2020 has been a unique year for everyone. With lockdown & travel restrictions due to COVID 19 becoming the norm in most countries, companies had to shift to innovative & remote ways of working. Most organisations that were agile & quick to adapt to the changing scenario managed to continue their business without major hiccups amidst the crisis.
KPMG’s survey report reveals that organisations which were not prepared with an adequate IT infrastructure to enable remote working were caught off guard during this pandemic. The report revealed that 32% of the organisations lacked facilities to offer a work from home option, while only 25% of all the organisations had an IT infrastructure already in place which helped them to readily face the challenge.
Like all the business managers, the hiring managers are realising that the erstwhile recruitment strategies will have to be changed and adapted to the ongoing situation.
Recruitment methodologies have changed a lot over the years from newspaper advertisements to social media and now to usage of video conferencing softwares like Zoom, skype to name a few. While the usage of digital platform for recruitment was just a small part of the process restricted to only situations where physical presence is not possible, now with the change in the situation due to pandemic, it is soon being accepted as a norm by most companies.
So how will the recruitment strategies change in the new year?
Filling the gap : Due to the pandemic, a lot of companies were forced to either lay off or furlough employees. With the scenario soon returning to the new normal, these companies will now be scrambling to rehire the lost manpower before the competition while making complex arrangements to accommodate the employees returning to work.
Remote working environment : Work from home, remote collaborations & interaction using digital technology has become the new norm for all the departments & operations of the business. Millions of employees are now working remotely, and many are realising that they are more or just as productive at home. Going forward, with this realisation in mind, a lot of roles will go remote permanently.
Skilled manpower is the key : With reduction or freeze on hiring budgets, the managers would now have to rethink their recruitment strategies to create a mix of both permanent as well as contractual or freelance workforce. Also, organisations are now looking for candidates with skills that can be easily utilised across departments & silos ensuring swift adaptation & minimum impact to productivity. With newer style of working, there will be a huge requirement for not just candidates with new age technological & digital skills but up-skilling and training will occupy a very important role.
Agile & ready workforce : Many companies will move to freelance & contractual employees who are skilled & ready to be on-boarded. This will help them keep their workforce lean & agile.
Access to larger workforce : Remote working has proved that there are no physical boundaries when it comes to recruitment. Anyone can work from anywhere and hence the limitations of hiring from any specific city or relocating to a city are things of the past. This opens a whole array of opportunities for hiring managers. Virtual screening & interviews have replaced the lengthy offline process of recruitment. Companies have also moved to virtual and digital On boarding & employee engagement programmes to improve efficiency and productivity.
The hiring strategy will also evolve to be more inclusive in terms of full time, part time, flexible hours, work from home opportunities for employees.
The businesses that are more agile and flexible will be able to adapt to the new normal. Businesses will invest more on developing technology and skills that keep the workforce as flexible & resilient as possible to lead the companies to success in the unpredictable future.
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”
John Wooden
