Top three emerging trends in recruitment for 2022

To say that we’ve all learnt a lot in the last two years is a bit of an understatement. We’ve seen unprecedented change across the globe, encompassing all industries and people from all walks of life. People are at the heart of every workplace, and with billions disrupted in 2020 and 2021, it almost goes without saying that people-centric practices, like recruitment, have totally transformed as a result. As we look back on what we’ve learnt in this time, a number of recruitment industry trends for 2022 become apparent. Let’s dive into what good recruitment will look like in the new year. 

What are the emerging trends in recruitment? 

There are three major areas where recruitment experts around the world are looking to evolve. Each of these areas is deeply concerned with people, both in and outside of your organisation. Improving your processes to take better care of your team members as well as your applicants is key to productivity and sustainable success in 2022. 

In summary, these global recruitment trends are: 

• Automate your process for success 
• Candidate connection is key 
• Leadership overhaul for longevity 

To help you get a head start in the new year with a new and improved approach to recruitment, let’s unpack what each of these emerging trends in recruitment entails. 

#1: Automate your process for success 

This trend can apply to a wide range of roles across your organisation. Automation used to be a big scary buzzword that made the average person worry about job security. However, automation is primarily a tool to support you in your role. In fact, leveraging the power of automation to streamline mundane tasks and free up time for your teams is the most impactful change you can make in 2022. 

For example, you can use email automation tools to send out automatic emails to select clients (think birthday offer emails, abandoned cart emails, and the like). You might use a social media scheduling tool to automate your social media activity, setting it up so that your posts go out on set days and times for the next few weeks, engaging new audiences as they go out. Another business area that’s frequently automated is payroll and timesheet management.

In recruitment, automation is key to minimise manual tasks and has the added benefit of reducing human error and double handling. The precious time you save for your recruiters (or yourself) allows your organisation to put more time and effort into the recruitment process. That means building unique, personalised connections with candidates. And that’s exactly what candidates want to see from their employers. A human touch. Ironically, you can use automation to get there. 

#2: Candidate connection is key 

That brings us rather neatly to the next trend: candidate connection and candidate experience. What kind of impression of your organisation does the average candidate get when they hit the “apply” button? Do they not hear back from you unless they’re progressing to the interview phase? Do they receive a notification that their application is unsuccessful? What kind of experience do they have with your brand? 

All of these questions are incredibly important when you consider that we’re deep in a worker economy. The bulk of the power is in the candidate’s hands, and it’s you that needs to convince them that your role is worth applying for. Similarly, how the candidate feels you treat them will impact whether they accept or decline your offer. Freeing up time with automation means you’re empowered to create genuine connections with candidates and afford them the respect they deserve. 

#3: Leadership overhaul for longevity 

Classical management styles were already outdated in 2019 and this is doubly true in the current climate. Your leaders must adopt a leadership style that is trusting, flexible, and supportive to keep employees engaged and maintain productivity. More than ever, team members want to feel connected to a purpose in their work lives. What does that look like? Managers aren’t just for driving execution and results anymore – they are teachers, coaches, mentors. Your leaders may have to manage different team dynamics, like a hybrid team, or learn to manage an overlap of personal and professional boundaries. To connect their team to a deeper purpose, managers must be able to weave your organisation’s values and culture into just about any project. 

From a recruitment perspective, this implies hiring team members and leaders with a strong set of people skills and demonstrable resilience, empathy, and adaptability. You might have to change the way you define your selection criteria and widen your scope to find leading candidates with these skills. For example, be open to candidates with adjacent experience or capabilities and a complement of impeccable soft skills. 

In Conclusion: Recruitment trends for 2022

Overall, these trends ask organisation’s like yours an important question: are you ready to put people at the heart of what you do? If you look to automation tools to streamline key processes, you’re saving your people time and empowering them to build better relationships with clients. If you use this time to build better relationships with candidates, too, you make higher quality hires for your organisation. And with highly capable and adaptable people on your team, you have the peace of mind to transform your leadership style and maintain cohesive teams that see the bigger picture. 

If you want to discuss your recruitment goals in-depth and how our team helps you implement strategies like this to get the best results, reach out to us today.