The increasing need for HR to strengthen their talent magnet

In modern-day organizations, the HR department has gone beyond the traditional role-filling job to assume a more strategic position. Today, HR managers must be kept in the loop while devising business strategies because they hire candidates who can take the organization closer to its larger goals.

However, it is tougher than most people think. Attracting the right candidate for the right job at the right time has become challenging for HR managers because there is a shortage of talent. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that unemployment ranged between a low of 3.5% and a high of 4 percent in 2019 (Source).

The unemployment condition is certainly grave, but the current career climate is also no longer the same. Employees today have innumerable career options to choose from therefore employers in any sector need to strive even harder to draw top talent towards their organizations. Let’s take a look at more statistics for 2020 that highlights the situation:

1. The USA is witnessing a talent shortage, as seen from the fact that 69 percent of employers are facing a tough time filling jobs.
2. The global shortage of talent is expected to be over 85 million by 2030. Not to forget, an unchecked talent shortage of this magnitude could lead to unrealized yearly revenues worth $8.5 trillion! (Source).

Drawing the right candidates and retaining them

HR departments across organizations receive many resumes daily. They are required to scan through each of them looking for the perfect skill set that matches the job in question. But piles of resumes do not equate to the right talent. Some of these applications are irrelevant and candidates do not match the quality HR managers are looking for.

The top hiring priority of 68.1 percent of organizations is to source candidates for jobs directly. But 89 percent of hiring executives say bad recruits lack essential soft skills, 77 percent of them say candidates didn’t seem to be the best fit, and 41 percent of them find it challenging to fill entry-level positions. Also, 65.7 percent of organizations aim to create a strong talent pool for the future, and 40.2 percent prioritize setting up a robust employee drive (Source).

Besides a dearth of talent, organizations face a challenging time retaining the talent they already have. Top talents are resorting to job changes—something that’s emphasizing the employee retention strategies of organizations. According to Achievers 2020 Engagement and Retention Report, it is seen that close to 64 percent of employees may quit their jobs in 2020.

To overcome some of the common recruitment challenges and meet critical recruitment priorities, HR departments across organizations should resort to effective workforce planning using a tool like TalenX. Such a tool can help them assess candidates’ soft skills and determine whether they are fit for the role. Additionally, they will have to follow the tips below to attract the right talent to the company:

1. Creating attractive job descriptions

The job descriptions that HR departments create form the first connection between a potential candidate and the job role. Jobseekers analyze a job and gauge their fitness for it only after going through the job description. There are many instances when potential talents feel intimidated after reading a job description because they are filled with incomprehensible jargon. Instead of attracting them, such unclear job descriptions push them away.

This is where HR managers need to focus on coming up with job descriptions that clearly explain the role. The job description should describe the work potential recruits have to do and the duties they must discharge during their professional tenure at the company. It should be crisp, understandable, and attractive to draw top talent to the organization.

2. Creating an appealing website

In today’s tech-driven world, a company website functions not only as a digital asset but also as a potential magnet for top talent. It is seen that 59 percent of job-seekers go to the company’s website to know more about it after they come across a job. 

The career page of a company website is one of the most essential hiring channels for HR departments. But many jobseekers leave in the middle of their job application process for the sheer complexity or length of it.

The takeaway here is that organizations must create a clean and neat website that shows potential candidates what the business is all about and its mission, vision, and values. It is important to humanize the company through the website so that candidates can trust it. The tone of it should be authentic and it should have a quick link to help them contact the right person in the company.

3. Going for the right referrals

Sometimes, a good source of top talent for a job lies within the organization itself—the existing employees. It appears that most jobseekers get to know about new vacancies through referrals. There are a few more interesting numbers that show employee referral programs are the No.1 source of top talent (Source):

• The amount saved by companies in hiring and productivity costs through employee referral is $7,500.
• Employee referral programs lead to a four-fold increase in the chances of candidates being hired.
• 82 percent of employees say that employee referral programs give the best return on investment than all other recruitment options.
• 45 percent of employees hired through referral programs stay in the company for more than four years.

So, the HR department should establish a strong employee referral program and provide lucrative referral bonuses to attract top talent.

4. Focusing on diversity

Today’s workforce is becoming more and more diverse thanks to the melting geographical and cultural boundaries. It has become imperative for HR managers to embrace diversity to be able to infuse new ways of thinking throughout the organization. It is time that companies let go of unconscious bias towards women, minorities, and ethnic groups while making major hiring decisions.

By adopting an approach to create a diverse workforce, organizations will be able to improve their workplace culture, boost their performance, venture into new markets, and satisfy a diverse customer base.

This is the reason why 37.2 percent of companies have recruitment goals focused on diversity. Also, 79 percent of hiring managers believe that AI-based hiring solutions can help them make better recruitment decisions. In this context, solutions like TalenX can help them overcome unconscious biases to source and retain a diverse workforce.

5. Knowing the best ways to assess potential candidates

One of the most crucial jobs that HR managers must focus on while recruiting talent is conducting a detailed assessment of their skills, experience, and qualifications during the interview. A potential candidate should have the necessary skills to perform the job at hand and use his or her knowledge and educational qualifications to accomplish organizational goals. 

HR managers are, therefore, required to check these aspects on the resumes they receive to know whether an applicant is a good fit for the company or not. Using an applicant tracking software can prove rewarding for them in this regard.

Also, one effective way to gather insights on a candidate’s accomplishments and past work experiences is the STAR (situation, target, action, and result) method. This approach will shed light on how they have handled challenging situations in the past and allow them to give thorough, precise, and thoughtful responses about the results they have achieved.

6. Crafting a strong employer branding strategy

HR professionals need to understand why employees quit their jobs. The topmost reasons employees quit or consider quitting their jobs are lack of recognition (19 percent), career advancement (43 percent), and compensation (52 percent). 89 percent of employers feel that money is the reason why employees are leaving their jobs. But the reality is money is pushing only 12 percent of employees to do so (Source).

If an organization can fix these issues, it will establish itself as a strong employer brand. Top candidates are more effective to a company that has a consistent and powerful employer branding strategy. Like product-differentiating marketing and advertising campaigns, a strong employer brand sets the organization apart from the rest hunting for professionals.

For this, HR managers need to showcase their feedback mechanism, provide learning and development opportunities, and share social media stories. Moreover, offering new hires a rightful compensation will surely pull them towards the company and make them stay longer.

The above showcases some ways HR professionals can attract the right candidates for their job vacancies. However, it is also important for them to consider the network of headhunters, who maintain a good pool of qualified and experienced candidates. These professional agencies can match skills to jobs and provide organizations with talents that will serve them most profitably.