Recruiting today has sure changed from what it looked like a year ago, pre-pandemic.

Yes, some businesses have unfortunately had to let some of their staff go or close their doors altogether; but conversely, numerous companies are hiring for new positions more than ever. Human Resource leaders and their recruiting professionals have learned to quickly adapt by adopting flexible schedules and recreating their hiring strategies in order to keep the hiring process moving along smoothly. A year later employers are recognizing the talent gaps and have started increasing their employing efforts. It’s vital for HR and their recruiters to evaluate what’s working for a company, and what’s not in these times, to make compliant alterations now. Now more than ever, businesses are outsourcing their HR, recruiting and talent acquisition services through firms like Flex HR.

Hiring during this COVID-19 era presents its own set of challenges, which has been difficult to accomplish especially since almost the entire recruiting process has become virtual. While the talent pool seems to be hefty, so does the work of recruiters to find candidates that measure up to what the company is specifically looking for. Core capabilities have been reassessed and the focus has been turned to an employee’s qualities and what transferable skills really makes them a valuable asset to the company. Teresa Monday, Flex HR’s Director of Recruiting & Client Success, notes “recruiting has a new meaning now that it’s been over a year in the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of employees hired in the past year have never stepped foot into their new employers’ office and have only seen their manager and co-workers through a monitor. Behavioral Interviewing has become an imperative part of hiring during this era of selecting new employees.”

Recruiters are uniquely positioned to encourage positive changes to their usual practices. Once the right individual is offered the job, onboarding processes need to run smoothly in order to ensure the new hire feels comfortable and confident beginning a new endeavor unaccompanied. HR needs to consider pacing new hire paperwork and training initiatives for building rapport and engagement, so as not to overwhelm newcomers. Short 5–8-minute training videos spaced out over time, or days, has been shown to be effective for the new hire to absorb the information sufficiently. Most new employees hired within the past year have not even seen inside the office so you may want to consider taking a quick video to show the new employees what your office looks like so they can get a feel for the company and culture.

Employers should also create time for virtual social interaction to encourage team building and collaboration between co-workers so that company culture remains integral. At Flex HR, CEO Jenny Morehead arranged Zoom coffee breaks every other week to interact with staff to welcome new employees, celebrate client and employee wins and gather from afar to check in with each other. “The company morale and encouragement since beginning our virtual coffee breaks together has really seemed to increase and lift the essence of those relationships in our office,” notes Morehead.

Start getting ahead of the changes coming next by working with your HR experts and your talent acquisition team now. Employers need to start planning ahead for the roles that will be needed in the near future. Remote recruiting has become the new normal and is here to stay, so optimizing the candidate experience is becoming the key to nurturing that individual through the entire recruitment process.

Read the article on Recruiting Daily.

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