The recruitment industry and recruitment technology is poised for exciting developments in 2018, but only a select few agencies are preparing for it.
Let’s look at the opportunity for growth. There’s plenty of it. And, with the growing rate of employment just around the corner, it’s a perfect time for recruitment agencies, and talent management professionals to take the lead ahead of the competition.
If we focus on the opportunity that lays ahead, we’re past the Brexit shock (well almost) and companies have resumed hiring again. Employment rates in the UK are at the highest since the mid-1970s. And, a recent survey by Manpower of around 2000 employers found that 7% planned to hire more people in the final three months of this year.
Recruitment technology can be difficult to navigate. It’s a myriad of confusion and scary acronyms that might put you off from trying it out. We know our AR from VR, our chatbots, Big Data and AI. But if you’re still at the ‘how’ and the ‘what-the-heck-does-that-even-stand-for’ we’ve outlined three key areas in which you can use recruitment technology to strengthen your business in 2018.
Today’s market is candidate led. Finding the right talent is difficult, and this means that we must be smarter in how we approach candidates, build relationships and keep them engaged.
Did you know that the majority of people viewing your website are doing so through their mobile phones? All of the prep, the blog reading and sneaking a glance at the new job posted is done via a commute, during lunch breaks and mainly through mobile. It’s why the first step is to make your candidate’s experience completely mobile friendly. We’re not just talking about websites, but creating better experiences through latching onto mobile apps such as LinkedIn Recruiter or WhatsApp.
Not many candidates have the time to come to the office in person. But also, employers are increasingly on the lookout for remote workers. It’s all thanks to recruitment technology which has enabled employers and workers to increase flexibility and make it possible. It’s why we’re seeing a growth in remote working startups that are forming to offer bespoke services to these digital nomads. While you might not want to take ownership of this market, you can expand your current services, or make it inclusive of employers that may want to offer remote working. Updating your interviewing processes through accessible video tech such as Google Hangouts and Skype is a great start. Psst.. while we’re here take a look at how 3D avatars interviewed candidates via video and allowed recruiters the world over to hold remote interviews via mobile phones, tablets, and desktop.
Did you hear the one about the AI chatbot that’ll hire you? Nobody is available 24/7 to answer candidate questions, it’s not practical. Here’s the thing though, candidate questions are repetitive and over time we can start to predict them. By using chatbots on your website, you can instantly chat to candidates in real-time, and design the conversation before it happens. Think of it as a pre-programmed chat you have installed on your website, as and when a candidate needs it. You can also experiment with Facebook’s chatbots that act in Messenger – bringing an extra personal dimension to your interactions.
Manual processes often create a lack of job satisfaction for staff and additional costs for a business. Not only are some of the tasks mundane, but often the experience trickles out to affect the candidate too. How many times have quality candidates shared their CV, only to be lost in the overflow of those being manually checked by recruiters and talent managers? It’s often time that could be spent better.
Artificial Intelligence is already embraced by some recruitment agencies to automate manual processes, such as interview scheduling and authorising job offers. There are opportunities to adopt software that incorporates AI algorithms in order to automate tasks such as examining CVs, sending follow-up emails and more. By using their expertise to create predictions and accurate profiles, recruiters can spot patterns and identify candidate opportunities that might not have been possible without. This Way Global, Beamery and Match-ic are startups designed to do just that. And another added bonus? It takes away any situation for bias to take place in the early application stage too.
There’s a big opportunity for the recruitment industry to disrupt the playing field by leveraging Tech. The ones ahead of the curve are already incorporating these areas into their long-term strategy.
“We understand that in the modern world client requirements from their recruitment providers have evolved far faster than the provider’s offerings, and that’s why we invest in technology to help us reduce time to hire and attrition, whilst maximising employee engagement and workforce quality.” – James Cadwaladr, Invive Resourcing.
Talent management and recruitment is a sector that can benefit massively from its adoption and use of Technology to save costs on internal processes, retain candidates with enhanced customer experiences and save time.
With the unemployment rates falling to a 42 year low of 4.4%, it’s the perfect time to plan ahead and become smarter in how you compete with businesses.
What’s holding you back from adopting a tech in your business?
Zudu is a web and app development company that has partnered with a range of clients in the recruitment industry to help them reach their goals. If you’d like to reach us for a quick chat, you can get in touch here.
