Human Resources Blog - Spark Hire
Talent Acquisition In The New Year

Talent Acquisition In The New Year: Are You Ready?

We just started 2017, but it’s clear we need to prepare for a lot of changes coming this year. This is especially true in talent acquisition. According to ManpowerGroup, 40 percent of companies worldwide had trouble filling jobs last year. In order to make this year better, you can expect there to be a lot of new trends impacting how we hire employees this year.

But how can you know what adjustments to make before it’s too late? Should you be focusing on employer branding like last year? Or is it time to revisit your quality of hire metrics?

If you want to stay ahead of 2017’s talent acquisition trends, check out the insights and tips these hiring experts have to offer:

Saving time

Time pressure is intensifying and rapidly growing companies are looking for efficiency tools. Hiring managers, recruiters, and applicants are under enormous time constraints for interviewing.

One of my startup clients is doubling in 2017 and hiring more than 100 people across the United States in the next few months. They have integrated video interviewing into their recruitment process. They use it to screen candidates prior to a formal call with the hiring manager. Because it’s a video interview, everyone can use the technology on their own time. Hiring managers can review videos at 10 p.m. if they want. And candidates can shoot the video on the weekend or after hours so the interview won’t interfere with their current job.

Since my client is recruiting across the U.S., this tool has saved them thousands of dollars in travel expenses and hours of time. So far, everyone they’ve loved on video, they’ve loved in person.

Sonja Hastings

Sonja Hastings, Software Sales Recruiter, Optimal Sales Search

Creative questions

Use open-ended questions. Instead of “tell me about your strengths,” try new questioning where you have to challenge candidates to take a step back and think. Study how they answer and see what insights you learn. Look for someone who will be great for the long-term and not jusy for the short-term.

Monica H. Kang

Monica H. Kang, Founder and CEO, InnovatorsBox

Embrace transparency

The biggest trend that’s continuing to grow from the candidate side is transparency. Job seekers have more access to data now than ever before. They are able to look up a company’s rating, possible interview questions, and salary data.

To cope with this increase in transparency, employers should focus on increased transparency. Be more upfront with candidates about expectations and salary range. Also, pay close attention to how your employees are rating you, and consider asking your employees to leave reviews on sites like Glassdoor.

Angela Copeland

Angela Copeland, Career Coach, Copeland Coaching

Succession planning

The greatest trend in talent acquisition is succession planning or “pathways.” So, what is succession planning? As companies continue their search for qualified candidates, they are hindering themselves by not focusing on training and investing in the employees they already have.

For example, if a company has a cashier that has been working for a couple of years, does his job very well, fits in with the company culture, and has growth potential, it would be far more beneficial for companies to invest in promoting him instead of hiring someone from the outside for a managerial position. While the outsider may have more managerial experience, they come in with a different set of techniques, beliefs, and a way of doing things. It could be costly to get someone who already is getting paid a higher salary to learn how your company does things rather than give a loyal employee managerial training.

Gisel Malek

Gisel Malek, Marketing Coordinator, ProSky

Big Data

Because big data is securing an increasing foothold in every industry, employers are vying to stay competitive and stretch their investments as much as possible. With technology at the forefront of how hiring is done, companies find themselves prioritizing the onboarding of data scientists, mobile designers, and data engineers in order to update their branding and image.

Trying to predict which sources yield the best hires and results overall is mostly responsible for this trend. The most efficient way of doing this is with big data that can analyze trends and identify patterns so that companies are better able to funnel their dollars and marketing resources toward whatever is working best.

Stephanie Troiano

Stephanie Troiano, Executive Recruiter, The Hire Talent

What are some other talent acquisition trends to look out for in 2017? Share in the comments below!

Josh Tolan

Josh Tolan is the Founder and CEO of Spark Hire, a video interviewing platform used by 6,000+ customers in over 100 countries.