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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Here Are Five Unmissable 2020 Talent Acquisition Trends

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 2020, you’ll need to keep on top of the latest trends. Let’s dig deeper into five unmissable 2020 talent acquisition trends.

2020 Talent Acquisition Trends

These are the five most prominent 2020 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 2020.

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 2020, 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 2020, 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. 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 2020, 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 2020, 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. 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 2020, 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 2020 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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Here’s How AI Enhances The Human Element of Recruitment

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Estimates from Gartner suggest that the business value of artificial intelligence will reach a whopping $3.9 trillion by 2022.

The firm suggests that the majority of this growth will initially be driven by AI’s ability to process large datasets at a blazingly-fast pace and in unique ways. This power continues to open up exciting new possibilities for countless industries.

Recruitment is one of those industries: according to LinkedIn, 76% of recruiters believe that AI will have a somewhat significant impact on our industry.

A subsection of those recruiters wonders whether AI will prove itself as a threat to the recruitment industry. Could machines and unfeeling logic make recruitment less human?

On the contrary, we believe that AI will make recruitment more human than ever before.

Here’s How AI Will Enhance The Human Element in Recruitment

There’s a very high chance that the emergence and proliferation of AI will result in more human-oriented recruitment. Here’s a look at the five ways AI is likely going to enhance the human element:

1. Reduce unconscious bias

Countless studies have shown that diverse workforces are happier, more productive and more innovative. A blend of backgrounds and characters also mean that companies benefit from a potent mixture of skills and experiences.

Unfortunately, unconscious bias in recruitment can make it challenging to cultivate a genuinely diverse workspace. Despite best efforts, the majority of recruitment professionals form unconscious opinions on their candidates based on small amounts of information.

We are social creatures, and we can’t help but demonstrate unconscious biases. Anything from the intonation of a person’s voice to the clothes that they wear will register on some level.

AI is already proving to be a powerful tool in the fight against bias and discrimination, though: several AI-driven technologies can help to surface the most appropriate candidates and assist with blind hiring.

In this sense, AI-driven recruitment is empowering recruiters to eliminate unconscious bias so that they can put together fantastic teams.

2. Free up recruiters’ time

Recruitment professionals often display solid interpersonal skills that they use to put together strong teams. They’ll rely on those abilities to identify future needs, source the right candidates, design job descriptions and much more.

Unfortunately, several repetitive tasks can make it difficult for recruitment professionals to focus on the core job. All too often, recruiters are stuck filing paperwork, fiddling with various job platforms and trying to keep a keen eye on the latest employment laws.

In this sense, AI is a big help. It can take care of repetitive tasks so that recruiters are better able to focus on the human side of their work, resulting in better outcomes for businesses and candidates alike.

3. Personalise learning and development

Companies that offer comprehensive training programs often enjoy a 218% higher income per employee when compared to those businesses that don’t invest in training. Unfortunately, many companies struggle to get the most from training programs. They might find it challenging to get started at all.

Thankfully, AI can offer exciting insights into the skill sets and preferences of candidates, helping businesses to place a strong focus on developing the potential of each employee with catered learning and development courses.

This feature of AI can help recruiters to understand better their candidates and how they might develop in a given role, again emphasising the individual.

4. Increase hiring volume for businesses

According to figures from Workable, the average time to hire is around a month. This will vary, of course, according to factors like the position and region. That’s quite a significant amount of time, though, and it means that recruiters often struggle to fuel their company with quality candidates regularly.

Thankfully, AI can help to expedite the time to hire allowing recruiters access to quality candidates in record time and then do what they do best – work to assess and develop that person’s skill set.

With AI giving recruiters a helping hand, those professionals will find it easier to build large and diverse teams.

5. Drive demand for more human-oriented HR professionals

As we watch AI transform the recruitment industry over the coming years, we’ll be sure to notice how the desired skillsets for recruiters shift. With AI taking care of the repetitive activities and sourcing of quality candidates, we’ll see businesses search for recruiters who have incredibly strong and insightful interpersonal skills.

With AI working away behind the scenes, the spotlight will be firmly on recruiters and their ability to assess the character of their candidates. In this sense, AI will undoubtedly help to bring about the human side of recruitment.

Recruiters will be better able and more free to forge authentic connections with their candidates and help to create more human workplaces.

Unlock the Power of AI-Driven Talent Intelligence with Elevate

Here at Elevate, we’re incredibly excited about the potential of AI to reveal the human side of recruitment. Are you ready to leverage the real power of talent intelligence? Learn more about Elevate AI and how our platform can help you to retain, engage and attract the best talent.

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The Future of Work: Will Jobs Exist in 2050?

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Technological breakthroughs and shifting cultural attitudes towards work mean that these are turbulent yet exciting times for the world of recruitment.

As we find ourselves amidst a sea of change and on the cusp of recruitment 4.0, now is the ideal time to take stock of where we are and try to see where we might be going. This type of exercise can help us all to steady the ship and prepare for the future of work.

What Work Will Look Like in 2050

By now, we’ll all have seen several studies that suggest automation could upend many industries and result in mass unemployment. Those studies offer conflicting numbers, though, and we’ll only see the full impact of automation as it makes itself known.

Whatever the extent of the disruption, we can be confident that jobs will indeed exist in 2050. But what will the labour landscape look like by then?

Together, let’s imagine what the world of work might look like in 2050. We’ll wade through some trends and try to grab some of the highlights. Here are some of the key trends that might define the world of work in 2050:

1. Workers will be selected mainly for their decision-making skills

As automation takes hold and manual labour positions are displaced over the coming years, we’ll see countless businesses scramble to find talented decision-makers.

Those professionals will have the necessary tools and abilities to leverage great sets of data to make critical decisions for those high-tech businesses. The skills and techniques of those professionals will empower them to guide enterprises through new territory with confidence.

Wayne Stottler of Kepner-Tregoe suggests that in the future, the skills and techniques of those specialists will need to be replicated across the broader workforce. This will help businesses to solve several unique and diverse business problems better.

2. Team members will adopt multiple roles

Bernard Marr suggests in his Forbes piece that as we move closer to 2050, we’ll see positions become more fluid within organisations. Strict organisational charts will disappear as project-based teams take the spotlight.

This more fluid structure will help businesses to morph and quickly respond to new challenges that emerge over the coming years.

As the concept of a “job for life” continues to recede into the past, Marr expects that we’ll more frequently see professionals work with a host of businesses as a contractor or freelancer before moving onto another role.

3. Unforeseen jobs and opportunities will emerge

A couple of decades ago, it would have been hard to predict the recent exponential rise of small, labour-intensive services. This yearning for small products and experiences that deliver a personal touch mainly came about as a response to mass production.

Interestingly, this piece by Timothy B. Lee over at Cox explores how automation is making human labour itself a mark of luxury. There’s a good chance that as automation continues to take hold, we’ll see novel trends and professions emerge as a result.

New opportunities will also emerge in light of automation. We can expect for robotics engineers and technicians to be in high demand in the coming years, for instance. Mechatronics – the intersection of electrics, mechanics and computerisation – is an exciting field that is projected to experience serious growth.

4. The volume of manual jobs will waver

As automation takes hold, we can expect several manual roles to be replaced. In its future of work in manufacturing report, Deloitte outlines a number of ways that those roles might be restructured or adjusted as we move forward.

Back in 2016, Dan Collier, Director Of Sales Strategy at Elevate, outlined his thoughts about the future of labour in a roundtable discussion hosted by The Guardian about the future of work.

In the discussion, Dan explained that not everybody could be a “knowledge worker”. This means that there will inevitably be lots of unemployment and a “division between the few jobs that need humans, and those that can be automated.”

The future of work and the displacement of workers is currently a pivotal challenge that we all face. Over in the United States, Andrew Yang is bringing attention to this challenge with his “Freedom Dividend” policy. This universal basic income would aim to provide a foundation to protect against mass unemployment.

5. Corporate alumni networks will become a precious resource

“Job-hopping” used to be perceived negatively by some employers, but it’s now becoming the default for many workers. As automation takes hold and businesses employ project-based teams, we can expect this trend to continue.

With workers dipping in and out of different companies, we predict that many businesses will develop robust corporate alumni networks. Those networks will become a valuable resource for companies that will have to rehire outstanding performers with specific skills.

If you want to learn more about corporate alumni networks, we’ve put together these resources for you:

Prepare for the Future with Elevate Direct

As the nature of work continues to evolve, the recruitment industry will need to adjust in parallel. There are exciting times ahead that will undoubtedly be filled with unique challenges and opportunities for forward-thinking recruitment professionals.

Ready to prepare yourself for whatever comes? Be sure to learn more about Elevate and how our AI-powered talent intelligence can help you keep pace with a shifting recruitment landscape.

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The Contingent Workforce: What Is It, Why Is It Growing and What Are Its Benefits?

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Technology is changing our society at a breakneck pace, and the world of work is also shifting as a consequence. Our opinions, beliefs and even feelings towards work are changing quickly, and this is affecting the very nature of labour.

These changes have given rise to the contingent workforce – a growing group of talented professionals who work with several companies on an on-demand basis.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the contingent workforce and explore the key reasons it is multiplying.

What Is the Contingent Workforce?

The contingent workforce refers to professionals who work with organisations on an on-demand basis. Those professionals are most often freelancers, independent contractors, agency workers and consultants.

Why Is the Contingent Workforce Growing?

A combination of diverse factors is behind the growth of this contingent workforce. If you can understand the motivations behind the different members of the contingent workforce, you’ll be better able to connect with them.

Here are just some of the main contributing factors according to some experts:

Key Contingent Workforce Statistics

Here are some key statistics about the contingent workforce to paint a clearer picture of its impressive growth:

  • The latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that almost five million workers in the UK identify as self-employed.
  • Data from Simply Business found that the UK experienced a 31% annual rise in people looking to go freelance in 2018.
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, contingent workers in the US are twice as likely as non-contingent workers to be 25 or less.

The Power of the Contingent Workforce for Employers

Now that we have a clearer understanding of the contingent workforce and its growth, let’s dive into the key benefits for employers:

1. Cheaper than full-time employees

Every business owner knows just how expensive it can be to hire and retain a full-time employee. There are several significant costs associated with doing so, such as salaries, national insurance contributions, recruitments expenses and much more.

Once a business has made a full-time hire, it has to make a significant commitment to that employee. Replacing an employee is very expensive, which is why it’s so critical businesses make the right decision.

These dynamics mean that it’s often much cheaper for businesses to hire from the contingent workforce. Doing so allows companies to circumvent many of the costs that are traditionally associated with full-time employees.

Members of the contingent workforce will often charge a higher hourly rate, but businesses still make significant savings by working with those professionals.

2. Faster to find and hire

There are a lot of common challenges for companies looking to hire new talent. To begin, they’ll often struggle to attract and engage with the appropriate candidates. They’ll also have to invest a lot of time and attention into cultivating a strong employer brand.

The candidate experience has to be flawless, too, if businesses are going to secure the brightest and most in-demand talent.

These factors mean that it now takes an average of 38 days to fill an open position. That’s not counting all of the time that is required to onboard and train a candidate once they have been hired.

The contingent workforce offers an exciting opportunity for businesses in this respect. Companies can leverage data-driven recruitment tools and platforms to find the talent that they need in a matter of days instead of weeks.

This speed means that businesses can now identify a distinct need and then fulfil it in the same week. This gives those businesses a significant competitive advantage, and if they call upon the contingent workforce accurately, they’ll be able to move their businesses in the right direction.

3. Talented and diverse

Several studies have demonstrated that diverse workplaces enjoy a range of critical advantages. Those workplaces are often more creative, productive and performant, for instance.

Businesses that call upon the contingent workforce for short-term projects get to benefit from a more diverse workforce. Those on-demand professionals will naturally bring a whole new set of attitudes and approaches that can deliver lots of value for businesses.

This regular injection of new talent helps businesses to keep abreast of new developments and even get a glimpse into best practices picked up in other companies. It’s a significant advantage offered by the contingent workforce.

Experience the Power of the Contingent Workforce with Elevate

The contingent workforce is here to stay – are you prepared? Join a number of the world’s leading brands and access Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today.

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Agile Talent Is On the Rise: Here Are Five Reasons Why

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A blend of novel technologies and shifting attitudes towards work mean that the demand for agile talent is soaring. Today, countless businesses seek out agile talent temporarily.

According to figures from a global survey conducted by Staffing Industry Analysts, contingent workers accounted for 20% of workforces in 2017 – a significant leap from 15% in 2014.

In this piece, we’ll take a closer look at the key reasons agile talent is now becoming vital to the success of any growing business.

What Is Agile Talent?

Before we begin to explore the factors driving the popularity of agile talent, though, let’s quickly clarify precisely what we mean by this phrase.

There are many different types of contingent work and, therefore, categories of contingent workers. In its research study titled The Case for Contingent Work, Staffing Industry Analysts outline five key categories:

  • Temporary agency workers
  • Other directly-sourced temporary workers
  • Temporary workers
  • Human cloud workers
  • Independent contractors

Agile talent tends to refer to highly-skilled contingent workers who collaborate on a short-term basis with several businesses.

Why Is Agile Talent So Popular?

Let’s dive right into the reasons that agile talent is becoming a popular choice for businesses around the world.

1. Faster to hire

According to findings from Jobvite’s 2018 Recruitment Benchmark Report, it takes the average company 38 days to fill an open position. This varies, of course, depending on the employer and the vacancy that they are hoping to fill.

That’s a significant amount of time, and it means that many businesses often find themselves stuck without the talent that they need. In today’s fast-moving business world where each day counts, that can significantly harm the growth of a budding business.

Those new team members will often need to go through an extended period of onboarding, too, to understand internal policies and procedures.

Agile talent is the perfect solution to this problem. Businesses can find, recruit and onboard agile talent in a matter of days. This helps companies to keep moving forward at an impressive pace.

2. Build diverse teams

Diverse workplaces are often more creative, productive and performant. Those businesses benefit from a variety of perspectives, and the majority of people relish the opportunity to work as part of a diverse team, too.

Agile talent can help to make businesses more diverse. Those professionals often work on a short-term basis, meaning that businesses can benefit from fresh perspectives and backgrounds regularly.

This dynamic can help businesses to evolve constantly. Those agile team members will bring new perspectives and best practice with them, too, assisting the companies to improve and learn through exposure to new professionals continually.

3. Find unique and flexible talent

Findings from The Open University Business Barometer suggest that over the course of 2018, a staggering 91% of organisations in the UK struggled to find workers with the right skills.

There’s a significant skill shortage, and this is still an issue today. In the same report, 70% of senior business leaders said that deficit was responsible for a longer – and more expensive – recruitment process.

This dynamic also places the power in the hands of those talented candidates, who can now command high salaries. This means that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to access the talent that they require.

Agile talent could be the key. These tech-savvy professionals work on a more flexible basis, and they’ll often move from one project to the next, which means that their unique talents are more accessible to businesses.

This is why so many businesses are turning to agile talent to resolve their skill shortage issues. As the demand for more specialist skillsets continues to increase, we’ll be sure to see this preference for agile talent grow.

4. Cut costs dramatically

Finding and employing full-time workers is incredibly expensive. Businesses have to consider the following significant costs when hiring talent:

  • Recruitment costs
  • Salaries
  • National insurance contributions
  • Pension contributions
  • Holiday pay
  • Sick pay
  • Maternity and paternity pay

There are several other factors to consider, too, like equipment and the costs that are associated with sourcing and maintaining a healthy working environment.

Putting together a full team can place a substantial financial burden on any business. This is one of the key reasons that companies, both large and small, are turning towards agile talent.

While agile talent may command a higher hourly rate, businesses can still expect to make significant savings – all while enjoying the additional benefits that agile talent brings.

5. Prepare for the future

Figures from Wonolo suggest that if the gig economy continues its current rate of growth, 50% of the US workforce can be expected to participate in it by 2027. There are similar trends taking shape in the UK and beyond, too, so businesses should be sure to try and develop their agile talent strategy sooner rather than later.

As time draws on, we’ll see that those businesses with a mature agile talent strategy will enjoy privileged access to the best talent at the best rates.

A big reason for the success of those businesses will be established alumni talent pools. Are you intrested to learn more about what those talent pools could do for you? Be sure to read our piece on why building a corporate alumni network makes sense.

Retain, Engage and Attract Your Agile Talent with Elevate

Are you currently riding the wave of agile talent? Develop a keen strategy, and you’ll be sure to unlock all of the benefits above.

Interested about the prospect of finding the best talent exactly when you need it? Join some of the world’s leading brands and access Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today.

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Five Reasons AI Sourcing Will Replace Boolean Sourcing

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Finding the right talent is harder than ever before. Statistics from the Society for Human Resource Management tell us that 75% of recruiters believe there is a skills shortage among their applicants.

The war for talent means that recruiters must leverage cutting-edge tools and techniques to source the best candidates.

With time these tools and techniques evolve. For a significant period, Boolean search operators were a critical tool that gave recruiters the ability to surface relevant candidates.

Now, AI-driven sourcing is taking the lead.

In this post, we’ll explore those two concepts in more detail. We’ll then offer up five reasons why AI sourcing is superior to Boolean sourcing.

What Is Boolean Sourcing?

Boolean search allows recruiters to combine keywords alongside a series of operators to find the most relevant results. Those operators include AND, NOT and OR.

Recruiters can use those operators alongside brackets and quotation marks to tweak their search results to surface more suitable candidates. Specific search engines and applicant tracking systems also offer a range of additional tricks and tools to help recruiters refine their search even further.

When using Google, for instance, recruiters can start their search with “site:” to perform an x-ray search and surface results from a specific domain. Here’s an example of a typical Boolean search using Google:

As you can see, the Boolean search returns relevant results based on the keywords and operators that were used.

What Is AI Sourcing?

AI sourcing is much more powerful. Recruiters can use AI-powered platforms to search through vast databases in a matter of seconds intelligently. The AI algorithms can weigh and balance several factors to present recruiters with the most appropriate and suitable candidates.

This power is the driving force behind Gartner’s estimation that the business value of AI will reach a staggering $3.9 trillion by 2022

Let’s dig deeper into the key differences between Boolean and AI sourcing.

Five Reasons AI Sourcing Is Better Than Boolean Sourcing

AI-driven sourcing will replace Boolean sourcing in the not too distant future. Here are the five factors driving the explosive growth of AI sourcing.

1. Easier to use

Mastering the art of Boolean sourcing is no easy task. Recruiters will often spend hours upon hours learning the intricacies of Boolean search – and there’s no guarantee that they’re going to get the best results.

AI-driven platforms, on the other hand, are very elegant and simple to use. Recruiters can quickly set up their searches with just a few clicks and rest assured that they’re going to see every viable candidate for their position.

This ease of use means that recruiters can say goodbye to the hours spent learning Boolean search and invest in other areas of growth.

2. See More Sophisticated Results

Boolean searches are powerful, but recruiters have no guarantee that those searches deliver comprehensive results.

This is because Boolean logic only offers up yes or no results – there’s no space for “maybe”. This means that recruiters might find themselves missing out on that perfect candidate due to the inflexibility of Boolean search.

AI-driven logic is much more powerful. Those searches can embrace and understand ambiguity to give recruiters the full spectrum of potential candidates. The most sophisticated AI-driven searches will use natural language processing, for instance, to identify synonyms and the relationships between words.

3. More Free Time for Recruiters

Boolean searches are not only challenging to master, but they can also take a long time to execute. Even the most skilled Boolean expert will have to type out their search and proofread it carefully manually – a single misplaced piece of punctuation can undo a Boolean search, after all.

AI sourcing is much faster. Recruiters can configure their searches in a matter of seconds and leave the heavy lifting to sophisticated algorithms. In the blink of an eye, those recruiters will have comprehensive and high-quality results before them.

This speed means that recruiters can work as efficiently as possible. Recruiters who use the Elevate AI Platform enjoy a 90% reduction in search time. This empowers recruiters to invest their time in what they do best – connecting with candidates.

Technology is making recruitment more human. Looking to learn more? Read our piece on how AI enhances the human element of recruitment.

4. Eliminate Unconscious Bias

Diverse workplaces are more innovative, creative and productive. Those companies also benefit from a stronger employer brand and an enhanced level of employee engagement.

Unconscious bias can become a serious barrier to achieving a truly diverse workplace. The Guardian recently published an insightful piece on unconscious bias in Britain. The article makes it clear that unconscious bias is still an issue within recruitment.

AI-driven sourcing surfaces the most appropriate candidates and presents them to recruiters. While those algorithms can be configured to pay attention to factors like race and gender, they can help recruiters to break free from their unconscious bias.

5. Surface More Suitable Candidates

Boolean searches return a list of results with no further insight. Your dream candidate might be at the top of the list – or they might be buried under several unsuitable candidates.

This means that recruiters spend countless hours tediously sorting through potential candidates. While they might have a pool of potential candidates before them, they’ve still got to find the diamond in the rough.

AI-driven searches can weigh several factors to deliver the most suitable candidates in a logical order. This expedites the search process and means that recruiters are presented with the most suitable candidates.

Recruiters who use the Elevate AI Platform enjoy a 20% increase in suitable candidates, for instance.

Unlock the Power of AI Sourcing with Elevate

Are you ready to say goodbye to Boolean and hello to AI-powered sourcing? Step into the future of recruitment with Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today.

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Four Actionable Techniques to Maintain a Healthy Talent Pool

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According to Glassdoor research, the average length of the UK hiring process sits at 27.9 days. This significant amount of time can harm the productivity of your business and hinder its ability to move forward.

There’s an ocean of potential talent out there, but the challenge of recruitment is fishing for the appropriate candidates and keeping tabs on them.

This is why talent pools are an invaluable resource.

In this post, we’ll take a look at what talent pools are and four actionable techniques that you can use to maintain a healthy talent pool.

What Is a Talent Pool?

A talent pool is a database of candidate profiles. This database gives recruiters and hiring managers the ability to keep track of crucial candidates over the long-term and access potential candidates instantly.

The most effective hiring managers and recruiters will diligently maintain those talent pools to add and remove candidates as necessary. They’ll also draw on candidates form their talent pool regularly.

For added convenience, the majority of hiring managers will maintain distinct talent pools which can further segment groups of candidates according to factors like their level of experience and overall suitability.

What Are the Benefits of a Talent Pool?

Here are the key reasons to create and maintain talent pools::

Better candidates

Any recruiter or hiring professional will understand how challenging it can be to find high-quality candidates for their roles. 76% of hiring managers told Glassdoor that attracting quality candidates is their number one challenge.

Talent pools can give you the edge. With a robust talent pool in your hands, you’ll find it easier to sort through pre-qualified candidates and have access to proven talent quicker.

Faster hires

When it comes to hiring candidates, it’s critical that you find the appropriate talent within a reasonable timeframe. Each day that you have a vacant position will result in losses for your business.

Talent pools can expedite the time to hire. You’ll be able to quickly browse through pre-qualified candidates as and when you need to. You might find the perfect candidate in your talent pool.

Reduced hiring costs

Making a new hire in the UK is expensive. On average, businesses can expect to pay around 20-30% of the final salary to recruitment agencies. This can harm the profitability of your business, and those costs can seriously mount up if you make multiple hires.

Equipped with a talent pool that’s overflowing with quality candidates, you’ll be able to make your selection and circumvent many of the traditional costs that come with recruitment.

Four Actionable Tips to Maintain a Healthy Talent Pool

Now that we have a better understanding of why to maintain a talent pool let’s explore five essential tips that you can use to establish and leverage your own.

1. Divide Your Talent Pools Using Candidate Personas

Candidate personas are a handy tool used by recruiters and hiring managers. Those semi-fictional personas make it easier to guide the hiring process and stay focused on finding the right talent.

Those candidate personas can also provide you with a logical and organic way to segment your talent pool. This exercise can make your talent pool even more convenient to navigate, and you’ll have the right talent just a few clicks away.

The details of this tip will vary from one business to the next, according to how you created your talent pool. For a rudimentary solution, you could divide an excel spreadsheet into tabs according to your key profiles.

Here’s a look at how that might appear:

2. Keep Track of Your Alumni

To get the best results from your talent pool, you should be sure to keep track of your alumni. There’s always a chance that your previous employees might be available to rejoin your business.

There are clear benefits to rehiring alumni: they will slot right into your company culture, for instance, and rehiring alumni can have a very positive impact on your employer brand.

To keep track of your alumni, you should be sure to keep their contact details on record and maintain regular contact with them. You might even decide to send a monthly newsletter to those alumni – this could keep them updated and help them to feel like a part of the family.

Interested in what this might look like? Take a look at this Alumni Newsletter example from Deloitte. You can see the type of content and tone that they use to re-engage their corporate alumni.

Ready to take a look at the additional benefits that come with a strong alumni talent pool? Read our piece on the six reasons you should develop an alumni talent pool.

3. Don’t Forget to Track Unsuccessful Candidates

According to numbers from Forbes, the average job will attract a staggering 118 applications. While you might need to hire just a single person for the role, you could have invited some very intriguing candidates.

It’s vital that you keep hold of them and retain their details. We all know that plans change quickly within the world of business and that it’s always useful to have a backup plan.

Re-engaging unsuccessful candidates is also great for your employer brand. Lots of hiring managers tell unsuccessful candidates that their contact information will be retained on record, but they fail to follow up. If you contact an unsuccessful candidate in the future, they’ll be sure to appreciate the gesture.

4. Use Your Talent Pool Regularly

The best way to maintain a healthy talent pool is to use it regularly. Far too often, hiring managers and recruiters neglect their talent pool and fail to exploit its full potential.

A lack of activity could mean that your talent pool becomes rusty and outdated very quickly. The longer you neglect, the greater the temptation will be to ignore it when trying to find a new candidate.

Try to incorporate your talent pool into your recruitment workflow to get the maximum value from it. Make it your first port of call after identifying a new position, and you might find the perfect candidate.

Cultivate Powerful Talent Pools with Elevate

If you are ready to create and maintain AI-driven talent pools, do so with Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today. Our solution provides you immediate visibility into your private talent pools while granting you access to the exclusive Elevate Directmarket.

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Use These Steps to Secure Talent Acquisition Success in 2020

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The overwhelming majority of recruiters and hiring managers agree that the recruiting landscape is more competitive than ever before.

Over the course of 2020, we’ll see the talent war intensify. Are you ready to abandon outdated practices, get creative and pull out all the stops to beat your competition to the best talent?

You’ll need to use cutting-edge techniques and strategies if you’re going to succeed.

Talent Acquisition Techniques for 2020

Let’s dig deeper into key techniques and strategies that you can use over the course of 2020 to get the best talent, slash your time to hire and reduce your talent acquisition costs.

Automate tasks to free up your time

2020 is the year to abandon manual processes using automation. This can help you to save time and even eliminate the potential for human error.

Here are three areas you can automate everyday talent acquisition tasks in 2020:

Schedule messages

In an underskilled landscape, the power now lies with skilled candidates who can take their pick of suitors. To put yourself at the top of their list and build a healthy relationship, you’ll want to develop an engagement strategy.

There are several email and messaging automation tools out there that you can use to automate communications. You could use those tools to send out a candidate newsletter, for instance, or divide your candidates into mailing lists according to department and supply them with relevant content.

Qualify using chatbots

Chatbots are very popular in the worlds of marketing and customer support, with an impressive 1.4 billion people using chatbots regularly.

It would help if you considered leveraging the power of those chatbots in the recruitment space, too. You could quickly spin up a chatbot solution to offer 24/7 guidance to your candidates and pre-qualify them.

Chatbots can easily collect core information and then automatically add them into your chosen Applicant Tracking System.

Organise meetings

Scheduling meetings is a tough task that takes up an unreasonable amount of time for lots of recruiters and hiring managers. There are lots of meeting scheduler tools out there that make it easy for other people to book meetings with you and sync those with your calendar.

Polish your employer brand

By now, 59% of recruiting leaders worldwide are investing more in their employer brand. Are you among them? A strong employer brand makes it easier for you to attract the best talent, and it can cut your time to hire.

Audit your reviews

The first step to reinvigorate your employer brand is to perform a preliminary audit. During this audit, you should go through your employer reviews on platforms like Glassdoor and Trustpilot.

Use those reviews as an opportunity to glean valuable insights and focus your efforts to develop a concerted strategy to improve those reviews.

Engage your employees as brand advocates

You might also want to engage your existing employees as brand advocates. You could ask them to leave reviews, for instance, or encourage them to refer their connections and network to your business.

Some businesses develop an influential company culture and an attractive referral system to make this step a reality – could 2020 be the year for you to join them?

Collect and leverage quality data

Each day, an estimated 1.7MB of data is created every second for every person on earth – it’s essential that you make the most of the data that you generate to give your business the competitive edge. Here’s how you can do that.

Record important candidate data

First things first, it’s crucial that you collect the appropriate data about your candidates and their experiences. You’ll want to use a range of software to track essential data, like your ATS and Google Analytics.

You should try to track common metrics such as:

  • Time-to-hire
  • Source of hire
  • Candidate feedback
  • Acceptance rates
  • Cost-per-hire

Dig into your data

Once you’ve collected the appropriate data, it’s vital that you sort through it to uncover essential insights.

You might be able to learn why your time-to-hire is so long, for instance, or which parts of the talent acquisition process you can expedite. Call upon marketing to get help sorting through Google Analytics, too, to understand better where your candidates come from and the path that they take through your website.

Use AI to assist with sourcing

AI sourcing gives recruiters the ability to sort through immense troves of data and collect valuable insights. This can help recruiters and hiring managers to find the perfect talent for their role and make the right decisions.

Not only does AI sourcing improve the quality of candidates, but it can also save significant amounts of time and give businesses the ability to cut their cost-of-hire.

Use Elevate

Elevate empowers some of the world’s leading talent acquisition teams to recruit faster and enjoy full visibility into the talent that they need. This helps those teams to spend more time focused on their recruiting strategy and candidate relationships.

If you’re ready to get started, book a demo to see Elevate in action today and speak with an expert.

Offer an unparalleled candidate experience

It’s more important than ever before that your potential candidates enjoy a seamless candidate experience. That means everything needs to flow smoothly together all the way from the job search and application process to the interview and onboarding.

Leverage programmatic job advertising

If you’re going to attract the best candidates, you’ve got to get your business and your role in front of them. To do this, you will want to consider leveraging the power of programmatic advertising. This can help you to purchase the right ads and get them in front of the right people at the right time without breaking the bank.

Use an ATS

An applicant tracking system can be used by recruiters to track and filter candidates. This makes it easier for recruiters to monitor the candidate as they pass through the hiring flow and collect essential data along the way.

Leverage marketing resources

It’s essential that you engage your candidates and build a relationship with them over time. To do this, you might want to repurpose your marketing content. If your marketing department maintains a blog, why not send essential pieces to your candidates on a regular basis?

This strategy could inspire your candidates to make an application, and your marketing team will be sure to appreciate the additional traffic that you generate for them.

Additional Resources to Prepare for 2020

We hope that those techniques help you to secure talent acquisition success this year. If you’re going to get the best results possible, it’s always essential to understand the industry and broader trends.

Here are four additional resources that you can use to better prepare for talent acquisition in 2020.

Why offer flexible working

Do you know that flexibility is the most in-demand perk for employees today? If you’re going to beat your competition to the best talent this year, you’ll need to develop your flexible working offering. There are also a number of potent benefits for your business, too.

Read our piece to learn more about the benefits of flexible working.

How to maintain a healthy talent pool

The typical hiring process is very long, and it can harm the productivity of your business while generating high costs. Talent pools are a powerful resource to ameliorate the hiring process.

Discover the benefits of talent pools and discover four actionable tips to maintain healthy talent pools.

What to expect from AI sourcing

Boolean searches are challenging to master, more complex to execute, and they return a more limited set of results. AI sourcing is here to take over and deliver superior results for recruiters and hiring managers.

Get to grips with the five key reasons AI sourcing is going to replace Boolean sourcing.

Why agile talent is growing more popular

Agile talent is on the rise, and it’s becoming the go-to choice for businesses around the world. Do you understand the benefits of agile talent?

Read this piece to understand what agile talent can offer your business.

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