With many indicators pointing to life returning to normal, an uptick in the economy, and lower unemployment claims, companies are most certainly considering hiring employees again. The pandemic changed recruiting as we knew it with virtual interviews, Zoom training, and hiring workers who didn’t even live in the same geography. For the most part, these were all positive advancements for the recruiting world. After all, the last real revolution for recruiting was online postings, job applicants, and more advanced screening software.

So, what have we learned in the last 12 months?

• Employees can work remotely and be productive.
• The talent pool widened when recruiting wasn’t constricted by geographic boundaries.
• Employees are even more acutely aware of work-life balance and belonging to their organization.
• DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) is a passionate topic when discussing talent acquisition.

Adapting Your Hiring Strategies

According to The HR Digest, the US is facing a 69% shortfall in available employees, the highest in a decade. Even though layoffs and hiring freezes will drop off, many workers used the pandemic to re-evaluate their career and life goals. With that said, what are the best ways to find talent and attract them to work for your company?

Hybrid Recruiting and Hybrid Workforce

• Remote Work: many employees have determined that they like working remotely, at least for some portion of the workweek. Flexible schedules will continue to be the norm and should be incorporated into your recruiting culture.
• Remote Hiring: the ability to interview candidates via video conferencing is a time saver for both employer and candidate. The technology options have improved. Personality assessments can be completed remotely. In the end, you might still want to meet the top candidates in person, but if remote work is an option, chances are you might not meet your new employee face-to-face for several weeks or months.

These are significant trends that have emerged in the last year. The hybrid workforce model will provide a greater pool of qualified candidates for talent acquisition, allowing recruiters to tap into the best talent for a position without geographic limitations.

Where Are the Best Candidates?

• Look at your employees. The Boston Consulting Group, along with programmatic job advertising provider Appcast, found that 89% of US workers are willing to retrain to a different job role. Among the findings: Workers ages 31 to 40 and those with master’s degrees and above are the most willing to reskill. But even workers within the services sector or that require workers onsite (i.e., production and manufacturing) can adapt with access to the right training and resources. Re-skilling and up-skilling workers are positive investments for a company. Among many things, it reduces the costs of turnover and rehiring and keeps the employee’s intellectual capital at the company.
• Look at Gen Z graduates. Many 2020 college graduates may not have entered the workforce in their area of study, and with 2021 graduation upon us, additional qualified candidates are ready to work in their chosen career.
• Look at retirees. The pandemic forced early retirement for some very talented individuals who still have value to bring to a company. Consider this untapped talent pool for your open positions.

Committing to a DEI Strategy to Build a Diverse Team

Most company executives will tell you that their company is successful because of the employees. Happy employees are productive employees and are key to a company’s success. But employee morale has become more than just benefits. Employee engagement has shifted. People want to feel as if they belong at work that they see others just like themselves in positions from entry-level to leadership. That they are comfortable with their team, that managers listen to them.

Having a DEI strategy is a big undertaking and can’t be fully addressed in a few paragraphs. Ryan Healy, founder and president of technology company Brazen Technologies, Inc., says, “Offering job opportunities to job seekers in underrepresented and underserved communities brings fresh, diverse perspectives to organizations.”

According to Mariah Scout, head of DEI at webflow, and Leah Knobler, director of talent acquisition at HelpScout, DEI is everybody’s responsibility – not something that is the responsibility of one person or the HR team alone. DEI also requires a strong commitment. They go on to share the benefits of a DEI strategy to a company’s growth – “So if you’re building a diverse team that represents a diverse set of identities and experiences and abilities…you’re setting yourself up to build a product that services more people across those differences.” That’s a pretty powerful argument for DEI.

Where should you start? Scout and Knobler offer these changes to your hiring process:

• Survey your employee base to understand where the DEI gaps exist.
• Write job descriptions using inclusive language that addresses what a candidate has done in the past that would be valuable to the company. Criteria, must-haves, and limiting jobs to certain locations may create entry barriers to hiring a more diverse workforce so you need to distinguish and understand what criteria, such as certifications, are critical to the position.
• Ensure your interview process includes a diverse pool of candidates, right down to your final candidates.
• Understand any hiring biases, conscious and unconscious bias, which will negatively impact the ability to make an effective hiring decision about the best person for the job.
• Use Standardized Interview Questions and ask them to every candidate. This will help minimize and eliminate bias.

This graphic from Josh Bersin, a world-renowned industry analyst, educator, and thought leader in all aspects of HR, leadership, and HR technology emphasizes the importance of taking action to create an inclusive culture:

Hiring Recruiting Experts

Bersin says that recruiting is the most important thing that happens in a company. “If you don’t recruit the right people, forget everything else. You can’t just train people that are the wrong fit for your company, the wrong culture fit, the wrong skill set, the wrong background,” he stresses. “Your ability to understand the organization and operate in an empowered way to find the right people is critical.”

Oftentimes it is easier for outsiders to see the gaps in processes. At Arlington Resources, we have years of experience evaluating recruiting programs and assessing employees’ skills for our clients. We are great recruiters who have hired great people for great companies.

The future of employee engagement will include a robust strategy of competitive perks, flexible schedules, and work environments, and the implementation of DEI processes. Let us help you adapt to this new hiring landscape.