Widening gaps between demand and supply of skilled workers mean that recruitment will see a more competitive hiring and spending environment in 2015. In the coming year, 69% of recruiters expect to see competition increase. In the face of more challenging recruitment, what trends do recruiters need to keep up with to ensure successful sourcing and hiring in 2015? Here are the five key trends that you need to know about.
Increased Focus on Quality of Hire
It’s no secret that hiring the best people is the way to boost organizational success, and 2015 will see the quality of candidates becoming an increasingly important factor. Global recruiting leaders have cited quality of hire as a top priority, and as the most valuable metric for measuring a recruiting team’s performance. Four years ago, referrals were the best channel for sourcing quality hires. Today, job boards and social professional networks are preferred.
Increased Emphasis On Using Social Networks
Social recruiting has been big in 2014 and it’s set to be even bigger in 2015. With this in mind, 73% of recruiters plan to invest more in social recruiting. But currently 33% of recruiters don’t spend anything at all on social recruiting, so there are still big changes that need to be made in this area. LinkedIn remains the clear champion social site for hires with 79% of recruiters having found a hire through the site. While 94% of recruiters are using LinkedIn, next in line is Facebook, used by only 66% of recruiters. Social is now one of the most ripe platforms for finding top candidates, with both quality and quantity of candidates proven to improve when a social recruiting strategy is put in place.
Closing the Gap Between Active and Passive Candidates
2015 is going to see a big shift toward closing the gap that exists between active and passive candidates. Active candidates (those currently seeking employment) have been the main focus of recruiters for some time, but passive candidates (those who are not looking but are open to speaking to a recruiter) are a key talent pool that is not to be missed. In fact, 75% of professionals would categorize themselves as “passive,” yet this potential is greatly untapped, with only 61% of companies recruiting passive candidates. A recent poll has revealed that on LinkedIn, at least 63% of members are not actively looking but would still be interested in new job leads. 2015 is certainly the time for companies to capitalize on the passive talent pool.
Embracing the Concept of Talent Branding
Talent branding is the social, public version of your company brand that seeks to promote your company as being a great place to work so as to attract new talent. Companies are increasingly noticing the impact that a good brand and company culture has on their hiring process. Research from LinkedIn has found that costs per hire can be reduced by 50% and turnover rates lowered by 28% when a company has a strong talent brand in place. On top of this, three-quarters of talent acquisition leaders have said that talent brand significantly increases their ability to hire good talent. To give themselves as edge against other employers, 73% of organizations plan to highlight company culture in the coming year. There is no doubt about it, the line between recruiting and marketing is blurring, as recruiters are finding that marketing a strong talent brand helps them to attract better candidates.
Using Mobile Recruiting
This key trend is one of the least tapped into by recruiters so far. There’s a growing disparity between the 43% of job seekers who use a mobile device for their job searches and the 59% of recruiters who don’t invest in mobile career sites at all. Not to mention the fact that the number of candidates searching and applying for jobs on mobile devices is on the rise. Companies and recruiters need to increase their mobile recruiting behaviors to match candidate demand. 2015 is the time to make recruitment websites mobile-friendly and to mobile-optimize job postings. The easier it is for candidates to search and apply, the more applicants companies will be able to screen.
2015 is going to be a competitive year for recruiters who are facing skills shortages but high demand for quality hires from companies. Tapping into these five key recruitment trends will guarantee that companies and recruiters can keep up with the competition; there’s no option for lagging behind next year.
About the Author: Ron Stewart has worked in the recruitment industry for 30 years, having owned companies in the IT, construction and medical sectors. He runs the Jobs4Group, and is CEO of Jobs4Medical.
photo credit: The Daring Librarian via photopin cc
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