Recruiting Trends and what to look out for in 2022

We are all bracing ourselves for yet another challenging year for many reasons.? The fall out of Covid being one of course, but for those that work in the talent space, it is to see how far into 2022 we will continue with the current candidate-driven market, the extreme war for talent, the continued increase in financial reward and the aggression we have all seen this year.? My prediction is that we will see a continuation of these trends well into 2022 and beyond - we have another 2 years of this, at least.

It is important for us all to accept that the market will continue to speed up, more jobs will come onto the market and candidates will be making choices that are relevant to them.? We need to adapt even more aggressively into the candidate’s needs.? We need to look at what is important to them and create tools, resources and working environments that are relevant to attract the best talent to our businesses - then have the internal mechanisms in place to also retain that talent.??

Here’s my prediction of some of the things we need to do as talent professionals to stand out from the crowd, to demonstrate engagement and to support the candidates and our businesses in moving forward through these challenging times.

Brace yourselves for the great escape

In a candidate driven market, we will continue to see a rise of individuals leaving and choosing to move to a company that better reflects their personal motivations.? In 2021 we saw a huge increase in the number of people leaving a business within their probation period and this is generally because the role, the business, the leaders didn’t match to what was promised in the original discussions.? If we do nothing internally to engage in a culture driven environment that people can attach themselves to, then you will basically leave the door open for them to ‘escape’.

Candidate experience vs. Employee experience

We have all been battling with this topic for years and my view is that this will become more important in the coming year.? Candidate experience has always been a hot topic - you know we need to ensure that we are fast, we innovate, we create the best stories and give people that red carpet treatment.? Moving forward, if this is not very closely linked and defined by the internal employee experience, then you will see yourself reviewing point 1 again and again.? Make sure what you sell is the reality of what you deliver internally.? Do you have the tools that will enable people to enhance their careers, do you have the right reward structure, are there appropriate feedback loops and is there a focus on personal and professional development?? If not, then this needs to be made a priority, be creative, innovate and show that your employees really are the most important thing to you and your business.

Flexibility and remote working will be more important

I know that this is just obvious to many people reading this, but is it so obvious to everyone? As we move from restrictions and control, to a more normal life structure, the tendency for many leaders may be to try and get office working back to the 100% we saw pre-pandemic.? For any business it is going to be fundamentally important to show flexibility, not only in the amount of time people can work from home or from the office, but also with regards to the balance of working time vs. personal time.? Again, get this wrong and we will need to head back to point 1 and conclude simply, that the candidates and employees need more flexibility and there are many other companies that are offering what these individuals need.

Employer branding will surge?

I know, I know all of these things link together in a somewhat vicious circle.? Great employer branding along with an engaging EVP will help you to attract candidates.? This isn’t something new to any of us but we need to get it right, it needs to be honest and in 2022 we will see more and more candidates assessing this as part of their decision making process.? This trend means that honesty needs to be how you display your employer brand - does your EVP really say what you actually offer as a business?? Are your candidate review platforms showing a true reflection of the reality internally? Are the culture content posts reflecting your business and leadership?

Diversity and Inclusion strategies will be a decision making factor for candidates

Again something that has always been a deciding factor for individuals, but moving forward the approach of a business will become a deciding factor.? The strategy and what is done internally will give candidates that extra factor to enable them to make a decision.? Is there a focus on ERGs, do you actively support D&I initiatives and are you an advocate for such topics? Not only mentioning these or making a token gesture, but really focusing and engaging in topics to support across all diversity and inclusion topics.

Automation of processes will increase to absorb the challenges in speed of hiring

Recruiters are in high demand - there simply aren’t enough people for the jobs that are available and in order to counteract this we will need to rely more on automated tools for scheduling, interviewing and our offer processes.? Of course the human element will remain? but businesses that are scaling will need to change their approach.? With the right automation in place you will save time and money on human capital, while improving your time and cost to hire.

The rise of internal mobility and succession planning

With the demand in the market across many expert areas, the focus for many businesses will need to be around internal mobility.? Creating internal talent pools for your more experienced roles will enable a more engaged workforce, while helping retain people that are interested in career development in your business.? If people feel they have their career aspirations in mind, then they will more likely stay.? You have people working in roles that already know the business and your recruiting efforts can make a shift to focus on more entry level roles where talent can be nurtured.

Virtual hiring will remain in place

Virtual hiring had already made some progress before the global pandemic, though moving into a more normalised lifestyle in 2022 (we hope) will not take everything back to the way it was before.? Virtual hiring and remote hiring will continue to rise and companies will need to take care of their candidate experience to make this work in a way that engages with the candidates and the hiring manager processes.

To sum it all up - we all need to become smarter and tailored to the needs of the candidate.? How you operate as a business in relation to the things that really matter, will of course, be the reason a candidate chooses to join you or not.? Those that fail to embrace change, that fail to speed up, that fail to be honest will be the ones that miss out on that unicorn - we all have a choice in how we move forward and we need to make that choice quickly!