The last two years have drastically impacted the recruitment industry forever! Recruiters are facing severe talent shortages and engaging in talent wars to find and attract candidates. Recruiting people in the right roles will be a significant challenge for businesses, with 84% of our clients stating this as their top business concern in 2022. To fight on the recruitment battlefield, recruiters must keep up with the latest trends of recruitment, such as people analytics, virtual recruiting and many more. In this article, we'll guide you through the top recruitment trends in Australia for 2022.
What are Recruitment Trends?
As the world continues to change, recruitment and selection trends also adapt. New technologies and advanced recruitment practices have undoubtedly played a hand. Despite technological advances, the recruitment process is much the same. Businesses still source candidates, evaluate their fit for the role and put them through a selection process.
What has changed are the recruitment trends. How we source and evaluate candidates has changed rapidly over the last few decades. The rise of social networks and social recruiting shape how we locate potential candidates. Recruitment trends such as people analytics, workplace assessment and cultural fit are more effective when evaluating candidates than traditional means such as interviews and CV checks.
Recruitments trends have and will continue to evolve into the future in the next wave of technology, such as the metaverse. The disruption of the pandemic and new technology shows no sign of slowing as we are well into the new decade. Let's see how innovation and recent recruitment trends will shape 2022.
Top Ten Recruitment Trends for 2022
We have seen several recruitment trends rise throughout 2021 and expect them to significantly impact recruitment in 2022. The top eight recruitment trends for 2022 are:
- Rise of Proactive Recruiting
Proactive recruitment focuses on identifying, engaging and attracting potential candidates ahead of recruitment needs. The increasing costs and time associated with hiring means it is more effective for recruiters to proactively engage with their ideal candidates. Proactive recruiters build and nurture relationships (almost like a sales funnel) with a pre-defined group of people. When roles become available, potential candidates are already interested in any open opportunity. As we head into 2022, expect there to be a significant shortage of talent. Proactive recruitment will be a massive recruitment and selection trend as businesses engage in talent wars to fight amongst a decreasing talent pool.
- Reliance on Social Recruiting
Social recruiting is here to stay (although expect this to change significantly in the next 3-5 years with the rise of the metaverse). Social recruiting relies on the use of social networks to find, attract and hire candidates. The solidified popularity of social media as a recruitment channel is evident in many businesses and recruiters that post job advertisements to their social channels. Future employees are heavily engaged in social media and even attribute it as one of the reasons why they joined their current organisation. You are letting your competitors out-recruit you if you are not incorporating social media into your recruitment process.
- Pivot to Virtual Recruiting
The covid pandemic has increased the speed of the transition to remote work. Geographical barriers are no longer a significant issue. Many businesses are hiring fully remote employees and transitioning to a virtual workforce. Virtual recruiting benefits both employers and employees. Employers gain access to a larger talent pool, and employees reap the benefits of flexibility in their work. Companies have pivoted to a remote-first model, and recruitment processes need to reflect this. Expect digital recruitment trends such as virtual recruiting to continue well into 2022.
- Hiring for Soft Skills
Soft skills are strong drivers of productivity, cooperation and communication. They are also much more challenging to recruit for than hard skills which can be taught. As the recruitment industry answers the call for good workplace culture, job flexibility, diversity and inclusion from employees, soft skills are becoming significantly more important than previously. A potential candidate might have all the right hard skills, but will they fit into the company culture? We are transitioning into a period in which businesses and recruiters increasingly recognise the need for soft skills. Don't expect this recruitment trend to go anywhere in the next decade!
- Emergence of Employer Branding
As businesses grapple with a talent shortage, employer branding will be a prominent recruitment trend for 2022. Candidates will thoroughly research your company's reputation before applying for a job. They want to know your company mission, values and culture, and if they align, they are more likely to want to work for you. Employer branding has a significant impact on recruitment, including reducing turnover and associated recruitment costs and increasing the quality of hires. However, only 55% of recruiting leaders are taking advantage of this recruitment trend to attract talent.
- Catering to Employee Experience
Due to high employee turnover and the impending talent shortage, businesses are turning to the employee experience to understand why employees resign. It is easier and most cost-effective to retain talent. Candidates also want to know their future organisation has a great employee experience. Businesses will need to take strategic steps in 2022 to address the pain points in the employee experience to increase hiring success. Except to see a significant investment into the Employee Experience as a recruitment and selection trend for 2022.
- Focus on Diversity and Inclusion
Cultural diversity has long been known to contribute to higher profitability, drive innovation and creativity and increase productivity. Diversity and inclusion strategies in recruitment have been on the rise and will continue to become more prevalent in 2022. Businesses will turn to technology such as AI and workplace assessment tools to remove unconscious bias in the recruitment process and build diverse workplaces. This recruitment trend is also reflected in the doubling of diversity and inclusion roles, like "Chief Diversity Officer," since June 2020.
- Development of Internal Talent Pools
Hiring outside of the company was previously a significant recruitment trend. However, as the great resignation and talent shortage looms, businesses are turning to internal staff recruitment. The creation of internal talent pools is proving to be a very successful recruitment trend. Recruiters can nurture talent pools by keeping them involved and interested in the company by sending job openings, events and other career information.
- Implementing Referral Programs
The hot job market means employers are struggling to find and hire great talent. As a result, businesses have started to create referral programs where current employees are incentivised to refer someone they know for a role. Using this strategy means candidates come pre-screened and are more likely to align with your goals and values. We have witnessed this strategy rise rapidly in organisations in 2021 and expect to see this recruitment trend carry into 2022.
- Use of Talent Assessment Tools
Another significant recruitment trend for 2022 will be to invest in hiring technologies to remove bias, create equitable recruitment practices, and ensure a culture fit. Recruiters are now recognising the flexibility of workplace assessment tools such as aptitude tests and DISC profiles. Businesses are flocking to talent assessment providers to implement workplace assessments in their recruitment process.
These top 10 recruitment trends for 2022 offer businesses a wealth of practical applications. As recruiters search for candidates amid extreme talent shortages, emerging technologies and uncertainties due to the pandemic, knowing effective recruitment strategies provides them with a considerable edge over competitors.
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