The last 12 months have been life changing across the globe. UK businesses haven’t faced a modern day crisis even close to the impact of Covid-19. Many people have been left without a job as some businesses were forced to close. A lucky number may have been able to furlough staff and temporarily close during the national lockdown. 

After such a tumultuous year job seekers want stability and additional reassurances from new employers, along with working from home opportunities.

Job seekers expect transparency

There is a pressure facing employers to provide more clarity when posting new job vacancies. A survey carried out by the online job board Zoek found that 55% of job seekers would be put off applying for a job that didn’t include salary details. A further 40% wanted more clarification on remote working at the company. 

Additionally, 78% of job seekers wouldn’t consider changing jobs at the moment because they would lose valuable job security in the process. With this in mind, how can employers not change their strategy?

In the long run, being thorough and honest in job adverts could save you time. Not only will you rule out some unsuitable candidates, but you will also provide a cut off to prevent high earners from applying and attempting to negotiate a higher salary. 

50% of businesses don’t like to include salary details in job adverts because they don’t want other staff members to see. This is a very valid point, but easily maneuvered. Simply be sure to set a broad salary range in job adverts. ‘£20,000-£30,000 depending on experience’ is the best example to keep existing employees in the dark and attract new candidates.

Have job interviews changed forever?

Once you’ve created a shortlist of candidates to interview, it would normally be time to arrange a time and day for all of them to come into the office for a formal meeting. This can be a tedious HR task to find time in both parties diaries within a suitable time frame for all candidates.

These days Zoom interviews have been revolutionary. Not only are they more flexible, allowing for out of hours interviews, they can save time and money for candidates who may have to travel otherwise. It’s ultimately a lot easier to plan a Zoom call that you can do from anywhere, than to arrange an interview where you need to think about parking for the candidate and a room to host the meeting.

Once you’ve interviewed your initial shortlist, you could still invite your top 2-3 candidates into the office for a tour and more informal chat about the role. This would be at your own discretion and only if you feel it would assist in the decision making process. 

Virtual job interviews tend to carry less pressure and anxiety for people. They can be very comfortable in their own home and have notes to one side if needed. This allows employers to see how the employee would be once they were fully integrated and confident in the job. Face-to-face interviews can be daunting for some people and can ruin some very strong candidates’ applications.

Why remote working is in demand

One recruitment policy change you should definitely look at if your staff can work from home is how you can carry this trend on permanently. This doesn’t necessarily have to be five days a week, but a mixed working week between the office and home can actually help the majority of staff focus and be more productive. Staff save time and money commuting, they don’t have to wake up at a crazy time in the morning to get dressed up, and they can work around their own life.

It’s a flexible and modern approach to work. If you shift your focus to paying employees on results rather than hours worked, then it might be easier for you to see that it doesn’t matter if an employee went to the dentist on top of having a lunch break. Trust your employees to make up the time and still deliver what is expected of them.

There’s also the benefit of attracting more talent for your job vacancies because you’ll be able to advertise remote working jobs within a much wider radius. This can also help when it comes to applications for people with disabilities or anxiety. They could be brilliant candidates, but are unable to physically work in an office environment.

Recruitment trends in 2021

• Here’s a summary of some of the recruitment trends you should jump on to refine your recruitment process post Covid-19.
• Be transparent in job adverts and provide full details to candidates
• Advertise your jobs in as many places as possible online, including on social media
• Continue to promote virtual interviews and remote/flexible work opportunities
• Don’t always look externally in your hiring process, sometimes internal candidates who have a strong work ethic can be trained to do the job you require
• Use psychometric tests when creating initial shortlists to pick out only the most suitable candidates for interviews
• Communicate with potential staff and existing staff frequently and keep them updated on important business matters to avoid losing talent
• Plan for the future by making strategic hires that fit your long term vision and culture – if you know you want to do more video marketing in future, hire a digital marketing executive with video marketing experience

The most important thing to do is be respectful of the fragile foundations for which many job seekers now come from. Be intuitive and try to make sure your recruitment policy tells them all they need to know about why you’re a good company to work for.