The Biggest Recruitment Challenges Companies Face in 2014: An Interview with PayScale

By Tess Curle Taylor, PHR, CPC

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Recruiting is one of those careers that’s just bound to have its own unique challenges. After all, we do work with the very complex issues surrounding people and how they fit into the business world.

No two days are ever the same, and issues come up that are impossible to predict. There are also constant changes in terms of technology that shake up the way recruiters do things, adding to the mix. However, there is nothing more exhilarating than finding the right person for the right client. This is what recruiting is all about.
 

Recent Report Details the Link Between Recruitment and Compensation

Recently, I had the privilege of talking with Laleh Hassibi, Senior Manager of B2B Content Marketing at PayScale, a leading firm in cloud compensation data and software. With the release of their 2014 PayScale Compensation Best Practices Report, PayScale has shed more light on some of the biggest concerns that businesses face in terms of recruitment and HR management this year.

Since compensation and recruitment are so closely tied, it’s important to take note of the results of this survey, which revealed:

  • 72 percent of the businesses surveyed plan to expand operations during 2014
  • Retention of employees was listed as a top concern by almost 60 percent of the companies polled
  • Major skill gaps are a big concern with the 54 percent of companies that are expecting to hire more this year


The Biggest Recruitment and Compensation Challenges Facing Companies

In our interview, I asked Ms. Hassibi what she believed to be the biggest challenges that companies face in 2014 in regards to their recruitment and compensation strategies. She stated that. “As the economy continues to recover, companies have big plans for workforce expansion and financial growth.” Further adding that,” The big challenges are not only to find new talent to support that growth, but holding on to the talent companies already have who are going to be tempted to jump ship for better opportunities. This balancing act of managing growth while effectively attracting new talent and retaining existing talent is the big challenge of 2014.”

It’s clear that recruiters will have to be able to offer a lot more to the best talent, over and above average salaries. Organizational growth and innovation will be dependent on a strong compensation and retention strategy.


Social Recruiting’s Role in Closing Skill Gaps

The PayScale report revealed that many of the companies that participated in the survey planned on using social networks to source high-demand talent. Ms. Hassibi mentioned that, “Half of all companies surveyed reported a lack of qualified applicants for open job positions. The hardest positions to fill were technical/engineering positions and medical/clinical specialists.” Here’s how the survey indicated companies would be turning to social media recruiting as the competition for these skilled positions heats up:

  • 56 percent of companies are using LinkedIn for social recruiting
  • 29 percent of companies are turning to Facebook to source candidates
  • 15 percent use Twitter for social media recruiting purposes

Not surprisingly, the Information, Media and Telecommunications industry had the largest reported skills gap and is also the most likely industry to use social media for recruiting (77 percent).


Trends in Social Media’s Use in the Workplace

In workplaces around the world, there is an increased use of social networks by Human Resource and Recruitment teams. Social media has quickly gained popularity and acceptance as a direct communication tool between employers and employees. The PayScale survey advised that:

  • 55 percent of companies surveyed have a formal social media use policy, with 59 percent being large companies
  • The number of companies banning employee social media usage at work has decreased from 36 percent in 2012 to 33 percent in 2013
  • At the same time, 37 percent of companies actually encourage social media usage at work in 2013, increasing from 35 percent in 2012


A New View of Social Media Recruitment

While the recruitment world may continue to strike a good balance between traditional and modern methods of sourcing great talent, one thing remains. The recruitment world is evolving to meet the challenges and demands of securing the most in-demand skillsets and social media is a powerful tool for accomplishing this. As evidenced by the special PayScale report, social recruiting has become a much more acceptable means to connect with and attract top talent.

 

Huge thanks to Laleh Hassibi, of PayScale for sharing her expertise and this exciting report with Social-Hire! In the annual survey of best practices, nearly 5,000 companies told PayScale what happened in 2013 and their expectations for 2014. The results may surprise you. Download the complimentary 2014 Compensation Best Practice(s) Report here

View the interactive graphs from the report here

 

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