Recruitment trends that'll never gain traction - and five that might

Fiona Anson peaks into the crystal ball to identify some recruitment trends that may just fly in 2016.

At the start of every year we see a plethora of articles published identifying trends for the New Year, but many of these so-called trends are more predictions than reality.

In looking at recruitment specifically, there are a number of predictions that, I believe, had little or no substance.Why? Because there is currently little or no adoption of them by HR Managers and Recruiters in the market.

So based on what is currently happening at the coalface with the very people who practice in the profession, here are my predictions of what we could see more of in 2016.

1. Recruiters will look to introduce more value add services to their product suite - maybe even overtaking placements as a priority.

Given the downward pressure on both fees paid to recruiters and the number of times they’re used, the Recruiters we speak to are looking for ancillary services they can offer their clients to value add.

2.   The War for Talent continues so recruiters are looking for alternate ways to source, including more sophisticated data matching.

To date, sourcing has been a bit hit and miss, with limitations on functionality (typically by keywords) that can be used to search for candidates. But there is movement in the recruitment HR tech sector to come up with more sophisticated ways of data matching and this will lead to easier identification of candidates who might meet job criteria. 

Look out for the launch of some very sophisticated engines to help with this. 

3.   Recruitment “marketing” becomes an actual thing - and even a role within or outside the HR team.

Just in time recruitment very rarely works efficiently. Finding great candidates from scratch in a typical four week timeframe is not an easy task, and often recruiters or HR managers settle for “close enough is good enough” simply to fill an urgent need. 

The Recruitment Marketer will be responsible for consistent marketing of the employment brand across the range of positions a company is seeking to fill. Their primary job will be to use channels like social networks to differentiate the company’s employment opportunities from those of its competitors and to make that company THE place to work.

4.  Growth in Talent Pooling  - including for project-based “boomerang” talent

Coupled with the growth in recruitment marketing, talent pooling is going to become even more crucial to organisations. Having a way to identify skilled and appropriate people and keeping them engaged with your company’s activities would be the best way to create talent on demand.

5. More use of Video

Video resumes, video interviewing and video job postings, as well as the use of video in both employee and candidate engagement is set to soar. And, of course, it all needs to be delivered direct to mobile devices. 

It will be interesting to review these predictions in twelve months and see how accurate my crystal ball was. Feel free to hold me accountable this time next year!

About the author

Fiona Anson is co-founder and director of Workible. e: [email protected] | w: www.workible.com.au