The far-reaching effects of the great recession, a talent shortage in a variety of industries, and a global pandemic have created a perfect storm for employers seeking talented employees. A fiercely competitive hiring market brings about major worries for hiring managers. In fact, more than four in ten executives surveyed, rated competing for talent globally as one of their most pressing talent concerns. The level of talent your employees possess contributes directly to the success of your company. Does this mean you should spend a great deal of money to invest in high quality talent?

Not necessarily. There's no hard-fast rule that states high quality talent must be more expensive. What do employees value over salary? Millennials will make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025. With this growth, expectations are changing. Work hours represent a large portion of the lives of employees. Instead of seeking higher pay for those hours, employees are interested in the experience a company can provide. Rather than increasing spending, consider other assets you can offer high-quality applicants.

Good Onboarding

Many employees are familiar with job orientation, but far fewer have experienced effective onboarding. Orientation is a one-time event to welcome a new employee to the company. Onboarding is an ongoing process that thoroughly introduces an employee to the company, their department, other employees and mentors, and the company culture. Orientation should be a beginning step in the onboarding process.

Why is onboarding important? Often, orientation provides new hires with an overwhelming amount of information and paperwork before they are thrust into their new position – potentially with little instruction or direct connection to their coworkers if working remotely. 

Conversely, a good onboarding process clarifies the expectations of the new role and connects new hires to personal relationships and information networks. Nearly one-third of all new hires quit their job within the first six months. However, 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced effective onboarding.

Diversity

Millennials have grown up in a vastly different world than the generations before them. With practically limitless information at their fingertips and the ability to connect wirelessly across the globe for their entire lives, today's employees expect companies to be more inclusive. However, the effort must go beyond filling quotas to reflect a true sense of belonging. When asked why they left their last job, 51% of workers revealed they did not feel a sense of belonging. Non-white or multi-racial workers were more likely to cite this reason.

A recent study shows that most job seekers (70%) value a commitment to diversity in potential employers. Hiring managers should promote their plans to create a more equitable environment in their workplace.

Tracking

When job seekers have the ability to search for countless jobs online, companies have to be prepared to keep up with the deluge of responses that come from a single job posting. To accomplish an effective recruitment process, it only makes sense for employers to leverage technology that reduces the complexity of the recruitment process. Applicant tracking provides employers with a centralized platform to track the progress of applicants through the hiring process.

Along with the ability to post job openings in a variety of locations at once and automated interview scheduling, applicant tracking can help you recognize relevant applications and manage the recruiting process. 

When any job is posted, employers receive irrelevant applications that take time to weed out. Applicant tracking systems automatically track the applications with the most relevant criteria and manage the workflow to keep these candidates engaged.

Engagement Boosting Activities

Employee engagement is a term that has been thrown around for decades. Yet, it is still important. However, most employers do not understand the role of engagement boosting activities during the hiring process. With a shortage of talent taking the place of a shortage of job opportunities, job candidates are taking control.

Instead of waiting for potential employers to take action, many candidates are simply walking away. In the past year, 76% of employers have been ghosted by potential employees. Gaining and maintaining the attention of high-quality talent requires transparency. 

Consider how these actions can keep applicants engaged:

• Create high-quality ads that clearly define the job and its responsibilities.
• Reach out to applicants on social media to share the company's latest news.
• Keep candidates updated on the application status.
• Invite candidates to company events.
• Engage with phone calls or emails.

Opportunities for Advancement

As technology continues to evolve, so do the skills required in the workplace. Incoming employees are aware of these requirements, with 60% of polled employees sharing the belief that their current skill set will be outdated within the next three to five years. 

Furthermore, as Gen Z candidates enter the job market, the desire to continue learning and developing new skills is a big priority. Data from Gartner found that 23% of Gen Z candidates listed development opportunities as a top attraction driver, compared with only 17% of their millennial predecessors.

While new priorities from potential employees require changing tactics from employers, there are benefits for both parties. When new employees are seeking upskilling opportunities at entry levels, companies have an opportunity to save money in the future. For employers, upskilling current employees is more cost-effective than recruiting new employees. These employees gain the benefits of increased job security and opportunities for career growth.

Instead of focusing solely on higher salaries to attract high-quality talent, companies can provide an improved working experience for qualified employees. Informed candidates with the talent to help companies succeed are aware of their value and seek positions that provide the benefits that are important to them. To compete in a hiring market with growing talent shortages, companies will need to make an effort to provide the transparency and accessibility today's workers demand.

Crosschq works by harnessing the power of people to help companies better screen, onboard, and source the best talent. To learn more about creating a streamlined recruitment process that meets the expectations of today's high-quality talent, request a free custom demo of our platform.