Seven talent acquisition trends you absolutely must adopt
11 Jul 2023
In the fast-paced and highly competitive global business landscape, acquiring top talent has become a crucial priority for organisations seeking to thrive and succeed. As we surge on through 2023, it’s essential to understand the prevailing trends and insights that shape the realm of talent acquisition.
1. Talent acquisition is gaining prestige – but staying on top means keeping a finger on the pulse
Talent acquisition is becoming an increasingly strategic function – and an increasingly respected one. Eighty-seven percent of leaders are focusing more on total value creation for the business than on cost savings.
To keep talent acquisition in the spotlight, it is vital that professionals keep up to date with global trends and continue to generate value by hiring for the future of the business.
2. Budgetary restraints mean working smarter with the resources available
With inflation rising and wage increases scarce – 53% of in-house recruiters say their budgets will stay the same or even decrease this year – the industry should be focusing on emerging technology and talent retention.
Tech can expand a business ‘s offering and make its existing talent more agile. To retain your top talent in a competitive job market, go to bat for pay rises that match inflation.
3. Consolidating functionality – the tech that plays a key role in recruitment needs slimming down and smartening up
Technology continues to revolutionise the talent acquisition landscape as recruiters increasingly leverage AI and machine learning to streamline processes and make data-driven decisions.
HR tech platforms are increasingly integrating various functionalities such as applicant tracking systems, candidate assessment tools and onboarding platforms into unified solutions. This consolidation saves costs while simplifying the recruitment process, optimising candidate sourcing and enhancing the overall candidate experience.
4. The future is now: invest in automation and AI if you hope to succeed
Sixty percent of HR and IT leaders said they had increased their investment in automation technology during 2022. The same proportion said they would look for ways to leverage automation in a recession.
According to a February 2023 survey, almost 70% of hirers are either “very hopeful” or “cautiously optimistic” about the impact of tools like ChatGPT on recruiting.
5. Your brand = EVP = ROI
Out of 700 talent acquisition professionals surveyed from both large and small firms, more than half agreed that multi-channel touchpoints (54%) and employment branding campaigns (51%) are the most effective recruitment marketing strategies. Although only 41% of large and just 28% of smaller organisations measure the relationship between recruitment marketing and ROI, an employer ‘s brand was cited as having the third highest impact ROI.
Investing in employer branding and recruitment marketing is essential and companies must find smarter ways of calculating ROI.
6. Use data to demonstrate the value of talent acquisition – not just to track operational metrics
Data is being used more than ever to drive talent recruitment – recruiting professionals rate its importance at 7.8 out of 10. Data is especially useful in four areas:
- uncovering best sources of candidates (61%)
- tracking passive candidate outreach (58%)
- reporting on time-to-hire and cost per hire (57%)
- tracking diversity hiring (55%)
Areas lacking in recorded data include:
- new hire retention
- passthrough/conversion rates
- top-of-funnel activity
- quality of hire
- hiring manager satisfaction
Establish goals for your recruitment team and decide which data to track. Understanding what it is you want to measure will give you baseline metrics to work from and KPIs to shoot for.
7. ESG matters to employees as well as customers – trust in an employer and its values are major factors in deciding where to work
Trust is essential in any relationship – and employees ‘ and vendors ‘ relationships with companies are no different.
Candidates want to work for an organisation they feel will always act ethically – a global survey of 35,000 workers found that 77% consider an employer’s values and purpose – including sustainability, diversity and transparency – when choosing where to work.
8. Investing in digital solutions is good for both ROI and productivity
Digital transformation has transformed the enterprise landscape – KPMG found that 99% of executives have seen a return on digital investments. Nine out of 10 businesses have adopted advanced cloud systems and most expect to embrace emerging technologies such as Web3, the metaverse and quantum computing within two years. Through the right mix of data, tech and people, companies could see as much as an 11% increase in productivity – and thus in profitability and revenue growth.
Building a strong employer brand while investing in ESG and emerging tech is vital for attracting top talent and hence in delivering value. By keeping abreast with trends, recruiters and HR professionals can optimise their talent acquisition strategies and secure the best talent for their organisations’ success in 2023 and beyond.
Ready to optimise your talent acquisition strategy? Please email tech@hellokindred.com