Human resources professionals are critical to any company’s success. But, HR professionals are facing countless new challenges, most notably in talent acquisition and retention, and workplace changes. Position your company to thrive in this changing environment by understanding these six trends that affect your workforce:
1. Talent Acquisition Remains a Top Challenge
According to a recent XpertHR survey of more than 700 HR professionals, 30% of survey respondents indicated that recruiting and hiring remain their biggest challenges. The current talent (candidate) shortage - combined with America’s low unemployment rate - makes it extremely difficult for HR/talent acquisition professionals to fill open jobs.. As a result, the hiring process is longer and there is more competition for top talent. Adapting your company’s policies and practices may be necessary to attract the best external candidates.
2. Employee Experience Requires Personalization
Employee experience satisfaction helps drive company outcomes and growth in many ways; yet according to the Gartner report, Top Priorities for HR Leaders in 2020, 46% of employees surveyed indicated their employer was not meeting their expectations. Employee experience satisfaction relies heavily on employees’ perception of “workforce wellbeing,” which is ever-evolving. It is critical that companies embrace the “employees as customers” mindset, invest in employees’ holistic wellbeing, and create meaningful, personalized employee experiences. Improving your employee experience could help retain your top talent, recruit premium candidates, lower insurance costs, increase productivity, and more.
3. AI Applications in Talent Acquisition and other HR Areas
Today’s job seekers expect to engage with technology as they explore new career opportunities and companies benefit from a faster, more streamlined hiring process and increased productivity as recruiter resources are strategically reallocated. But it doesn’t stop there, AI can also be successfully integrated into other HR functions, such as team assessments, professional development, and internal job transfers—just to name a few. Discover how AI can improve your workplace in 2020 and beyond.
4. Greater Focus on Skills-Based Hiring
In our tight talent market, employers are reimagining what defines an ideal candidate. Recruiters are evaluating skills, competencies, learning capacity, and previous experience for open positions rather than merely looking at academic credentials. Companies like Google, Hilton, Apple, IBM, Bank of America and others no longer view a lack of a degree as a barrier to employment. Instead, these companies embrace a skills-based mindset as a potential indicator of performance.
5. Soft Skills are a Priority for Recruiting and Performance
As employers turn more to skills-based hiring and AI finds a larger presence in the workplace, employees and HR teams need to focus on soft skills development. Critical thinking, communication and storytelling, problem-solving, creativity, and emotional intelligence top the list of fastest-growing workplace soft skills in 2020. Individuals with proficiencies in these areas, who are also adaptable, will thrive in the changing workplace.
6. Retrain your Current Workforce
The shortage of qualified professionals has caused many business leaders to shift from recruiting external talent to retraining internal talent. HR professionals are tasked with revamping infrastructure to build internal talent pipelines as a less expensive and more timely way to fill positions. “It can cost as much as 6 times more to hire from the outside than to build from within,” according to Josh Bersin in 2019’s Rethinking the Build vs Buy Approach to Talent. By promoting from within, investing in learning and development, and redefining roles, businesses can more heavily rely on their internal talent for future growth.
If you need assistance with talent acquisition in a changing environment, Cordia Resources can help. Visit www.cordiaresources.com to learn more about our temporary and permanent staffing solutions or contact us online.