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3 Challenges Facing Recruiters and How to Overcome Them

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Technology has had a huge impact on the ways in which we make choices every day, so much so that it’s hard to imagine a world without social media, Spotify or Uber. But 10 years ago, these digital services didn’t exist.

It’s clear that we’re living in transformational times and recruitment professionals play a vital role in future-proofing businesses to ensure they keep up.

By 2020, 85% of customer interactions are predicted to be handled without a human and with candidates developing stronger consumer expectations, it’s no surprise that candidates expect similar experiences when looking for a job.

Does this mean that technology, robots and automation are the new means of recruitment?

Not entirely. But they can all be used to support resourcing strategies and tailor the recruitment process to candidates – meeting high candidate expectations and delivering a personalised candidate experience with the support of resourcing teams.

With this fast rate of transformation comes new challenges, and so we’ve pulled together a quick breakdown of the key challenges recruiters face and our top tips around how you can overcome them.

1. Scarce skills in emerging markets

Across several industries around the globe, many roles did not exist 10 years ago.

New roles are only going to keep on growing. This constant growth and development of technology means that the demand for qualified and scarce skills candidates is greater than ever.

A report from McKinsey and Company predicts that 20 to 50 million new jobs could be created globally in the next the next few years and so, being able to attract, engage and retain these candidates is vital in order for businesses to succeed.

Where attracting and engaging these scarce skills candidates is a challenge, organisations also have to work at the retention of their top performing employees.

It’s no secret that we’ve seen the average length of service shrink dramatically over the last decade and with so much choice and temptation for employees from services such as LinkedIn’s ‘Easy Apply’ and Google for jobs, there’s a lot of noise that risks candidates chasing a perceived better offer.

So, what can recruiters do?

  • Blow prospective candidates out the water with your knowledge of the market, the roles you’re recruiting for and your upcoming changes. Organisations such as Diageo have used our online live chat platform to host group chat sessions to provide an in-depth insight into available roles and communicate exciting news without taking up significant time and resources
  • Know your competitors! What are they offering? How does their employee package compare to yours?  Can you do better? Yodel use a chatbot on their careers site to direct candidates through to roles with the right fit for them, giving candidates the exact information and transparency they desire
  • You’re in a competitive market so be creative, stand out from the rest. Versatile job descriptions are in and the corporate long list of essential skills is out.  Candidates want to know exactly what they’ll be doing day-to-day. Give them an authentic experience by connecting them to someone currently doing the role.

2. Where does technology add value?

With the introduction of AI, chatbots, gamification and social media, it’s easy to question the place of human interaction.  

A recent survey by Deloitte revealed 33% of recruiters are already using some form of AI in their hiring process.

But does this mean that Artificial Intelligence is a win-win solution? If Microsoft’s Twitter bot, Tay, that quickly lost control posting offensive comments within a few hours of launch is anything to go by, the answer is, perhaps not.

That’s not to say that AI can’t benefit organisations, just that it should be considered where recruiters employ AI and where they don’t. Alexa is great at telling us the weather, but a misunderstanding or even lack of a response from her can often provide a frustrating and negative experience rather than a good one.

The risk that comes with AI technology is a huge reason why many organisations instead opt for automation technology.

Automation provides recruitment teams with the full control they crave, yet delivers the same benefits around time-saving and an enhanced candidate experience as AI.

We build our Candidate Experience Chatbots with this in mind, and if the data from our client, Yodel, tells us anything, it’s that it vastly improves the potential of a great candidate experience.

However, there will always be a need for the human touch in recruitment. And so, technology should support the efforts of resourcing teams for maximum value rather than look to replace them.

So, what can recruiters do?

  • The days of being able to scour hundreds of applicants’ CV’s are no more. Using our screening bot, Yodel reduced time to hire by 38%, freeing up the recruitment team’s time for more value-add activities and ultimately boosting candidate experience. Using a bot like Yodel’s means that you can also eliminate any unconscious bias by recruiters and hiring managers
  • You can’t attract top talent without some human interaction. Humans want to speak to humans when seeking clarity and reassurance. It could be the difference between a candidate completing their application or dropping out mid process. Using technology to separate out the right candidates can save recruiters valuable time
  • Your teams might not be available 24/7, especially during the evenings. Automation and chatbots can help answer questions when you’re not around. Implement technology that works for you rather than the other way around.

3. Engaging the new generation of workers

44% of employers are experiencing greater difficulty in recruitment since 2016. While research from LMO shows many employers are raising salaries to attract and retain talent, factors that attract grads stretch far beyond salary. Gen Z want to know that they’re valued from the word go.

Bright Network’s latest research revealed 82% of graduates expect their future employer to offer flexible working. Other factors such as work-life balance and company culture also play a significant role when it comes to choosing one employer over another.

It may come as an unpleasant surprise but 89% of grads would reject a job offer they’d accepted in favour of another.

So how can employers better reduce reneges from potentially ‘flaky’ candidates?

Interestingly, less than 5% of grads feel that salary is more important than work-life balance and 40% consider a company’s culture to be the most important factor when choosing an employer.

So, it’s clear that there’s more activity that can be done around providing transparency and insight into the business.

Gen Z make up the majority of our future talent target audience and they’re true digital natives: from earliest youth, they’ve been exposed to the internet, handheld devices and social networks.

79% of job seekers use social media in their job search, and so bringing your opportunities to a place they’re familiar and comfortable with seems like a no brainer! It’s the main reason that our live chat platform and onboarding platform are both built to feel familiar to social media users.

So, what can recruiters do?

  • 4 in 5 grads want to hear from your company representatives and from someone who actually does the job. Capgemini used our live chat platform to host events and connect their current employees with graduates and prospective candidates. Use your current graduate employees to share their experiences directly with prospective candidates
  • Gen Z are digital natives and so being available online for digital engagement is vital. One of our professional services clients supports their candidates with an online helpdesk open daily from 9.30am-7.00pm, hosted on our live chat platform
  • Provide candidates with insight into your business, your diversity initiatives and importantly the company culture. Perhaps create videos touring the offices and facilities or even livestream chats from the office for candidates to ask questions live.

There’s no silver bullet to solve all of your recruitment challenges but staying informed with what other organisations are implementing to supercharge their recruitment processes is vital in finding a solution that is right fit for you.

Request a demo of our candidate experience technology suite and discover how our live chat event platform, onboarding platform and candidate experience chatbots can help tackle your recruitment challenges.

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