A full-year following the initial emergence of the COVID-19 virus which led to a global pandemic, many different countries are employing varying kinds and degrees of lockdowns in an effort to curb the spread of the virus and keep their people safe. Even as some countries are already in the early stages of a mass rollout of vaccines, a huge bulk of the workforce still remains vulnerable. As such, many companies have adapted themselves to the dynamic of remote working for the indefinite future.
But what happens when there are certain aspects of the office life that don’t always translate so well to working from home? It’s definitely challenging. Obviously, one of the first foundational business units that would come to mind in this regard is HR. And while the global pandemic has dramatically impacted various business units in so many different ways, this article is going to delve a little deeper into HR’s specific struggles concerning recruitment and hiring.
Recruitment in the New Normal
If your company is currently engaged in active recruitment, then things might be a lot more different now than they have ever been. One obvious example is having to shift in-person sit down interviews to video conferences. But more than that, adapting to an office environment that promotes remote working will force HR staffers to assess a potential recruit’s skill set through a different lens. There are certain skill sets and traits within a certain candidate that would make them even more valuable in a setup that requires them to work from home.
If you are currently in the process of rebuilding your recruitment strategy to fit within the framework of a work from home dynamic, then it might be essential for you to keep the following tips in mind.
Create Engaging Job Ads
The first step to optimizing your hiring process is to actually let people know that you’re hiring. One sad fact about recruitment is that there are so many lost opportunities because prospective talents are left unaware of vital job positions that would otherwise be perfect for them. You can do this by starting with the basics. Make sure that all your current job openings are listed on your website. Then, double down on your social media recruitment efforts as well. More and more people are spending their time on social media than ever.
Streamline Your Hiring Process
Hiring in the midst of the pandemic may mean you having to review the way that you go about recruitment. You need a detailed and exhaustive procedure that is purposeful and methodical. Of course, the hiring process might be different for every company depending on their needs. But based on best practices, this is what a rough outline of the process should look like:
- Identify your company’s job openings
- Put out ads for recruitment and hiring
- Compile a list of potential candidates
- Narrow them down based on their potential
- Invite the finalists to an interview
- Narrow the list even further after the interview
- Send out offers of employment
Make Use of Video Conferencing
For most companies, face-to-face interviews are just not going to be possible at this moment. Of course, there are some companies who would be willing to shoulder having potential interviewees and recruits tested for the virus prior to a physical interview. But that would be an impractical use of resources for people who might not even be sure hires. When making use of video conferencing as an interview tool, make sure that you do proper scheduling. Include all of the pertinent information such as the date, time, candidate, interviewer, and URL to the call.
Prioritize Remote-Working Skills
Again, the new work-from-home environment has brought about a necessity for different skill sets from potential recruits. Experts claim that traits and skills surrounding effective communication, time-management, discipline, organization, and self-direction are all crucial skills for the modern remote worker. Even though your business doesn’t plan on maintaining a remote working dynamic permanently, looking out for these skills will make the employment and transition process of the recruit a lot easier.
Review a Candidate’s Work Equipment
Another key aspect of the remote working dynamic has to do with hardware. For example, if you’re hiring for a video editing professional, then you need to take the hardware requirements into consideration when you’re interviewing them. For one, would your company be able to supply the necessary video editing hardware to the recruit if they get hired? If not, would the recruit be able to procure or make use of their own devices that will meet the needs of the company? These are things that companies might not have looked into in the past, but are very much relevant in the present.
Be Transparent in Your Offer
Another huge part of ensuring the effectiveness of a recruitment campaign is sustaining the longevity of employees within the team. So, it’s important for HR professionals to manage recruit expectations well at the start. They should be made aware of company plans regarding the remote working setup and whether this will be permanent or not. They should also be made aware of other important matters like dedicated work hours and responsibilities. There is too much uncertainty in the current business climate. It’s important that HR professionals seek to provide as much clarity and transparency to recruits as possible.
Capitalize on the Social Network of your Employees
why you should always look to maximize their potential in a holistic manner. Part of that is banking on the social networks of your employees for hiring. You can set up an employee referral program. This is great because having your employees recruit for you is cost-efficient, for one. Another great reason is that anyone that your employee will refer will probably have already been vetted by them. That’s an added layer of insurance and due diligence on the side of recruitment. But more than anything, by going to your employees for hiring, you are portraying a certain level of trust that is very important, especially since face-to-face hirings are currently not feasible.
This process can actually be made easier with the help of apps like Pasajob. This first-of-its-kind software bridges employers and potential recruits together through an intricate social network of industry professionals. It’s a holistic job referral platform that incentivizes its users to help companies recruit top talent through a referral system that offers rewards and bonuses for successful referrals.
Final Thoughts
It should go without saying that it’s necessary for HR teams to adapt to the calls of a remote work setting. This is especially true for countries who might not gain immediate access to mass rollouts of vaccines. It will be quite a while before the world returns to the traditional ways of workplace dynamics. Many experts say that it may take a full year before the world shows any signs of normalcy again after the pandemic. But more than
Whatever the case, it’s important that HR professionals continue to stay agile when it comes to recruitment. Just because the workplace dynamics have changed doesn’t mean that there has been a drop of prospective talent. In fact, the challenges that the pandemic has posed to businesses is all the more reason that HR professionals should look to recruit quality candidates who can help weather the economic storm through the pandemic.
