Adapting to the ‘New Normal’ of Hiring and Recruitment
Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic back in March of 2020, the norms surrounding hiring and recruitment were basically set in stone. There may have been small idiosyncrasies that were unique to certain industries or organizations, but for the most part, employers could rely on a set of stable and carefully crafted best practices to guide them through the process of hiring new employees.
The pandemic has caused a major shift to occur in the status quo. Today, countless employers from all industries are desperately searching for the best ways to source, hire, and onboard new talent amid the confusion of the nationwide COVID-19 crisis.
Though the times we are living through are certainly unprecedented, business owners across the United States have been developing new and innovative strategies for continued success. Business has always been a competitive enterprise – but in times of a crisis it becomes more important than ever for employers to be able to adapt and change.
How Employers Have Been Adapting to the “New Normal” of the Pandemic
How, exactly, has the COVID-19 crisis transformed the traditional hiring and recruitment processes?
Probably the biggest change – and the most serious challenge – for most employers has been the sudden and complete transition to virtual hiring. Prior to the pandemic, most employers would encourage job candidates to visit their workplace as a means of nurturing their excitement about a particular role. Now, in late 2020, employers are primarily relying on virtual tours of office spaces. In many cases, this can make it much more difficult to spark enthusiasm among job candidates and to facilitate a quick and efficient hiring process. Consequently, many key roles within organizations are remaining vacant for long stretches of time.
Those vacancies, furthermore, have tended to have a major effect on the internal players who are involved with the process. Because priorities have been changing so rapidly within the Supply Chain and Operations industry, it has become increasingly necessary for HR, operations managers, and members of floor teams to collaborate with one another in order to optimize the hiring and recruitment process.
We recently completed the process of hiring a plant manager completely virtually, from start to finish. The process started in early 2020, back when everyone was beginning to have serious concerns about the safety of employees in the workplace. This, of course, made it impossible to bring in this new candidate for an in-person tour.
Ultimately, we collaborated with our client to develop a virtual plant tour strategy which effectively conveyed everything that this candidate needed to know about the workplace and the role. To accomplish this, we worked with an engineering manager who filmed every important sector of the facility that this candidate would need to be familiar with. It was an experimental and innovative process, and it ended with a successful hire.
How Partnering with a Professional Recruiter Can Help
2020 has been a year of uncertainty, risk, and radical change. In order to be able to adapt to the new normal of a pandemic-era business landscape, it’s crucial for employers to have a firm grasp of the new norms that are starting to emerge.
Partnering with a professional recruiter can provide employers with access to the tools and expertise that are necessary to attract and retain top talent during the pandemic. At Lucas Group, we specialize in working with employers to develop novel solutions to unfamiliar problems.