Over 80 per cent of talent professionals have stated their belief that virtual recruitment will continue even once the global pandemic is over.
According to new research by LinkedIn, a business and employment-oriented online service, 84 per cent of talent professionals in the Europe, Middle East and Africa area (EMEA) and 80 per cent of professionals in the UK believe virtual recruitment is here to stay, even after COVID-19.
The report states that although video interviewing and remote assessments have always existed, this pandemic has pushed businesses to formulate an end-to-end virtual recruiting process.
Due to the cost and time savings that this brings, LinkedIn predicts that businesses will gravitate towards a “hybrid hiring process that combines virtual and in-person elements”.
More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of professionals expect virtual interviews to become standard whilst almost a third (32 per cent) are implementing virtual onboarding programmes for new employees. 16 per cent of HR teams are even creating new employee compensation and benefit packages for those who are working remotely.
Additionally, 83 per cent of HR professionals have stated that their organisations are shifting to enable flexible working in the future. Just yesterday (21st October 2020), Deloitte, one of the ‘Big 4’ accounting firms, announced office closures in four locations (Gatwick, Liverpool, Nottingham and Southampton). It stated that staff at these locations were going to be moved onto homeworking contracts, showing the effect of COVID-19 on the world of work.
HR teams have also anticipated that this change to the world of work will cause an adjustment to their own job duties.
Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) believe that employee engagement will become a larger part of their role from now on. Four in 10 (40 per cent) stated that creating a positive employee experience would also be a priority. It is unsurprising then that over half of all HR staff (54 per cent) have stated that adaptability will be the most important trait for HR staff over the next year.
Janine Chamberlin, Senior Director at LinkedIn, said:
Nurturing company culture, creating a sense of community and helping employees to connect and build relationships are some of the biggest challenges companies will face as they shift to flexible and remote working in the future.
While the global pandemic has proved that remote working can be successful, in many cases employees have relied on strong existing relationships to keep businesses operating. With trust and rapport harder to create virtually, particularly for employees that are brand new to organisations or those starting out in their careers, companies will need to be creative in finding ways to connect their workforce to company culture and to each other.
That will mean encouraging cross-functional team work, testing new collaboration technologies, and reimagining the purpose of workplaces.
*These findings were taken from LinkedIn’s report: ‘The Future of Recruiting: How COVID-19 is transforming hiring” which surveyed 1,518 professionals in the EMEA area which encompassed around 170 professionals in the UK.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
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