Our partners, ETZ, recently published a white paper on The Future of Recruitment and here are a few really valuable talking points from it.
We spend a lot of time worrying about the future – in both our personal and professional lives. From a business perspective, keeping an eye on emerging trends is critical to remaining one step ahead of the competition, and embracing new opportunities to work more effectively.
To keep those work fears at bay, we need to know what the biggest influences on recruitment will be in the next 12 months, to understand how your agency can embrace these changes and keep growing.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the industry’s biggest current talking points, which have the potential to redefine the way in which recruiters operate…
Trend 1 – smart technology is shaping the search for talent
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been much-discussed across most business sectors in recent years, but it’s only now that we’re starting to see some noteworthy use cases in recruitment.
One of the primary areas where AI will prove a game-changer is the search for talented new contractors. While databases for storing candidate details are nothing new, AI has the potential to analyse this information and suggest applicants based on the calibre of their CV – not the length of service in a particular industry or role.
This way, recruitment agency clients may end up with a shortlist that looks very different to what they traditionally receive, but with potential employees whose abilities closely match the skills they are looking for. AI takes away the element of bias that prevents many strong candidates from making the first cut, solving critical talent shortages by being more open minded.
There are other ways in which AI will influence the talent searching process in future, too. For example, it can intelligently analyse advert wording to see which options generate the best results, tweaking further adverts to generate the best response. It can also be utilised within chatbot technology, to conduct preliminary conversations with suitable applicants and filter out any that either aren’t looking for a new role or aren’t interested in that particular opportunity.
One of the most interesting things about AI within recruitment technology is that it becomes smarter over time. This means that the more companies use smart tools in their daily operations and decision-making, the better those tools will become at generating results.
Trend 2 – candidates are back in control of the recruitment process
Data security is always a big issue in recruitment, particularly with the introduction of GDPR legislation in 2018. There are other developments on the horizon now, which are changing the balance of power when it comes to personal information.
More and more recruitment agencies are exploring technology that stores personal information on the blockchain; a digital network that securely and immutably safeguards encrypted data. The nature of blockchain means that whoever owns the data – in recruiters’ case, the candidates on your books – is in control of how they share this information, along with who they share it with.
The adoption of blockchain-based technologies, therefore, is putting the balance of power back in contractors’ hands. They now have full control over who their data can be shared with, rather than putting recruitment agents in charge of personal information.
As a result, recruiters are becoming more and more like talent agents in the employment mix; matching clients and contractors based on skill and negotiating the right package for both parties.
Trend 3 – the decline of 30-day payments
The first two trends we discussed will significantly impact the service side of recruitment agencies, but there are significant developments happening in the back-end of the industry as well. We’ve already talked about how the blockchain is changing the authority that contractors have over their personal data, and blockchain has the power to transform operational processes too.
One of the biggest develops about to go mainstream is the use of blockchain to enable secure payments in real-time. This means that recruitment agencies will be able to invoice your clients on a daily basis for immediate settlement, putting an end to painful 30-day payment terms.
The significance of back office innovation cannot be underestimated for recruiters. Speeding up core processes such as payment will provide a major boost to business cash flow, enabling recruitment agencies to innovate and grow at much greater speed. It will also allow you to start paying contractors on a daily basis, which in turn will attract new talent and motivate those already on your books to perform even better.
Nick Woodward is CEO at ETZ, specialists in back office technology for recruitment agencies. ETZ’s whitepaper on The Future of Recruitment is available to download now.
