Do you want to be able to recruit successfully in 2023? Then it’s not just down to having the right set of in-house recruiters, but also how you organize the process. In the current labour market, it appears as if crisis and panic are the constant variables. But if nothing is certain anymore, let recruitment be the oasis of peace, since it is the best-equipped field that knows how to deal with constant uncertainty. My ten predictions for 2023 are just about that. It’s about whether you need to set up a professional recruitment apparatus, whether you’ve got an agency or corporate background.Â
Read the first trends article here,
and the second trends article here.
#7. SWAT teams and black hole recruitment
Even with such a scarce supply of candidates, employers and agencies still lose many quality candidates in the process. From silver medalists to people who are still waiting for a job interview or rejection they should have received weeks ago. I dare to say that today more candidates still disappear into the vast array of darkness that are (internal) procedures than those that are actually hired or offered a job. Welcome to the era of black hole recruitment, for which I have a couple of suggestions.
I dare to say that today more candidates still disappear into the vast array of darkness that are (internal) procedures than those that are actually hired or offered a job.
If you value your applicants, every applicant and candidate should have a dedicated recruiter assigned to them within 24 hours. If that doesn’t happen, the candidate goes to the recruitment SWAT team, a group that immediately takes over if and when the recruiter responsible for that candidate doesn’t do anything within the first full day. That team can offer non-placed or rejected candidates an alternative within the same organisation, or at other companies — agencies, for example.
In the Netherlands, Alliander has a special RTR-team for recruitment, training and retention. Broadly speaking, these teams look at different ways to attract, retrain and retain talented people for the organisation. Because if someone no longer fits on one side of the organisation, that doesn’t say anything about a potential fit on the other side. In other words: it would be a huge shame if they were lost. I think it’s brilliant.
#8. Lead the way in decency
In the coming years, the pressure on recruitment practices to be decent will increase. From 2025, temporary employment agencies must be certified in Europe. The EU is also preparing for much more transparency, fairness and equal pay. The city of New York and some states in America already demand that a salary range be mentioned in vacancies, Google for Jobs also ‘forces’ the market in that direction, SmartRecruiters has been advocating for more equality in the process for years and Adzuna recently started a worldwide petition for salary transparency.
While we can’t yet speak of any enforcement or regulation — the only right thing to do is to take flight and lead the way in decency.
It’s clearly trending in the right direction, but with the vast majority of the market (MSPs, RPOs, headhunters, payrollers and corporates) still seemingly getting off the hook. While we can’t yet speak of any enforcement or regulation — the only right thing to do is to take flight and lead the way in decency. Being transparent about salary, embracing something like the Recruiter Code (or your local version) and charging decent rates when mediating freelancers and temporary workers. A mutual anti-recruitment clause is also crucial in this regard. This could mean that agencies, at companies for which they mediate, may not mediate employees within a period of 2 to 3 years, in order to prevent ‘hollowing out’ of organisations.
#9. Make recruitment fun
Just as a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day, successful recruiting has little to do with chance or luck. Successful recruitment is the result of a good data-driven process and excellent employer- and leadership. To align recruitment with success, you must also make recruitment fun. It is therefore essential that the workload is manageable. As a guideline, a workload of 10 to 12 active vacancies per recruiter seems fair, just so that recruiters can actually focus on the tasks at hand.
No new tools or systems, but a manageable workload is a first step towards happiness at work and building recruitment success.
That number may not seem like much, but at the end of the year you’ve got an opportunity to make more than 60% more hires, because the turnaround time and percentage of filled vacancies are much higher. And the chance that you have failed as a recruiter is much smaller. No new tools or systems, but a manageable workload is a first step towards happiness at work and building recruitment success. In addition, I think that every recruiter should — in any case — have had extensive internal or external training in the field of recruitment, labour market communication and/or sourcing. And at least have a basic understanding of Excel.
#10. Be the designated person for the unpredictable
About 5 years ago, recruiters barely used WhatsApp, while this was app used most by candidates. After after all, we treated it as the private domain of candidates, or that was the reasoning behind it for many people. That has now changed considerably. And the candidates seem to appreciate it. If recruiting through old-fashioned and traditional procedures, guidelines, rituals, customs and protocols is not always easy, we should not be surprised. I’m not saying you should throw your organisation’s values overboard (never do that!), but keeping up with the times is essential.
Having someone in place who can thrive on the unpredictable and is able to inspire those around them gives you the best chance of realising any type of employer impact.
Recruiters who often complain about hiring managers and internal procedures have also become part of ‘the system’. That’s why it’s important to have someone on the team who is the designated out-of-the-box-thinker. Someone who thinks and acts differently. Someone who constantly looks for innovation in processes and challenges authority. Having someone in place who can thrive on the unpredictable and is able to inspire those around them gives you the best chance of realising any type of employer impact. I would happily apply for such a position, although I think I will stay with Intelligence Group for a while. Good luck in 2023!
Want to read all the trends?
This article is part of a three-part series written by Geert-Jan Waasdorp, the CEO and founder of Intelligence Group, the European market leader in talent intelligence. Part 1 is available here, and part 2 is available here.Â
