Help Your Hiring Team Succeed
Reading time: 5 minutes
5 Hiring Trends for Small Business Employers
What trends will impact hiring this year?
- Improved screening for soft skills will expand your hiring pool
- Company culture still an important factor for applicants
- Gender pay equity and diversity hiring
- Older workers (65+) will eventually be the fastest-growing employee demographic
- Prepare for an eventual recession
Measure Soft Skills for Hard-to-Fill Positions
Soft skills are key behavioral characteristics. They help an employee succeed if they don’t initially have the hard skills for the job role.
Hire for soft skills and train for hard skills. Custom assessments can help you.
Use the structured interviewing tools in your ATS. Craft behavioral questions to measure soft skills. We addressed this in detail in our 2019 guide to structured interviews.
Company Culture
Be proactive about a positive company culture. It affects all of your business operations. Identify your culture, improve it if necessary, and express it in your recruitment marketing.
Gender Pay Equity
Identify whether your company has gender pay equity. If it doesn’t, you’ll have to work with your executive team to address it. There is no quick fix but you have to start somewhere.
Gender pay equity (or lack thereof) affects your culture, employer brand, and workforce satisfaction.
Is salary inequity kept under wraps at your company? Don’t assume it will stay that way. Review sites like Glassdoor exposed pay gaps at many companies in 2019.
If your company has achieved gender pay equity, congratulations! Feature this achievement prominently in your recruitment marketing.
Workforce Diversity
Hiring bias (both conscious and unconscious) limit efforts to increase diversity. If your company wants to improve diversity, the onus is on your team. Increasing diversity at your company could be your teams’ greatest contribution this year.
Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.
Baby Boomers Haven’t Disappeared
In 2019, we were constantly reminded about the importance of Millennials, Gen Y, and Gen Z. But don’t count out boomers just yet. They continue to have an impact on the hiring landscape.
This is good news for companies that haven’t been able to fill highly-skilled positions. You may find ideal candidates in this oft-overlooked demographic. Strategize with your team to attract and accommodate applicants from all generations.
The Economy Will Start Slowing Eventually
The question is not if but when. We won’t stave off a recession indefinitely.
When the recession hits, companies will have to adjust their hiring practices. Employers will be approached by more underqualified applicants. Effective first-pass filtering will be essential to isolate a qualified pool of applicants. Automate this process now with custom questionnaires and knockout questions. Your ATS should have this capability.
Strategize with company stakeholders to create a plan. Consider how outsourcing, gig workers, and part-time positions can help you survive the next downturn.
Our Knowledge Base Can Help You Prepare Your Team
For more information, see
- How to create a hiring plan
- Use best practices
- Invest in onboarding
- Evaluate your applicant tracking software and upgrade if necessary
Simplify HR management today.
Simplify HR management today.
How Improving Candidate Engagement Influences the Hiring Process
Applicants invest considerable time, effort, and thought into their job applications. Regrettably, it’s all too common for employers to delay responses, with some failing to provide any follow-up whatsoever. Such practices can have a negative effect on the candidate experience, influencing your organization’s hiring efficiency and reputation. Ensuring a positive experience for candidates is crucial…
Read MoreUnderstanding Boomerang Employees and How They Can Benefit Your Company
The phenomenon known as “the great resignation” emerged as a significant consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its onset in 2021. This period was marked by an unprecedented wave of resignations—over 50 million workers chose to leave their jobs voluntarily. This mass exodus created a frantic search for talent across industries. Key drivers behind this…
Read More