Recruitment Research: Changing Expectations

Here is a round-up of content from industry sources over recent weeks. We thought it would be useful to share with you and add some additional thoughts to the mix.

There is no doubt the pandemic continues to shape the recruitment landscape for employers and candidates alike. It has changed employee expectations, candidate expectations, and attitudes towards work and shows there is a massive variation in flexible working policies across companies.

Reed has revealed their 2021: The year of movement research that shows positivity for job seekers hoping to land their perfect role in 2021. Reed surveyed 1,500 job seekers to ask how optimistic they are that they will find their perfect role in 2021 - 80% were hopeful they would. This was before the start of lockdown 3.0. However, it is a positive mark that candidates are seeking a change of role and is supported by renewed optimism for online learning to allow for role progression and skills diversification.

A broader candidate pool of transferable skills

Reed also revealed that 52% of candidates are willing to relocate to secure their ideal job, which broadens employers' candidate pool.

An interesting point made in this research is that those most likely to relocate are from industries affected by the pandemic with transferable skills. This is a real opportunity for employers to widen their talent base and one to consider when looking at an ideal candidate profile.

Reed make a great point in suggesting recruiters focus on skills and not titles. This is more important than ever as the landscape changes – and provides a golden opportunity to widen the net. You can read this associated insight on building a skills library, talent personas and talent pooling.

Consider flexible working arrangements or a hybrid to widen the location of suitable candidates - see more on this topic below from the CIPD research.

Another Reed top tip for recruiting in 2021 is to know your EVP and what it means to a candidate. How do your values connect and what are the flexibilities outside of your normal benefits? It's something a candidate will look for and will work to connect you further with top talent.

Flexibility and the degree of variability

On the topic of flexible working, which has been widely reported over the last 12 months, new data from the CIPD revealed a huge variation for workers in the implementation of flexible working policies.

Almost half of the 2,000 surveyed by CIPD said that they had no flexible working arrangements in their current role. 44% of survey respondents said that they had not worked remotely since the pandemic hit. This could be because their jobs do not allow them to do so.

The survey found that the coronavirus pandemic has led to a considerable uptake in remote working. Companies with high numbers of working parents have implemented flexible policies for remote working and adjusted hours to cater to the struggles the pandemic presents.

Despite this, the research found that a high volume of firms are unwilling to offer such benefits.
Around a fifth of employees noted that they work for organisations that do not offer any flexible working arrangements at all – with more than two in five stating that they believe this to be unfair.

Respondents acknowledged that due to some industries' nature, remote working might not be feasible, yet three-quarters agreed that it is essential that people who can't work from home can work flexibly in other ways. The survey details how flexi-time and compressed hours are currently used – and how the offer of such arrangements would be taken up if available.

The survey, featured in HR Grapevine is well worth a read in its entirety to learn how flexible working arrangements, whether that be job-share, flexi-hours, or working from home, will empower people and open up opportunities to those that seek flexibility and of course be good for people's wellbeing.

Free resource

Read this case study from Marston's plc on how they aligned EVP to their HR agenda, understanding their target audience to continue attracting stronger talent and providing an even better online candidate experience.