Incorporating technology and data in recruitment and selection is the way forward for employers who want to build a high-performing team. Recruiting trends in 2022 are focused on improving the candidate experience, optimising candidate sourcing strategies and improving diversity efforts. Here are some of those trends:
The end of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ candidate experience
The way we communicate with candidates is changing. At the heart of this shift is the fact that candidates have more choices than ever before when it comes to interacting with companies, which makes them more discerning. To get a better understanding of how they want to engage with recruiters, the Daxtra survey showed that 70% of candidates would be happy for recruiters to keep their data on file for up to two years if it led to a more personalized recruitment experience. They also expressed interest in being able to apply for jobs using multiple methods (43 %) and receiving a variety of communication channels from one company (40 %).
Companies that invest in the quality of their candidate hiring experience report a 70% improvement in the quality of hires.
The trend over the last few years showed an increase in candidate-friendly hiring tools such as online application forms, video interviews and resume scanning tools. These innovations reduced time spent on paperwork by making it easier for both sides of the equation. Next step? Make sure these new features are available across all channels so that applicants can choose how they want their application process handled—and so you can learn about their preferences as soon as possible.
Augmented and virtual reality recruitment
Recruiters and hiring managers alike have been increasingly using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology to attract candidates in 2022. As an example, Jaguar luxury vehicles producer teamed up with Gorillaz to use their mixed reality app as an innovative recruitment tool. The app features a code-breaking challenge designed to test future talent in engineering. Those candidates who excel at Jaguar Land Rover’s recruitment process will be fast-tracked through the recruitment process. This global recruitment initiative aims to add more than 1,000 engineers to Jaguar Land Rover’s workforce via AR.
This means that your recruitment experience will be more interactive, immersive, engaging and fun. You’ll also get a better sense of what the company culture is like through VR tours. It’s a major change to how businesses look for talent that is revolutionizing the recruiting process and inspiring and attracting a diverse range of candidates.
BMW and Johnson & Johnson are two companies that have used virtual reality to simulate a prospective employee’s future working environment. This is especially helpful for organizations hiring remotely, which can allow candidates to feel like a part of the team before even meeting them in person, and the technology can also be used to assess skillsets as part of the recruitment process.
Using diversity and inclusion to drive recruitment efforts
Studies have shown that diverse teams are more innovative and productive. In fact, companies with a diverse workforce can be up to 35% more profitable than their peers. Research also indicates that employees who identify as diverse are better able to adapt and respond to changes in their environment.
For these reasons, diversity has become a key component of a company’s brand identity—and it’s not just about hiring individuals from underrepresented groups anymore; it’s about embracing changes in identity across the board, including academic and professional background, candidates with non-traditional career paths, physical abilities and disabilities, gender, age, and race.
As the world becomes more globalized, it’s important to recognize that what may seem like a barrier to entry for one person might be a non-issue for another. For example, if you’re a woman who grew up in an environment where female leadership was accepted and even encouraged, then taking on a leadership role at work will feel like second nature. On the other hand, if you’re a woman who grew up in an environment where female leaders were few and far between or even looked down upon by those around them, then taking on such an important role can feel daunting.
Companies should take advantage of this opportunity by taking concrete steps toward enhancing their internal culture with diversity initiatives such as employee resource groups or affinity networks; providing flexible office hours for remote workers; incorporating cultural competence training into performance reviews; hiring recruiters who understand how communities outside of traditional professional circles operate; partnering with non-profits working on behalf of marginalized communities where there might be mutual benefit resulting from collaboration between the two parties.
Artificial intelligence will power recruitment and selection
AI, or artificial intelligence, is a technology that will be used to power recruitment and selection in the coming years. It’s also something you’ve probably heard a lot about in the past years. With its rise in popularity, AI has become a buzzword that everyone uses without really understanding what it means.
In simplest terms: AI is software designed to mimic human thought processes and make decisions based on data inputted by humans. These programs are trained using large amounts of data sets (which can include anything from text-based information like resumes or job descriptions to video footage), allowing them to learn the characteristics associated with successful candidates and select those candidates who most closely match the ideal worker profile.
AI can be used for many different aspects of talent acquisition including screening applicants against pre-defined criteria, creating job descriptions based on company needs and requirements, automating parts of applicant tracking systems (ATS) such as resume filtering/sorting and scheduling interviews through an agent interface system (AIS). However, its most powerful application lies within automated decision-making during interviews – where AI can score candidate responses against pre-defined questions to measure their personality traits more accurately than any human could hope for.
Increased focus on soft skills and emotional intelligence
Soft skills are skills that are not easily measured. They include leadership, communication, and collaboration. This is because they are based on personal characteristics rather than technical ability or experience in a particular field. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage emotions, and it has been proven to make people more successful in their careers due to how it affects their interactions with others.
Often in technical roles like software development or data science where there is a high demand for technical expertise, it can be easy to overlook soft skills like emotional intelligence as unimportant or secondary to more technical abilities. But companies are increasingly recognizing that they need more than just people who know how to code – they need people who can communicate effectively with stakeholders from management down through the ranks of their teams; understand how to manage deadlines when things aren’t working out as expected; aren’t afraid of facing problems head-on; those who are passionate about their organizations’ missions, visions and values and are willing to challenge the status quo.
According to the research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation and Stanford Research Centre 85% of job success comes from having well‐developed soft and people skills, and only 15% of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge (hard skills).
Soft skills fall into two categories: interpersonal and intrapersonal. Interpersonal soft skills include communication, problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, and conflict management. Intrapersonal soft skills include self-awareness and emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is critical for working with technology especially since many modern jobs require employees to use tools like Slack or Trello to communicate with one another—or even complete tasks using AI technology like IBM Watson or Microsoft Cortana.
Emerging roles for newly remote employees
Remote work is here to stay. While remote working has been a popular option for some time, it’s becoming even more widespread and popular, especially among employers looking to attract talent. Remote workers are often attracted by the flexibility and freedom that remote work affords them. It can be a good fit for many roles in both the tech industry and beyond – particularly those which don’t require face-to-face interaction regularly or are more suited to working independently.
Remote workers may also be drawn by geographic constraints: if you’re based in New York City but want to land a job in Sydney, Australia—and you value being able to support yourself financially while doing so—remote work might allow you to get closer than otherwise possible while still maintaining your independence as an expert who isn’t willing relocate full time from one place to another (or at least not willing yet).
The types of roles that are suitable for this type of work include:
- Software developers who work on large projects requiring collaboration with other developers around the world.
- Designers who create interactive experiences using UI/UX principles.
- Customer service reps who respond quickly while providing excellent customer service over chat or phone calls.
- Accountants who are responsible for overseeing financial transactions across several departments within an organization (e.g., payroll).
- Salespeople whose main responsibility is building relationships via email or phone calls rather than face-to-face interactions
- Highly skilled niche professionals that are hard to find, if you need someone with expertise in a particular field or industry (e.g., technical writer), then it may be difficult to find someone near the office who has all the desired skills. But if they live overseas or in another part of the country, they may be available to work from home.
Key Remote Work Statistics in 2022 show that 77% of workers say that they are more productive working from home.
The benefits of a sustainable work environment for recruitment
Employee retention is a hot topic in the HR world, and it’s something that every company can improve upon. The best way to retain talented employees is to offer them a sustainable work environment. Not only do they say that it attracts talent, but it also helps with employee satisfaction and engagement. A Gallup study found that 71% of workers would consider taking a job with a company they thought was environmentally friendly. Additionally, the cost of providing these benefits will be lower than if you didn’t offer them at all. Did we mention how sustainability can increase productivity too? It does.
Sustainable companies offer competitive salaries, but what makes them even more attractive is their wide range of perks, such as free health insurance, cafeteria food and gym memberships.
Companies will increasingly use data and technology to inform hiring and improve the employee experience.
The candidate experience: Companies will use data to inform hiring decisions, which should result in a better candidate experience. A company that uses data effectively will be able to give candidates a clear picture of where they are in the recruiting process, making it easier for them to decide whether they want to continue pursuing the role. This transparency can help alleviate some of the anxiety associated with waiting for an update on your candidacy or offer, which many job seekers find stressful.
The employer experience: You might think that employers only care about how you match up against other applicants for the job, but there’s much more than just skill sets at play here—they also want their employees (and potential future employees) to feel valued from start-to-finish when working with their company. This means providing feedback after interviews (even if they’re not successful) so that people know exactly what went wrong this time around instead of wondering why nothing came back after submitting applications online several times over several months.
The recruitment industry is at an exciting point in its development, with new technologies disrupting the way we advertise jobs and find candidates. Such developments mean that companies will be able to make better use of their time and resources when hiring new talent into roles that require specific skillsets; this will help them operate more efficiently and achieve higher levels of productivity within their teams. However, these changes also mean that there will be a growing need for trained professionals who can help organisations navigate through this changing landscape successfully: i.e., recruiters!
