Talent acquisition and recruitment: the challenges of 2024

La HR function is regularly required to transform in order to meet the challenges of competitiveness of the company. In terms of human resources, The function Talent acquisition goes beyond simple recruitment, since it makes it possible to anticipate future organizational changes and skills needs. In fact, it is integrated into the HR policy of the company because it involves having a strategic global vision: of the employer brand, of the plan of skills development and the prospects ofhiring based on business growth. From an operational point of view, these include, among others, Sourcing And of To pilot an HR marketing strategy for Attracting the best profiles. How can the talent acquisition function remedy the difficulties encountered by recruiters? What recruitment strategies can be set up for attracting talent ? Explanations.

The main challenges for recruiters

In a context of war for talent, Businesses need to stand out from their competitors and differentiate themselves to attracting candidates. Indeed, it is no longer possible today, when you want recruiting new talent, to publish an announcement by simply waiting for applications. Thus, 61% of recruitments are considered difficult^[1] By the recruiters, which explain it by a lack of candidates, inadequate profiles, too restrictive working conditions, a lack of attractiveness of the company etc. To succeed in their mission, the hiring managers are therefore faced with major challenges.

A cyclical challenge

Several factors explain the difficulties that recruiters are facing: the resumption of activity post-Covid, the numerous retirements, a lack of training adapted to the needs of companies, offers greater than the number of applications received, increased requirements in terms of working conditions and remuneration policy and social benefits...

Faced with the lack of skills available on the labor market, companies must question the relevance of external recruitment in terms of the skills development plan of their employees (e.g.training plan), via the game of internal mobility, to provide for vacancies. In some sectors, such as IT, it remains imperative to constantly maintain the skills of employees so that they stay operational in the face of technological change.

A generational challenge

The arrival of millennials on the market has created certain upheavals, with a relationship to work that is very different from that of their elders. This generation of candidates gives priority to the quality of life, to the balance of professional and personal life times. However, they also attach importance to salary and pay transparency. Demanding and unwilling to compromise on working conditions, they easily change jobs every two or three years, the new hires being quite volatile. On the other hand, they are very attentive to the values of the company and sensitive in particular to politics. CSR of their potential future employer.

‍

The arrival of millennials on the market has created certain upheavals, with a relationship to work that is very different from that of their elders. This generation of candidates gives priority to the quality of life, to the balance of professional and personal life times. However, they also attach importance to salary and pay transparency. Demanding and unwilling to compromise on working conditions, they easily change jobs every two or three years, the new hires being quite volatile. On the other hand, they are very attentive to the values of the company and sensitive in particular to politics. CSR of their potential future employer.

A diversification of recruitment needs

In a society that is constantly evolving, business needs are changing and moving towards recruitment of profiles versatile, able to adapt to mutations.

➢ The importance of soft skills

With the development of hybrid work, flex office, the digitalization of processes and the increased use of AI, jobs are in fact likely to evolve and skills to diversify. Thus, gradually, most of the repetitive tasks will be able to be carried out by artificial intelligence, allowing employees to focus on missions with higher added value. In addition, for recruiting talent, the importance given to diplomas is decreasing, provided you master certain hard skills, and priority is given to soft skills. Adaptability, critical thinking, a sense of relational to work as a team, the leadership, emotional intelligence is among the qualities most sought after by recruitment agencies.

➢ Open up to other profiles

Businesses often tend to recruit using the same model, which does not help overcome the difficulties ofhires linked to the lack of candidates. However, allow recruitment new profiles, sometimes atypical or from other sectors, promote inclusion, but also innovation and creativity, with the longer-term consequence of maintaining the competitiveness of the company. To do this, it may be a good idea to entrust the talent recruitment “out of the ordinary” to a recruitment agency which already benefits from a network, and whose global vision of the market makes it possible to gain objectivity.

Strengthening the attractiveness of the company

To encourage potential candidates unto postulate, it is essential to implement one employer brand unique and to communicate on the corporate culture. The latter must be clearly reflected in the job offers, in addition to the job description and career development opportunities. These acquisition strategies of talents contribute to the attraction of best candidates, that is to say those who are most in line with the values of the company, and who can project themselves there at longterm. In addition, real management of quarries with training courses to increase skills as well as an internal mobility policy represent levers of Loyalty important, while contributing to professional recognition. The search for meaning at work and development, dear to millennials (not Gen Z that?) , is also one of the engines to be activated by the human resources management. Indeed, it is not enough to attract candidates; you also need to retain them.

The levers for optimizing recruitment

Various channels are available to the talent acquisition manager (TAM) to deploy its digital recruitment strategy. It can publish a Job offer on the company's career site, on a specialized or general job site, as well as on social networks. But this way of proceeding must be integrated into a global action plan in order to attract top talents.

Employer brand and talent acquisition

Often initiated by resources department human, in connection with the business project, the employer brand is first built internally, with the organization's stakeholders. Indeed, it must reflect to the outside what is really happening inside and not display promises that it cannot keep. An effective employer brand therefore requires a internal communication collaborative and expresses the values defended by the company such as inclusion, short circuits, the green economy, etc. It is an integral part of the talent acquisition strategy and makes it possible to attract more qualitative candidates, because it is in line with the values displayed by the company. Candidates are indeed sensitive to corporate culture and its values: 75% of them say they take into account the employer brand before starting to apply.^[2]. In addition, 90% of them find out before applying, through the career site, social networks, as well as on employee review sites^[3].

Develop your reputation on social networks

Les social networks And the Branding employers have become essential in the looking for candidates. 7 out of 10 companies use social networks to recruit^[4]. Linkedin, for example, is full of numerous profiles, in office or in job search. Brand awareness can, for example, be developed by building and maintaining a community of followers. The regularity of publications and interactions, defined in an editorial charter, also makes it possible to increase the visibility of the company and its referencing by search engines. To develop the company's e-reputation and recruiting the best talent, the HR communication involves HR marketing techniques such as inbound recruiting. It is first a question of creating personas, that is to say, typical profiles of candidates, then of publishing content that interests each target on the appropriate networks. It also allows you to personalize your messages. Indeed, we do not address in the same way to young graduates Only to one Senior Who owns Minimum 15 years Ofprofessional experience.

Optimizing the candidate experience

In a tense market, it is important to pamper the candidate, if only by simply acknowledging receipt of each application. Optimizing the candidate experience also means simplifying recruitment process, make it transparent, avoid lengthy forms and give, for example, the possibility of applying from your smartphone. Likewise, maintaining the relationship with the candidate at each stage of the process and to demonstrate responsiveness in the answers to be given to him also makes it possible to avoid him turning to the competition.

The role of the recruiter or talent acquisition manager evolves in the same direction, diversifying if necessary the recruitment strategies: gamification, simulation, Inbound recruiting to reach passive candidates, direct approach for rare profiles or executive positions. The potential employer must make the candidate want to plan for the longer term by offering, for example, a visit to the company, testimonies or connections with current employees, and by refining theintegration of new collaborators. En recruitment material, a successful onboarding indeed contributes to engaging and build loyalty the human capital of the company.

Effective recruitment tools

• SIRH and ATS

Les SIRH facilitate the career management, talent management and the monitoring of indicators. ATS (Applicant Tracking System), recruitment management and application tracking software, are very useful for bulk recruitments. They represent a considerable time saver in preselection Of candidatures, thanks to parsing algorithms (analysis and integration of data contained in a CV) and matching algorithms that automatically identify skills and qualities required For the vacancies. This technical solution simplifies the selection of candidates and Allows you to recruit more quickly the best profiles. SIRH and ATS also offer the possibility of setting up a Vivier Of talents with the resume of good candidates For recruitments later ones.

• Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence or generative AI is also developing, with the aim of saving time through automation. It already makes it possible to write attractive job offers, to analyze thousands of CVs in a short time, to build frameworks for recruitment interviews interactive. Obviously, the person who Recruit will always remain the sole judge of soft skills.

Data analysis and monitoring

These new tools contribute to more effective monitoring of HR indicators. It is indeed essential to define KPIs (key performance indicators) in order to measure the return on investment (ROI) and to show that the recruitment/talent acquisition function has a high added value. Thus, it contributes to the performance of the company, limits casting errors and associated costs. Among these KPIs, it is possible to evaluate, for example, the recruitment time, the turnover rate, the number of applications for a job, etc. Thanks to monitoring. stringent of the KPIs, it is possible to analyze recruitment activity and the effectiveness of the talent acquisition strategy. These indicators represent a decision-making aid, and allow, if necessary, the implementation of corrective actions. However, be careful to respect the legal obligations in terms of the RGPD, the data of unsuccessful candidates can only be kept for 2 years.

The 2024 recruiter: a strategic business partner

More than ever, the recruitment/talent acquisition function contributes to company performance.

What is the role of talent acquisition (manager)?

In some big companies, the DRH is often supported by one or more human resources assistants, a recruitment manager, and dedicated services with a training manager, a social relations manager etc. The talent acquisition function can be shared between these various positions in HR department. In the smallest structures, which do not always have a resource department human, the person who acts as HR Director must be versatile, just like the founders of startups who sometimes have multiple hats when they are very early stage. This type of structure can use a recruitment agency suchlike Skillink to benefit from the services of a consulting in RPO or a headhunter.

A function with high added value

Recruiting jobs have evolved a lot to adapt to the job market and digitalization. Today, recruit the ideal candidate On a vacancy requires commercial skills, skills in HR marketing, in human resources management, as well as Knowledge in employment law (employment contracts, fixed-term contracts and CDI), and strong qualities relational. So, one Talent Acquisition Manager, among other things, is capable of negotiating commercial contracts, conducting market research, enforcing an employer brand, implementing a engineering of Sourcing And oftalent attraction Up to job interviews With the human resources department Or the general management, in particular. In addition, with the increased use of AI and the digitalization of processes, the recruitment function is required to regularly develop its skills.

Thus, in a market in tension, recruitment, in the broad sense, or talent acquisition, is no longer a simple support function. It is a pivotal position between customers, candidates and managers, likely to contribute to strong growth of the company. With a global and forward-looking vision, he is able to anticipate everyone's needs and to attract and retain strategic skills for the company, one step ahead of the competition.

‍

^[1]https://statistiques.francetravail.org/bmo

^[2]https://makemycv.fr/statistiques-recrutement

^[3]https://www.hellowork-group.com/fr/actualites/le-recrutement-en-2022-candidats-recruteurs/

^[4]https://corporate.apec.fr/home/espace-medias/pratiques-de-recrutements-des-cadres-en-2022.html

‍