Latest Recruiting Trends That HR Must Implement In 2023

Given the current state of uncertainty in the world, it comes as no surprise that the landscape for recruitment is changing to keep up. The great consternation of these times has put those who once accurately predicted hiring trends in quite a tricky spot – not even professionals with years of experience can be sure of what hiring practices will look like in the near future. Despite this challenge, this paradox may present an opportunity for recruiters to adapt and stay ahead of the game by finding new innovative ways to assess and engage potential employees.

As companies strive to stay competitive in the ever-evolving job market, it’s essential that they equip themselves with the latest recruitment trends and technologies. The current labor landscape is rapidly shifting as more businesses embrace automation, new data sources emerge, and advanced analytics allow them to make smarter decisions about staff hiring and retention. This doesn’t leave HR professionals sitting idle however; in fact, there is now a multitude of tools available for recruiters which can greatly improve their processes – but utilization of these resources requires staying up-to-date on cutting-edge industry insights. To help you make sure your recruiting strategy stays ahead of the curve in 2023, in this blog post we’ve assembled a list of some hot trends every business should consider when forming their staffing plans this year.

What exactly is the current state of recruitment?

The economy is somewhat unstable!

The coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt businesses across the world, creating unprecedented levels of uncertainty. This has had a serious impact on recruitment. Many organizations are unable to fill positions due to economic limitations and layoffs have become increasingly common.

The Great Resignation

The Great Resignation greatly affected the labor market in the past two years. Employees are focussing on the 5 factors to thrive in today’s professional scenario – retirement, relocation, reconsideration, reshuffling, and reluctance. As stated by the researchers at Harvard Business Review, “Employees are now retiring in huge numbers but aren’t relocating in large numbers; they’re reconsidering their work-life balance and care roles; they’re making localized switches among industries, or reshuffling, rather than exiting the labor market entirely; and, because of pandemic-related fears, they’re demonstrating a reluctance to return to in-person jobs.”

A generational shift in the workforce

Traditional views of recruitment have focused on gaining new hires with a specific set of skills or experience, but the modern workplace is now home to diverse generations. Now that up to five generations coexist in many workplaces, it has put employers in a position to understand the unique perspectives and needs of each to fully leverage their potential.

Can conventional recruiting trends help you cultivate a better workforce? Can they address the current state of recruitment?

NO! Conventional recruiting strategies are no match for what’s to come! One thing is certain: in the upcoming years, most hiring strategies will be shaped by technology.

In a world where technology is driving change and is constantly dynamic, recruiters will ultimately rely on major tech support. In fact, HR recruiters view emerging technology as the option to take over more tedious tasks and leave them time for high-value recruiting activities.

We have taken everything into account when evaluating and predicting the future of recruitment. Here are the best-emerging trends in recruiting for 2023.

1. Recruitment Marketing:

Recruitment Marketing is a blend of strategies and techniques used to promote an employer’s brand to job seekers with the aim of persuading qualified candidates to join the organization; It is also one of the initial phases in the hiring process. With the help of effective marketing strategies, recruiters can locate, attract, and cultivate talented applicants. The candidate will, in essence, be encouraged to apply for job openings at your company based on the way you are marketing your business or the job opportunity.

Tips that will help amplify your recruitment marketing efforts in 2023:

Be specific and measurable with your goals. For eg. Don’t just create a vague goal like ‘increase candidate engagement’. Instead, make this goal measurable and go for “increase qualified applications by 30% within 120 days.”
Create a dedicated recruitment page and ensure that it’s mobile-friendly too. Application experiences that are mobile-friendly have the chance to attract applicants by 11.6 percent.
Draft creative yet clear job descriptions; Convey the core message to the right audience.
Revolve your social media campaigns around the current hirings. Add relevant hashtags in your hiring posts, keep the content fun yet relatable, and add some videos or images for better traction.
Make use of paid social media ads too to boost your brand image. Surely, Organic is a free way to yield conversions but a paid media ad to boost your company image would help you with instant increased reach.

By the end of 2023, successful businesses will utilize recruitment marketing strategies to distribute messages across many channels and expand their talent pipelines.

2. Remote Work and Work Schedule Flexibility

The demand for remote work and hybrid work is on an increase. More than 55% of executives believe that allowing employees to work from home improves business cultures, yet 34% of employees say they would quit their current jobs if their employers forbade them from working remotely. How can the employer combat this?

Working from home and Hybrid are the trends that will shape the future. There’s absolutely no escape! 98% of employees desire the ability to work remotely for at least a few days in a week. Employees today demand more flexible working hours as remote work and other potential office changes continue. Hires will likely be able to choose and adjust their schedules as part of one of the following recruiting trends.

Give your employees the option to create their own schedule as per their flexibility.
Align their OKRs with the company’s goals and ensure the results are more on the greener side with the help of relevant metrics and reports!

3. Onboarding remote employees

Remote employee onboarding has never been easy. Teams now frequently work remotely or in hybrid settings as a result of COVID-19. Many businesses still struggle to provide a satisfactory remote onboarding experience, which leads to high employee churn rates, burnout, and disengaged workers.

To help a new hire settle well into the corporate culture, keen attention must be paid while onboarding remotely from another nation. It’s crucial to set aside time for team members to form real connections. Teams must create opportunities to establish sincere, reliable relationships because there are no “water cooler or physical coffee breaks” to start casual conversations. According to research, the most important factor in determining employee satisfaction is cultural fit. This must be given top priority because it lowers turnover.

The top companies start the onboarding process shortly after receiving an offer. 51% of applicants keep submitting applications even after receiving a job offer. But even before they start working for you, maintaining a solid rapport with them can help lessen their chances of joining another company!

Do:

While onboarding new employees remotely or through an internal portal, it is crucial to invest time in developing strong relationships b/w key team members.
When laying out expectations for new hires, you must be crystal clear yet realistic. For instance, if you expect them to master everything in the first two weeks, they won’t last long.

Don’t:

Set and forget about your new hires. Make sure they understand what to do next and encourage them to check back frequently.
Onboarding should not be confused with orientation. The goal of orientation is to acquaint your new hire with the organization and its culture. Onboarding means that they need to comprehend their duties and follow corporate policies.
Because the employee is “too new,” avoid discussing job promotion and internal mobility. If they don’t believe there is room for growth, they may resign soon.

Diversity and Inclusivity (D&I)

Did you know that over 75% of Gen Z candidates consider the company’s D&I efforts before applying?

Yes, Diversity and Inclusivity are extremely necessary for organizations to foster a collaborative workforce. Diversity brings people from various backgrounds together, showcases a range of opinions, and fosters innovation and creativity. By bringing together different perspectives and experiences, businesses can benefit from the varied worldviews their employees bring to the table. It’s remarkable what the brands can do when they bring people together from all walks of life – genders, cultures, and races.

A company’s success depends on its ability to innovate and develop excellent solutions; therefore, D&I initiatives are required to foster an environment where everyone feels welcomed or can give their best ideas and abilities. You need to have a creative workforce with a wide range of skill sets to accomplish this; Diversity enables the same!

According to a 2016 survey, 47% of millennials actively seek diversity in the workplace. Given how highly valued diversity is by millennials, it should be a top priority for businesses hoping to draw in the best and brightest candidates.

Here are some tips to improve your D&I efforts –

Do:

Post authentic employee testimonials to amplify your D&I efforts. This will help add credibility to your image as an employer. It also gives job seekers the information they need to know how serious you are about D&I.
Make diversity training an option for managers, without being forceful.
Post content showcasing your rich cultural diversity on your social media handles.
Create a dedicated D&I team in your organization and have them engage with community experts regularly; these efforts will act as word of mouth for your employees to spread the word.

Don’t:

Use refined or canned messages only. It won’t be simple for you to stand out among the crowd.
Make unifying message/ mail templates that appeal to all of your target candidates; Create various landing page designs for each of your open positions.

5. Mental Well-being of the Workforce

Increasingly, employers are recognizing that mental well-being is a critical factor when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. In 2023, we anticipate this trend will be escalated as organizations prioritize the mental health of their staff in order to create long-lasting success.

When was the last time you saw your whole workforce in unison, giving their best and on top of all, happy at work? Tough to answer, right?

The pandemic has drastically changed many aspects of everyday life, and one of its lasting effects will be an intensified focus on wellness. According to Oracle’s 2020 AI@Work Study, 84% of people have reportedly felt more stress and/or anxiety at work than ever before; Almost 85% of those polled (refer to the study), have problems with mental health at work that in return has a detrimental impact on their personal lives.

Because of this, 2022 marked the start of the implementation or evaluation of mental health policies across organizations. Employee well-being apps, surveys, and training are bound to increase in number in 2023.

6. Employer branding and reputation

Another important HR trend for 2023 that every company should be aware of is employer branding. Why? Well, would you go to a restaurant without checking what its bestsellers are, or its customer reviews? A big No. Right?

Here, the situation holds even more criticality! Any candidate applying for a job, he/she researches the reputation and brand of the employer. In fact, according to Glassdoor, 67% of men and 86% of women in the US said they wouldn’t work for a firm with a bad repo.

This is the reason why employers are now starting to understand how important it is to maintain or grow their brand image. Future candidates will want to work with a recognized organization, just like clients do. Here, portraying your firm’s credibility is of sheer importance, especially by showcasing and adapting the ‘PEOPLE-FIRST’ approach!

7. Modernizing the Employment Experience (EX)

Reinventing the employee experience is another crucial theme identified in the recruiting trends. Companies that focus on employee engagement will outperform their rivals in terms of revenue growth by four fold. Considering how difficult it is to keep employees connected and interested in the new remote environment, the recruiters will need to revamp the EX.

Investing in new digital productivity tools is a great way to improve employee engagement. Studies show that having access to quality tech tools helps staff feel more efficient and ultimately more invested in their work. With the ability to monitor workflow processes, send messages quickly, and automate mundane tasks, employees have time to focus on creative problem-solving. The improved fluidity in communication and performance can result in increased work satisfaction which encourages team morale and job retention.

Another excellent way to keep your employees engaged or more productive is by introducing gamification in the workplace. Without face-to-face communication, employees run the risk of feeling lonely, disengaged, and bored. Gamification is among the finest ways to maintain your employee interaction. As per a study, ninety percent of new workers show increased interest at work when gamification becomes a part of their work routine.

A few gamification strategies that can come in handy are:

Turn your learning content into games – Allow your employees to recapitulate the content they have learned immediately, to keep them engaged and make learning innovative; engage them in quizzes that maintain the competitive streak and introduce a rewards-based system too; You can set a cash incentive or coupons for the best performer and soon you’ll see people looking forward to the next quiz and engaging increasingly.
Leaderboards- Leaderboards are a powerful gamification tool to engage your employees/ learners. Games like Candy Crush, Pet Rescue Saga, etc., wouldn’t be as half as addictive if there were no leaderboards present to compete with friends and family. Introduce leaderboards/ scoreboards to provide your employees with a sense of achievement.
Mind Maps: Mind maps are extremely powerful as they help you focus only on the critical factors of a plan and visualize your strategy like in a game of chess. This strategy is extremely enjoyable and stimulating. Mind maps can help your employees understand the full picture of company goals and see how they fit in.

9. Combat Presenteeism

Presenteeism, in its broadest sense, is when an employee is sick, injured, or mentally stressed and still shows up at work. Though it may appear to demonstrate a strong work ethic and dedication to the job, it can actually have negative impacts both on the employee and the employer.

Based on a survey, 4 in every 5 HR manager believe that remote workers feel pressured to be online or available all the time. The most plausible explanation is that 86% of workers believe they must convince their supervisors that they are devoted and deserving of their jobs. Sadly, this can lead to burnout and despair or even absenteeism!

This calls for measures that deal with the problem that presenteeism. The year 2023 will witness employers introducing engaging processes to ensure that workers are not overworked and worn out, whether working remotely or at the office.

Tips to combat Presenteeism:

Offer flexible working schedules.
Give employees regular time off.
Promote wellness and health culture!
Encourage open door policy for your employees.
Conduct regular staff surveys.
Give enough sick leaves.

10. Finding resilient candidates

The epidemic, economic crisis, and social upheavals of 2022 have shown that resilience is a crucial attribute for any condition in life. Because these traits make a candidate resilient under stressful situations, recruiters should look for the same trait in candidates during the recruitment process. You can use the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) test to test the candidate’s resilience or personality type.

11. Rise in HR Tech

All throughout the world, hiring managers claim they want to accomplish more with fewer employees.

Technology is being used by hiring teams to streamline their process. A hiring team can see great productivity with the right technological solution, and because they can monitor their performance, they will be able to tell what their actual progress is!

Companies today are moving away from having separate systems for different aspects of their businesses. They are more inclined towards adopting an interconnected ecosystem for their leading products.

What’s an ideal HR tech solution?
An ideal HR tech solution is one that is more suited to customized business needs and allows its users to interact effortlessly. They are not intended to take the place of hiring teams but only assist businesses in making better hiring decisions by cutting down on search time. HR software with AI features, chatbots and candidate screening tools, video conferencing tool, I-9 verification, and employment eligibility verification features – is the top preference!

Should your Recruiting Be Geared Toward Younger Generations?

The largest workforce is already made up of millennials, and GenZ is quickly catching up to its slightly older counterparts. The youth will soon overtake the older generations as the dominant generation in the workforce, therefore recruiters will need to modify their recruitment techniques and campaigns to appeal to these two groups simultaneously.

Parting Thoughts…

Never assume that recruitment will be a cakewalk in 2023. However, we expect it to be somewhat easy going compared to 2022. In order to overcome the challenges of the previous year, you must adhere to the most recent trends in hiring. By increasing productivity, adapting a suitable HR tech solution, and getting rid of undesirable hires, your complete hiring process will be streamlined and optimized.