts, then organizations need to encourage and celebrate this form of recruiting. We know it works, we know the benefits – now it’s about creating the structures and changing approaches.?

The final word

“You can’t foresee the future,” the LinkedIn report reads, “but you can help create it.” I think the biggest takeaway from this study surrounds the growing power recruiting and TA have to make positive change. Leverage their insights, enable and empower them to find the critical talent you need, partner with them throughout the business, and you’ll not only be able to weather this storm of uncertainty, but rise above it. The future of recruiting is looking quite exciting, isn't it?!

Let me know in the comments – what was your overarching takeaway from this study? How do you see recruitment developing over the coming years?