The pandemic has created a need for quick and efficient hiring workflows to minimize the time and to optimize finding the right candidate. As Rishu Garg, CHRO, Rivigo puts it, “We moved from traditional sequential hiring to parallel processing by adapting quickly in an agile manner”. This is especially true in a fluid workplace, where business leaders want to build organizational structures around talent.  

With the workforce being spread out and enabled with different ways of working, we need to ensure quick decision-making and proactive support. As Renu Bohra, CHRO, Schenker, calls out, “Hiring in a hybrid environment is about how we communicate the organizational culture and align the EVP quickly with talent”. These are the hiring priorities to win the talent war. 

Challenges in winning the war for talent

Today, companies want multiple skills from one candidate, making the right candidate tough to find. Multiple talent sources and high drop-out rates make this tougher. Hence, recruiters must learn to tap the right sources and engage the candidate throughout the recruitment pipeline. The key question to ask is, “How do we ensure a connected candidate experience in a personalized fashion?”

“The entire period between selecting the right candidate and candidate journey should ensure a great candidate experience” – Rishu

This calls for TA specialists to relook at the TA processes with a new lens. 

Rethinking the hiring process

When hiring for hybrid environments, some of the key priorities are time-to-fill, pre-screening assessments, and hiring automation, according to Ajay Kadyan, Co-founder, Zimyo. 

Hiring workflows: The hiring workflows need to be different for different companies and even for different roles within the same company. For example, at Rivigo, there is a mix of onsite workers plus work-from-home employees. To maintain a conscious balance of local personnel and migrated workforce they instated hiring policies for hiring from anywhere, thereby increasing the talent pool as well as saving relocation costs. Leadership hiring workflows at Schenker focus on assessing the right skills. So, a highly cross-functional interview panel helps inculcate dynamic workflows into the hiring system. This human element combines with the latest ATS offerings to sharpen the recruitment process.  

Speed and quality of hiring: To drive speed, Rivigo TA codified certain hiring processes and shortened the cycle. In a virtual environment, looking for soft skills becomes important, hence Schenker relooked at assessment processes. re

Culture and connection: Assigning new hires a buddy to make them feel included, conducting onboarding events all over the country are ways to ensure a consistent new joiner experience. Also, a mindset of assessing talent for future roles and growth is a necessity. HR must rethink the culture, communication and leadership must drive this from the front. “At Rivigo, we trained a few people as “bar-raisers” i.e. our people who understand the role and organization and are spread across geographies, and who can check on principles and values, and thereby ensure culture-fit while hiring”, shares Renu. Hence a mix of technology plus stakeholder management has enhanced the candidate experience.  

The role of the recruiter for a revamped TA outlook

With the complexity in the talent landscape, the recruiter role is no longer about coordination, it is about identifying the right talent and right fit for the role. This comes from the recruiter working closely with the hiring manager. 

“When we were working from the office, the recruiter could talk to hiring managers, collaborate with them and tap into their resources. In virtual working, the first shortlist has become a big challenge, with many direct applicants”, shares Renu

Today’s recruiter has to make unique decisions for each role, such as whether to source from local employment exchange or job portal or social media, how to translate competency-based hiring to meaningful terms, etc. With data options being available, he or she must understand the right metric, role-wise. Hence learning to make data-driven decisions is important. Also, the focus has shifted from salary negotiation to profile negotiation at both candidate and organizational ends. And this must be maintained while ensuring a diverse, inclusive applicant pool. Above all this, the recruiter should be able to excite and entice the candidate. “We reach out to passive candidates and ensure they are part of the funnel to excite the in-funnel candidate. We talk about how to align personal goals with organizational goals.”, shares Rishu. 

Opportunities abound, at the cusp of human connection and technology. The right blend is sure to provide a smoother candidate and employee experience, better collaboration and communication, and reduce time to hire. While technology can open up new avenues, it is important to act with empathy and humanize the experience. Rishu shares, ”During every step in the selection process, we initiate a hiring discussion on what the person brings to the table and the possible responsibilities and then make a framework to support the candidate in bringing up to speed, leading to a more authentic experience.” 

“Experience starts with understanding deeply the candidate and the organizational brand and ensuring talent experiences that are personalized and honest”, shares Renu.