Investing in future proofed HR tech for long term impact

Today, no recruiter is a stranger to the phrase “The Great Resignation.” Spurred by the recovering economy and record level of job openings, employees are quitting in large numbers to pursue new opportunities, find employers who align with their values, receive more flexibility or leave the workforce entirely. As a result, talent acquisition leaders are reevaluating every aspect of their hiring strategy to retain existing employees and attract the top talent they need.

Cielo’s Elaine Orler, Managing Director – Consulting, discusses this situation in-depth, along with the growing role of HR tech, which is seeing high levels of investment. Here’s how these new technologies can help TA teams maintain strong talent pipelines even amidst the current hiring market.  

Moving TA processes into the 21st century

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows more job openings than job seekers, and as a result, TA professionals today face increased workloads. These heightened expectations make it imperative that internal TA processes are streamlined, efficient and effective. 

Automating the administrative tasks associated with hiring gives recruiters valuable time back to focus on the parts of the process that matters most: building relationships between candidates and hiring managers. Tools such as automated advertising, conversational artificial intelligence (AI), and predictive interview scheduling remove human error and ensure a highly efficient, effective hiring funnel even during periods of high demand. 

As early-stage acquisitions in the HR technology space continue to occur, many core vendors are now rolling in the capabilities mentioned above into their own platforms. This type of consolidation can create end-to-end solutions for every stage of the recruiting process minimizing the barriers to adoption and inherent risks of disconnected point solutions. 

Offering metrics for success

Beyond simply offering time-saving features to recruiters during the hiring process, technology also has the opportunity to provide TA teams with critical metrics they need to create a long-term strategy for success. Furthermore, this data can uncover valuable insights to bring a vision for a fully realized talent acquisition function to life.

Vacancy data can help teams understand who is leaving the organization and why, what levels of turnover are acceptable, and whether open requisitions will replace existing roles or fill new ones. Meanwhile, having access to competitor intelligence, market trends and internal hiring trends can offer important context to recruiters upon opening a new requisition. Understanding what the local hiring market looks like can help organizations tailor their hiring strategy and craft more compelling offers and compensation packages.

TA teams can also use HR technology products to track key metrics within their organization.  Employee engagement data can help create indicators that determine an employee’s satisfaction level, where they sit in the company, and what they might want to aspire to do next. This information gives employers the chance to develop “succession plans” that offer employees new internal opportunities before they pursue them elsewhere.

Elevating the candidate experience

While TA professionals understand that the hiring process requires numerous steps, considerations and stakeholder approvals that often take weeks to months to move through, candidates now expect it to play out in real-time. Various data studies from the CandE Benchmark Research Program and other organizations have proven that candidates tend to drop out of the hiring process if they feel they and their time are not respected by the hiring team.

Because today’s talent market is so candidate-driven, organizations must make a concerted effort to not only provide timely information and feedback to all candidates in the funnel but meet them where they are.  Interviewer no-shows, rescheduling, delayed response times, and poor compensation packages can all contribute to a negative candidate experience and in some cases, lead them to consider alternative offers. Creating accessible self-service application processes using tools such as mobile-friendly application forms, QR codes and chatbots can help capture the attention of interested candidates when it is most convenient for them to apply. According to a study from Paradox, long-form application processes saw just a 9% completion rate, compared to 62% with a chatbot.

TA leaders must take action as the labor shortage plays out in the years to come. Investing in future-proofed technologies today can minimize long-term impacts to an organization’s talent pipeline and overall business success.

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