However, COVID-19 had a severe impact on the economic and health sectors around the globe. The pandemic pushed the companies to revisit their business continuity plans and review current workflows and operational models.

According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) research, out of 200 global companies, 82% of the respondents observed revenue decline, 78% faced operational difficulties, and 68% had to go through service provider-related challenges. Therefore, many companies realised the need to change and made the challenging time favourable. But some faced many difficulties coping up with it. Let’s explore more about the transformational impact COVID-19 had on the recruiting sector.

How did COVID-19 impact the recruitment sector?

One of the greatest accelerators to bring a change in recruitment has been the pandemic. It has transformed our method of working, communicating, executing, and learning. Moreover, according to the Gartner HR Survey, 88% of employees were required to work from home due to the COVID-19. And obviously, that had an impact on the organisation’s overall structure, including its workplace, strategies, and team. However, the businesses revisited their BCP strategies – revised their budgets, reviewed their operating and service delivery structure, intending to ensure continuity in the face of lingering uncertainties.

Outsourcing misperceptions

A survey by Deloitte says that 78% of businesses are satisfied with their outsourcing experiences. But some companies are reluctant to collaborate with external sources. Below are some myths that some companies believe in regards to outsourcing:

Only large companies tend to outsource: According to the survey by Deloitte, organisations choose to outsource for the purposes like cost, flexibility, speed to market, access to tools, and agility. The pandemic impacted all companies, and outsourcing has been proven more beneficial for small companies. Now, every third small business (37%) relies on outsourcing.

Outsourcing leads to communication gaps: One of the major challenges of recruitment outsourcing processes is to maintain proper communication channels. Reliable sourcing partners ensure they maintain it through allocating a single, dedicated point of contact and following timely meetings and insight-driven reporting.

Important functions are not outsourced: Many small companies have been outsourcing accounting, customer support, software development, marketing, and many more processes for decades. Deloitte says that outsourcing has been a primary element of the company’s transformation regardless of industry and its size.

Outsourcing delivery model offers inefficient team: The key to get efficient results is choosing the right group for outsourcing the delivery model. They offer expert knowledge in setting up offshore teams that bring business growth. Moreover, you get to add agility to your projects and get control over their planning and execution through a streamlined process. Also, the skilled teams will be connected across time zones and locations, to offer cost-efficient and result-driven services.

Outsourcing doesn’t bring efficiency to a company’s process: Understandably, a sturdy process impacts a company’s profitability, employee motivation levels, and scope of growth. However, with changing the time you have to analyse, redesign, and optimise the existing workflow processes. Therefore, outsourcing specific processes help in bringing agility and efficiency to the business. They minutely recognise, plan, and document your company processes. Moreover, they aid in choosing the right technology and operational models for your company’s growth.

Redesigning workflows after COVID

Distinguished Vice President, Gartner, Brian Kropp says, “It’s critical for business leaders to understand that large-scale shifts are changing how people work and how business gets done. Leaders who respond effectively to these HR trends can ensure their organizations stand out from competitors.” The pandemic has resulted in the following trends:

• Escalation in remote working
• Expansion of contingent workers or replacement of full-time employees
• Increased business collaborations

Evolving service delivery after COVID

Despite the fear of not being able to survive the pandemic, one finds a new way to do so. Workers around the globe have realised the need to change their methods of working, and evolve with new skills to match the company’s needs. Therefore, in the end, it’s all about how the leaders reskill and upskill the workforce to produce the latest business models.

Bringing agility in planning and management after COVID

According to the research by Mckinsey, the future-ready companies know their identity and what they stand for. Moreover, they move forward with a fixation on speed and simplicity. Also, they try to scale up their ability to learn and innovate which leaves a positive impact on their company.

Are you ready for the new normal?

We have understood that none of us can afford to work in the ways we have before. As business leaders, we have to welcome new possibilities, examine our perceptions, and lead this interruption in workflow with a viewpoint of navigating and coming out of the crises. If you’re interested in attending a webinar, primarily crafted for forward-thinking recruitment business leaders, with reputed industry leaders, Heather Salway, Non-Executive Director at REC, and Akhilesh Pandey, CCO at QX Global Group, then click to register for the webinar. You’ll get to know in detail how beneficial outsourcing has become after the pandemic.