How to overcome the top hiring challenges of 2022

Of the many challenges that 2022 has presented businesses with, recruitment has been a particularly hard one to solve. Your clients and customers are struggling with their own problems, and uncertainties just keep on mounting, how on earth do you set about making important hiring decisions for the future? Understandably, many firms simply put recruiting on hold or switched to taking on temporary staff to fill gaps. We’re not out of the woods, that’s for sure, but things are looking up. Sure, there are more challenges to overcome, but you need the best people for your business, now more than ever. And we’re here to help you discover how to do it. From honoring your D&I responsibilities to promoting your remote working strategy, read on to find out how to overcome the top hiring challenges of 2022. 

Make sure your virtual recruitment processes are up to scratch

Making sure both you and your candidates are getting the most out of your virtual recruitment processes is vital. There’s a lot to consider so here are some questions to ask yourselves to get you started; 

1. Are you promoting your top-notch remote working provision on job adverts? More on this later...
2. If you’re using virtual assessment tools for candidate screening, are they sending the right message? You want people to feel like they’re being fairly challenged and being given the opportunity to show their merits rather than feeling like they are back at school. 
3. Is your virtual conferencing as good as it could be? If budget allows, offer candidates video conferencing tools with good AI enhancements to enable them to do their best in presentations. 
4. Are you making the process as comfortable as possible for your candidates? Most people prefer to be interviewed face-to-face so take the time to really welcome your candidate at the start of the interview and try to keep a check on your body language and eye contact. There are few things worse for an interviewee than seeing someone looking bored or distracted, especially across the ether. 

Make sure you are fulfilling your responsibilities in diversity and inclusion 

Promoting diversity and inclusion should always be a priority for businesses. Following the social and political unrest around Black Lives Matter and campaigns for LGBTQIA+ rights, it is more important than ever. These issues are highly complex and if you are feeling out of your depth with how to honor your responsibilities, you are not alone. But it is vital that businesses move beyond paying lip service to D&I and start to incorporate meaningful and robust D&I strategies and programs into their company ethos and operations. If you aren’t sure where to start, try contacting local charities who can advise you, or organizations such as the National Diversity Council.

Ensure women in the workforce are supported

Another D&I challenge for businesses is ensuring women in the workforce are supported. Due to the extra pressures of homeschooling and childcare, the pandemic has generally hit women harder than men. Businesses must do all they can to support staff to make sure they can stay active participants in the workforce and fulfill their potential. This could include offering flexible working, allowing leave at short notice, or making it easier for remote workers to manage their calendars more freely. 

Show candidates that you have a great remote working strategy

No matter what happens with the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working is here to stay. The best candidates - the ones you want for your business - will be looking for roles where the company offers good provision for home workers. This might include offering staggered shifts to accommodate capacity for internet connectivity, an allowance for office equipment, or reassurance that a good company culture is promoted to mitigate issues with employees feeling isolated or unsupported. State your remote working strategy clearly on your job specs and adverts and emphasize your sensitivity to this during the selection process.  

Get the support you need

Good business leaders have a tendency to focus on improving the way they support others and forget to make sure they are getting the help they need. As the saying goes, you need to put your own oxygen mask on first, so have a think about what could help you do all the above (and more) over the coming year. Could you use more investment in IT? Is now a good time to upskill or develop your team, or yourself? With everything going on, are you feeling isolated from your team and could use some more interaction, even if it is virtual? Resources might be stretched right now, but it’s important to keep sight of your wellbeing and your goals. The new year is a great time to recalibrate and set objectives, so take some time to think about what you need to succeed. Then you can move forward into 2022, refreshed, and with positive intentions for the year ahead. 

And if you are thinking of growing your team or could just use a chat about your plans, give us a call. We are experts in procurement and supply chain recruitment and we would love to help.