A survey of the top 1000 German companies by the Centre of Human Resources Information Systems (CHRIS) of the University Bamberg & Frankfurt am Main in cooperation with the Monster Worldwide Deutschland GmbH highlighted some of the key developments that were due to affect recruiting in 2013. Some of these challenges were as follows:
1. The demographic change to Candidate pools
2. Shortage of skilled workers
And internally:
1. Employee loyalty
2. Employer branding
The aforementioned issues may not at first seem directly linked to each other, but take a closer look, and it is clear that retaining current employees as well as supporting existing internal talent plays an important role in recruiting these days. The shortage of skilled workers is also an extremely important issue, one that should be addressed.
How to combat the shortage of skilled workers
The survey stated that almost all of the companies questioned expected to have unfilled vacancies by the end of 2013. 45% of these companies however, expected to employ more people by the end of 2013 as at the start. The main issue faced here is that many of these vacancies are simply not being filled. The majority of companies expected difficulty occupying a third of still-vacant positions, while 5,7% didn’t think they would be filled at all. Which begs the question, how does one take positive measures to address this obvious shortage of skilled workers? A good place to start would be in retaining and supporting current employees internally as well as improving the administration of existing talent pools. Another important method is of course planning where future job vacancies will be published, as well as ensuring the correct target audience is reached.
An overview of job ad placement trends
Keeping up to date and informed on how the publication of job ads develops is also an integral part of knowing where and how to advertise vacancies. Around 70% of all job vacancies were advertised via external job portals such as Monster or StepStone. Of those surveyed, around 90% and therefore the majority of jobs in 2012 were published directly via company websites. One statistic shows that 3 out of 10 occupied positions came via the aforementioned job portals. With this statistic likely to rise during 2013, even more companies are taking an advantage of this means of recruiting candidates. With the assistance of the eRecruiting Software from rexx systems, the integration of an individual job portal into a company website is a straightforward and effective process. Strategically placing job ads via the job portal of a company website or via social media channels such as Xing, Linkedin or Facebook is vitally important in ensuring that the relevant target audience is addressed. How the job ad is visually presented as well as how it is worded are also factors worth considering when trying to attract the desired candidates. With the modular and flexible e-recruitment software from rexx systems, this process is made simple.
How has the role of social media in recruiting developed?
Social media is everywhere and plays an ever-increasingly central role in the business world. Whether companies use Facebook to advertise job vacancies or not, the majority of businesses utilize social media as an brand and employer marketing tool. The value of Social media should however not be discounted in recruiting terms. Xing (in the German-speaking market) and Linkedin have become a staple part of online recruiting over the past couple of years, Twitter and Facebook, primarily for a younger and more dynamic market, are now also being introduced by some firms in the attempt to attract new employees. According to the aforementioned survey, exactly half of companies questioned rated the use of social media as a recruiting tool as generally positive. The trend seems to indicate however, that Facebook and Twitter are still much more useful in terms of employer marketing. In particular Facebook and Xing have seemed to establish themselves as top platforms for employer branding. Companies also use social media for active sourcing as well as searching for information about already-identified candidates. Applying for jobs via social media also assists in simplifying the application process. The apply with Linkedin Button is just one example of this. With Twitter stepping up and entering the recruitment market this year, it will be interesting to see how this trend has developed throughout 2013.
Conclusion
What is apparent from this survey is that the expected lack of skilled workers has lead companies to expect a number of unfilled positions come the end of the year. It is also clear however that online recruiting and in particular e-recruitment is rapidly evolving to combat this. In order to ensure that the right candidates are found, that the processes for both applicant and employer are as streamlined as possible and that the management of internal talent is optimized, a company needs to ensure that there is an efficient recruiting software system in place. This system should not only streamline the work flow and reduce the time to hire, but also simplify the general recruitment process, for both recruiter and applicant. The software from rexx systems provides this and much more.
