Daniel Miller 
According to the World Economic Forum, an estimated 97 million new jobs will be created by 2023. And although this presents a significant opportunity for employers, due to the coronavirus pandemic and diversity, equity, and inclusion movements, employee recruitment trends have changed significantly, which means employers must adapt if they want to stay competitive. Today, business leaders can gain an edge by deploying modern-day strategies to help attract, hire, and retain employees. Below are just four strategies that can help you improve the effectiveness of your hiring and retention strategy in an increasingly competitive environment.
Elevate your brand as an employer
Maintaining a strong brand image in the public domain is essential to attracting and retaining employees, especially on commonly used social media platforms like LinkedIn. According to research from Glassdoor, 86% of candidates review company profiles before applying for a job. Furthermore, employer branding allows you to control your narrative publicly and stand out from the competition while also helping you save on hiring costs. Lastly, C-Suite leaders believe a strong brand leads to higher employee engagement, productivity, and retention.
Offer work flexibility
By offering remote work flexibility, employers put themselves in a better position to attract top talent since they open the candidate pool to more locations. Remote work flexibility also saves employees between $2,500 and $4,000 per year on expenses such as commuting and generally leads to happier and more productive employees. And on the employer side, on average, they can save more than $11,000 per employee since they do not need as much office space, and generally, turnover costs decrease as a result.
Provide learning and development opportunities
71% of employees would consider leaving their employer for another one that provides learning and development opportunities. As the candidate market becomes increasingly competitive with a shortage of human talent and the skills gap grows, many organizations have upped their investments in learning and development to help employees develop new skills. With career pivots becoming a new standard, learning and development opportunities have allowed employees to switch roles and responsibilities internally, leading to higher retention.
Embrace diversity
Today, more than three out of 4 people state that they consider the diversity and inclusion of a company when considering new roles. And while 78% of employers of HR professionals say that diversity in the workplace impacts how they hire, only 25% of organizations have set gender targets while creating their hiring strategy. For those organizations that have prioritized diversity, they have seen 19% higher revenue when compared to those that have below-average diversity levels.
With the way we work changing, it’s now more important than ever that employers take a people-first approach and prioritize elements of mental health, outstanding work-life balance, and learning and development opportunities.
Sources:
https://www.greenhouse.io/blog/why-you-should-invest-in-your-employer-brand
https://www.instride.com/insights/talent-acquisition-recruitment-statistics/
https://www.apollotechnical.com/statistics-on-remote-workers/
