As if the one-two-punch of recent job cuts and persistent talent shortages wasn’t enough for HR professionals to navigate, now they must perform this balancing act as their own teams continue to shrink.
Many of this year’s news-making layoffs have directly impacted HR teams as companies rebalance their workforce. Those who remain are under significant pressure to manage this dynamic talent shift — juggling declining headcount, increased burnout rates and an inability to hire at scale. This is compounded by Gen Z’s imprint on the labor market, shifting the norms and ushering in new expectations for the workplace.
Talent leaders must ensure that downsized recruitment teams are well-equipped to meet the needs of our changing workforce — and new-age recruitment strategies are the solution. We see recruiters use marketing tactics like targeted advertising and campaigns to attract, engage and hire talent.
Recruitment marketing is now a primary function for most recruiters in the industry, but without technology, it makes the initiative very difficult. By incorporating HR technology and automation into the hiring process, employers can streamline daily workflow patterns and adapt recruitment operations to meet the heightened expectations of today’s job seekers.
From Exhaustion to Empowerment with Recruitment Automation
After reaching its peak last spring, openings and hires for recruiter roles have been on a downward spiral. Since January 2022, hires have dropped 43% and openings have plummeted 57%, according to iCIMS data.
A reduction in companies’ talent teams can potentially impact the level of experience that candidates have come to expect. Job seekers want finding a job to be as seamless and easy as buying a pair of sneakers online, with a quick application process and frequent updates. For talent teams operating leaner than ever, even day-to-day tasks can be a juggling act when you throw campaigning and nurturing talent pipelines into the mix.
Fortunately, recruitment marketing automation can alleviate some of the burden. The technology eliminates tedious and complicated tasks, such as candidate engagement tracking and compliance management, from HR personnel’s day-to-day workflow. This frees talent teams to spend time and resources on tasks that offer greater business value, such as internal mobility and talent development programs.
“It’s difficult to scale personalization,” shared Lorraine Quintanar, chief talent officer at HarmonyCares and iCIMS customer, adding that the right technology can help talent teams achieve that. Her team leverages talent analytics to review and assess candidate behaviors that are then used to deliver personalized nurture campaigns. Combining the right analytics, candidate relationship management and marketing automation can help TA teams deliver true personalization at scale.
The Future of Talent Acquisition is Fueled by Technology
Employers must overcome many hurdles in today’s hiring landscape to build a workforce that meets their current needs. Across industries, job seekers are becoming increasingly selective about their future employers, paying close attention to companies’ commitment to diversity and whether the culture aligns with their values.
Once recruiters break through the noise of online job boards and LinkedIn posts, they must convert potential hires. The ability to deliver personalized candidate experiences from start to finish has become a requirement to impress job seekers. This new reality turns the tables on traditional recruitment methods like the “batch-and-blast approach,” in which the same generic messages are sent to every candidate.
Using marketing automation, recruiters can stream candidates into diverse communication routes based on how they have interacted and continue to interact with your content. There’s no guesswork – you know exactly how your candidates are reacting, and you can nurture them based on the content they want to receive.
Nurturing Candidates for Long-Term Retention
According to iCIMS data, three out of four HR professionals say talent retention will be a greater challenge than hiring this year. Luckily, 65% of new grads care about how long they stay with their employer, and 35% envision a long-term career path.
To capitalize on this, talent teams must examine their talent pipelines holistically and prioritize the potential of their existing workforce. With marketing automation, recruiters can track and score talent and employ tactics like automated hyper-personal campaigns and video-first recruitment to keep pools warm until a role opens.
Another retention challenge is that an overwhelming 70% of workers don’t know how to progress in their careers, and less than half (42%) think it’s easy to find open positions to apply for at their organization, per iCIMS. By leveraging technology, companies can nurture candidates before they know they are interested in applying for a role, helping to light a path for internal opportunities and creating strong pipelines for future staffing needs.
Business Success Begins and Ends with (HR) Talent
Through the continuous shifts in the labor market, one thing will always reign true: business success begins and ends with talent. As companies whittle their HR functions to prepare for a declining market, leaders must ensure lean talent teams are empowered with the right technology to supercharge transformation efforts and keep up with the pace of change. Employers that fail to innovate and continue to rely on traditional levers to attract and retain workers will face major challenges in this new war for talent.
Rosey Pullmann is Senior Talent Sourcer at iCIMS.
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