Hiring in the post-COVID world

From daily lives of individuals to economies, Covid 19 has impacted everyone and everything. Amidst the lurking uncertainty, the hiring industry also took a massive hit with hiring being freezed across designations, layoffs across departments and reduction in salaries.

“Lost jobs, people being furloughed or let go off has been an unfortunate outcome of this year. Companies are suffering as demand is at an all-time low and we are in a technical recession. But just as a phoenix rises from the ashes so must we. This means that there is great talent out there and companies who are young and new and looking to grow have opportunities to hire that would not have existed before. I am optimistic about the year ahead as everyone, at this point, wishes to look forward and have a renewed spirit about what they want to do. Pauses such as these are bad in the short term but are also great moments because it gives us a chance to reflect, adjust and have an open mind,” says Robin Chhabra — CEO & Founder, Dextrus (Source: Founder India)

It is widely believed that the pandemic will have lasting effects on hiring policies. But with the vaccines being developed and circulated, there is finally some ray of hope. Thanks to the vaccine drives, companies are looking to slowly move back to offices or are opting to work out a hybrid work model with their employees. And with the businesses slowly opening up, the hiring has already begun albeit with some new processes in place.

Based on the current situation, one can make certain predictions about what the ‘Future of Hiring’ would look like in the Post Covid world. Here are the expected trends:

Virtual Hiring will take prominence
Given that there will be restrictions on free movement for sometime,

• Recruiters will resort to hiring candidates virtually without meeting them in person.
• Apart from ensuring safety, Virtual Hiring saves both time and cost. Given how industries are keen on cutting extra expenditure after facing severe losses in 2020, one can safely assume that Virtual Hiring is here to stay.

Going forward, recruiters will need to improve the hiring process for candidates by implementing state of the art technology and also by adding human touches to establish strong connections with potential candidates right from the start.

Candidates on the other hand need to be prepared to get on board without setting a foot in the office or maybe meeting any HR professional face to face. Prospective candidates will have to ensure that they are well prepared for virtual interviews. This calls for paying special attention to the internet connectivity at home, formal attire and the equipment required to ensure that the interview takes place smoothly.

Rise in Internal Mobility
HR professionals have long loved the concept of internal mobility which simply means hiring existing employees for a vacant position. In the post covid world, internal mobility will take precedence over hiring new candidates from outside. This will be a part of the continued effort on part of companies to reduce their recruiting budgets.

According to an article on LinkedIn, the Global Talent Trends report stated in January 2020 that internal mobility has been a growing trend for years now and it is believed that COVID-19 must have only made it a must-have. Linkedin insights have also shown that overall hires went down during the period January-August 2020 but internal hires stayed fairly stable during this time. So much so that, since April 2020 after global lockdown, internal hires were 20% higher than it was during the same time in 2019.

This only means that there will be a rise in project based cross functional work where internal employees based on their potential will get to work on temporary assignments outside their previous set scope as and when the business demands.

Diversified Workforce
With pressure mounting on employers to hire a diversified workforce one should be ready to witness a workforce working from across various geographical locations and demographics.

Coworking spaces play a major role in propelling this phenomenon. They help organisations to add diversity to the existing workforce by giving them the scope to:

• hire talent from different geographical locations without having to set up offices in these locations
• look for talent within the coworking community which also comprises of a diverse pool of potential candidates

Reliance on Remote Working
There will be fair reliance on remote working even in the near future. This will make it important for recruiters to look at new ways to ensure that everyone is following the company culture and also devise methods to establish a balance between the number of employees who will work remotely or as part timers and freelancers.

This can be done by:

• conveying the company culture regularly through newsletters
• improving communication by incorporating feedback mechanism and weekly meetings
• Introducing online productivity and project management tools to ensure seamless reporting and timelines being maintained.
• building companionship by introducing fun virtual activities or channels on company’s communication platforms like Slack

Recruiters will emphasis on building new skills
The world surely has changed and recruiters will look at building new skills that will help align with business goals. Adding skills like tech integration into day to day job deliverables, creating more dynamic business solutions and strategies, a lot of permutations and combinations which requires employees to be agile with their thinking process and execution are some intangible skills that will be in demand.

Apart from the above mentioned trends, HR personnels need to keep in mind that as the bridge eases between company needs and employees, they will need to keep in mind the following strategies to ensure smooth recruitment post the pandemic:

Focus on Wellness
Employees have dealt with a lot of stress and anxiety in 2020 and going forward, the employers will have to take measures to focus on their wellness and address aspects like financial security and mental health. In short, offer holistic benefits.

“Environments that support their employees in the right way will naturally foster employee engagement.” — Aaron Tucker, Executive | OKR Coach| Speaker

Flexible Work Schedule
Even though many have started working from coworking spaces and private offices, it will be crucial to give employees the flexibility to work from home too once in a while. This is because after working from home for almost a year, many employees may not be comfortable or ready to make the immediate switch to working from the office.

“No other event has so drastically impacted the HR function as the Pandemic. Disrupted routines, WFH, remote working, empty offices, stress, role overlaps — the challenges facing HR have multiplied. Business continuity being the need of the hour, HR will need to be agile and flexible. HR hiring in the new normal will have to take several factors into consideration, mainly remote working or WFH if someone asks for it. Moreover, if organizations can offer a flex-working model, they would surely benefit because it addresses both the individual and the organisation more significantly,” says Shrijay Sheth — Founder & CEO, Legalwiz.in (Source: Founder India)

Be Empathetic towards social causes
Today, the majority of the workforce includes millennials and Gen Z who want to work for employers and businesses who are aligned to a larger purpose and who are empathetic and supportive towards social causes that help humanity and the environment.

You can engage them in the social causes by:

• asking the employees to share the causes they would like to support
• sharing with your employees about the impact of supporting various causes leading by example and being actively involved in betterment of things and of the people you intend to uplift
• recognising and acknowledging your star performers

As virtual recruitment, internal mobility, remote working and flexible work schedules take precedence during the hiring process, it is imperative for both recruiters and job seekers to be ready to adopt these trends in the post pandemic world.

What are your views on ‘hiring post pandemic’? Do let us know in the comments section below.