Winning the battle for talent with collaboration technology

[Mei Lin Low (MeiLin_Low)]

Recently, the Manpower Group released the results of their 2015 Talent Shortage Survey, which showed that employers are facing shrinking talent pools as working populations decline. Globally, employers are reporting difficulties filling job vacancies due to talent shortages, increasing to 38% in 2015 from 36% in 2014.

As the competition for the right talent heats up, employers will feel the pressure to present themselves as attractive destinations to potential employees. This has fuelled recruiting trends such as employer branding, social sourcing and even assessment science. Another that is growing considerably in popularity is video-enabled talent acquisition – and this comes with numerous benefits.

Video collaboration technology is increasingly being used to connect candidates with companies, but additionally allows HR recruitment processes such as candidate screening, interviews, feedback, and remuneration package discussions to occur; face-to-face, in real-time, from any distance. Some companies go one-step further to integrate video collaboration into existing human resource management systems (HRMS) to record, capture and archive video interviews in the same way interviewer notes and assessments are kept “on-file”. 

Introducing video collaboration into the talent acquisition process has several advantages:

1. Increased speed of decision and hire

A friend of mine went through 17 interviews, over a period of three months with a company before he was finally offered the position!  Fortunately for them, he accepted. In today’s fast-paced world, few candidates would endure frequent and lengthy interviews. They would probably be interviewing with one to three other firms concurrently and would likely have accepted a good offer and even started their first day on the job, before 17 interviews were completed. Speed is essential in capturing the right talent. 

Video-enabled talent acquisition delivers interviews efficiently; scheduling burdens are reduced when physical meetings can be replaced with virtual, face-to-face interviews, regardless of candidate or interviewer location. It even accommodates multiple interviewers from disparate locations in a virtual meeting room, with the candidate. Internal reviews and discussions about the candidate can also be supported by video collaboration. All this helps to shorten the talent acquisition process, and speeds up the decision and offer to the candidate. This enables companies to be more competitive when seeking talent that is in high demand.

2. Better assessment accuracy

A picture may speak a thousand words but video conveys volumes. When in-person interviews cannot happen, companies sometimes rely on phone interviews to replace them. For most companies, it is the next best option, but it doesn’t have to be. Browser-based video collaboration solutions, such as Polycom RealPresence WebSuite, allow interviewer and candidate to meet face-to-face, in real-time, through a web browser. This is far superior because visual information delivers important cues to the interviewer.

For instance, facial expressions that convey excitement about the role inform the interviewer that the candidate is sincere, and potentially passionate about the role. Other traits such as confidence, personality, understanding, puzzlement and confusion are also clearer over video, than through a telephone line. This ultimately results in a more accurate assessment of the candidate’s competence, personality and enthusiasm, and increases the likelihood of making the right hiring decision. 

3. Employer branding

The world is a different place now, companies no longer hold the monopoly on selection. Candidates too use interviews as a platform to assess whether a company is one that they would like to work for. Theirchoice will also depend on what they learn about the company’s culture, work ethic, team work, trust and so on.  Leveraging video-enabled talent acquisition shows potential employees that a company embraces technology – a factor that is very important to the fast-growing Millenial workforce. It conveys that a company is fast-paced, demanding, but is also collaborative and consultative. The adoption and use of technology portrays a company as dynamic and emphasises teamwork whereas traditional hiring processes may feel conservative, slower and sometimes bureaucratic.This infographic explains more about how HR professionals will shape the future of business. 

All other things being equal, companies which leverage collaboration technology in their talent acquisition process, are more likely to secure the candidate and win the battle for attracting and retaining great talent.

Have a look at the video below, to get you thinking more about the benefits video collaboration can bring to Human Resources operations: