It’s no secret that 2020 was a big career turning point for many who experienced their biggest job insecurity in a long time, in addition to major shifts in the way we work like the rise of remote and flexible work. But being able to ditch the daily commute wasn’t the only change brought by Covid-19.
As a HR professional, you might have noticed the latest phenomenon affecting our job market: when the number of open jobs surpassed 1 million in August, an increasingly high number of people started leaving their jobs for reasons including – but not limited to – unsatisfactory working conditions, Covid-19 related fears and a new sense of enlightenment on the real meaning of work after going through a global pandemic.
Although the numbers vary between industries, the now commonly called Great-Resignation shows the desire for better work-life balance is here to stay, as are the new expectations job seekers have of employers.
While large companies might have the internal resources to cope with new trends and demands of the post-2020 job market, the already complex roles of small to one-person HR teams have become even more challenging in terms of talent acquisition and retention. If that’s the case for you, you might be facing difficulty with the following:
As a specialist HR recruitment agency, we’re very aware of the recruitment struggles many HR professionals face. Lots of our recent conversations made apparent the importance of a recruitment strategy that optimises talent acquisition and staff retention. Here’s our specialist advice:
What level of experience do you require? How essential is industry experience? Are there any concrete IT skills they’ll need, or essential responsibilities they’ll carry? In the case of HR recruitment: what CSR goals and D&I initiatives will they be actively supporting? These will help build an optimal candidate profile but remember to think outside the box and look for transferable skills. The more flexible you can be in your requirements the more this will help increase the pool of candidates available to you.
Amid this “Great Resignation”, your company culture and onboarding process can make all the difference in a candidate’s decision-making post job offer. Make sure to keep your company values and personality consistent at all stages of your recruitment process: from advertising to interviews. What’s more, a successful onboarding experience can improve employee retention by 82% – so make sure to collaborate with the relevant departments to have one in place from day one.
Depending on your industry and corporate brand, you might be able to look beyond LinkedIn and the generic job advertising websites. Don’t be afraid to add creativity to your recruitment strategy, especially when targeting younger generations; Tiktok and Instagram Reels are quite often underrated tools to get your company’s opportunities in front of the right audience.
Outsourcing your recruitment to a specialist local recruitment agency is an invaluable way of speeding up your recruitment process. Not only do they dedicate 100% of their time to recruitment, but by having access to a pool of local active and passive candidates they will be able to find candidates you might not as easily have access to.
At Sitka, we recruit qualified human resources candidates with the experience and ethos to manage people well. With first-hand experience of managing HR in-house, we know exactly what most HR professionals face daily when recruiting.
Get in touch with us today to chat about your recruitment needs!
The experience of working with Sitka was really enjoyable. It was like talking to a friend who knew all the answers to my future career.
The recruitment process was excellent. Karen provided me with updates on a regular basis and the level of communication at all points was handled very well. The whole recruitment process was handled extremely efficiently from start to finish.
Having now worked with Sitka for a number of years, they have a real understanding of the type of people we employ and that the ‘fit’ is as important as having the right skills for the role. Sitka provide an excellent service and make you feel you are their only customer. They are quite unique and such a pleasure to work with.
I was thrilled when I was offered my new job, which I felt was down to Sitka’s support and proactivity. Karen kept in contact and made sure I was happy in my new role. This personal and professional service is second to none. I would highly recommend!
My recruitment experience with Sitka has been brilliant. I was dealing with Karen who is so friendly and attentive. She really listened to what it was I was looking for and put me forward for a role I am now in and love.
I felt like they truly cared and weren’t just trying to fill vacancies as quick as possible. Other agencies kept suggesting roles I had already said I wasn’t interested in. This wasn’t the case here, and they really wanted to find the right person.
We liked Karen’s personal approach to finding the best candidate. She spoke to them in depth, matching the person to the business and vice versa, rather than just advertising the role to an existing database of job seekers. The process was very efficient and well-communicated from start to finish.