Finding the ideal candidate to fill vacant positions is a formidable challenge in talent acquisition today. Employers are complaining that they are unable to find and retain good employees. The problem has become acute in the aftermath of the pandemic. According to a ManpowerGroup survey, nearly 7 in 10 companies have reported difficulty hiring in 2021 – which is at a 15-year high!
It is critical that your organization is able to hire and retain the best employees, in order to succeed in the long-term, regardless of the state of the economy. Yes, it can be a daunting task. That is why you need a talent acquisition strategy that is attuned to the post-pandemic realities.
Let us delve deeper into some of the key talent acquisition strategies in 2021 and beyond, to ensure that you find the best people to work with you.
Consider your business goals and objectives in the next one to two years, and use those objectives to align your acquisition strategy accordingly. Give due consideration to how your company is planning to expand in the long-term and find employees who can help you get there.
To that end, you must vet candidates who have the skills to fit in diverse roles. They are the ones that can adapt fast to evolving roles and have the cultural mindset to understand, accept and thrive in the changes that will come along. This is how investing in the right candidates can pay rich dividends for your company in the long term.
Employer branding is critical for executing a successful talent acquisition strategy. A LinkedIn study found that 80% of talent acquisition managers agreed that employer branding has a major influence on their ability to hire great people.
Talented candidates will look for a company with the right values, work culture, and work-life balance for them. Position yourself as a company where talented people will be happy at work. Enhance your social media presence to give potential candidates a good preview of your company culture and what sets you apart from the rest.
“Why your company?” This is the question that you will need to be able to answer convincingly to succeed with talent acquisition. To answer this favourably, expanding your outreach is a critical component of your strategy. By cultivating your outreach, you will continue to attract better talent and find more long-term success.
Keep in mind that different skill-sets require different methods of outreach. You will find your best marketers in a different place than your best programmers, so you need to diversify your sourcing approach. Also consider how you can reframe your outreach efforts according to the needs and expectations of talented workers. Those on the creative side of work will crave flexibility while IT nerds may yearn for work-life balance and other benefits.
Try to approach your talent acquisition like any of your marketing campaigns. After all, it is much like incentivizing people to buy your products. As with marketing, you can leverage data to strengthen your talent acquisition strategy too. You might, for instance, use data to identify where your top talent is coming from, and use that information to orient your talent acquisition efforts in that direction.
Additionally, an organization’s Human Resources (HR) team should partner with the marketing team to create the right job descriptions and messaging. In all this, using data and analytics can lead you to precise steps and actions for talent acquisition success.
Don’t just focus on acquiring. Think about retaining the best. How can you ensure that? By investing in their growth and career development. Consider creating a holistic opportunity around the role contour, consistent professional growth and exposure. Aside from providing attractive compensation and benefits, build your brand as the place where employees collaborate and enjoy spending time with one another.
There has been a high attrition rate in the aftermath of the pandemic as employees are coveting work-life balance more than ever. To that end, they are looking for freelance, flexibility and work-from-home opportunities. Creating an employee-friendly, flexible work policy and adding other work-life balance perks, will thus be integral for a company’s talent acquisition today.
Clearly, the role and function of HR managers have become much more complex and even more crucial in the present era. They need to navigate multiple economic uncertainties and changing employee priorities to find and retain the best workers for their company and speed up organisational success.
Yet, they can only do so much. As part of a single organisation, HR managers have only limited visibility vis-a-vis potential candidates in the market. This constrains their ability to perform optimally in their role. Getting on board with an independent HR consultancy gives managers and corporate leaders exposure to the best talent in the market as well as updated professional advice on hiring and retaining talent.
Make your talent acquisition strategy a priority now with a professional HR consultancy firm. Talk to G&S Consulting to get the best ROI driven professional advice on HR and talent acquisition strategy in the post-pandemic era of work.
No 106, 4th Floor, Kodandarama Complex,
Gandhi Bazaar Main Road, Basavanagudi,
Bengaluru – 560004,
Karnataka, India.
CIN: U74140KA2009PTC048865
GSTIN: 29AADCG3547Q1ZY
Email: reachus@gsconsulting.in
Phone: +91-8026677804