In the post-pandemic evolving world, companies are facing the ‘war for talent’. Organizations are experiencing a high level of staff exits and losing skilled talent to their competitors. Recruitment is time-consuming, therefore, it is important to find quality candidates through a streamlined and compliant hiring process. 

Effective hiring in a hybrid environment necessitates organizations to hire individuals with different skill sets across the organization. At the same time, diligence in screening, onboarding & training candidates cannot come at the expense of prolonged hiring timelines.

Sterling RISQ, in partnership with People Matters, hosted a virtual panel discussion with the below speakers on the topic 'Effective hiring and training in a hybrid work ecosystem'.

• G V Prasad, CEO India and Head of APAC Fulfillment, Sterling
• Mukta Nakra, Head of Human Resources and Sustainability at Marks and Spencer Reliance India Ltd.
• Krithi Marla, Director Talent Acquisition- APJC Cisco
• Sangeetha G, General Manager- Talent Acquisition, Mindtree;

The panel discussed how organizations are handling hiring and training related issues while a talent war is going on. They also shared insights on how to maintain the balance of speed and diligence along with the digitization and technological influence on the overall organization’s activities, during this time of crisis.

Biggest challenge organizations face in terms of hiring

According to Krithi Marla, the hiring trends have drastically evolved in the last 18 months, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reshuffling, great resignation and the war of talent has aggravated over time owing to fierce competition. Organizations are struggling to hire and retain the right talent.

Agreeing with Marla's views, Sangeetha G further added, "Overall there was a predictive model that we were able to do, when it comes to people conversion, joining the organization. Today, I think we are not able to really have a thorough say in saying this talent will come and join. Despite organizations doing some fabulous work, joining ratio prediction is something that we are all boggling down to find out how to improvise on the drastic number drop".

Mukta Nakra highlighted another interesting challenge of the candidate-driven world that organizations are facing these days. According to Nakra, the face of businesses is evolving. It is difficult for organizations to align the evolved employer brand with the existing or traditional norms and to attract future skills required by businesses. Organizations are struggling to balance and match the proposition of organizations that meet with candidates.

G V Prasad elaborated on the hiring crisis and stated three broad challenges that the organizations are enduring.

The first challenge being, recruiting the right person. Prasad further shed some light on what the right candidate constitutes- it basically caters to someone who has adaptability, flexibility and is self-driven. It is owing to the changing times and dynamic work culture in the hybrid ecosystem, that these traits are the most valuable. It has increased the quantum of challenges organizations face.

Organization policies since employers' preferences have been dynamically changing since the pandemic. The entire paradigm has undergone a shift, where organizations are transforming their policies to strike a balance between the right recruitment and business priorities.

Paced up hiring is another major challenge. Owing to the talent war and hiring crisis, it has become critical to speed up the screening and onboarding process.

Impact of virtual and remote ecosystem on hiring

Prasad opined that organizations strive to be transparent and fair irrespective of the mode of hiring and hence, the basic hiring framework has not changed. However, communication in virtual or remote working ecosystems may pose a hurdle or remain slightly inefficient. Organizations emphasize communication and related aspects to have efficiency and transparency in the recruitment procedures and the overall functioning of the company. In addition to that, companies are revamping and adopting technological tools such as proctor-based digital assessment systems, AI tools, etc. aiding in enhancing the hiring process. Another important aspect, highlighted by Marla, is the need to coach recruiters and hiring managers with the help of tools, enabling them to understand experience and engagement aspects. Nakra mentioned other crucial aspects to virtual hiring- Interviews have become more consistent owing to the lack of human judgment analysis virtually. Virtual hiring, use of digital tools have gradually diminished the personality judgment and soft skills facet.

How organizations are catering to the risks associated with virtual recruitments

Organizations are using tools such as artificial intelligence, proctor-based tests and checks in the screening processes, to access the programming and communication skills of candidates. It makes the overall hiring process easy and feasible for recruiters. This filtering mechanism has helped organizations to hire the right talent among the pool of candidates. Another crucial virtual hiring risk is recruiting the right culture fit in the business when finding the right candidate. Digitization in the virtual hiring ecosystem has become quite prominent, hampering consistency and the decision-making process.

Impact of background check in the hybrid setup

Prasad laid out three significant aspects that an efficient background screening ensures. The first is to confirm if the candidate is who he is claiming to be; the second aspect is to check educational qualifications, skills sets, along with behavioural aspects to ensure a good cultural fit; the third facet is the speed of the screening process. Technology plays a key role here; it enables efficiency and serves a paced-up screening process. It aids in checking addresses, criminal records, social media handles, etc. Apart from that, informal networking and hiring channels are being leveraged religiously as a tool by organizations, to ensure right candidature. Consequently, organizations are indulging in infrastructural investment to keep all these checks and balances, regarding talent recruitment, in place.

Factors to keep in view while implementing technology in the screening processes

Speed, accuracy, and authenticity of the data to get reliable information, ensuring the right hires is one factor that requires utmost attention when utilizing tech in background checks. Nakra enumerated a few other aspects to look into such as alignment of the platform with internal ATS, feasibility for recruiters, turnaround time of the output, cost-effectiveness, etc. Prasad further stated five major facets to keep in view while selecting the right partner for background and screening checks.

• Quality of check and turnaround time.
• Compliance in terms of legal, business, etc. perspective.
• Right platform and technology as well as integration of the platform with the company's ATS.
• Ability to provide broad coverage and perform checks in multiple regions.
• Professionalism in terms of interaction.

Evolved on-boarding process and outlook ensuring optimal output from new hires

Technology has become an integral part of the employee life cycle. Technological support to ensure the candidate is ready to onboard, creation of a harmonious ecosystem, presence of people managers, guiding new hires about the organization and how it works, leadership connects, coffee meets with new hires, regular check-ins, etc. All these aspects have gained much support and more organizations are adhering to them, to cope with the restricted and less-interactive work atmosphere.

Click here to start a conversation with Sterling RISQ to find out how to put in place an on-boarding process that can work for you.