Our relationship to work has undergone profound changes and the future of Talent Acquisition will follow suit. Investments in digital transformation, the growth of freelance work, and the advent of a global pandemic have forced companies to become borderless, remote, and adapt to new issues imposed by digital technology. These circumstances have created increased talent needs, emerging skills and competitive challenges.
Companies need to change the way theyattract and retain talent if they want to remain competitive in their recruiting. In this article, we will cover the four trends that will shape the future of talent acquisition.
Telecommuting, freelance and international talent
Telecommuting will become essential
Companies had not waited for the COVID-19 containment to start telecommuting and being dispersed around the globe. Many multinationals were already operating with numerous branches in different countries and time zones.
But since the pandemic, many have redefined how they manage their teams. Airbnb, for example, announced in April 2022 that its employees will be able to telecommute 100%.
Today, the best talent is not just down the street. With the normalization of telecommuting (both culturally and technologically), it's becoming more interesting to look for talent all over the world, whether they're employees or freelancers.
This new way of working will change the soft skills that are essential to the performance of employees and to maintaining team cohesion.
We will be looking for people who master: communication, autonomy, responsibility, motivation, team player, flexibility, etc. The role of manager will be redefined and it will be important to accompany this transition so that they find meaning in a different way.
Freelancers, partners in Talent Acquisition
In the future of Talent Acquisition, freelancers will become strategic resources for companies looking for responsiveness, speed and agility. Freelancers work independently, remotely, and require much less onboarding than their employees. Moreover, they understand the importance of being autonomous and motivated because their business depends on it.
As more and more people turn to freelance status, companies will have more choices when choosing the source of their non-salaried talent.
The number of freelancers has increased by more than 92% between 2009 and 2020 according to a study by Eurostat.
Digital skills in short supply
New and fast-moving professions
The economy is becoming more and more digital. Companies will need specialized digital skills , in different sectors and technological environments, and with the ability to imagine new innovations.
They will need skills in the following areas:
- Data science and analytics
- Digital marketing
- Management of digital projects
- Product management
- Social networks
When the Talent Acquisition Manager wants to plan his recruitments, he must keep in mind that the pool of candidates has shrunk. Many experienced and highly competent employees have left their permanent contracts to join the ranks of freelancers without wanting to become employees again.
A Talent Acquisition strategy that must adapt
The Great Resignation has been accompanied by a significant increase in self-employed entrepreneurs in France. The creation of micro-enterprises exploded between 2020 and 2021, they represented 60% of the businesses created in the first quarter.
It is more than ever time to innovate in order to better recruit.
These specialized profiles will become ultra-qualified and highly sought after. Freelancers who already have their clientele tend to be passive in their search for work. They use their personal network, word-of-mouth and co-optation to get new contracts.
The challenge for recruiters will be to successfully identify them. Most freelancers are not active on social networks like LinkedIn. They simply don't have the time or the need to be there.
In the future of Talent Acquisition, it will be as important to look for freelancers and freelancers as it is to look for employees. With more and more talent interested in the flexibility of being self-employed, most of the best talent will be available in the freelance market.
Talent Acquisition, a strategic growth lever for the company
Recruitment, a partner of the CoDir
The role of the recruiter is changing rapidly. Startups have initiated a redefinition of the recruitment function. In these structures, where the massive and rapid recruitment of rare and sought-after skills is vital for the survival and success of the company, the concept of Talent Acquisition was born, giving the Talent Acquisition Manager total autonomy in the organization of recruitment.
This trend will continue. SMEs and SMBs do not share the urgency that characterizes startup recruitment, but they are experiencing the same skills shortage.
Recruiters will have to act as close as possible to the CoDir to be partners in the company's strategy. As values and meaning in the workplace become more and more important, the culture of the company itself will have to be a strategic choice to attract the right people.
We are already seeing this phenomenon in young companies that are obliged to play the social network game if they want to attract vital skills.
Digital technologies have accelerated and many of today's jobs did not exist 15 years ago. This makes it impossible to find certain talent under the age of 40. It's easy to see why it's so important for companies to be visible to the younger generation.
GPEC, a lever for growth
The GPEC (Gestion Prévisionnelle des Emplois et des Compétences) is crucial to the success of tomorrow's recruitments. It is mandatory for companies with more than 300 employees, but all companies should have a talent planning system.
Talent Acquisition Managers should implement a system that:
- Measures the current internal talent pool and estimates future needs
- Identifies skill gaps
- Identifies the skills needed to ensure the company's growth and success
- Is able to choose between hiring a new person, using a freelancer, or upgrading employees' skills
- 5. Monitor and measure talent shortages in the labor market
It is important to avoid outsourcing roles where the skills developed will be absolutely vital to the future of the company.
For example, founders who want to develop a new product will hire a freelancer to create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) if they cannot do it themselves.
Let's imagine two people specializing in the medical field who have the idea of creating a machine for laboratories. They are doctors, not developers or mechanical engineers. The temptation is great to hire a freelancer because they will be able to stop the contract and reduce the fixed costs if they don't find investors.
But it is necessary to internalize these skills as soon as possible, otherwise the company will find itself technologically dependent on an external party who can leave overnight.
The ability of companies to build a network of talent will be important. Being able to quickly recruit specialized profiles will be a real competitive advantage. Talent Acquisition Managers will have to develop a network and implement talent nurturing.
More and more companies are already launching their talent communities.
New technologies, a competitive advantage in recruitment
Technology watch and optimization
Most recruiters already rely on a large number of digital tools to find and assess candidates. But their technical stack is now insufficient.
The recruiting process is not very optimized. We still often see career sites that ask talent to rewrite the resume they send in. Interviews are time consuming. Not to mention the hours spent sorting through resumes on job boards and incoming applications. The format of the CV itself is the subject of much criticism.
In a world where technology has simplified many repetitive tasks, it often seems that the room for improvement in Talent Acquisition is enormous.
According to LinkedIn's Future of Recruiting report, the tools that would have the biggest impact on the recruiting process would be:
- Tools for finding and engaging candidates - 68%.
- Soft skills assessment - 60%.
- Tools to analyze the job market - 54%.
- Video interviews (synchronous and asynchronous) - 53
- CRMs / Databases - 51
When evaluating new technologies, one of the key benefits to keep in mind is efficiency. Will this new tool save the Talent Acquisition team time, quickly triage unsuccessful candidates, and move directly to the best ones?
Whether you're looking for a platform to optimize your search or asynchronous video tools to speed up your interviews, the tool's potential to improve your efficiency is the number one criteria.
In order to measure it, you need to set up a recruitment funnel and indicators at each stage.
Here are some KPIs to implement:
- Sourcing: origin of applications
- From sourcing to hiring: cost of recruitment, duration of the recruitment process
- From Assessment to Hiring: Time to Hire
- Hiring: acceptance rate of proposals
- Retention: turnover rate, level of employee satisfaction, rate of internal training
To succeed in an increasingly remote and digital environment, Talent Acquisition Managers will need to anticipate skill shortages and recruit IT-savvy employees. The evaluation of soft skills will be a determining factor in guaranteeing the development of employees, their productivity and therefore their loyalty. Let's not forget the resilience of managers, a must do & a must have.
To do this, recruiters will become strategic partners of company management. They will take part in the constitution of an HR technical stack to optimize the recruitment process and offer the best candidate experience in an ultra-penurized job market.
The ability of companies to listen to the recommendations of Talent Acquisition Managers will be key to achieving their goals and remaining competitive. They will have to be open to finding new recruitment solutions.
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