Recruiting in a candidate-controlled market

Last week, I wrote about the impending “great resignation,” in which upwards of 40% of American workers are projected to leave their current positions. This will pose a daunting challenge to recruiters at companies of all sizes and in all industries. A year ago, it was an employer’s market. The power dynamic has done a complete 180; we are now in a situation in which there are more open roles than candidates. Employers should consider this a preview of what is to come.

I have long said that corporate recruiting is a broken process. Nowhere is this more apparent than when companies are trying to hire but just can’t seem to find the right people. Hiring managers and recruiters will need to take a long, hard look at their processes and work to fix these fractured systems. What needs to happen, at a high level, is a shift in thinking. The old ways of recruiting talent are not going to work in this new world order. Employers need to adapt or cede their competitive positions to those organizations that are agile and fluid. Specifically, the recruiting process could be improved with the following shifts:

Court candidates. People you are interviewing are not doing you a favor. They are talking to you so that they can decide if working with you is going to be to their benefit. They have other options, and right now, they have many other options. You need to sell job candidates on the role and the company.

Be upfront about compensation. Can we please stop pretending that people go to work for reasons primarily unrelated to earning a living? Absurd. Dancing around the compensation issue will put you at a disadvantage, and it does nothing to help you source the talent you seek. The salary range should be shared with the candidate during the initial screening call in a perfect world. This would save everyone a lot of time. 

Communicate with candidates. I cannot tell you how frequently I hear some version of this: I went through 2 rounds of interviews and then never heard anything back. Hiring managers and recruiters alike are guilty of this. If someone extends you the courtesy of interviewing for a position at your organization, the least you can do is answer them when they ask you where things stand. If they are no longer under consideration, tell them that. They can handle it. Don’t simply ghost them.

Be respectful of their time. I just heard from a client who interviewed with 12 different people at one company, only to be told that the priorities for the job had changed and that she was no longer under consideration. Figure it out upfront. Candidates aren’t your beta test subjects.

Tighten up the process. Job seekers sometimes spend months talking with companies about a role. This is unacceptable. If an employer cannot make a hiring decision in a timely fashion, it reflects poorly on them and says to candidates, “We don’t value you.” 

Make your application process easy. Overly complicated applications do one thing: repel talent. If you require candidates to create an account, duplicate the information on a resume, or answer long-form questions like “Why do you want to work here,” people will not complete the process and leave.    

Companies that wish to be employers of choice will need to up their game immediately in preparation for the future. Employers that are proactive and go out of their way to source great talent will reap the benefits, while those that maintain an outdated mindset will flail.