Common Challenges in Hiring HR Officers and How to Overcome Them
As the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic recedes and companies begin to return to more normal operations, there are many positions that need to be filled. Human resources (HR) officers are needed to handle the influx of new hires and navigate the hybrid format for which many companies are opting. Hiring HR officers now is challenging for several reasons and can be expected to remain so for the foreseeable future.
Common Challenges in Hiring HR Officers
An interesting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic was the number of workers who chose to leave their jobs voluntarily before having lined up another position. This was especially true among younger workers who most often cited company culture as their main reason for seeking employment elsewhere. This presents a serious challenge in hiring HR officers, as HR often is responsible for helping to establish a company’s culture. HR candidates, especially younger ones, are going to expect to get a feel for a company’s overall culture, and that may not be so easy for a company to convey.
In the same area, the large number of qualified candidates complicates the hiring process since narrowing down the pool of these candidates takes longer. This impacts the ability to get the best, most qualified candidates; if the hiring process is too slow, many job seekers will take a position elsewhere, especially in the absence of safeguards. However, trying to compensate for such eventualities by expediting the process introduces its own set of risks. “Less time per applicant could make hiring managers more likely to rely on shortcuts to determine which candidates to advance — an approach that can exclude a significant portion of the talent pool, perpetuate biases and fail to identify the best candidates for the job,” said Emily Scace, legal editor at XpertHR, which consults with companies on HR issues.
The pandemic also brought the issue of mental health to the fore. With people isolated in their homes for weeks or months at a time, depression and anxiety became more prevalent. These conditions also became more difficult to identify as in-person contact was limited. According to a Paychex survey conducted in 2021, over 95 percent of surveyed HR leaders said that mental health was an employer’s responsibility. Increasingly, job applicants are looking for mental health resources from their prospective employers. If companies want to be more attractive places to work, they need to avail their employees of mental health resources and otherwise start taking their employees’ mental health seriously.
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Solutions for Recruiting Challenges in HR
Automation is one of several steps companies can take to increase the efficiency and success of their HR recruiting efforts. By relying on software that identifies resumes of candidates with particular qualities, hiring managers can spare themselves of the time-consuming task of reviewing the resumes of unsuitable candidates. Related to this is the increased use of analytics to track potential candidates. Already proven a success in sports, for example, gathering and analyzing data can be also applied to hiring, where it can help to eliminate any biases inherent in the system by standardization and looking strictly at measurable factors early in the process.
Because executive search firms offer several advantages, many businesses should consider engaging the services of such a firm. These firms have extensive experience in hiring and can operate more quickly and efficiently than an internal operation. They already maintain large lists of candidates and, if provided with guidelines on what qualities are most desired for the position, will be able to narrow down the pool of candidates quickly, leaving more time for one-on-one interviews. And because search firms are well versed in hiring-related laws, they can avoid any potential mishaps along the way. The cost of employing an executive search firm should not be an impediment to its use. A bad hire will cost much more in the long run than the outlay for a good, reputable search firm.
Recruiting HR executives now is different than at any time in the past. Dealing with a hybrid workplace and emphasizing company culture are new challenges that have emerged over the last few years. Companies need to be aware of these new conditions and should be proactive in updating their recruiting process to deal directly with the new paradigm. Failure to do so will result in poor hires, losing out on the best candidates, and a loss of profits.
