Hiring in 2020:
The highs & lows,
told by the Revocians!

We’re now well into the final month of 2020. Let’s face it, we won’t be able to forget this year in a hurry.

The global pandemic has literally impacted everything in its path: personal lives, the environment, travel, politics, the economy – you name it.

Operating in the recruitment sector we’ve had to adapt (like every other sector) to life in the presence of COVID-19. Hiring in 2020 is a different ballgame – but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all bad.

Here, the team break down some of the highs and lows of hiring in 2020…

Attitudes to working from home

Before the pandemic, believe it or not there were some managers who were STILL against moving towards a more flexible work culture. For many businesses there was an overriding assumption that employees weren’t as productive at home.

After being forced into working this way by Coronavirus – managers soon realised that their concerns surrounding working from home may have been unjustified.

Josh says: “It’s amazing to think how differently companies have already shifted their hiring behaviour because of the rise of remote working. Although in a pre-COVID world, remote working on a full or partial basis was on the rise, it wasn’t at any great rate.

Since the pandemic started, the mindset of traditional ‘old school’ businesses has had to change dramatically. With many managers coming to the realisation that workers are fully capable to fulfil their work duties outside of the office – when they may have been sceptical before. This is a great transition – being a business who is an advocate of flexible working.”

We recently discussed this on our Workplace 2.0 webinar with River Island’s Charlie Wilkinson and Interaction’s Dieter Wood.

Check out the footage below…

The rise of virtual interviews

Picture this, it’s 2019. 2 weeks ago, after what seemed like a lifetime of going back and forth to ensure calendars were aligned, you secured a final stage, face to face interview with the company of your dreams, scheduled in 3 weeks’ time.

5 weeks?! 5 weeks to secure a face to face interview is far too long.

The rise of virtual interviews has meant that due to its efficiency, the speed in which candidates are getting interviewed has increased considerably. CV submission to offer in 2 weeks – cutting the time to hire by 70%, not bad at all.

Lily says “Virtual interviewing has become the new norm for most people. Despite the challenges that come with it, virtual interviewing has allowed a more streamlined and effective approach to hiring due to the efficiency and flexibility it offers. For candidates, it can lead to a more comfortable and seamless experience in which they have more control over their environment and their frame of mind. It also provides an opportunity for a quicker turnaround, both for organising the interview itself, and providing feedback.”

Despite its benefits of speed and efficiency, virtual interviewing isn’t without its pitfalls…

Remote Interviews vs. In-Person Interviews

In some cases, candidates are unable to get a true sense of the role their interviewing for in a virtual interview. The same can be said for the team and the company culture. Brooky explains here…

“I’ve spoken to people in my network who have accepted jobs which later transpired to be a misrepresentation of the position at hand, resulting in part due to the lack of an in-person interview.

It’s never been easy to paint a full picture of what someone will walk into, but the removal of the physical office, reduced visibility of a company culture & even reduced visibility on a company’s codebase can leave a huge gulf between expectation and reality.”
The globalisation of talent

Thanks to a combination of the positives mentioned above, hiring managers no longer have to rely on selecting hires based on their location.

The fact that remote working is being embraced alongside remote hiring means – remote onboarding is now the norm for many businesses. If the candidates don’t have to come into the office – why can’t they be from anywhere?

Charlie Wilkinson shared his views on this in our recent webinar, check it out here…

What can we expect in 2021?

To be honest with you – who knows? If someone told us in December 2019 what the state of 2020 would be, we probably wouldn’t have believed them.

But if we were to take a gamble…

-Remote working will and should continue.
-Flexible working contracts will be embedded into BAU practice long after the pandemic dies down.
-Flexible working contracts will no longer be a ‘work perk’ but standard practice.
-Smaller offices – designed thoughtfully to drive productivity for those staff who do choose to come into the office.

What are your thoughts? What have you learnt about the hiring process in 2020? We’d love to hear from you.

Thinking about your hiring strategy for 2021? We could help you! Click here to see the services we offer that are helping our clients succeed.