How to rebuild your recruitment strategy after COVID-19

The post-COVID working landscape is riven with disruption. 

But as we move further and further away from lockdowns and furlough schemes towards whatever our new “normal” is, how are companies rebuilding workforce recruitment strategies in the aftermath of the great resignation?

It’s apparent that the vast majority of employers will not return to a pre-pandemic normal – indeed, they cannot afford to. Workplace expectations have shifted too much away from stuck legacy processes, and the rise of talent shortages in critical industries has forced employers to clear out their brand value documents and reestablish who they are to their workers, not simply what jobs they offer.

The way ahead seems clear – as we discuss below, employees across almost every working sector desire a working future that’s more diverse, more ethical, more flexible, more meaningful, and more empathetic. Knowing this is one thing, but effectively importing new strategies into your recruitment culture takes a lot of work, especially if you recruit in industries that are building brand new resilient employee cultures from scratch.

To make sense of it all, it’s worth pinpointing how the long term effects of COVID have disrupted working norms, and what companies and recruiters are doing to stem the tide of people leaving employment.

The long-lasting effect of the Great Resignation.

Let’s look at a snapchat of the long-term effects of the great resignation.

• Steven Karau, a professor of management at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the USA, states the following as his long-term view on how the pandemic affected how, and why, people choose certain career paths.
• “The pandemic has led many people to rethink their careers and their long-term objectives…They seek a greater work/life balance, more flexibility, the chance to pursue their passions, and a less controlling work environment. The high quit rates create an abundance of job openings and that raises the bar for pay, benefits, and flexibility”.

• In the same report, new focal points of recruitment and workforce priority have arisen, such as the global shift to focusing on ESG, and how recruitment and workplace analytics work together to improve business outcomes.
• “CEOs should consider future-proofing companies with strategies…by leading on environmental, social, and governance (ESG); and by harnessing digital and analytics capabilities to strengthen competitiveness”. 

• In our very own APAC region, the trends follow similar patterns – “The demand for new ways of working was a trend in Asia-Pacific as well as in the West…everyone is working remotely. Hiring and onboarding completely remotely, from China to Australia and New Zealand”.

“A Korn Ferry survey reveals Asia Pacific is expected to face a talent deficit of 47 million skilled workers by 2030, which could result in a potential loss of US$4.238 trillion in annual revenue”.

The global plan to retain talent.

So how are employers trying to put a plug in the great global leak of talent in critical industries? While it’s true that the pandemic disproportionately affected some industries worse than others, and the recovery of those industries is ongoing, every employer should be mindful if mitigating the worst excesses of poor recruitment practice post-pandemic.

To do that, we suggest every HR team and employer focuses on future-proofing. You do this by incorporating three novel strategies into your workflows and HR management that have been proven to engage and retain candidates in the post-pandemic recruitment world.

• Remote Work: This is an easy one, and the most widely understood “non-negotiable” of workers’ demands post-pandemic. 
• “Research shows that 97.6 percent of remote workers would like to work remotely, at least some of the time, for the rest of their careers” (source).

• Wellness and Personal Mental Health Support: Mental health sickness accounts for “US$53-$56 billion” lost a year to global businesses, and one of the capitol demands of staff is to work with employers who look beyond the profit margin and value employee health and wellness. 

In their annual 2021 Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey by WTW, “86 percent of employers said mental health, stress and burnout were still a priority (in 2022). In the post-COVID world, your staff want to be listened to and empathised as they navigate workplace, and global, changes.

• ESG: in a Mercer report, Environmental and Social Governance is stated as “increasingly central to a firm’s reputation and financial performance”, and it will help draw talent as a result of “ESG…(as) a source of competitive advantage” and the centrality of ESG to younger workers. 
• “Millennials and Gen Z…place greater importance on environmental and social concerns than their predecessors do – and will expect more from employers on these issues”.

How Datasearch Consulting can help.

In such a disrupted and competitive new recruitment norm, having a recruitment partner who understands how, and why, candidate behaviours and expectations are changing is central to attracting and retaining those very same talented people. 

Datasearch Consulting is one of Singapore’s premium Executive Search Firms, and our unique Recruitment As A Service subscription based recruitment system has been proven to offer effective, scalable talent solution services fit for the future.

With our broad APAC-wide recruitment remit we’ve seen the above recruitment trends up front: so utilising our skills doesn’t just mean you get top tier recruitment services across the tech and data services sector – it means you get a future-proofed recruitment partner who is able to provide talent acquisition services sustainable, for the long term.

Need help in finding tech talents for a Singapore-based company? You can count on Datasearch Consulting to lend you a hand. 

While the talent market has undoubtedly become more competitive for both recruiters and HR professionals, we remain dedicated to connecting our partners with the right tech or IT talent. 

Connect with us at Datasearch Consulting for more information about our recruitment solutions for tech companies and functions.