Here’s what will define Talent Acquisition (TA) in the coming year, and how your team can win in the 365 days ahead.

2018 was defined by deep, recruiting-AI integrations, including the first AI native to an applicant tracking system (ATS) in the form of SmartRecruiters’ SmartAssistant, and a data security revolution heralded by the general data privacy regulations (GDPR) in Europe, as well as similar legislation around the world.

No story ever ended neatly at the stroke of midnight on December 31st. We will continue to see AI take root, and data security will remain top of mind. Yet, as a new year begins, one can’t help but look back at the last journey around the sun to identify the lessons that will prepare TA for the next 365 days.

To understand better the trends and challenges of 2019, we sat down with CEO and founder of SmartRecruiters, Jerome Ternynck, to learn how a new ‘marketing’ outlook shaped by a laser-focus on candidate experience, and a mastery of tech, will get TA into the boardroom this year.

Five Predictions for Talent Acquisition in 2019

3 min 26 sec video

1) Recruitment marketing or bust…

“Source candidates like an outbound marketer. End-to-end recruitment marketing, branding, and candidate relationship management systems (CRM) with consumer-class candidate experience throughout — Recruiters need to leverage the whole gamut by proactively sourcing, building talent pools, and nurturing relationships in order to compete for top talent in today’s candidate-driven market.”

2) Diversity and inclusion are ‘non-negotiables’…

“If you don’t have a strong D&I strategy (there are many ways for it to be simple but effective), you’re losing the long-term talent game.”

3) TA is boardroom-ready…

“We’ve always known that hiring success = business success, now it’s time to show the world. This is how we’re going to do it: Today’s leading TA Suites provide you with all the data and insights you need to drive hiring success and, by extension, business outcomes. A simple hiring success dashboard with net hiring score, velocity, and budget metrics is easy for a boardroom to grasp. It’s no longer about faster and cheaper — it’s all about the value created! We tried it, our customers adopted, and it works.”

4) Think ‘global’, act ‘local’…

“With more and more companies evolving towards distributed workforce models, often spanning across 3-5 offices/countries, your TA strategy needs to be global, yet your tools and processes need to be local. Think detailed configurability within an overarching collaborative platform as the staple ingredients for a successful recruiting strategy.”

5) Digital savvy is the ultimate differentiator…

“Tech, tech, and more tech. From AI and blockchain to chatbots and scheduling, it’s all happening online. These digital solutions have made it possible for recruiting to deliver results to the boardroom. Growth strategy will increasingly depend on tech stacks, and the partnership between vendors and customers will be key to driving business growth.

Necessity breeds invention, and that’s what we’ve seen with TA over the last decade. As the talent economy becomes more competitive, tech rises to the challenge to support recruiters and bring hiring to the next level.”

• Traditionalists. Known as the Silent Generation.  Born between 1925 to 1945, they prefer face-to-face meetings and like their Boomer counter parts are often tolerant of technology.

 

• Boomers. Now the second largest, generational workforce and born between 1946-1964.  Very traditional in nature, they have work to live instead of live to work like their Generation Y and X.   Millenials think this group is rigid and tied to corporate rules and policies.

 

• Generation X. Born between 1965-1980.  Millenials think this generation is bitter, jaded, and jealous.  Gen Xers are self-reliant and many grew up as latch key kids.  This generation is much smaller than Boomers and Millenials mostly due to the invention and wide-spread use of the birth control pill.

 

• Generation Y. Also referred to as Millenials and are born between 1981-1995.  Seen as optimistic and needy by their Gen X managers and co-workers.  They are the technology generation.  This group prefers constant daily feedback versus an annual employee performance reviews.

 

• Generation Zen. 1996 – present.  Known as Digital Natives or Gen Z, this group is just joining the workforce.  Among their many talents are texting and ability to program a new piece of technology before many of us can even bat an eye.

 

Since each generation is influenced by different life moments, it makes sense that your generational recruiting and marketing tactics should do the same.  Companies like Facebook and Google appeal to young Millenials where skateboards and jeans are all part of a days work.  For the rest of us who do not have the ability to offer a college campus workplace mentality along with the high paying salary to match, it’s important to consider what drives these generations to work.  For Millenials, they live to work and recruiting campaigns should focus on things like workplace flexibility as well as your impressive vacation and PTO package.  For Boomers, it could be your competitive 401(k) match with two year vesting plan.
 
Whatever it is, it’s important to start the conversation appropriately and effectively.  And here’s a great place to get you started, the Center for Work-Life Policy released their 2009 study called Bookend Generations. It provides some interesting insights on what motivates and matters to the different generations.
 
Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a HR consultant, new media strategist, and author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. Jessica is the host of Job Search Secrets, an internet television show for job seekers.
 
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