The War for Talent is On

Rise to the challenge by combining your most valuable tools

The “war for talent” is not a new phenomenon. Many factors play a role to win this war and digitalization is one of them. The recruitment industry still has a huge potential in this aspect. What is missing and how do you find your strategy to win the war for the talent in today’s recruitment market?

Recruiting the right talent on all levels is critical if you want to reach your business goals, but deciding on the strategy that will win the war for talent is getting exceedingly difficult. A multi-level approach is needed in today’s market, and to attract and obtain the best people you need to take a closer look at the tools in use.

On the one hand you most likely have an Application Tracking System (ATS), and these systems have greatly digitized the industry. They provide companies with the ability to process and assess applicants, in addition to accessing a range of di­fferent tools for activating and processing jobs and candidates. ATS providers have shown significant success in their chosen markets but remain fragmented globally, even as the sophistication of their services increases.

Avollon’s ATS and Job-board Survey shows 68% of all HR leaders are using an ATS. This means nearly 1/3 of the market still relies on other methods. Activating relevant candidates via job-boards and syndication platforms alone has proven difficult for many. Posting jobs on social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook is also an increasingly common way to attract candidates, but not a complete recipe for success. As a matter of fact, all HR leaders in the Avollon ATS and Job-boards Survey say they have experienced job-boards failing in securing candidates.

The executive search and recruiting industry, with an estimated 8% annual growth, provides one of your most valuable tools in finding the best candidates. All HR leaders in Avollon’s survey have used recruiters and search executives, and nearly all have experienced selecting the wrong recruiter or search executive. This alone presents a serious challenge: Identifying and evaluating recruiters and their firms is a time-consuming due diligence activity full of pitfalls and without guaranteed outcomes. 72% say finding good recruiters is difficult in their home market and 92% say it is difficult cross-border. Selecting the wrong recruiter is extremely costly and can delay business expansion indefinitely.

So how do you ensure your ATS and the expert guidance of a recruiter win you the war for talent? A considerable opportunity exists in the space between online, automated capability and the research and negotiation capabilities of a search firm. Most successful organizations use ATSs to access job-boards and social media to attract talent for most positions. However, they use search firms when hiring for hard-to-fill positions, critical and complex hires or when experiencing candidate shortage. This multi-level strategy is considered a key factor for success in hiring.

By integrating the Avollon service into your ATS offers a holistic solution, allowing you to select the best suited recruiters for support when needed. 98% of HR leaders in the Avollon ATS & Job-Board Survey say they want a platform providing better recruiting services, providing a seamless view of their multi-level hiring strategy and all hiring processes. Ultimately, augmented intelligence (AI) with the right mix of human intelligence and digital algorithms seems to be the right formula in recruiting the best candidates and winning the war for talent. Especially when hiring for those critical positions.