Top 5 recruitment challenges to tackle in 2023
For some years now, the recruitment industry has been subject to multiple changes and issues. With 2023 marking another year of advancement in the recruitment sector, it can be said that some things such as video and remote working have been accepted as normal. However, certain recruitment challenges still persist.
Thus, this post identifies the top 5 recruitment challenges that must be tackled in 2023. With knowledge of what the bottlenecks are, efforts can be made to keep the wheels of recruitment running smoothly.
Recruiters ignore these hurdles at the peril of the entire recruitment ecosystem.
Candidate Shortage
The prime recruitment challenge that recruitment consultants have to tackle in 2023 is candidate shortage. Candidate shortage refers to the lack of candidates to fill the existing vacancies in the labour market. This has a number of implications:
- Vacancies in the labour market remaining for extended periods of time
- Increased efforts on the part of both recruitment consultants and their clients to get the attention of available candidates
The current global talent shortage is at a 15-year high. While the UK labour market is still reeling from the devastating effects of the pandemic and Brexit, almost half of the employers in the US report difficulty filling vacancies.
The current candidate shortage is caused by a variety of factors. One of such factors is the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has led to closed borders and limited international travel which have in turn reduced the supply of international candidates.
Also, there has recently been a mass retirement of employees, popularly termed the Great Resignation. This is due to the changed approach towards work by the different generations as their needs, expectations, and perspectives shift over the years.
Thankfully, we have provided certain steps that recruitment consultants can take to effectively combat candidate shortages.
Poor candidate experience
Another recruitment challenge facing recruitment agencies and consultants in 2023 is poor candidate experience. What can candidates say about your entire recruiting and hiring process?
Will they give a positive report? Any answer other than a resounding “Yes” means that there’s work to be done.
Research has shown that 72% of candidates who have a bad candidate experience during recruitment spread the word. This implies that news about the recruitment process has a powerful effect on the brand’s reputation. In fact, 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before taking a job, and if the potential employer has an unimpressive reputation, they will not take the job.
Elements of a poor candidate experience include the following:
- Ineffective communication and lack of feedback to candidates
- Lack of empathy
- Sloppy onboarding process
- No signs of positive brand culture
To effectively tackle poor candidate experience and bad brand reputation as recruitment challenges in 2023, recruitment consultants have to critically assess their recruitment process. This involves examining it from a candidate’s perspective to ensure that no unfavourable element is in the candidate’s way.
Additionally, recruitment consultants need to encourage brands to show off their culture in order to create a positive impression on the candidates. Our post gives more insight into how recruitment agencies can ensure a positive candidate experience during this era of remote and hybrid work.
Inefficient recruitment processes
An unpolished recruitment process is another obstacle that recruitment consultants have to deal with in 2022. Recruitment agencies have to up their game; the days of ad-hoc recruitment processes are long gone.
A crude recruitment process results in a waste of time and money. These resources are typically spent in sourcing and shortlisting applicants, reviewing candidates’ CVs, scheduling and conducting interviews, as well as communicating.
One way that recruitment consultants can tackle the challenge of clumsy recruitment processes is by turning to technology. The place of technology in today’s recruitment ecosystem can’t be overemphasized. The right software will help recruitment agencies save time, money, and efforts by:
- Ensuring smooth and speedy shortlisting of applicants
- Scheduling and conducting one-way or two-way video interviews - Shine is the perfect software for that purpose
- Identifying and eliminating unfit candidates
- Optimizing the time-to-hire. As a matter of fact, if the application and recruitment process is lengthy, candidates just might disconnect and apply for roles at other companies. No brand should risk such - not with the current talent shortage.
Needless to say, an inefficient recruitment process typically results in a poor candidate experience. Word about poor candidate experience gets around, leading to a sinking brand reputation.
A sad instance of the domino effect.
Hiring rightly and retaining quality talent
When it comes to recruitment, the expression “looking for a needle in a haystack” has never been more appropriate.
How so?
One of the toughest recruitment challenges in years prior to 2023 is determining which candidate out of a pool of candidates is the best pick for the job in question. Unfortunately, it's still an issue. Closely knit to this hurdle is the risk of making a bad hire.
The challenge of hiring rightly, along with the risk of making a bad hire, must be tackled by recruitment consultants in 2023, else their clients stand the chance of incurring significant financial losses. A report states that a bad hire costs at least 30% of the individual’s first-year expected earnings.
Also, when the right candidate is finally selected for the role, brands must do their best to ensure that the talent is retained. Employee retention is crucial, so companies have to steer clear of any elements that might leave their new hires with a sour taste about their brand.
Simply put, a high rate of employee turnover never speaks well of any brand.
Ignoring data
Another less recognized but equally, if not more, potent recruitment challenge to tackle this year is ignoring data. Recruitment consultants need to observe and appreciate data. Why? Because, as cliche as it sounds, the numbers don’t lie.
Metrics expose areas that are slacking in your recruitment process. They also give hints on what’s yielding desired results and what isn’t. The essence of tracking data lies in the fact that they give recruiters insight on what to avoid due to their inadequacy, as well as efforts and strategies to maintain due to their efficacy.
Neglecting analytics keeps recruitment consultants oblivious of data relating to applicant sourcing, recruitment pipeline growth, engagement, application completion, acceptance, declined offers, and even drop-offs, to name a few.
To effectively deal with this challenge, recruitment consultants are saddled with the responsibility of using the right tools to measure what matters.
The essence of discussing these challenges is to sensitize every stakeholder in the recruitment space to the work that lies ahead. As the entire work landscape changes, we must make efforts to ensure that recruitment processes are more efficient than ever. Read our post to find out how recruiters will forge ahead in 2023 in spite of the challenges discussed in this post.
Finally, here’s the clarion call: Kindly share this post to create much-needed awareness.