The number of job openings is declining as the US economy cools, but the total number remains near historic highs. The labor market remains very tight and talent still has a significant influence.
This means that it is still incredibly important for companies large and small to use technology to recruit smarter. And employers are doing just that in five specialized industries.
On the surface, the nursing and rail yards have virtually nothing in common, but medical staffing agencies and railroads are leaning toward a new way of finding, hiring, and hiring new workers.
Here’s how they do it.
1. Nursing
The primary way technology is impacting the nursing industry is through recruitment of travel nurses using staffing agencies, which allow nurses to use technology themselves to find their next gig. Nurses and employers can include vital information in job postings, including job length, salary, and location.
One company that empowers both nurses and employers is Advantis Medical Staffing. The company uses both technology and communication to make connections through, among other things, transparency about pay and duties.
Dan Pollock, CEO of Advantis Medical Staffing, said: “The best healthcare staffing agencies use a combination of great technology with an exceptional human experience to deliver incredible service to the physician and healthcare facility. Ultimately, through technology, companies are helping clinicians connect more efficiently to the jobs they want and healthcare systems can then provide much-needed care to their communities.”
Recruitment technology has been proven to be well received by nurses seeking new positions. A recent survey found that 57% of nurses say they enjoy using technology to search for: travel nursing work independently, but they also prefer to work with a recruiter. This integration of technology into the interpersonal experience of recruiting holds great promise for the future of recruiting.
2. Data Analysis
When Boeing realized it was struggling to fill the roles of IT specialists and data analysts, their HR team combined existing recruiting technology solutions with new approaches.
Using multiple touchpoints, Boeing focused on making candidates feel seen, heard and wanted. This included a candidate care team that used technology – such as a mobile-friendly application platform, video conferencing software and email-based relationship management software – to support promising candidates during the hiring and interview process.
Boeing senior director of global talent operations Dan Wilkinson say“We are entering into discussions with this candidate through a crescendo of interest that ends with a landing at Boeing rather than a slow dripping process. We focus more on the candidate experience and differentiate ourselves through our culture, our priorities and our products.”
3. Railway works
The Dutch national rail system has long been a model of efficiency. In the past two decades, however, it began to succumb to the pressure of network demand that went far beyond what the designers envisioned. This was a classic ‘good problem to have’, but it still called for innovative workforce solutions.
One set of solutions involved doing less with more — automating traffic control processes and streamlining yard operations to reduce demand for the system’s limited human capital.
Another set involved designing and building a more resilient, capable workforce through technology-driven recruiting and people management. Due to strict safety regulations, similar to those for the airline industry, HR used technology to develop rigorous psychological screening and fit testing protocols to ensure only the most suitable candidates made it through the initial recruitment stages.
At the same time, to reduce the labor market risk that could arise from a smaller pool of suitable candidates, they used collaboration technology to break down core functions for each job. This allowed them to design more approachable roles that a greater number of candidates could fill with proper screening and training. Finally, they doubled down on the use of machine learning and big data analytics to improve system efficiency and on-time performance without adding capacity.
The result: the system significantly increased staff quality and resilience without significantly increasing the workforce, while ensuring trains kept running on time.
Reinventing recruitment
The labor market may be cooling, but employee replacement costs remain sky-high. And with inflation raging, they probably won’t fall any time soon, even if unemployment rises.
So employers who use technology to streamline their hiring aren’t just using quick fixes for a process notorious for causing headaches. They increase the chances of hiring rock stars every time and reduce the frequency and cost of bad hires. Reduced turnover also has other benefits, especially in specialized industries where new team members take months to train.
Your business can realize those benefits, too, no matter what industry you’re in. But first, you must commit to reinventing recruitment.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.