Recruiting talented employees isn’t going to be plain sailing in 2015. The widening gaps between the demand and supply of skilled workers is creating a cut-throat environment in which 69% of recruiters are expecting to see competition for candidates increase. To successfully ride out the storm, recruiters are going to need to keep up to speed with this year’s key trends.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

Global recruiting leaders have indicated that the quality of hire is a main priority for the coming year. They are also citing this as the most valuable metric for measuring the performance of their recruiting team. Organisations that are looking to tackle the talent challenge and push forward know that they need to hire the very best candidates to be successful in 2015. Recruiting leaders are saying that the preferred method of sourcing quality hires is through job boards and social professional networks.

LINKEDIN TO TRUMP SOCIAL RECRUITING

As 2015 rolls in, 73% of recruiters are planning to invest more in social recruiting as it is set to  continue as key method of sourcing quality candidates. For many, this is not a surprise: 94% of recruiters are already using LinkedIn and 79% of recruiters have found a hire there. However, 33% of recruiters are still stuck in the dark ages and currently don’t spend a penny on social recruiting. If those recruiters really want to compete, investing in LinkedIn is a must.

TALENT BRANDING TO STAND OUT

This year we’re expecting to see recruiting looking more like marketing than ever before. This means that talent branding - a public and highly social image of your company brand which shows off your great workplace culture - is vital. Skeptics may think this is a style over substance approach, but you can’t argue with the figures: when a company has a strong talent brand, costs per hire can be reduced by 50% and turnover rates lowered by 28%.

REACH FURTHER BY GOING MOBILE

Did you know that 43% of job seekers use a mobile device for their job searches? This area is frequently overlooked, with 59% of recruiters not investing a penny in mobile career sites. If want to reach the widest number of candidates, your website and job adverts need to be easily accessible from mobile devices. To match the demand, ensure your website layout is mobile-friendly and optimise your job postings. A smarter job search and application system will result in a plumper base of candidates to screen

FISH FROM THE PASSIVE TALENT POOL

You may be wondering where exactly these high quality candidates on LinkedIn are coming from. Well, the plain fact of the day is that the competitive recruiters need to start sourcing from the talent pool of passive candidates, if they’re not already doing so. A recent LinkedIn survey revealed that  only 5% of global respondents claim to be actively looking for their next role, while a huge 45% are open to talking with a recruiter. Focusing exclusively on candidates who are actively looking for work isn’t going to cut it. Currently, 61% of companies look to recruit passive candidates, so there is certainly scope to expand here.

Recruiting those quality hires in 2015 is going to be a challenge even for the best of recruiters. Keeping up with the changing landscape of recruitment is now more important than ever. These five key trends may be the resources recruiters need to safeguard their competitive edge and match demand with supply.

About the Author: Ron Stewart has worked in the recruitment industry for 30 years, having owned companies in the IT, construction and medical sectors. He runs the Jobs4Group, and is CEO of Jobs4Medical.

Photo Credit: Tim Donnelly