Skills shortages, work from home strategies, and the new world of work has meant that continuing the same old practices could leave teams in a spot of bother. The claim of ‘business as usual’ could be a red flag to employees post-pandemic, as what many really want is business like never before. 

If your talent and HR strategy falls into bad habits an organisation can suffer, and with myths floating around, it can be even harder to distinguish what is right from what is wrong. If issues are not identified early, talent acquisition functions can fall into the trap of plateauing in a crucial year when most should be capitalising on the learning curve of the last 12 months. To avoid the mistakes of previous years, HR and talent teams should introduce best practices and steer clear of these five myths.

1.     “Advertising will not attract talent”

In the world of talent acquisition, a lot of things can change in a short amount of time. Whether it is for a new prospect or to replace an employee moving onto pastures new, it’s inevitable that talent professionals will need to recruit team members in the new year. 

To do this they must ensure they can appeal to new and existing talent through innovative talent acquisition initiatives. One way is to consider advertising for visibility to attract passive and active prospects like Amazon, Cisco, FedEx and competitors are utilising to bring talent to their doors. 

If existing employees are not sure of the business’ values and the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) their employer offers, then new employees and candidates certainly won’t be

As seen through Cisco’s ongoing advertising campaign, the multinational tech conglomerate relies on brand endorsements from its employees and it is one of the many proactive examples that SMEs can use today without exhausting many resources. Talent teams can use programmatic advertising and paid social media to reach a highly targeted group of candidates at a relatively low cost. 

As a general rule of thumb, if it can work for large corporations, it can typically work for SMEs, and it is a good idea to adapt or leverage advertising options.

2.     “Everyone knows what we stand for”

If existing employees are not sure of the business’ values and the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) their employer offers, then new employees and candidates certainly won’t be. In a candidate-driven market, businesses must promote what they stand for in order to stand out and attract like-minded talent.

Assuming everyone knows about your mission and values will limit the number of applications you get, as talent will be more likely to join an organisation that makes their stance on issues clear. Additionally, by clearly communicating these elements of your EVP, candidates that do not align will get a clear sense of the company’s values and self-select out of the application process in the early stages, thus saving time for HR and recruitment later down the line. 

It’s down to business leaders and HR to listen to these demands or risk a higher turnover in the coming months

With clear values and mission, you’ll only get applications from applicants that match up. By demonstrating your company culture early, HR and talent teams can not only set the tone but also manage the expectations of both existing team members and new hires. 

3.     “There is no need to leave”

Research is showing that it is a candidate-driven market and as job vacancies top the one million mark for the first time on record there is already a mass employee exodus underway. With employees being offered significant salaries and benefits to move elsewhere, it is only a matter of time until they start assessing their options. If they’re considering a career change, it’s likely that an employee will first approach their employers and ask for better employment terms – more money, a bigger bonus or more time off perhaps. 

It’s down to business leaders and HR to listen to these demands or risk a higher turnover in the coming months. Talk to your teams, establish areas for improvement within your culture or compensation and adapt your EVP accordingly.

Employees and prospects want to feel supported, satisfied and know their career goals are going to be met so think about training, benefits and the emotional drivers for working at your company. Retaining talent should be top of mind for talent teams but, of course, if the almost-inevitable does happen, HR departments can use digitally led recruitment marketing and scalable recruitment resources to acquire new talent.

4.    “Technology can’t solve all talent problems”

If the past year has shown us anything, it’s that technology can be leveraged to improve efficiency, manage company resources and analyse the performance of employees more effectively. Any HR professional will know that technology can not only shorten processes, but works hand in hand to increase efficiency with the right tools, software, and talent that is coming into the business.

However, when used poorly, technology can add to the workload and even exacerbate the pressure HR professionals face with the added responsibility of overseeing organisations. HR needs to ensure they understand how to use the technologies effectively to support them if they wish to see the true advantages. 

The uncertainty surrounding working culture continues to shape the industry, and every talent professional will need to adapt to the hurdles that they will undoubtedly face

Using AI tools without proper understanding can be dangerous for talent teams, it can often lead to more bias than human beings and talent teams can never truly understand how the algorithms work. At the very least, overusing the technology can lead to a lack of diversity and later lead to the wrong quality of hires.

It’s important to remember that working together is key, and technology cannot completely replace the role of the recruiter to save time, or the quality of hire will suffer. 

5.     “It will get easier next year”

The uncertainty surrounding working culture continues to shape the industry, and every talent professional will need to adapt to the hurdles that they will undoubtedly face.

Plus, the same skill sets remain in high demand, and the recruitment market in industries like tech and knowledge-based skills is showing no signs of slowing down. We cannot expect talent acquisition to get any easier 

Even with these challenges, talent acquisition professionals can and should use this as an opportunity to get a foothold above competitors. By staying as agile as possible and keeping an eye out for any changes or disruptions you can gain a considerable advantage in a race you will not want to lose.

Interested in this topic? Read Win the talent war with compelling story-telling.

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