The New Hybrid World of Recruitment

It is fair to say that the last year and a half has shaken recruitment, as well as many other sectors.

Enhanced by Covid-19, changes to the industry that naturally would have taken years have happened in a matter of months.

Office based working disappeared overnight as many employees had to work from home. This may have had a positive outcome as companies have realised that business can carry on as usual, no matter where they’re based. In this way, the meaning of the word ‘workplace’ has changed quite drastically.

What might this mean for recruitment? Digitisation.

The past year has seen companies take a progressive approach to the hiring process. With digital hiring solutions such as online assessments and video interviewing on the up, the world of recruitment is a very different space to what it used to be. It is also fair to say that the virtual hiring process will not be a short-term replacement of face-to-face recruitment.

The new process allows companies to cast their net wider when recruiting new hires. Online hiring solutions have improved the process when sifting through a larger candidate pool, especially now hybrid working has taken centre stage and candidates can apply from all over the country.

Given now that almost the entire hiring process has become virtual, recruiters and employers are now able to select and assess talent from a distance. For instance, at Panoramic Associates, we utilise a tool called ‘Panoramic View’. This is a comprehensive, innovative, web-based video recruitment platform. This allows us to view candidates’ CV’s, view tailored interviews based on the clients choice of questions and offers easy sharing of the candidates video with managers and employers. Video interviews give the recruiter and employer a comprehensive view of the candidate, also allowing the interaction to be personal.

However, many companies still feel that face-to-face screening and interviews are the way forward, and they’re not entirely wrong. Face-to-face interviews certainly do have their advantages; they allow for body language and facial expressions to be understood and identified more effectively, they can feel more personal and some say they have a greater commitment to participate when being interviewed in person.

To ensure the quality of new hires, it is important that companies consider adapting their hiring process to the digital way of working. When done right, remote recruitment can save time, resources, hiring costs and provide opportunities to broaden the pool and calibre of candidates. However, these tools should supplement the recruitment  process, rather than replace human interaction altogether.

The pandemic has flipped the world on its head, the traditional hiring process included. The majority have adapted to remote working, which has now become the new norm. However, if we can master the right balance between tradition and virtual, we are looking at a new hybrid world of recruitment.