As we turn the corner into 2022, many HR departments are feeling the effects of the job market. Recruiting is taking more energy, the interview process is dragging out, and job candidates are requesting more and more benefits before finally saying yes. If your company is understaffed, it puts stress on your employees, adding to even more turnover as your burned-out workers seek opportunities elsewhere. It’s a vicious cycle and one that doesn’t look to be ending anytime soon. A lot of the responsibility to fill open positions falls on the shoulders of recruiters.
That being said, there are ways to make recruiting less of a hassle in 2022. Top recruiters will be able to focus on and bring in terrific talent for their businesses in the new year—but it’s going to require them to prioritize correctly.
Here are 4 priorities recruiters should focus on in 2022.
Flexibility, Flexibility, Flexibility
The labor shortage has been referred to as “The Great Reevaluation”—and for good reason. Many employees are evaluating common labor practices, such as being in the office 40 hours a week, and questioning whether they’re necessary to get the job done. The COVID-19 pandemic gave employees a taste of working from home, and many are finding it’s much easier on them not to have to commute. Things like paid parental leave, vacation time, and sick days are also becoming just as important to employees as their weekly paycheck. According to Jobvite’s 2021 Recruiter Nation Report, 54% of recruiters have seen candidates turn down an interview or a job offer due to a lack of flexibility, and 57% of recruiters believe a lack of work-from-home policies makes it harder to attract potential candidates.
The more flexibility your office can give employees, the better. Flexibility surrounding where employees should work isn’t always up to recruiters, but there may be other ways you can help management create wiggle room. Maybe you can’t implement a work-from-home policy, but how flexible are you when employees need to dip out of the office for an afternoon? Perhaps allowing your employees to work on their own schedules doesn’t work for your collaborative environment, but could you create “shifts” so people can pick their kids up from school? There’s space for creativity and nuance. More companies than ever are finding ways to help employees achieve a better work/life balance. If you’re unable to participate, you’re going to be left behind as workers seek out jobs that cater to their preferences.
Bonuses and Cash Incentives
Due to inflation, salaries have been rising to keep up with the cost of living. That can cause a major difficulty for businesses struggling to pay their employees a fair wage and manage their books. It can feel like your competitors are constantly snatching your best employees away with promises of higher paychecks. But have you considered getting creative with your payment structure? Cash incentives for signing or recruiting can give recruiters a huge leg up and help employees see how great of a place your company is to work. By rewarding employees for a job well done through a bonus system, you’ll be spending your money in a way that makes sense: paying and motivating your most valuable employees. If people know that achieving a certain goal will get them a weightier annual bonus, you can bet they’re going to move full speed ahead. This kind of structure allows you to pay your people what they’re worth while making sure your business is compensated.
Branded Recruiting
If you haven’t already started incorporating your brand into your recruiting efforts, 2022’s the time to start. By having a cohesive brand presence, you’ll stand out from the crowd and assure candidates that your company is organized and forward-moving. Although recruiters aren’t typically marketing professionals, many marketing tactics come into play during the recruitment process. Think of a job position at your company as something you need to sell to top talent. In today’s labor market, that’s very much the case; jobseekers have a bounty of opportunities to choose from, and you need to make sure your business makes an impression. Branding is a semi-vague term, but what it really means is how your company looks to outsiders.
Yes, your logo is part of your brand, but a brand is so much more than visuals. Your brand is how you reach out to job candidates, your tone during the interview process, the information you supply to potential employees, and your onboarding process. It’s also how your company looks online when someone does a basic Google search; every recruiter knows that job candidates are looking at companies online before committing to an interview. Now’s the time to either clean up or delete your various platforms and make sure your website is up to date, on message, and fully functioning. The smoother and more streamlined you can make hiring, the more consistent your brand presence will be.
Promotion from Within
Lastly, promoting from within should be a major focal point for recruiters. There are a variety of reasons for this. By promoting current employees, you’ll help other employees envision a future for themselves in your company, making them less likely to jump ship. If your workers think they’re likely to climb the career ladder within your business, why would they go somewhere else where they may have to start from scratch? You’ll also save time and resources on a huge chunk of your onboarding process and reward employees who have done excellent work for your company.
Furthermore, people are much more likely to accept a job they don’t need to relocate for, get to know all new colleagues at, or learn new systems for. Promoting from within is typically a much easier “sell” than searching for someone unfamiliar with your business. Therefore, if you have an open management position in 2022, make sure to start by looking at who’s already working for you.