The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed how companies recruit and retain talent within their companies. With the primary focus being given to safety and social distancing over the past year, talent acquisition teams have had to adapt very quickly to the changing landscape of hiring and onboarding potential employees. Remote working has pushed many companies to consider virtual hiring which includes an interview done via a computer screen as opposed to a face-to-face sit down.
Working remotely has led to quite a few advantages:
- Increase in productivity: Employers are finding that there is no change or an increase in productivity for employees who work from home. Working remotely cuts down time taken to travel to and from offices, making some companies seriously consider working remotely full-time.
- Time and cost-efficient: Due to advancement in technologies, virtual meetings have become so much easier. This saves up time and resources that can be better utilized in some other ways to get work done. A traditional office space also cuts into the budget of any business. With fewer people coming into these spaces, it frees up more money to help your business grow in other areas.
- Retain the best talent: Remote working also helps to keep the best people in your business. Any business growth is dependent on the talent they have working there. Giving your employees the option of working off-site and providing more flexible working conditions, enables any company to retain their best employees longer.
Growth in virtual hiring practices
The recruiting trend for the year 2021 is that traditional hiring practices are on the way out and virtual or digital hiring is on its way in. Across all industries, this rise in virtual staffing has been accelerated due to the pandemic and is predicted to change how companies hire their talent. Some of the ways in which the hiring process has changed includes:
- Increase in dependency on technology: There is a rise in the adoption of using technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and automation of the hiring process to make it less resource-dependent. Most companies are also investing in developing video conferencing tools to make sure online interviews remain to be a seamless experience for both the interviewer and candidate. More importance is being given to online interviewing processes and how to make them as interactive as possible.
- Timely post-interview feedback: Since companies are trying to adapt to the rapid changes in the recruitment process, a lot of businesses now follow up with candidates post-interview to get valuable feedback about the whole recruitment process so as to better streamline it. This ensures that technology and other recruitment tools can be updated to improve candidate experience.
- Sourcing of candidates through job boards: Most businesses and companies are using popular online job boards to source their candidates. Job boards such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Indeed are seeing a rise of open positions and jobs being posted onto their portals. Most networking sites and social media platforms are excellent platforms to get the word out to as many possible potential candidates.
- Virtual onboarding and other practices: The final stage of the recruitment has been turned into a completely virtual affair. Remote onboarding has become the new norm. With the shift to remote working, virtual conferences are the mode to introduce new employees to the entire team. Development of learning modules and webinars are being used to initiate new hires into the workforce. Virtual connections and learning module development help a remote candidate to adjust within the company much better.
Rise in Virtual hiring agencies
This past year has seen a transformative change in how companies choose to hire their candidates. The recruitment trends shows that there is an increasing dependency of businesses to use a remote staffing agency. With the limitations of geographical location of candidates taken out of the way, these agencies offer skilled technical professionals who work remotely on behalf of your company. Virtual recruitment helps you access a global scale talent pool. Recruitment managers have been able to reduce recruitment costs. Using a virtual agency is a cost-efficient method that allows you to choose from the best talent pools. Depending on the needs of your business, virtual hiring agencies can offer both long-term employees as well as temporary workforce. Some hiring agencies set up virtual interviews and online assessments to make the shortlisting of candidates easier for you.
Things to keep in mind when choosing a virtual hiring agency
A virtual hiring agency offers remote staffing solutions for your needs. Depending on the type of work that needs to be done, these agencies can offer you top-notch experts to work for you at a nominal cost. Before choosing such agencies, you must look at what is on offer and if choosing an agency helps your business overall:
- It is important that you check on the level of the candidates that these agencies offer you. The experience and the skill set they possess will determine if they are the right fit for your company.
- Make sure the professionals you hire have experience in working remotely. Technical set up of computers and virtual meetings must be a given if they are to deliver on their services.
- Depending on your needs, some agencies can offer freelance workers which will cut down your costs quite a bit. This can be done by subscription staffing which helps you reduce overhead costs.
No matter what your needs are, the hiring and recruitment process for your business can be customized according to the budget allocated. The customized services that a virtual hiring agency can provide truly makes it easier for you to access qualified professionals. Remote working does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Virtual hiring offers your company a diverse and qualified pool of professionals that can help grow your company in accordance with the core business goals. Virtual hiring can provide you the opportunity to raise your profits so that you can surge ahead of the competitors in your industry.
