Today's talent attraction and recruitment pose great opportunities and challenges in enabling companies to grow rapidly in an uncertain business environment. With India looking to catalyze the next decade of growth and innovation, it becomes even more imperative to create a roadmap for a robust digital talent ecosystem. The rise of digitalisation and subsequent shifts in skill requirements have put the onus on recruiters and hiring managers to be more impactful in driving the right results. 

To explore further the trends and ways companies can improve digital hiring to spur innovations and organisational agility, People Matters and NLB services curated an exclusive roundtable on 'Leading innovation with India as the next 'Digital Talent Hub.'

Varun Sachdeva, SVP & APAC Head at NLB Services, began the discussion by setting the context, helping picture the future of the tech talent ecosystem. "If you look at the ecosystem," he noted, "a combination of government and corporate focus on building digital talent and skills has made India key in leading innovations." He also reflected on reports pointing to the exponential growth ahead for GCCs and the tech talent ecosystem. However, fuelled by the rapid digitalisation and transformation companies have undergone, Varun added that the growth potential is faced with a skill gap in the market. "Organisations are finding it difficult to find the right people to deliver the right results. This is a place where companies like NLB services become helpful in helping organisations find the right talent." 

Susmita Malik, VP - HR India at [24]7.ai, moderated the discussion on how companies overcome skill and talent challenges. 

Candidate Experience

Focusing on candidate experience remains pivotal in shaping successful recruitment efforts. Automation greatly benefits companies as automating transactional activities in the recruitment process helps Hiring managers focus more on creating the right connections and strengthening candidates' experience leading to better-joining ratios. 

Leveraging technology to accelerate candidate experience and engagement is crucial to hiring the right talent. Some companies have successfully hired ex-employees through regular engagement and strong employer branding; companies can create newer talent pools. In addition, regular engagement with new candidates and ex-employees helps companies address talent needs. Kurian Thomas, Head of Talent Acquisition - India Akamai Technologies, explained how through regular touchpoints created with ex-employees, they could address their talent needs when companies were still facing talent competition. 

While technology plays a significant role in improving TA, heads across the board agreed that technologies like AI and automation, while helping create the necessary innovations by revamping hiring efforts, remain no replacement for human connection. Human connection remains pivotal. 

"A lot of us are using bots to streamline processes, but there is no substitute to human touch," said Paramveer Narang, India Head of Talent Acquisition, Capital One. 

Building Employer Brand

Building the right employer brand is important for many TA heads and HR leaders. It is necessary to attract candidates who have access to similar levels of compensation for a skill level. When paired with the right technologies, it's a helpful deterrent in candidates picking up multiple offers. HR leaders agreed that today it plays a vital role in ensuring talent is attracted to the prospective employer. 

"With the rise of digital platforms, candidates can sit in one place and give interviews with many companies. With the right employer branding, candidates have a greater connection with the company,' stated Sonali De Sarker, Director & Head of Human Resources at Automation Anywhere.

Equipping Hiring Managers

It is essential to empower Hiring Managers and help them build the skills necessary for modern-day recruitment. Companies need hiring managers to create relationships with candidates and ensure successful hiring. Candidates require authenticity and a stable connection for a better experience, and hiring managers need to be able to provide that.

"Hiring managers play an important role," said Paramveer Narang, India Head of Talent Acquisition, Capital One. "Many spend very less time connecting with the candidates. We must empower and create ways for our hiring managers to connect with the candidates. We are making this change by allowing short videos of hiring managers sharing who we are and what we do."

"Tech doesn't lead to behaviour. Culture does. So we have to focus on enabling our hiring managers and people leaders to create the right change," added Mohana, Head of HR, Bangalore Hub, GBS Standard Chartered Bank

"The connection between the hiring manager and the candidates is important and lays the basis for candidates even turning up for interviews. But with a clear process where candidates connect with the hiring managers and other people from the team, candidates felt more invested in the process," said Sonali. Aditya Pal Singh, Head of Talent Acquisition India, Informatica, raised a similar point to address hiring challenges that help spur innovations.