As industries experience a “battle-for-talent†during this time of growth, organizations must learn to differentiate themselves in the recruitment process. In this article, Thomas Seelbinder, head of customer success and product, Model Match, explains why companies should deploy modern sourcing tools and technologies to hire the right candidates.
As the world begins to slowly reopen, many industries are experiencing a “battle-for-talent†phenomenon like no other. This is due in part to mass rehiring after mass layoffs and the shift to remote work. Depending on one’s perspective, this is either a blessing or a curse for those tasked with finding the needle in the haystack.
According to Monster’s 2021 Future of Work reportOpens a new window , 8 in 10 employers surveyed say they are planning to hire in 2021 to support growth via strategic recruitment. But finding and retaining top talent is becoming increasingly challenging at every level, from pre-screening to virtual interviews. Add to this the fact that remote work is becoming widely embraced by companies of all sizes, particularly those that experienced an increase rather than decrease in productivity during COVID-19 lockdowns. In many ways, this puts candidates in the driver’s seat. On the other hand, there’s a deeper, richer pool of talent that organizations now have access to, so long as they know how to reach them.
Seasoned recruiters understand the importance of finding the right candidate for the organization and the role. Among the long list of factors that are considered, being a cultural fit still ranks high on the list. With hybrid and open remote positions taking job boards by storm, this is becoming ever more difficult to assess. Organizations are having to deploy smarter sourcing initiatives and drastically personalize their engagement to stay above water.
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Right now, with the housing market heated up to a boil, recruiters in the mortgage industry, as an example, are navigating not just a challenging environment but an extremely competitive one, where attracting the right people to join their team requires agile thinking and a deep dose of patience.    This is something this industry is not all that familiar with, as adapting to new technology has taken a back seat in previous years. Many recruiters, even those      tasked with managing large regions, have been relying on outdated tools to try to help keep themselves organized. In many environments, these tools have the potential to make their jobs harder, and, as a result, recruiters can burn out and miss opportunities. However, in today’s day and age, organizations are being forced to change and do so rapidly.
Forward-thinking organizations are beginning to adopt a more modern process. They     are positioning their talent acquisition teams to think more strategically and provide them with the tools to help them elevate their efforts. Through technology, these teams can source, attract and stay completely in      sync with their candidates faster than ever.
Key Abilities Recruiters Should Look For in a Sourcing Platform
There are a plethora of SaaS platforms available in the market today, but many are simply replicas of the old tools that can stifle progress and efficiency. To make matters worse, many of these platforms lack the support of their own organizations. They might still be getting up to speed and require coaching and a more consultative approach. To avoid the frustration of trial and error, recruiters should look for platforms with the ability to do the following:
- Provide direct insight into your market and help you get you in front of those best matched to your needs.
- Integrate with your existing tech stack. All-in-one solutions typically leave much to be desired and draw out Time to Value (TTV).
- Quickly onboard new team members and unify existing ones.
- Draw deep insight into the activity and efforts of your team to help you better forecast  and pivot at the most crucial times.
- Create a collaborative space where information is shared across your entire team.
- Build a strong culture of advocacy so that you know your feedback is heard.
For any recruitment software company, it’s integral to build out a platform with its end-users in mind and incorporate customer feedback in the development and betterment of the product. As the head of customer success and product, I know firsthand that the customer experience is everything, and without it, you lack the ability to scale along with your partners. In fact, my team has recently announced a new integration feature for our recruitment SaaS product, which is now enabling users to connect with their prospects in a more personalized and efficient way by creating precise and targeted conversations at scale. We made this decision from our own personal recruitment experiences. Our internal team of recruitment experts found that candidates want to be contacted by companies in a more personalized way, and we made it happen for our customers.
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As automated technologies continue to revolutionize all aspects of business, the future of recruiting holds tremendous promise and potential, but it is still the human touch that will provide the competitive edge. When a recruiter is empowered with state-of-the-art tools, they have the insight they need to make more impactful decisions for the future and the hindsight to recognize where their resources and time are being spent and where they may need to pivot.
As the modern workplace and workforce continue to evolve, both businesses and candidates are entering the great unknown. While new technologies may not be able to predict the future, they can offer a level of predictability that takes most of the guesswork out of the recruiting process.