Amid coronavirus, the world is facing uncertainty in all industries. Our lives have turned upside down in such a short interval of time. Nowadays, business expansion plans are replaced by a business continuity plan. Despite the despair and uncertainty in the atmosphere, some organizations are experiencing the highest-ever hiring demand while others are figuring out how the world will work.
We are all aware that the impact of COVID-19 has hit businesses in many ways, and recruitment is no exception. Many organizations are putting their hiring on halt, or conversely, you might be hiring more employees.
Whatever the situation is, you find yourself in one of the following for sure.
- How is your organization responding to this unprecedented pandemic that will define your relationship with your future hires?
- How is this global health crisis changing the hiring process?
- And how will talent acquisition recover when this is all over?
Let us find out the solutions to these questions.
1. Assess Recruitment Strategies:
This is a great time to re-evaluate your current hiring strategy. Many questions arise on this topic, such as: Are your hiring strategies effective enough to attract the right candidate? Do you have onboarding problems? By assessing all these existing hiring practices, HR professionals will be able to find the loopholes which need to be corrected. Evaluate which skill your team has and which skill do you need to post this pandemic. This evaluation will work towards minimizing the skill gap. Identify ways to integrate technology to speed up and improve the recruitment process of your organization. Revising these policies will make room for remote teams.
2. Hire a Passive Candidate:
Companies are seldom approaching any recruits right now. Reaching out to applicants and offering them new job opportunities is easier now than ever. Employers will get their full attention, without the clutter of meetings, any other job offers, or any other reason. Recruiters can find many job seekers who were recently laid off. You can take this opportunity to help them find a good job. In this way, you can also get the right candidates without having to go out of your way or spend more resources than usual.
3. Invest in Recruitment Automation:
In the current situation, it is best to start investing in online and cost-effective recruiting tools that will understand your requirement. It is high time for organizations to realize how recruitment automation can ease the recruiter’s burden. Recruiters can screen numerous resumes automatically in a few clicks. AI plugins like CV parsing API is a must-have tool to speed up the recruitment process. It extracts the candidate’s information from resume/job data into their ATS/CRM quickly. Invest in a data analytics or growth analytics tool to convert your ATS data into actionable business intelligence.
4. Maintain Social Distancing:
Now, the most prominent changes companies have made to the interview process include Video Interviewing. To prevent any possible spread of COVID-19, organizations are shifting in-person interviews to video calls. Even if candidates are applying for local jobs, employers may be inclined to invite applicants for remote interviews rather than asking to visit their office. Video interviewing not only makes it possible to keep the hiring pipeline moving but also upgrades the candidate experience and boosts employer brand. Through this process, recruiters can assess gestures, expressions, engagement, and body language as easily as in person.
5. Stay Connected with the Target Audience:
You must have been hiring before COVID-19 happened. If yes, then you were probably accepting job applications. Even though you might not be hiring now, keep in touch with the candidates who have applied to you before this pandemic. So, when this ends, there will be no communication gap between you and candidates, and you will be able to resume your recruitment process with speed. Keep all the communication channels open and be transparent with them by sharing the current situation. Use emails, social media to stay connected with your target audience.
We can take this pandemic as an opportunity to build a good company culture. There are several tools and software available in the market to smoothen the recruitment process. Be innovative and find a creative way to attract the candidates at this time of crisis.