On average, companies can reach 170,500 contacts through the network of their employees – turn this to your advantage! Without much effort, you can significantly increase your recruiting reach with employee referrals .

What you can expect in our free whitepaper:

• Why Employee Referrals
• How easy is it for your employees to share jobs in their network
• How does Finanzcheck.de recruit 40% of highly sought-after specialists through referrals

The Fosway 9-Grid™ is a multi-dimensional model that allows recruiting providers to be compared in various dimensions such as performance, potential, market presence, costs and future market development. To do this, Fosway builds nine different categories. Among the core leaders, Fosway ranks European providers with currently very good performance and good potential for future challenges. The British analyst also certifies softgarden’s favourable total cost of ownership.

Intelligent recruiting solutions are in demand
Companies need to do more for their recruiting: According to Fosway, 59 % of European companies are currently planning to increase their recruiting spending. Companies need a recruiting approach that relies on intelligent, holistic software solutions in an increasingly challenging labour market situation. We have been developing softgarden into such a Talent Acquisition Software for years. In doing so, we have remained true to our principle of simultaneously keeping an eye on the recruiter’s and the candidate’s perspective to offer suitable solutions for candidate-oriented markets.

Feedback solution, career page, employee recommendation
Professional applicant management alone is no longer enough for employers to survive in an increasingly challenging candidate market. That’s why we offer our more than 1,500 customers comprehensive solutions for talent acquisition. Here are a few examples: In 2017, we were the first provider in Germany to launch software for employer reviews, which can be used to generate authentic feedback from applicants and employees and make it visible on the employer’s career site. This is great for your online reputation and can be used as an SEO booster because Google loves review content. With our Career Site Pro, employers have been creating a convincing, SEO-optimized and conversion-oriented career site in no time at all for several years. Our employee referral tool is easy to integrate into our suite for more reach.

A trend towards Talent Acquisition Suites
According to Fosway, talent acquisition suites such as softgarden are currently in high demand. Traditional applicant management needs enhanced functions for candidate acquisition, outreach and relationship management. Talent acquisition suites are presently driving much of the innovation, according to Fosway. They are particularly well placed to permanently expand their offering with functions that fit the rapidly changing conditions in the candidate markets. 

Candidate markets in motion
And there is more and more movement in the candidate markets: After a certain dampening of momentum due to the pandemic, recruiting is picking up full speed. In the USA the “Big Quit” or the “Great Resignation” has been in discussion for quite some time now: Employees have begun to focus more on their needs and goals during the corona pandemic and are leaving their usual employers in droves. A similar phenomenon is also on the horizon for the rest of Europe. Not only are candidates becoming scarcer, but so are those responsible for finding them.

Recruiting departments under pressure
Recruiters themselves are becoming a scarce resource. As the US HR association SHRM reports, advertisements for recruiters have tripled from January 2019 to January 2022. This is also a harbinger of similar conditions in Europe. Recruiting teams in companies are coming under increasing pressure. Companies have to navigate uncertain terrain. The increased competition for tomorrow’s employees is compounded by Big Quit, the Ukraine war, climate change, digitalisation, and the changing demands of job applicants on their employers. There will probably be no return to the situation before March 2020 (see our New Era of Work studies).

We are very pleased that the consistent development of softgarden into a comprehensive Talent Acquisition Suite has now been acknowledged by a renowned analyst for recruiting solutions. The British Fosway Group has been conducting studies for the European market on the topics of HR, talent management and learning for 25 years.

Go to the Fosway Group 9-Grid™ report for Talent Acquisition & Recruiting.

Without any exaggeration, the most turbulent months of Recruiter’s career are behind them. Out of necessity came creative solutions that have shaped the new trends in recruiting. After the Covid-19 pandemic led to a temporary hiring freeze in many industries a year ago, things are now looking up. This is our number one recruiting trend.

Many HR professionals are very positive about the outlook for recruiting in 2021. Eight out of ten employers surveyed for career portal Monster’s HR Report 2021 plan to hire in 2021. 

HR Trend Number Two: Digitalisation of Recruiting

By the way, during the widespread hiring freeze a year ago, it wouldn’t have been necessary everywhere to shut down the entire recruiting machinery to zero. Many companies simply lacked the right tools to keep recruiting. Almost one in five companies would have liked to continue recruiting new employees, but didn’t manage to switch to virtual processes fast enough. This is the result of a joint survey of 1,788 applicants and 130 recruiting managers by Personalmagazin and softgarden.

This leads us directly to trend number two in recruiting: What recruiting departments need acutely is a precisely fitting digital basis for their recruiting. Crucial, for example, are collaboration and coordination functions that recruiters can use to exchange information independent of time and location and make quick decisions based on automated pre-selection processes.

Last but not least, it is important to have a well-designed career page that ranks well on Google and that candidates can use to perfectly inform themselves about an employer. After all, career fairs and other events are failing in the long run and candidates are searching for new jobs online more than ever. This has once again increased the importance of a good career website.

Human Resources Trend Number three: Video Recruiting

One of the areas where recruiters have been quick to digitise their recruiting processes is the Video Recruiting. In the wake of the health crisis, video interviewing has surged. Immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic, 60 percent of recruiters said they conduct job interviews primarily via live video. This is the result of a study by the online job platform StepStone and the German Association of Personnel Managers (BPM), for which a total of 2,600 recruiters were surveyed. According to the survey, more than one in two (56 percent) were also certain that the use of digital tools in recruitment and selection will increase significantly in the future.

They are right! The video interview has become an indispensable part of everyday recruiting and is therefore our HR trend number three. But there is a lot of work to be done here as well. Some recruiting departments still use video conferencing tools for their remote interviews that were not explicitly developed for recruiting. This is not recommended! For example, because these tools often do not record job interviews in a privacy-compliant manner and are not automatically deleted after the application process has ended. This can be critical with regard to the GDPR standards.

Time-shifted interviews are also usually not feasible with the classic tools. Here, the candidate receives questions from the recruiter in advance and records his answer as a video. This way, the talent can decide for himself when and how he wants to answer. For HR employees, time-shifted interviews definitely have advantages: If many promising candidates have applied for the same position, they can be asked the same questions. This ensures a high degree of comparability between the applicants and they can be “screened” in a shorter period of time – in the truest sense of the word.

To meet this need, softgarden integrated a video interview function into its applicant management system early on. This allows you to invite candidates to a video interview directly from the software. softgarden supports common video platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and GoToMeeting.

Recruiting Trend Number four: An optimal Candidate Experience

Let’s move on to recruiting trend number four. We know from our surveys and studies: the importance of a good candidate experience is increasing. Generations Y and Z in particular expect simple, uncomplicated and efficient processes and are increasingly less likely to accept employers who do not meet this expectation. After all, today even complex processes like buying a house or selling a car can be done in a flash via an app, but recruiting clings to rigid processes. That’s not communicable.

The results of our Candidate Experience Study are clear: 59 percent of candidates want an application process that is completed in 10 minutes or faster. And 75 percent of candidates think there should be no more than one to two weeks between submitting their application and being invited for an interview. With the right application management tool, that’s easy to achieve.

Employers should also begin to understand that a good recruiting process must be designed to provide applicants with all necessary information in a timely manner. For example, the job advertisement can and should include salary information. When employers ignore the needs of job applicants, it comes back to haunt them. After all, 64.4 percent of candidates have already pulled the ripcord because of poor or non-transparent recruiting processes.

Conclusion: The digitalisation catch-up in HR begins

Our conclusion: the HR trends in recruiting all point to greater digitalization in recruiting – in all areas of applicant management. From the initial research to contacting the applicant to signing the contract. Everything should become simpler, faster and less complex. This is the only way to inspire candidates and celebrate recruiting successes. The faster companies act and digitise their processes, the better. Don’t forget: Today, talents have the choice between different job offers. Accordingly, companies can no longer afford to ignore the needs of candidates. They then act according to the motto: Other employers also have nice jobs and are gone. Opportunity lost.

What do you think of the recruiting trends we’ve noticed? Do you agree with us? How has the past year shaped your recruiting? We look forward to hearing your comments!

Facilitate the work of recruiters!

OLX is one of the most popular job boards in Poland, used by more than 13 million users per month, and the “Jobs” category is the most visited. In September 2020, it was the most visited job portal in Poland with 3.15 million visitors. We know how important it is for recruiters to be able to easily post jobs on this portal. That’s why it’s integrated with our ATS system, which means that under the multiposting option it’s possible to easily post an ad directly on it, without having to manually insert the content into the form.

Any company using the softgarden system can use this option if they have a client account on OLX Praca. However, you can purchase ad packages directly from OLX without having to do it through us.

Integration with recruitment tools such as an ATS is a key issue for OLX Praca. Not only do we want to provide valuable candidates, but we also want to indirectly influence the building of lasting relationships between employer and employee, which we believe is critical, not only from the perspective of reducing time-to-hire, but also to build a positive image of the employer in the eyes of the candidate. And not just a candidate for the here and now, but also a candidate who sympathises with the brand (of the employer), even if the collaboration has not just started.

There is more and more talk about EVP, about company values. It pays to engage the candidate emotionally, first by creating the ad, and then through a deliberate and respectful recruitment process, carried out with the help of a recruitment tool, comments Marzena Solak, Key Account Manager OLX Praca. 

And for us, OLX is not only a partner in publishing offers, but also in creating valuable content. The report published by the portal, “Forecasts of the future. Know How 2021” is an interesting summary of the job market in 2020 and a description of how it was affected by the pandemic, but also an attempt to face the issue of how it will look in ten years. Experts invited to collaborate by OLX Jobs, the FutureS Thinking Group: Zuzanna Skalska’s company 360Inspiration and the strategy and design studio Greenhat Innovation, have created 4 alternative forecasts that show that the world may look very different in 10 years from today. According to their assumptions, in the future 2030+ we can consider such options as: friendly capitalism, active restoration, less is enough and surveillance capitalism.

Tender capitalism

This narrative is about the reality of universal prosperity and the individual at the centre. The entire development of the world is based on technology, and access to technology is crucial for facilitating community life, maintaining a high standard of living, and work. Most activities are moving online, including study and work, so commuting is no longer a problem and environmentally friendly mass and individual transportation is available when movement is necessary.

Environmental protection becomes a priority and is guaranteed by law. Technological progress forces automation of the simplest jobs on the one hand and shifts the burden to self-fulfilment and leisure on the other. People focus on their own development, and work should enable them to constantly improve themselves.

Companies that have the workforce best suited to the conditions of sensible capitalism become leaders, and attracting top talent becomes increasingly important. The new-age workforce is made up of people with advanced digital skills and soft skills, who excel at remote collaboration and team management. At the same time, large corporations and technology companies are taking on the role of the welfare state, taking care of all their stakeholders. The economy is in a growth phase, but the industrial age has finally transformed into the age of services and experiences.

Active renewal

This narrative is about the reality of universal prosperity and community at its core. With the introduction of a universal basic income, paid work is no longer necessary and people can focus on activities that match their interests and desire for development. Work becomes a conscious choice and the division into “better” and “worse” jobs becomes less important.

All this within the overarching idea of community and planetary development. Care for the environment, natural resources and biodiversity is key. Activities are judged on their impact on the environment. The state is based on a circular economy and the economy of profit is transformed into an economy of community and action for the common good.

Work is meant to serve the community, and the introduction of UBIs has made the sense of satisfaction that comes from acting positively for the whole crucial. Through technology and automation, people have more time for creative activities that support community development. With work being voluntary and treated as a passion, the lines between personal and professional life are blurring and employment is taking on a more flexible form.

Knowledge sharing is horizontal and flat structures prevail. Above all, the workplace is meant to be friendly, and employers feel responsible not only for their employees but also for the communities around them. Key competencies are social intelligence and the ability to cooperate.

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Less is enough

In this narrative we are talking about the reality of widespread scarcity (stunting) and community at its core.

According to this version of the future, micro-communities, local communities within a 15 minute walk, will become crucial. Everything important should be accessible within them, and pro-social activities within these “bubbles” are hugely important. Due to limited growth and ownership, a cooperative model of wealth distribution is evolving. Access is more important than ownership, so “co-housing” and “co-living” are important buzzwords. Housing should no longer manifest social status.

Social innovations that translate into community enrichment rather than individual wealth are gaining importance. Intergenerational relationships are important – activating seniors, raising children in the community and caring for their education. 

Emphasis is on teamwork, co-developing solutions, and complementing each other’s skills. Technology is important but not essential to the development of society and work. Instead, the impact of human handiwork is highly valued – craftsmanship, individual production. The exchange of experience and the training of future generations are emphasized.

Surveillance capitalism

This narrative is about the reality of widespread lack (stunting) and about the individual at the centre. The state of possession is crucial in terms of social position and status. Therefore, work that brings tangible material benefits is very important. The desire for possessions is a driving urge for employees that activates them for career development. 

There is a lack of committed leaders and communities, and in a world dominated by single households, pollution is on the rise. In cities, a system of gated communities is developing for people of similar social status, allowing all basic needs to be met without leaving the city. Remote work is prevalent, individual comfort is important, and companies provide housing for their employees to increase the effectiveness of their professional activities. The employee is treated like an investment, everything that concerns his productivity is financed by the company. 

Data is an important currency – on the one hand it allows people to buy the goods they want, on the other hand it is widely used in business and most decisions are made based on algorithms. Relatively low salaries combined with high consumer needs make people willing to share data about themselves for a fee. The line between personal and professional life is blurred – data is shared in one and analysed in the other. Privacy is being severely curtailed.

Summary

The scenarios of reality described above may seem like something distant, but aren‘t we already seeing some signs that suggest any of them could come true to some degree? Certainly 2020 has brought with it many changes, not only in the way businesses operate, but also in terms of whole communities – we work, learn and spend our leisure time differently. The way we interact with our colleagues or manage our teams is different. We function more on an individual level, and many relationships have moved to the online world. The new market situation has also forced many workers to re-skill and blur the distinction between personal and professional life. We are moving less, so we are spending more time at home. Isn’t that the starting point for a major social change? We will probably find out in a while.

As a recruiting partner of Polish employers, we always try to highlight the most important areas, present possible solutions and assist in developing a broad, sometimes unconventional perspective. The year 2020 has shown us all that the world does not evolve in a linear way and that as employers we need to be prepared for different scenarios. In light of this realisation, we no longer speak of one possible future, but of several probable futures. We have worked with experts to tame these futures, prepare employers for them, and implement solutions that not only sustain the business, but more importantly, evolve it. Crucially, in each future variant, “work” takes on a particular meaning, defined differently depending on the context and how it is shaped at the levels of “I-Individual”, “We-Society”, “Abundance/Fluidity”, “Scarcity/Cessation” adds Marzena Solak.