Articles - M2M Business Solutions
Job Hunting is like Going to a Buffet Meal For Candidates- What Does This Mean for Organizations and Their Leaders? Ever been to a buffet brunch? If you're like me (which I'm sure most of you are), you'll look around first to know what all's there. And you probably try a few dishes before going for the kill. That's what job hunting has become for most candidates today. With the global talent shortage hitting us harder than ever, organizations are unfortunately on the other side of the buffet trying to get people to take their food. ‘The Great Resignation’ challenge (Read what I wrote about it on Forbes) isn’t helping the cause either. And that’s not the end of it. Businesses today are challenged with building two businesses simultaneously - business of today and business of tomorrow. According to McKinsey’s 2021 Global Report, business leaders expect almost 50% of their revenues by 2025 to come from products, services, or businesses that do not yet exist. This means that the role of a future-ready workforce would be more critical than ever. Talent acquisition is the first step to achieving this colossal undertaking. However, the pandemic has introduced newer challenges that require business leaders and HR professionals to refine their hiring practices. Here’s my take on what appears to be the biggest hiring challenges in 2022- 1. Re-defining the Candidate Experience According to a CareerBuilder study, nearly 4 in 5 candidates say the overall candidate experience they receive indicates how a company values its people. Recruitments are no longer a one-way street. The playing field has levelled or rather tilted in favour of candidates over the last few years. Just as organizations are looking for candidates who are the right add-on, candidates too, are looking for organizations that match their values and fulfil their expectations. Businesses today can no longer overlook candidate experience. Here’s how businesses can refine or re-define the candidate experience- • Streamline the application process • Write clear and concise job descriptions • Communicate regularly and be accessible • Notify the candidates at the earliest if a position has been filled 2. Addressing Talent Shortage By 2030, the skills gap and talent shortage in the US alone is expected to total a loss of $8.5 trillion, as per a PwC report. The demand for talent has been significantly exceeding the supply for quite some time. This trend is expected to continue well into the future. Building a qualified talent pool or a database of candidates interested in working for your company can protect your organization against talent shortage. A few tips that can help you build a qualified talent pool are- • Build a talent community landing page • Add the sourced candidates to the talent pool • Try to re-engage candidates who didn’t make the cut • Engage graduates-to-be and students. Catch them young. 3. Finding Talent That Rightly is an Add-on to the Organization Culture According to a CareerBuilder survey, 2 in 3 workers say they accepted a job only to realize it was a bad fit later. Almost 50% of such workers quit their jobs within 6 months. Organizations employ innovative interview techniques and advanced tools for assessing the competencies and skills of the candidates. But even ones who are found to be the best in the screening process might not always be the right choice for your organization. While they might be a great technical fit, you also need to ascertain the cultural competencies. If you don't hire employees that align with your culture, your organizational culture will eventually fit around your employees. Here’s how organizations can find technical and culturally fit employees- • Clearly define the company culture • Convey company culture in all the hiring materials • Train the HR staff on how they should discuss the company culture with the applicants • Provide candidates with an immersive overview of the company culture 4. Managing Salary Expectations and Hiring Costs A Pew Research Center survey suggests that 56% of Americans who quit their jobs in 2021 are now employed and are making more money than before. While every employee should be adequately paid as per their skills and experience, it is equally important to maintain your hiring costs. This is especially true in the post-pandemic world, where almost 47% of the organizations have reduced their recruiting budget, says a LinkedIn report. Here are some tips to help organizations reduce their hiring costs- • Build an employee referral program • Use advanced recruiting software for reducing cost per hire • Use your social channels to find the right candidates • Promote internally and provide adequate training 5. Onboarding - The Last Piece of the Puzzle About 30-40% of employees quit their job within the first six months. And the cost of replacing an employee can be about 1.5-2 times their annual salary. If your onboarding isn't right, you're going to lose out on all that hard work put in by your organization in recruiting that top talent. Many businesses today confuse onboarding with orientation. Orientation is the start, but onboarding is

Hiring Challenges 2022

Job Hunting is like Going to a Buffet Meal For Candidates- What Does This Mean for Organizations and Their Leaders? Ever been to a buffet brunch? If you’re like me (which I’m sure most of you are), you’ll look around

The Great Employee Recall: What Lies Ahead?

Published in Forbes The prolonged confusion and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made organizations precarious in their response approaches. While several businesses have succeeded in innovating and adapting to the changing circumstances, things are far from over.  With

Happy Customers- A By-product of Building a Happy Workplace

Published in Forbes A recent Glassdoor study suggests that a 1-point increase in Glassdoor company rating is associated with a 1.3-point increase in customer satisfaction. And there are studies that confirm higher customer satisfaction leading to higher company valuations.  A Harvard Business Review

4.5 Million Americans Quit Their Job in November 2021 Alone

What Are You Planning to Do About “The Great Resignation”? 4.5 million Americans quit their job in November 2021.  I published an article on Forbes sometime back on “The Great Resignation”, where I shared some notes on the upcoming wave

Challenges Business Leaders Need to Be Prepared For 2022 & Beyond

Published in Forbes According to a WSJ report, around 200,000 establishments in the US closed permanently in the first year of the viral outbreak.  The pandemic-inflicted leadership challenges in 2020-21 forced organizations to take extraordinary measures in real-time, with zero

Future of CX in 2022- Fall Out of the Pandemic

With the world gradually limping towards normalcy, businesses are adjusting themselves to align with the needs and expectations of the post-pandemic consumers.  Re-imagining customer experience (CX) is one of the most vital aspects of calibrating their operations.  After all, according

Brace Yourself for The Great Resignation – A Note to the Leaders

Published in Forbes According to a report by the US Labor Department, 2.7% of the US workers have left their jobs in April 2021. A sharp rise of 1.6% from April 2020 and the highest in more than two decades. 

Reducing High Employee Turnover – It’s all about Employees

Building and retaining an efficient resource pool is one of the leading challenges for modern businesses.  As I mentioned in my previous LinkedIn article, it is your employees’ hard work and skillset that decide the outcome and ultimately, the success of

Happy Employees are 12% More Productive – But Why and How?

According to a study by the University of Warwick, happier employees are about 12% more productive. This increased productivity has a positive impact on the bottom line growth of the company and hence its success.  Indeed employee productivity is one

Seven Tools To Help In Workplace Engagement Initiatives

Published in Forbes Employee engagement is the most important initiative an organization could undertake to build a happier and more productive work environment. I’ve talked before about employee engagement and the need for it, and some of the ways to