Six Important Talent Acquisition Trends in 2021

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If you find it challenging to find the right talent, you’re not alone.

According to a survey of 40,000 employers conducted by Manpower Group, 45% of employers say that they can’t currently find the workers with the skills they need.

This statistic means that there’s more competition than ever before when it comes to attracting and retaining highly-qualified candidates. That competition is just one factor changing the landscape of talent acquisition – technology and changing attitudes towards labour are also playing their part.

If you’re going to attract and retain the best talent in 2021, you’ll need to keep on top of the latest trends. Let’s dig deeper into six unmissable 2021 talent acquisition trends.

2021 Talent Acquisition Trends

These are the six most prominent 2021 talent acquisition trends, but we’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions too. Be sure to let us know if there’s another trend that you’re particularly excited about in 2021.

1. More companies will adopt cutting-edge talent acquisition technology

There’s no question that as we enter the brave new world of Recruitment 4.0, technology is transforming the very notion of talent acquisition.

Advancements to AI mean that HR departments can use cutting-edge talent acquisition technology to level-up their performance and find the right candidates. As talent acquisition platforms continue to mature throughout 2021, we can expect to see HR departments use them to:

  • Reduce unconscious bias
  • Automate time-consuming and repetitive activities
  • Pinpoint the best candidates from within a talent pool
  • Effortlessly increase hiring volume
  • Auto-screen candidates

We’re excited to see how companies continue to make the most of talent acquisition technology and how those platforms will enhance the performance of HR professionals.

2. Businesses will focus on mentoring and training to retain talent

According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), those companies that offer comprehensive training programmes enjoy a 218% higher income per employee.

Top candidates also expect to receive training: 87% of Millennial employees state that career growth opportunities are an essential factor when deciding whether to remain at a company.

Over the course of 2021, we’ll be sure to see more businesses invest in robust mentoring and training programmes to attract top talent. Those mentoring and training programs can help businesses to get the most from their team members while also fostering a sense of loyalty and belonging.

3. Remote Work

If 2020 was the year that remote work became the norm, 2021 is sure to be the year that candidates expect it. It’s fair to say that with many businesses working from home for a large part of the last year, workers have proven that for many industries business can carry on, as usual, no matter where they are. While there have been hundreds of stories about the death of the office, no workplace will expect to shut down its base entirely as there are some huge advantages of all being able to work together in the same space. However, candidates will expect a level of flexibility in their future workplace, and for many, it could be a deciding factor in whether they accept a job. Not only will remote working help you to attract top talent, but it will also widen the available talent pool as you’re no longer limited to a commutable area. If the possibility of remote work hasn’t been factored into your recruitment strategy for 2021, it’s time to ensure it is.

3. Ambitious companies will invest heavily in employer branding to attract top talent, reduce costs and enhance engagement

Employer branding sounds fancy, but as we know, it merely refers to a company’s reputation as an employer.

Given that it’s so difficult for companies to attract the best talent at the moment, they must invest in employer branding to stand out from the competition and entice the most sought after candidates.

TalentNow found that 84% of job seekers say the reputation of a business as a potential employer is crucial to them when making decisions.

Over the course of 2021, we’re confident that more companies will invest in employer branding to attract the best talent. We’ll see lots of companies take a combination of the following steps:

  • Audit their existing employer brand
  • Define a strong employee value proposition
  • Craft a definite and clear culture
  • Manage their online reputation
  • Encourage employees to become energetic advocates

Are you looking for an innovative and effective way to boost your employer brand in 2020? We have three words for you: corporate alumni network.

For more information, please read our guide on why building a corporate alumni network makes sense for your business.

4. Workplaces will become more diverse (and prosper for it)

By now, countless studies have demonstrated that diverse workplaces benefit from increased creativity, different perspectives, higher innovation and much more.

This is why achieving true workplace diversity has become an essential goal for businesses in recent years. HR departments around the world now place a strong emphasis on assembling diverse teams that include people with different characteristics.

Over the course of 2021, we’ll continue to see ambitious HR departments bring together a range of diverse candidates. Those departments will use several vital techniques to promote and manage diversity in the workplace.

Here are just some of the principal techniques that HR managers will use:

  • Talent acquisition technology will help mitigate unconscious bias
  • Diversity-friendly workforce policies will accommodate for a range of profiles
  • Mentorship programs will give every team member the chance to advance
  • Clear internal communication will contribute to an open and respectful atmosphere

5. Direct Sourcing & Building Talent Pools

Hiring wasn’t a priority for many in 2020, and while most industries and their employees embraced a new way of working there is no doubt 2021 saw a lesser focus on recruiting for new positions due to uncertainty and budget constraints. When the pandemic hit organisations and their service providers looked towards Direct Sourcing and building talent pools to reduce the cost of the search.  A talent pool is a collection of candidates who are passionate about your brand and want to work for you. By using keep warm strategies like email attraction campaigns, you can keep these candidates interested in your business until a role becomes available. In 2021, if hiring still isn’t a realistic prospect, building a curated talent pool could be.

6. Businesses will offer competitive perks to secure the best talent

When it comes to the dynamics surrounding talent acquisition, the ball is most certainly in the court of talented and in-demand candidates. If you’re going to attract them to your business, you’ll need to offer a suite of competitive perks.

Nowadays, those candidates expect their salaries to be complemented by a range of non-monetary benefits that keep them happy and engaged. 48% of candidates weigh benefits and perks when deciding on their next role.

We expect that over the course of 2021, businesses will revise the suite of perks that they offer to attract top talent. Here are just some of the most sought after perks that you can use to sweeten the deal:

  • Private insurance
  • Performance bonuses
  • Flexible schedules
  • Employee development programs
  • Gym memberships
  • Stock options
  • Employee discounts

Unlock the Power of AI-Driven Talent Intelligence with Elevate Direct

Are you ready to leverage the power of AI in 2021 to build an instantly qualified pipeline of talent? Learn more about how the Elevate Platform can help you to retain, engage and attract the best talent for your organisation.

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The Benefits of a Curated Talent Pool

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What is Talent Curation? | Finding and engaging top talent quickly and efficiently is the number one goal when companies hire; this is even more important when it comes to contingent workers. 

Direct sourcing and talent pools have become the go-to strategy for companies looking to find talent quickly and efficiently while reducing the overall cost of search. Direct sourcing is about leveraging a company’s high-quality brand to attract, curate, and engage with talent. Like all sources of talent, there is a lot of focus on talent attraction ” top of the funnel ” and not enough on talent pool curation.

What is talent curation?

Curation is a combination of many key elements, both human and automation;

  • Matching of skill sets and experience for unbiased hiring decisions.
  • Proactive talent pool building with the necessary skills to meet the hiring needs of today and tomorrow.
  • Using personalisation to nurture and engaging candidates in your talent pool.
  • Skills assessment and testing to ensure quality.
  • Thorough screening and interviews to validate the perfect fit

Curation is strategic, precise, and tailored by role, industry, and skill and immediately provides value to the hiring company. Direct sourcing platforms like Elevate uses powerful Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies that empower organisations and their service providers to understand the skills to deliver a curated shortlist of qualified candidates.

What is the value of curation for the hiring company? 

Curation provides immediate and quantifiable value to the organisation;

  • Time to fill is drastically reduced.
  • Candidate quality is dramatically improved, and the hiring ratio is typically 3x better.

Benefits to the candidate

Talent curation is being proactive rather than reactive and at the heart of it all is the candidate. A highly personalised positive experience creates a higher chance to re-engage for future work opportunities and more referrals of other high-quality candidates.

Having the right combination of human and technology automation is a must for any direct sourcing program to succeed. Without both, you will not reap the obvious benefits of a curated talent pool.

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Elevate Scoring Engine 2.1

As you know we introduced the all-new checklist feature at the end of last month: Elevate Scoring Engine 2.0

Thank you again to everyone who has taken the time to give us their feedback on 2.0 it has been very helpful and we are delighted you are seeing the benefits of the changes in your everyday workflow.

Time for some more great advances in our Scoring Engine. Read all about our latest release below.

What will you notice?

  1. Improved Relevance Tab

The main changes will be to the Relevance tab, where now we have a colourful interactive timeline view. The Relevance Tab gives a quick overview of the Candidate’s relevant work experience. This way, very quickly and easily, you can determine whether they have the required years of relevant work experience.

  • Consolidated View – now you can view Experience, Industry Relevance and Skill Groups under one tab. This saves time, as you don’t need to switch tabs and gives a more rounded view of the Candidate’s overall relevant work experience.
  • Colour Coded – simple understanding of candidate related to the requirements set: green – requirements met; red – requirements not met; grey – unclear work history description.
  • Hover Over Text box – which pops up if you hover over a timeline row with more details and the option to click for a full description of the select piece of work experience

You can also switch between the new look and the previous Grid view. We want to give the option for you to be able to choose which one you prefer:

We also have a new way to highlight relevant work experience. Click on Highlight Usage in the hover over the box on a Skill Group graph. This will open up a new window with the full work experience with the relevant sentences highlighted for your convenience. You can also choose to view ONLY the highlighted text.

You can find some beneficial help articles on our Help Centre on Candidate – Relevance and Skills.

  1. Send Vacancy to Selected Candidates

Now you send recommendations to selected candidates under the Profile Search tool!

Do you have a niche role that is hard to fill? No problem! Even if applicants are coming in slowly, you can do your own search on the platform. Elevate has tens of thousands of active contractors profiles that you can browse to find a good match. Using Profile Search, you can find the right fit for your vacancy!

See more details on how to do this in this help document: Sending Recommendations to Selected Profiles.

Find useful tips and tricks on using the Profile Search tool in this guide: Profile Search: how to search for potential candidates.

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