Hiring Outlook for 2015

The coming year promises an increase in hiring with a focus on filling gaps in existing recruitment practices.

The first quarter of the new year has come to an end, but not before setting the scene for hiring trends in the coming months. So what can we expect to see in the world of talent acquisition?

If we begin with the bigger picture, the overall trend is largely optimistic. Most organizations – about 70% – are gung-ho about hiring. Stable political and macro-economic conditions are helping fuel this sentiment.

More than 70% of open positions will be filled at entry levels. This is essentially good news. It means that new jobs are being created, plus organizations are opening up to diverse skill requirements. 66% open positions have been marked out for growth hiring. Unfortunately, the mid and senior levels won't get to see much of fresh blood, with less than 40% open positions available.

But not every organization is going all out. Almost 51% of companies are only "somewhat increasing" hiring in 2015. Still, with the overall hiring graph moving up, attracting and retaining talent is going get a lot of attention. Filling in gaps in current recruitment seems to be the obvious first step.

A majority of CEOs now recognize that "people issues" are the biggest hurdle in an organization's path to success. It's no surprise that pulling in the right talent, in the right time is emerging as one of the top 5 challenges in Indian organizations. There is a dire desire to hire. But how is India Inc. planning to entice meatier talent? Recruitment teams are increasingly being roped in to function as hiring lifelines. There is a road map!
First up, expect to see organizations exploring a mix of sourcing channels. Currently, online job portals are still considered the most effective for frontline, junior and mid level hiring, whereas recruitment firms help fill in senior positions. As of now, less than 15% of organizations source more than 50% talent through social media. Companies everywhere are upscaling budgets to mark their presence on social media platforms and stand out as "employers of choice." In the same vein, organizations are also expected to work more on overall branding strategies.

Along with the struggle to identify the right sourcing channel mix, companies are also realizing that they need to be able measure ROI on sourcing channels beyond just the selection ratio. This means measuring the "quality of hire" too.

Ernst & Young GSS suggests, "Reduce turnaround time of lead time in hiring. Measure quality of incoming talent and track by sourcing channels to optimize Cost per Hire. Source mix has a direct impact on talent acquisition cost."

To do so, employers are getting creative. Part of the hiring revamp will include experimenting with a wide variety of assessment tools while selecting candidates.

Also, the move from measuring pure efficiency to creating a good balance between measuring efficiency and the quality of hire, requires joining forces with recruitment leaders. Recruitment specialists are being pulled in to improve the operational metrics of optimizing speed and cost per hire.

Speaking of efficiency and quality of hire, organizations are relooking at what are the required skills for mid to senior level leaders. Technical know-how and analytical skills seem to be the key. People management seems to lag behind as a critical skill requirement.

This has also revealed a gap between what recruitment teams identify as critical skills and what talent development teams feel are priority skills. It would probably be in everyone's best interests for recruitment teams to partner with the business to identify emerging skill requirements for new roles and benchmark those against new skills in the industry in the coming times.

To sum up, talent development and retention remains the top priority for business leaders in India Inc. As Lawrence Bossidy, former COO of General Electronics once said, "I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies."

Nitin Sethi
Partner, Talent and Performance, Aon Hewitt (India)

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