The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed working practices over the last year and a half. But now, as infection rates continue to fall and restrictions are gradually eased, what will recruitment in a post-COVID world look like for Birmingham-based businesses?
Remote Hiring Practices Are Here To Stay
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted almost all of the hiring process online, particularly through the use of video interviews as a replacement for physical interviews. According to a recent survey by Software Advice, candidates have welcomed this change. Many prefer the convenience and ease of remote interviewing. Findings from Rec Right further confirm this, with 82.4% of 30,000 respondents ‘satisfied’ with video interviewing as a recruitment method. Video interviews should therefore remain an important part of any organisation’s post-COVID recruitment strategy.
A Shift in Candidate-Employer Perceptions
Candidates also judge potential employers in the post-pandemic world using an entirely different set of criteria than in the pre-pandemic world. Although recruitment is often seen as a one-sided process, candidates interview a potential new employer just as much as the organisation interviews them.
Nowadays, candidates are less wowed by in-office initiatives like lunch perks and early Friday finishes, and instead judge potential employers via an employee value proposition. An employee value proposition ties together multiple factors in the decision-making process. In the current circumstances, out-of-office features such as remote or flexible working play an increasingly important part in these propositions. Employers should therefore communicate these offerings clearly in job advertisements to exhibit a competitive advantage in the labour market.
Showing an agile attitude to working practices also indicates that organisations can easily adapt to shocks like the pandemic. Communicate this to headhunted individuals in particular, as these individuals are often reluctant to leave a safe position for the unknown, and will be even more hesitant during this current period of high uncertainty. So, make your employee value proposition an attractive offering: consider what you as an employer can offer these candidates to assuage their post-pandemic concerns. Whether an agreement that the candidate can work in-office for half of the week and out-of-office for the other half, rethink what sets you apart as an employer.
Access to a Wider Talent Pool
The pandemic has also removed physical location as a barrier to the hiring process. Many employees have proved they are able to work effectively from home, causing a growing number of firms to recruit employees from further afield. A Gartner Inc. survey found that 74% of CFOs plan to move a proportion of previously on-site workers to permanently remote positions post-COVID. This growing normalisation of a remote workforce widens access to the talent pool. Widening your search past the city or even country in which you are based may make it easier to find the ideal candidate for the position, providing you have the relevant technological infrastructure to seamlessly integrate them into the organisation.