Digital transformation is an inevitable force that is changing how companies operate in both physical and virtual environments. Organisations are either constantly innovating to stay competitive or face challenges in attracting and retaining their customers.

The HR and recruitment industry is not spared from the change either as some companies are already transitioning to virtual recruiting to engage with talent. New trends are also emerging in the recruitment industry, with an increasing number of HR leaders expected to digitise traditional HR hiring processes, like sourcing, interviewing and onboarding candidates.

While some companies have already started their digital transformation journey, others are playing catch up. Transitioning from offline to online requires companies to overhaul existing infrastructure and processes such as cloud servers and portals.

If you're a smaller business in more traditional sectors like logistics or food manufacturing, which traditionally rely on face-to-face HR processes and physical workplaces, adapting to virtual recruitment processes and these new trends could prove challenging, but not impossible.

Regardless, no matter how challenging it may be, it is critical for HR leaders to adopt new technologies as early as possible to be prepared for the future of talent recruitment and workforce management.

the impact of digital transformation on recruitment

The impact of digitalisation can be seen across the recruitment industry - from talent acquisition and sourcing to employee onboarding.

During the pandemic, new digital working styles emerged and the recruitment process was also shifted to a virtual hiring environment where most job interviews were conducted over Google Meets or Zoom. Some employers also use online psychometric tests and skills assessments for their prospective candidates. The digital transformation on recruitment has fundamentally changed how HR leaders view the use of technology to speed up the overall virtual recruitment process as well as improve candidate and employee experiences.

Digital and automation tools can help reduce the more manual and repetitive tasks within the recruitment processes such as data entry or candidate re-activation. One good thing about using digital platforms is that most of them automatically logs candidate and client conversation history, so all their job and talent preferences are stored in a single location to allow easier access in the future.

However, as with any significant market changes, there will always be laggards. These are the companies and business leaders that were previously sceptical about the benefits of technologies and were hesitant to invest.

It is likely that some of these companies are playing catch up with digital transformation. They have to invest significant funds into processes like building HRM portals and cloud solutions like AWS or Microsoft Azure. Furthermore, the switch to digital requires them to upload all paperwork to the cloud, which requires a lot of manpower to complete.

No matter if you’re a front-runner or just keeping up, the potential of technology has not been truly explored in full. Here we look at some of the digital solutions that can help you navigate the future of recruitment.

3 digital solutions that could simplify your recruitment

1. engaging with talent through AI and technology

The best way to identify and attract talent with a new job opportunity is through digital platforms. Many job candidates use sources such as online job portals, LinkedIn and Google to look for new jobs.

Engaging with talent is a crucial part of recruitment as it helps promote the company’s employer brand to target job candidates and manage their expectations. Many job applicants will also ask questions about the job advertisement for a more detailed job analysis before committing to a job interview.

It's critical for employers to be transparent and give candidates as much information and reassurance as possible at this stage. This helps ensure that there are no misunderstandings between either party, which would in turn make the recruitment process more efficient.

There are bespoke tools designed to help companies optimise their recruitment practices and become more efficient through artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. One effective way to do this is with modern digital tools like chatbots, which can prove particularly useful for top-of-funnel recruitment when you need to answer frequently asked questions and engage with a large pool of candidates.

These questions tend to be a common pool of questions such as the location of the job, qualification requirements, rounds of interviews, working hours, among many others. Therefore, an automated chatbot would significantly reduce the manpower needed for answering these frequently-asked questions.

HR leaders can also extend the use of these chatbots to resolve common questions from employees as well. Questions from employees could range from how to make insurance claims to booking meeting rooms. By extending the use of chatbots, companies are able to optimise their investment into new technologies and benefit more people.

2. virtual interviewing

Interviewing candidates and onboarding new recruits are among the most personal and interactive aspects of the entire recruitment process. Transitioning these functions to digital platforms would require significant changes in processes, infrastructure and mindset.

Once again, modern technology is a big benefit here. Video interviewing and digital assessment tools make it possible to conduct in-depth evaluations of job applicants, with maximum ease and minimal cost for all parties. By integrating video interviews in the talent acquisition processes, it reduces the time to hire and provides a more positive experience to the candidate.

Video interview tools such as Google Meets or Zoom are already widely used. HR leaders can also go a step further and use digital assessment tools such as Pymetrics to gain a deeper understanding of their candidates using AI and data analytics.

Taking a digital-first approach to interviews and assessment has its advantages. Virtual interviews minimise inherent human errors and deliver more personalised, data-driven experiences. Personalisation in the virtual interview stage is crucial for providing a human touch to the process while making the candidate’s experience better. This not only improves their perception of the company but helps strengthen their perception of the employer brand.

3. virtual and remote onboarding

Once you have finally hired the new employee, it’s time to use video communication tools to onboard new recruits and help them get some virtual facetime with their managers and colleagues. Being able to see and speak to the people they will be working with - albeit virtually - will help new employees settle in easily and build camaraderie with the whole team. Through virtual meetings and the use of virtual collaboration tools, managers can facilitate icebreakers, introductions and other team activities.

Companies can also use e-signature tools and cloud storage solutions to help make the remote onboarding process easier for the new recruiter. They are able to complete all their onboarding administrative tasks as well as share and save documents about their employment easily and remotely.

Randstad conducts virtual onboarding training for our new employees as well. The recordings of our corporate training sessions are stored on our intranet for our employees to refer to anytime. They can also find best practices or any useful information related to their careers on the intranet.

Furthermore, conducting online training also saves HR cost and time, as our learning and development trainers can conduct regional group training virtually without having to travel or conduct multiple sessions of the same training.

are you ready to recruit new talent virtually?

Now in the digital age, organisations are shifting their recruiting strategy to a virtual hiring environment. At Randstad, we provide a variety of digital HR solutions which help companies get ready and propel their business towards our digital future.

For instance, Randstad’s Innovation Fund is aimed at fueling innovation in technology. Through multiple complementary investments in the HR space, we intend to extend our current portfolio from early-stage to expansion-stage in the HR area, with an emphasis on online platforms, big data analytics, machine learning, sourcing, screening and selection tools.

As a trusted HR leader in physical and virtual recruitment, we explore the use of various new digital solutions that are designed to help improve candidate experience. Connect with us to find out how Randstad can help your business to be future-ready in recruitment!

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