Many people decide to look for a new job in the New Year, and now that we are well into 2023 there are plenty of trends gathering momentum in recruitment for the year ahead. So if you are currently hiring, or simply want to make sure you retain existing staff, here is a look at some of the things to get right (and avoid) in 2023.
Improving candidate experience
They say first impressions count and that certainly goes for welcoming someone onto your team. In a competitive jobs market, you need to get this right before candidates even apply (through employer branding, see below), let alone come the induction for successful candidates.
How well and when you communicate to candidates may all be weighed up against the impression created by other employers they are talking to. If you give off the wrong vibes you may find it difficult to fill your roles with the right people.
Beware of ghosting
An import from the realm of online dating, one in ten professionals in the UK confess to having ghosted an employer – that’s according to a recent survey by a recruitment firm. Ghosting is when one party suddenly stops communicating with the other, seemingly vanishing in a digital world.
In recruitment, it could be sparked by not getting the candidate experience right – something to look at if you find yourself ghosted a lot. It could, though, be nothing to do with you and just be poor manners from a candidate. In the latter case, you may consider it a lucky escape. If they think this is acceptable behaviour, you would probably rather not bring them into your team anyway, no matter how talented they are.
Assess your employer brand
Employer brand may be something you already nurture, or a term you shudder at the very mention of. However, whether you engage with your employer brand or not, you do have one – it is how prospective and current staff perceive working within your business.
It’s 2023, and more and more organisations are giving thought to their employer brand. You may once have been set apart from the crowd positively if you put energy into developing an employer brand. Soon you may stand out as an employer to be avoided if you have not.
Automation in recruitment
Chat GPT has caused a stir in the world of AI and automation in 2023, but techy tools have been playing a role in recruitment for some time already. There are platforms which use AI and algorithms to automate the time-consuming initial stages of recruitment, including advertising, marketing, screening, assessment and notifications, which you may find useful.
As an SME owner, though, you will still likely want to maintain a strong personal element as you go deeper into the recruitment process.
Flexible roles
Everyone is well aware of the shift towards flexible working. This is likely to be driven forwards in 2023 by new legislation expanding workers’ rights to request it (although you will still have a right to say no if it does not work in your business).
Also worth considering is the continued rise of the gig economy, which may also see workers embracing the chance to have more than one source of work – giving them better income and stability. This may be something you have to accept in order to get the best candidates for your roles.
More of Generation Z joining the workforce
Whether you buy into arbitrary generational divides or not, it is worth factoring in that more of so-called Generation Z will be entering the workforce. These young recruits will bring new skills – their cohort is the first that are pure digital natives (they do not know a world before the Internet) – and shifting cultural views and values.
Think about how you will appeal to them as an organisation and how they will fit in alongside older colleagues to ensure you get the most out of everyone in your team.
Help with recruitment and retention
If any of these trends have you thinking that you would like to review your recruitment and retention strategies, please get in touch with your local HR Dept office. We can help you harness the latest ideas to ensure you stay a relevant and desirable employer.
