A good hiring experience can stop the skills crisis

Many businesses are currently in a hiring or skills gap crisis.

In fact, according to Mckinsey research, almost nine in 10 organizations are aware that they currently have a skills gap or will have one within a few years.

Yet, as found by new HireVue research, current hiring experiences aren’t helping businesses fill their vacancies with a third of candidates rejecting job offers as a result of the process not being up to scratch.

In fact, as the study from the video interview and assessment tool providor found, two out of three of those rejecting a job offer citing a poor candidate experience do so as a result of poor communications.

Other ways candidates said that current hiring processes don’t come up to scratch include a lack of transparency (41% said this), a hiring process that was too complicated (40%), or a hiring process that was too lengthy (40%).

It led Anthony Reynolds, CEO at HireVue, to comment that businesses need to make hiring less complicated by using technology where possible and appropriate.

He said: “To weather the talent shortage, businesses need to create the best possible hiring experience for candidates if they’re to eliminate the chance of candidate drop-off.

“[Here] technology enables easy communication between candidate and business, and it ultimately ensures any business can hire effectively during a talent shortage.”

Companies could get left behind if they don’t invest

In the latest period for which there is available ONS data, July to September 2022, there are over 1.2 million job vacancies in the UK alone.

And as companies rush to get the right talent to fill these open roles, it appears that many are spending on hiring process technology in order to get ahead when it comes to getting the skills they need.

According to Modern Hire’s The Evolution of Talent Acquisition Technology report, which surveyed over 300 senior talent acquisition and HR professionals, over 70% of businesses increased their spending on talent acquisition technology during 2022. In fact, more than 60% of businesses are now using more technology in the talent sourcing and hiring process than they were before Covid.

The report’s author, Madeline Laurano, founder at Aptitude Research, added that many companies are doing so because they believe technology is the solution to their hiring crisis woes.

She said: “We have moved past the early fears of AI and employers, recruiters, and candidates are embracing AI-driven solutions with one in two companies believing that AI will improve the candidate experience.”

What this means in practice, as Aimée Meher-Homji, global head of talent acquisition at Adidas, previously told UNLEASH, is companies should focus on using all their tools to give candidates a “white glove concierge experience” as they now hold the power in the market.

Meher-Homji added: “Gone are the days where companies wait around for candidates.”

It’s a lot for organizations to contend with but, as the research shows, there are many areas for them to improve in so they better get started.