Recruiting trends 2024: 5 trends to watch out for
We are at the end of 2023, and, as with every year about to leave us in anticipation of the new one, the question arises, “What will the recruiting trends be? What will recruiters focus on in 2024?”
One of the assumptions being made certainly includes that HR recruiters will play an increasingly important role in the year ahead. At least, they should be helping companies adapt to an uncertain economic climate only … they will do it differently than in the past.
What do we mean by that? The succinct answer could be encapsulated in two words: artificial intelligence -whether one likes it or not-will play an increasingly prominent role. Indeed, more companies will integrate AI into their recruiting process to improve job posting, communicate with candidates, organize interview questions, etc. But the news certainly does not stop there.
Let’s check out in this article what we think are the top 5 trends for recruiters in 2024.
SUMMARY:
- Artificial Intelligence and Recruiting
- HR Analytics and data increasingly taking center stage
- Enhancing the value of internal staff
- Diversity, equity and inclusion (but for real)
- Improving employee well-being
1. Artificial intelligence and recruiting
As we have said, this is certainly not a new phenomenon. Still, after the advent of ChatGPT, the undisputed star of 2023 along with the company that produced it, Open AI, AI is increasingly playing a leading role in the recruitment world as well.
In our blog, we have often talked about AI for recruiting, how it can reduce the monotonous activities of HR and give them ways to devote themselves to others where human intelligence, empathy, knowledge, etc. are essential gifts; we have also often talked about Inda (as an effective AI technology for recruiting and talent acquisition), and by 2024, this modus operandi will be increasingly pervasive.
AI will be used to improve communication with candidates, to refine matching between the offer and the CVs received, to ask questions during interviews, but also to create more “effective” job postings, and much more.
2. HR analytics and data increasingly taking center stage
We had already talked about HR analytics and the importance of data in connection with the recruiting trends 2023. We come back to it because, in 2024, companies will also need to make decisions based on data. We had already talked about HR analytics and the importance of data in connection with the recruiting trends 2023.
This is because increasing information is available, and organising it better will help recruiters make more informed hiring choices (although, of course, it will not be the only way).
Even more in detail: recruiters will use real-time analytics and insights to create automated processes to reduce manual work, chances for error, and improve the candidate experience. Knowing in detail the growth metrics of a pipeline, knowing what the average time a candidate stays on the career page is, what actions they take before applying, and analysing the views of an ad on LinkedIn, to name a few examples, improve the recruiter’s work in both the short term and the long term. In the latter case, the data becomes “gold” for enhancing talent attraction, improving engagement, hiring the most suitable people and, why not, improving retention as well.
Without forgetting, then, having a significant amount of data makes it possible to be increasingly strategic.
3. Valuing internal staff
Not only looking outside their company, it will be equally crucial for recruiters in 2024 to value the people already working in the company. While in some cases we see the so-called Great Regret, that is, the return of those who had left the company-as evidenced by the Polytechnic’s HR Innovation Practise Observatory with 41 percent of people regretting the choice they made-in other cases, it is precisely among those who have stayed that, recruiters must look.
Before opening a position, in fact, it is good to understand whether vacant roles can be filled by internal staff who may be tired of working in the same team and would gladly try their hand. According to a survey that was conducted by Randstad RiseSmart 2 years ago, nearly 9 out of 10 recruiters were convinced that 10% of open positions could be filled internally. And this will remain true in 2024.
Maintaining an open dialogue with those who have been with the company for years means understanding what skills they have developed in that time, but also what expectations.
In addition, in a labour market that is highly competitive, looking inward means not only saving on the costs of finding and selecting new staff, but more importantly focusing on retaining employees who are already loyal and have “stayed.”
To do this, then, HR must set up periodic interviews, take surveys, and communicate via the intranet or internal newsletter, which figures the company needs. That is, initiate internal recruitment procedures by creating clear career paths that entice people to leave their positions and embrace new perspectives within the same company.
All of this, of course, goes hand in hand with training: HR must plan to offer upskilling and reskilling pathways to ensure that people not only become increasingly confident and feel taken care of, but also to create, in this way, an ecosystem that values them from every point of view.
Training can be in-house, but one can envisage paying for external courses to obtain qualifying certifications, as well as envisaging mentoring programs, mentoring and-why not-even business coaching paths.
4. Diversity, equity e inclusion (but for real)
DEI was also one of the themes in 2023 and will be in 2024. Companies, however, are required not just to treat it as a trend, but to initiate initiatives in a concrete way-and not just to improve their employer branding and reputation-that ensure fair and inclusive ways of hiring.
In this regard, blind recruiting, i.e., the “blind” mode of hiring, can help avoid bringing forward biases that may also be unconscious and influenced by them.
Embracing diversity, moreover, means demonstrating openness right from the description of the positions sought. One could use schwa, periphrases to avoid the over-extended masculine as well as avoid stating age in ads (unless it is for an internship or apprenticeship position) and much more.
Initiatives to foster diversity include ERGs, Employee Resources Groups. Groups and communities arise from “below,” that is, from people within the company, but that the company can foster to create an even more inclusive corporate culture.
ERGs are born based on the sensitivities of people who come together to discuss the issues they care about and to propose initiatives to companies to address them. ERGs include, for example, those of Barilla, which are distributed not only in Italy but all over the world.
5. Improving the well-being of workers
Mental health, in businesses, should not only take center stage on October 10 when the International Day called for by the World Health Organization takes place, but should be an area to think about on an ongoing basis.
Not least because it will be the focus of attention of all business leaders, including precisely those in HR.
We live in a complex period both economically and in terms of human relations, which is why the workplace should not be where stress is the protagonist- as we are used to thinking of a place where everything is done to avoid burnout from which, not even recruiters are immune.
Aiming for productivity meeting expected recruitment goals are essential, but they are not and should not be the only ones.
So how can everyone’s mental health be ensured and nurtured?
It will certainly help to maintain “open” communication, gather feedback constantly, discuss what workers are feeling, and promote concrete initiatives. Corporate welfare, if used appropriately, can also help foster people’s well-being.
Undoubtedly, one must come to terms with the fact that something in people’s mindsets has changed. Salaries still count, but knowing that you are part of a company that seeks alternative ways of working and understands people’s expectations and how to meet them is essential. All this, without pre-packaged solutions, but by cultivating dialogue and listening.
In 2024, a solid corporate culture will not only have to make the work environment fun and beautiful to live in, but ensure that people feel precisely seen and considered for what they do and helped if they fail to do so.
