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As technology continues to change the corporate landscape rapidly, we witness the emergence of the latest trends in HR management and the recruitment landscape. An expanding gig economy, a demand for creative employees who can keep their skills updated and adapt to changes and a digitally savvy workforce are all driving an evolution of the recruitment system. 

Skills are in short supply, and the market for good talent is more competitive than ever. In such a situation, it is important to keep abreast of the recent trends in recruitment. Here’s what to watch out for in the coming year.

Candidate Experience

Even as unemployment rises, a parallel dearth of talent is also seen. A report by Deloitte predicted that the skills deficit, which was numbered at around 23 million in 2019, will grow to 29 million by 2030. 

This means genuinely talented job seekers have the upper hand in recruitment. Along with ensuring the applicant is the right fit for the job, recruiters also need to provide a great experience to candidates. 

Recruiters can use tech to make the process easier and offer a personal touch to candidates throughout their recruitment journey. They can also stand out by giving constructive feedback to candidates at each step rather than ‘ghosting’ them. 

Job seekers also consider how their work environment will be before they join. Hence, a ‘day in the life of an employee’ video, providing genuine behind-the-scenes glimpses about life in the company can also help enhance the candidate experience.

Flexible Work Schedules

In the increasingly competitive hiring market, recruiters must know what the candidates desire. While 9-5 jobs were the trend until a few years ago, job seekers now highly prioritise flexibility. In this post-COVID world, remote and flexible working has emerged as one of the latest trends in HR management.

According to a survey by the International Workplace Group, 80% of the respondents reported a higher preference for a job offer that came with flexibility. Further, 85% of businesses said that productivity increased with higher flexibility. 

Of course, flexibility depends on the job’s nature and is unsuitable for every kind of work. However, an offer of flexible work schedules whenever possible increases the chances of a candidate accepting the job offer.

Collaborative Recruiting

Building a business through networking and connections with current employees is a great way to bring quality talent to the organisation. An employee referral program that incentivises current employees to refer people they know for recruitment can benefit the employer and the employee. 

The highly competitive recruitment market calls for creative measures to cut hiring costs and get the best talent, and connections are far more viable and compelling than job boards in such a situation.

Employer Branding

To attract talent, employers must shape their brand reputation. One of the emerging trends in human resources is that job seekers now prefer to look up employers’ brands before applying. So, companies boasting a superior brand image are more likely to find perfect candidates. 

Unlike earlier, when all employees cared more about monetary incentives and perks, they now also look at culture, values and ethics alignment. The newer, more ‘woke’ generation prefers to work for organisations that have a positive impact on the world.  

Making your brand attractive would require more than just corporate marketing campaigns. People now expect more of a personal look at what to expect. Great employee reviews on Glassdoor and other social media sites, a professional website clearly stating the vision and mission of the company and an active social media presence are all important to building your organisation’s brand.

AI in Recruitment

One of the latest trends in HR management is the emerging use of Artificial Intelligence and other advanced technologies. AI has been portrayed equally as the answer to recruiters’ problems as well as the biggest challenge they would have to face. Of course, the reality lies somewhere in between. 

AI is being used to enhance the role of recruiters but not replace them entirely. Artificial Intelligence brings fewer biases to the candidate selection process than humans do, though it does not make completely unbiased decisions. 

Recruiters can leverage AI during the recruitment process to free recruiters from tedious manual processes like paperwork. Chatbots, which use AI technology, can engage candidates throughout their journey. 

AI would do the heavy lifting when it comes to screening candidates without bias and creating a seamless experience for them. Human recruiters would, of course, still be required for the parts that need creativity and intuition, like designing the recruiting process, interviewing the candidates, etc.

In an industry environment that is continuously changing, it is easy to worry about the uncertain future and the role technology will play in it. However, one thing is for sure – the role of human beings will not diminish, although it will change. 

The above trends show technology playing a supporting role in recruitment, rather than taking centre stage. This is because even as tools become more sophisticated and automation pervades every field, the end goal remains – to attract the right candidates by creating a great experience with a human touch. The target audience, after all, is human.

Knowing the emerging trends in human resources is crucial to giving your organisation a competitive edge in achieving its goals and hiring the right talents. If you are looking for instant credit solutions to help your employees get quick access to funds, you can opt for Fibe’s Salary Advance Loan. 

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FAQs on Recruitment Trends to Watch out for in 2020

What are the 5 main areas of HR?

Here’s a quick rundown of 5 critical areas of the Human Resource Management:

• Recruitment and Onboarding
• Compliance Management
• Workforce Planning
• Employee Engagement and Satisfaction
• Training and Development

What are the 4 pillars of HR?

These pillars form the building blocks to manage a company’s workforce efficiently. Here they are:

• Talent Acquisition and Recruitment
• Talent Management
• Performance Management
• Legal and Regulatory Compliance

A financial wellness program is executed with the objective of educating employees at the ultimate goal of increasing their financial well being. This is supplemental to the standard employee benefits that goes beyond retirement planning and investing information. They help the employee feel financially secure, with a properly devised plan based on how and when they can be managing their finances for both the present and future. Employees reportedly spend approximately 150 work hours annually worrying about money. That’s almost four weeks of work time!

A recent study from Financial Finesse indicated that a company with 50,000 employees could save around $33 million to $49 million annually just by increasing their financial wellness score of its workforce by one point on a 10-point scale.

How Great Brands Operate Financial Wellness

Google offers its workers financial wellness resources, such as access to financial advisors and financial planning services. In addition to this, the company is the most well-known example that goes to great lengths to keep its employees happy with free lunches, snack kitchens, happy hours, casual dress code, commuter shuttles, on-site laundry service with the belief that perks are a critical weapon in the war to recruit top talent.

But not all employees are attracted to frills and perks. 

Glassdoor’s recent employment confidence survey shined light on the priorities of its employees. It revealed that just one-in-five employees rate office perks as important. These fringe benefits in fact, were rated ninth in a ranking of what mattered most to their employees. An individual more concerned about mounting debts or chronic illnesses has little interest in unlimited coffee or happy hours. No surprises then, that medical coverage, retirement plans, and wellness programs rank significantly higher and are supposedly crucial benefits that serve to reduce stress outside of the workplace.

Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank launched a financial education program called Momentum onUp geared towards improving their employees’ financial health. With the use of videos, modules and other learning activities, its motive is to boost user confidence in personal finance. Employees were also offered classes on financial education, projected account balance statements, retirement income calculators, online resources and personal consultation services.

Multinational professional services company Accenture, had a slightly different take on financial wellness programs – stating that simply creating a digital platform with a horde of content would not really gather the interest nor help the employees understand what they could use from the information available. In fact, too much information pointing at different directions could confuse the individual. A mix of this content while using the principles of behavioural finance would help companies to cover every element of the financial education in a holistic way while offering information in logically sequenced, digestible chunks. Today’s technology could take it to another level using artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics, taking personalisation that the employees expect to a more definite route. Analytics can help differentiate between types and categories of employees keeping in mind life events and stages as well.

In A Nut-Shell

Understanding the employee’s specific financial needs so that those needs can be more accurately met is the key to a successful financial wellness program. Workshops on subjects like personal and household budgeting, consumer credit building, spending behaviours and consumer attitudes and financial goal setting can go a long way in helping an individual understand the process and the future of their financial wellness. It’s important to factor in employees’ spending needs and their ability to grasp financial education concepts. These are what make a strong financial wellness program, and therefore, a strong organisation.

While pay equity as a concept is fairly old, its context has continued to evolve with time. Originally leveraged as a tool to combat the adverse impact of unequal pay between people of varying social classes and backgrounds, it is now the de facto term to address gender pay disparity.

India has had a good track record for labour laws containing wage-related legislations – like the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. These were framed to provide social security and fair employment conditions to prevent discrimination amongst skilled and unskilled labourers and disparity between wages paid to male and female workers. Now, however, a prominent struggle for women to get equal pay has become a rising voice in almost every industry. The glass ceiling women have been subjected to for a long time now faces significant opposition, especially since a large number of women now boast of equal levels of knowledge, skills and competency. 

It is high time that the strategy makers don’t let this gap broaden, as pay equity has a high impact on the overall wellness and performance of the employee. Let’s take a deeper dive into the significance and importance of pay equity on employees and organisations:

#1 Job security

One item of critical consequence for pay equity is job security. It doesn’t take rocket science to ascertain that if employees are treated fairly and rewarded aptly in accordance to their output, they would want to continue working in the same organisation. The assurance of no disparity encourages employees to feel positive about their careers and the company. You’re effectively ensuring that job incumbents don’t go searching outside.

#2 Lowered stress

No prizes for guessing that employees will feel happier and more satisfied in their current endeavors if they are paid fairly. Pay equity isn’t a metric for evaluating costs, it’s a tool for encouraging employees to work to the best of their capabilities and not feel burdened because of excess work and less compensation. With no pay disparity, it is a fact that women will be able to earn better and lead a more stress-free and joyous life. Having a job that is fair on this factor is certainly a good opportunity that no one would want to miss. 

#3 Talent Attraction

Looking to bring in (and retain) top talent? It’d certainly help if your organisation was one known for its pay equity and fair compensation. Expect your team to share positive feedback on your company with others, and let word of mouth (or even formal recognition) help build your brand’s reputation on this aspect. The results will be quickly visible – both when you’re looking to hire for open positions, or when you receive regular applicants.

#4 Financial wellness

Out of all the reasons for continuing a job, one of the major reasons is financial wellness that comes with having a stable income. Stability in life is important and for most of us, a good-paying job is an essential way to reach a state of financial security and wellness in life. With pay disparity at bay, the entire workforce is likely to be a step closer in reaching their personal financial goals. From recreational activities to situations of emergency, financial aid is a necessity that can be best provided by the firm they work for. 

#5 Higher growth prospects

With highly competent employees wanting to continue rendering their services, you can expect things to take a more favourable turn for your business. Engaged and committed employees, with the right training and development, are better positioned to graduate to higher-level managerial roles. This is a win-win for both them and the organisation, which can then skip having to scout outside when looking to expand. 

#6 Higher competence and productivity

Appropriate compensation and good pay packages serve as an important link to productivity. Higher productivity is far more likely if employees have a fair chance of receiving the right appreciation and compensation for their work. With better productivity, there’s also a higher chance of skill enhancement.. So, the competency and the efficiency of employees increases which is a win-win situation for both. 

Pay equity should be treated as a responsibility for bringing economic stability in the country and labour market. Pay disparity on gender biases needs to be stopped and for the company, assuring such aspects will fare well for retaining quality employees. A transparent and fair compensation scheme is important for the creation of a culture of growth. 

For business prosperity, it is best to make the best use of employees. With pay equity you can retain and attract the best talent around that will help you to drive the business towards continuous success.

Over the course of my career, I’ve been witness to a rather rapid evolution of workplaces and work cultures. This change has been particularly prominent in its recent stages – with an influx of new-age professionals joining the workforce. As a result – we now experience noticeably different work practices, styles, and cultures. 

Of course, this isn’t solely due to our changing workforce. New age businesses, enabled by technology that came up only about a decade ago and matured even more recently, have led to new conventions that can seem challenging to the more established HR folks. For example, flexible timings, working from home, a range of office perks and benefits – all of these are now taken to be the norm if an organisation is looking to attract the top talent. 

In this context however, working on long term strategic goals – like promoting financial wellness – can be challenging. How can the HR function effectively implement its agenda and plans, and even measure their outcome when they’re dealing with a predominantly workforce with seemingly varied priorities, that often works remotely, or simply has different expectations? In my opinion, the key lies in the following:

#1 Identifying Common Focus Areas

When faced with a workforce exhibiting varied characteristics, it’s prudent to identify commonalities and channel focus there. The findings (and probably action items) are likely to be those that can be applied as a whole, with reasonable certainty of results. I believe this is optimally achieved by relying on surveys, word of mouth, and a keen eye for detail. 

For example, many new age orgs are likely to find that in terms of benefits, a millennial workforce, more than any other before it, prefers flexible working hours, cash bonuses, and healthcare. Identifying such focus areas is the first step to executing on the organisation’s financial wellness goals.

#2 Building A Compatible Agenda

Conventional plans are unlikely to be effective in an unconventional workplace. If, for example, you intend to host financial literacy seminars, is there adequate data to verify its potential effectiveness? Is the organisation confident that this is what the workforce is looking for? In PWC’s 2018 employee wellness survey, only half (49%) of those surveyed agreed that their compensation was keeping up with the rising living costs. But when offered employer benefits, such as “financial wellness with access to unbiased counselors,” only 25% of respondents preferred the option. 

Data like this can be indicative of a mismatch, if any, between the workforce’s expectations and the organisation’s plans. It’s critical to keep an eye out for these and work on an agenda that is democratic and inclusive.

#3 Consistency

Financial wellness programs require consistency to be effective. Tuning the frequency of your action items and agenda in line with your workforce’s needs are key. Perhaps once a month is too little, and once a fortnight too much. Rely on data to arrive at an accurate perspective on your plans, and constantly iterate to improve on this accuracy.

#4 Focus On Engagement

Like all other tasks, financial wellness too, must be approached customer-backwards. The customer in this case, being your workforce. With engagement being a fairly reliable metric of effectiveness and success, it is important to observe if your workforce is truly making use of your program. This isn’t reflected in just attendance numbers, login sessions, or other such simple metrics alone. Repeat surveys for individual feedback, the organisation’s performance on demands from the workforce – it is actions like these that add up to make a comprehensive result-driven conclusion on the programs. 

#5 Identify Leaders

Expanding on the significance of building engagement, a predominantly millennial workforce may find itself engaging better if the programs can be led by their peers, or someone similar. As multiple surveys have indicated, this workforce desires empowerment, and enabling that via agendas like these can serve the dual purpose of improving job satisfaction both with and without the context of financial wellness.

#6 Think Big

In 2019, financial wellness isn’t solely about imparting financial literacy, providing cost effective healthcare, or dealing with financial stress. It’s vulnerable to impact from multiple other factors – emotional, physical, family, and more. By working on a holistic agenda that addresses these other needs of your workforce, you’re in a better position to succeed on all fronts. Health programs, promotion of a work life balance, and a focus on mental health are key ingredients to getting to the organisation’s larger goals. Think big.

It’s heartening to see a growing number of organisations shifting focus to, and prioritizing, financial wellness. I’m sure many would agree, there has never previously been a greater need for it, in the context of the diverse workforce we are a part of, and the exciting nature of businesses we have across all sectors.