Brian Powers, VP, Talent Management & Acquisition, Fuze
The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the global economy has served to create a tumultuous hiring environment where finding good talent has become more difficult than ever. What started with firms scurrying to deal with the imposition of an immediate “work from anywhere but the office” mandate has transitioned into a hyper-competitive market for talent, leading to over 800,000 job vacancies in the UK alone, according to the Office for National Statistics (almost double the numbers in 2020).
Under these difficult conditions, recruiting agencies and internal talent acquisition teams have struggled to keep up with the growing demand to hire and onboard employees in a timely and efficient manner. According to the Quarterly Recruitment Outlook survey from the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), in the second quarter of 2021, 70 percent of firms looking to bring on new staff said they were facing recruitment difficulties.
These challenges are exacerbated by the widespread adoption of new hybrid work cultures – and the changing talent management expectations that come with remote workers. As an example, while many firms have worked tirelessly to begin the process of re-opening their offices, 77 percent of UK workers believe flexible work should be a standard practice, rather than a benefit. Adjusting to this new hybrid normal can cause considerable disruption in standard business practices; for instance, a distributed, remote workplace can extend the time it takes for new employees to become fully assimilated and productive as they start jobs at every level – from hourly workers to C-Suite executives.
Compounding the high degree of difficulty in competing with other firms for scarce talent is that our internal communications processes and administration tasks can be major roadblocks that slow down the hiring process. Similar to other parts of the business, we need to make sure we adjust the way we work to deal with the emerging business challenges.
This is where looking into smart communications and collaboration tools online can help: by boosting productivity and efficiency, streamlining the onboarding experience, and improving the client, candidate, and recruiter relationship.
Increasing productivity and efficiency
Too many hours spent on administrative tasks means less time to connect with potential employees and clients. This is a problem for recruiters across all industries, especially when working remotely or in a hybrid setting where they might not have easy access to key infrastructure and staying in touch becomes harder.
When interacting with candidates and clients, recruiters often have to juggle separate applications for calling, meeting, and messaging, switching back and forth between several communication channels. This adds to the administrative burden and distracts from the main activity – which is talking to candidates in order to find, select, close and onboard talent.
Unified communication tools solve this problem as they include all communication features in one single app, streamlining the collaboration between recruiters, account managers, potential candidates, and clients. With everything accessible from one interface, recruiters can easily keep track of all essential communications tasks, no matter whether they are working from home or in the office.
What’s more, leading unified communications solutions seamlessly integrate with CRM platforms. They can automatically display on-screen notifications for incoming and outgoing calls, so recruiters have immediate access to the candidate’s profile, notes from previous calls and other important details – without having to open the CRM application. With this information at their fingertips, they can make the most of each interaction, save time and focus on filling roles and onboarding employees.
Streamlining onboarding and development for recruiters
While there is much focus on onboarding successfully recruited candidates, the rapid onboarding of new recruiters is just as important. Staff turnover in the recruitment industry is traditionally high, so bringing new team members up to speed quickly is imperative.
Often, the office infrastructure means recruiters have to work with numerous software and communications protocols which require specific training. Investing in unified collaboration tools online can drastically shorten this transition time as they bundle several key capabilities in one platform and are intuitive to learn and use. With less time spent on training, new hires can be productive straight away and team managers can focus on other day-to-day priorities. This leads to more speed-to-productivity, better employee engagement and ultimately, increased employee satisfaction.
Of course, managers will still need to continue to track and foster their team members’ progress. With the right communications platform, they have access to a range of supervision, reporting and coaching features – allowing them to remotely keep an eye on individuals, team, or department statistics. This simplifies feedback processes and helps ensure each member on the recruitment team gets the support they need to develop their skills further.
Improving the client and candidate experience
In the new world of remote working, optimising the communications experience for candidates, clients, and recruiters is important – and providing seamless interactions can help an organisation stand out from its competitors. Whether it’s sourcing and evaluating new talent, scheduling several interviews in parallel or negotiating offers, recruiters will benefit from investing in virtual collaboration tools online that can effectively recreate the in-person interview experience.
Technology that helps recruiters spend more time on qualifying candidates, making offers and onboarding new employees, and less time on administration, is vital to the future of the industry. Unified communication and collaboration solutions offer everything recruiters need in one place, streamlining productivity and supporting recruitment teams in their day-to-day tasks. By implementing a powerful communication solution, organisations will find it easier to work in a hybrid environment and fill vacant positions with the right talent.
Interested in learning how to market to your audience? We send our a monthly Martech newsletter filled with innovative tips from the top players in the industry.
