New Allegis Group Survey Report Reveals Big Challenges and Opportunities in Recruiting Today

Great talent is scarce. Business moves fast. Every new hire is a struggle. Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

Recently, Allegis Group surveyed thousands of employers and job seekers about their experiences with talent acquisition.  The results: only 7.7 percent of companies say recruiting is successful in terms of cost, quality, and speed. These “high performing” talent organizations lead their peers in nearly every facet of talent acquisition. What can the other 92 percent do to improve? According to the report, quite a bit.

Our latest state of recruiting report, “Staying in Front: An Inside Look at the Changing Dynamics of Talent Acquisition,” is based on a global survey of nearly 7,000 employers, talent acquisition professionals, and job candidates. The study gauges the satisfaction of companies across key talent acquisition practice areas, as well as stakeholder views on major trends.

According to the report, the challenges and trends of recruiting today give rise to many well-recognized talent issues, as well as some that may raise some eyebrows. For example:

• Mismatched expectations for “turnkey hires” are driving qualified candidates away. Only 28 percent of hiring managers expect fully qualified candidates, yet 50 percent of recruiting professionals and 53 percent of candidates think full qualifications are essential. This communication disconnect may be keeping job seekers from applying.
• Sourcing channels fall short of expectations. The majority of talent organizations were, on average, 67 percent less likely than the high performers to rate a sourcing channel as “very effective.” At the same time, candidates differ greatly from employers on the channels they prefer to use. In effect, companies and job seekers may actually be hiding from each other.
• Faulty screening process are leaving companies behind. Companies with high-performing talent organizations are 78 percent more likely than others to clearly communicate their top three skills requirements and have recruiters understand them. Most companies lag behind in other fundamental screening practices, including establishing culture fit characteristics, bringing non-recruiting stakeholders into the screening process and contacting references.
• Poor onboarding sends new hires to the exits. Of surveyed candidates, 54 percent were “somewhat” or “very likely” to leave an organization based on a poor onboarding experience. When it comes to readiness for a new hire’s first day – encompassing introductions to teammates and key stakeholders, manager meetings, and facility tours – more than 70 percent of hiring managers say they “always” cover these activities, yet only 23 to 50 percent of candidates agree.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) creates difficult innovation decisions. Progress is being made in setting the right foundations for AI use, including harnessing the power of data and analytics (25 percent of employers cite significant progress) and investing in innovation and R&D (23 percent cite significant progress). Fewer respondents (roughly 13 percent of employers) are leveraging AI for talent acquisition and management, with 14 percent identifying roles and activities to automate using AI technology.
• Lack of a D&I strategy. Attracting diverse workers is essential to filling many critical roles and keeping them onboard, engaged, and advancing their careers is key to gaining the most value. Forty-four percent of employers, therefore, report D&I as a top priority for the business. However, just 27 percent say they have a well-researched and understood strategy in place.
• Employers lag in recruiting Millennials. In 2018, Millennials are predicted to be the largest voting-eligible group in the U.S., and by 2025, it’s anticipated they’ll make up three-quarters of the global workforce. Despite this, only 31 percent of employers report significant progress in their approach to recruiting Millennials. The high-performing talent organizations are more than twice as likely than others to identify Millennial recruitment as a top priority.

For anyone involved in human capital strategy or the talent acquisition function, those challenges are more than academic statistics; they are very real barriers that stand between a company and the talent it needs to succeed. Learn more about the issues, how the talent leaders are addressing them, and what makes great talent acquisition organizations tick.

Download the full report for free at www.allegisgroup.com/talentacquisition.