Recruitment Talent Trend Predictions for 2018?
This year, the UK’s recruitment sector is set to become more strategic, more segmented and even more personal, driven by an up-and-coming generation. According to the REC’s Recruitment Industry trends 2016/17 report, In 2016/17, recruiters placed nearly a million people into a new permanent job and on any given day there were 1.3 million temporary workers active in the labour market. David Collins, Redline Group’s Business & Customer Development Manager looks at the key 2018 predictions for the future of the talent acquisition professionals in such as ever-changing recruitment industry.
“Linking business strategy to talent strategy has always been critical to the success of talent acquisition professionals, and today, technology frees up experts in our profession to do what they do best – offer sound advice to their business partners, create a warm and welcoming candidate experience and get results.” says David Collins, Redline’s Business and Customer Development Manager.
AI and Tech – The reinvention of the human recruiter
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) has finally come into its own, especially with its ability to quickly and effectively source candidates.” says David. “As big data and AI continue to proliferate, recruitment specialists are able to streamline one single sign-on platform - including sourcing, assessments, scheduling, creating accurate compensation models and following up with candidates for future opportunities.”
So does that mean the human recruiter will become obsolete?
“Actually, it’s the exact opposite. With technology taking the brunt of the once cumbersome work, recruiters now have more time to invest in high-value areas of delivering an outstanding candidate experience and impactful advice to hiring managers.”
Sourcing gets more personal
“New AI and social technology tools are allowing for segmentation of candidate pools and the ability to communicate in a hyper-personalised way. One key example of this comes from today’s virtual world, which enables recruiters to set up a wireless ‘fence’ around key locations. This helps recruiters identify and segment qualified candidates in specific geographies, allowing them to target candidates with mobile messages and/or advertising. This is especially helpful when entering a specific market with hiring events, as the systems also automatically collects data from the user's mobile phone so it can continue to advertise to them, even after they leave the geo-fenced area.”
Millennials as managers and leaders: Shifting dynamics in the workplace
Since their debut in the professional workforce, members of the millennial generation have been known for being impatient when it comes to advancing within the workforce. Well, the wait is over for millions in this generation - many of whom are in their mid-30s - as they now are leaders within their organisations. Millennials value flexibility in the workforce, not just for themselves, but now for their teams.
Living the company culture is core to how they lead. While these new leaders bring much to organisations, there however may be a few cautions. Since many did move up quickly, they have to learn how to ‘manage up’ to colleagues that have more seniority than them. They also have to learn how to relate to their direct reports, some of whom could be as old as their parents. Finally, millennials grew up in a digital-first environment, so they must resist the urge to lead from behind a screen instead of face-to-face communications.
Home grown talent on the rise
It’s no secret the market is changing rapidly and the use of technology is changing virtually every role in organisations, regardless of the industry. This means people with the skills that organisations are looking for are often hard to find. Looking ahead we’ll see more leaders finding ways to reskill and promote existing employees.
Previous training on the company’s protocols and procedures, plus their understanding of company culture, puts internal candidates ahead of the game when coming up to speed learning a new role in a new division or geography. Internal postings of job openings, which require the same qualifications as external hires, takes out the bias of hiring internally.
A true picture of your business culture
For candidates, organisational culture and quality of life are key factors in determining where and for whom they want to work, and it’s nearly impossible to get this impression from traditional HR materials. Candidates want to hear/see real employees discussing the pros and cons of the job. This can take the form of written testimonials, videos or even AI that simulate the person, much like today’s video games. This helps candidates best determine if they’ll be a good fit for the organisation before they get too far along in the recruiting process which can result in reduced turnover and costs.
Job hopping no longer a taboo
It used to be that finding qualified candidates was the hardest part of a recruiter’s job. Now, Big Data, AI and social media make the search much easier. What that means is recruiters are calling upon more qualified candidates, and more candidates are listening and taking new opportunities at a faster rate. This holds especially true in high-demand fields, including technology and engineering. Employers should take note and work to retain existing employees by giving them development and advancement opportunities, along with creative reward packages.
At Redline, we ensure our clients know it is vital they adopt any reasonable measures to improve their talent pipeline and workforce plan utilising a variety of techniques, including specialist technology recruiters. We provide tailor-made recruitment programmes to suit clients’ specific needs in areas such as technical recruitment, electronics jobs, and technical sales careers.
To find out more about how we can help your business, please contact our dedicated Business & Customer Development Manager David Collins on 01582 878804 or email DCollins@RedlineGroup.com