There’s no longer any argument that workplaces have changed fundamentally over the past decade or so. What’s not clear to many leaders is that they need to change along with the times. There’s no going back to hierarchical management styles, mandates for everything from where you work to what you wear to work, and other traditional structures and practices. People have had enough of them. And the thing is, they don’t have to take them anymore.
Talent has become a scarcity. There continue to be more open jobs than people to fill them. This has meant fierce competition for employers to attract and retain people, and the power of choice for candidates and employees. It’s not enough to win the right people, you also need to work hard to keep them. That means providing an exceptional experience for both candidates and employees. Failure to be exceptional at any one point can turn people off and away. Well-thought-out strategies are essential, as are the tools to successfully implement them.
3 trending strategies toward being an employer of choice
Good strategies help you become a force for creative change rather than simply trying to adapt to it. Focus on developing strategies in three critical areas currently defining workplaces: artificial intelligence, remote and hybrid work options, and skills-based hiring.
1. AI for recruiting
Artificial intelligence is hot! The Society for Human Resource Management reports that 79% of employers are currently using AI or another form of automation for recruiting and hiring. You can be sure that candidates are using it too.
In addition to enhancing recruiting efforts, employers find AI to be an effective retention tool. AI can recommend learning and training opportunities and suggest career paths for current employees, aid in performance management, and identify employees who are no longer engaged or are at risk of leaving.
The critical element in any use of AI is how to make it seem human. Companies that try to replace people entirely with technologies like AI end up with unhappy customers looking elsewhere for better care. We have all been caught in endless circles of stress and frustration trying to resolve big and small problems through chatbots. Unhappy customers make life difficult for employees, who become unhappy themselves with their jobs.
AI is a powerful tool for enhancing human capabilities, generating possibility, and achieving the full potential of people and organizations. It’s not just a trend, it’s here to stay. Leaders who evolve their thinking and adapt to this new technology are already outperforming their competition. Those who understand that nothing can replace humanity and continue to integrate it with AI will be unbeatable.
2. Remote/hybrid work options
Remote and hybrid work options are at the center of a deep values divide between traditional company practices and current employee expectations. Employers and employees across the country are feeling frustration, anger, and pain over the issue of flexibility, especially around when and where to work.
Today, employees are demanding that employers consider their overall well-being and respect their personal needs and choices. While we know employee expectations have changed dramatically over the past few years, it’s clear that employers are often failing to meet people where they are.
Flexibility has become one of three main criteria by which employees judge employers (along with career progression and compensation). In the awards production industry, some roles are not suited to remote and hybrid models. When that is the case, try being creative to find other ways to offer flexibility. Are longer workdays with shorter work weeks an option? What about job sharing, a choice of workdays or work groups, or Friday afternoons off?
Many companies look for a one-size-fits-all solution to flexibility. They won’t find it. Each individual and every company is unique, which means there is no optimal remote solution to apply.
But hybrid is here to stay. What is no longer working are mandates to work fully on-site.
3. Skills-based hiring
Skills-based hiring focuses on candidates’ abilities, knowledge, and experience in a specific area rather than on education and employee history, which are typically included in a resume. It’s important because it helps assess candidates based on what they can do, rather than what they’ve done in the past.
The process emphasizes skills that can be demonstrated and evaluated using things like assessments, tests, and simulations. It benefits organizations, in part, by reducing bias and increasing diversity in hiring. It also increases retention by enabling internal mobility. Employees can demonstrate their skills in order to move up or take on new roles.
Skills-based hiring has become more widely accepted because of the difficulty companies are having finding people for technical roles. By looking at the underlying skills needed to do the job and eliminating formal job requirements, they’re more easily finding the talent they need. The World Economic Forum estimates that we will need to re-skill more than 1 billion people globally by 2030.
4. Strategies are nothing without the right tools
In TalenTrust’s “2024 Recruiting and Retention Tool Kit,” the organization provided tools designed to help you implement the trending strategies essential to top employers today.
With the tool kit, our goal is to help you understand candidate and employee journeys and what it means to create a positive experience for the people interested in being on your team. Our insights and guidance show you how to improve each step of the experience. There are also eight free resources and templates scattered throughout so you can immediately begin implementing improvements. This can be the foundation that ensures you are a successful competitor in a tough talent market.
Below, you’ll find useful nuggets of information. For details about any of the topics we introduce here, visit talentrust.com. There, you’ll find free access to the full report, which you can choose to read from beginning to end or jump in wherever it suits you.
- The candidate and employee journey — An employee’s experience begins when they are a candidate and continues until long after they are onboarded.
- Employment branding — Best practices include showing, not telling, your message. Use video wherever possible and let your employees’ own voices be heard.
- Lead generation — If your recruitment strategy does not include passive talent sourcing, you are missing out on over half of the available talent pool.
- Candidate engagement — A best practice engagement campaign will feature at least eight to 12 different messages via a variety of mediums.
- Screening and assessments — One way to mitigate the potential of making the wrong hire is to incorporate data into the hiring process using assessments.
- Candidate interviews — A person’s behavior does not fundamentally change over the course of their adult life. Focus on how they have performed in the past.
- Candidate offer — One of your goals throughout the recruitment process should be to make sure there are no surprises when you reach the offer stage.
There is not an organization out there that isn’t competing for talent. This will not change in the foreseeable future. Companies and leaders who try to hold on to outdated practices may temporarily find some comfort level to hold onto, but they are actually putting a lid on their success. Change is only going to escalate. Adapting is not easy, but it’s mandatory. The right strategies and tools offer a new sort of comfort.
