For many of us, the start of a new year holds so much promise. It is the perfect time to focus on deferred self-improvement, whether that be to eat better, drink more water, or read more books.
If you’re a recruiter, you may vow this year to find more effective ways to source candidates, fill positions faster, or tackle everything on your weekly to-do list.
While change doesn’t happen overnight, part of growing professionally and personally is evaluating what’s worked in the past and making adjustments to create better outcomes. In a rapidly evolving industry, recruiters can leverage the following four resolutions to up their game without sacrificing their well-being.
Resolution No. 1: Embrace AI
Whether you love AI or hate it, it’s not going anywhere. But rather than accept that fact begrudgingly, you might consider all of the ways that AI can change the recruitment landscape for the better.
Look, for example, at what it’s done for Electrolux, the global home appliance manufacturer. The company has seen a 51% drop in incomplete applications and a 9% decrease in time to hire since creating an AI-powered recruitment platform. Among other things, the new tool schedules interviews and sends content to leads related to their expressed career goals and interests. All of that shows that AI “is the right [technology] for proactive talent pipelining, both inside and outside the company,” says Anja Ullrich, the company’s global talent acquisition director.
AI is also being used for such tasks as sourcing diverse candidates and crafting employee reviews, and the uses for the technology will only continue to grow. Both recruiting professionals and applicants are showing an appetite for AI in recruiting, with 58% of hiring leaders and 52% of job seekers saying that AI should be used by recruitment sites, according to a survey done by Google and the research firm Ipsos.
That’s not to say there won’t be some bumps on the road. AI will bring new challenges and guardrails may need to be put in place. For example, New York City passed a law requiring employers that use AI in hiring to audit their technology each year to check for bias, and other jurisdictions will likely follow suit. But all in all, “AI can save time and enhance the candidate experience by creating a swift and easy recruiting process for candidates and recruiters,” said Ricki Landers, recruiting manager for TeleWorld Solutions.
This year, create a plan to make AI work for you and your team. Spend at least an hour each week experimenting with ChatGPT or other gen AI tools and look for a course to take on using AI in your day-to-day work.
Resolution No. 2: Keep the human touch in recruiting
While AI is great for helping with repetitive tasks, it’s not as good at creating authentic human connection. If a candidate is highly sought after by multiple companies, the organization that resonates with the candidate emotionally may have the inside track on closing the deal.
“Recognizing that machines lack the empathetic touch and nuanced understanding required in the realm of human emotions,” writes Khursheed Irani, head of global talent services for consulting firm Cprime, “it becomes evident that there are crucial aspects of the recruiting process that demand a distinctly human touch.”
But determining where the human touch will be most effective in the age of AI is what recruiters must figure out.
While AI tools can help whittle down a list of candidates to the ones who possess the hard skills your organization desires, “determining if a candidate is someone you and your team can stand to be around for eight to 10 hours a day is something completely different,” points out Rick Binder, director of recruiting at The Marlin Alliance.
And nurturing relationships with potential candidates for future positions is critical in a competitive market. Conversing and engaging with candidates and establishing rapport is something that can pay off down the line.
This year, come up with a strategy that leverages your humanity in the recruitment process while letting AI take some of the repetitive administrative tasks off your plate.
Resolution No. 3: Up your social media game
If you’re sourcing the best talent, you have to go where the talent is. For employers looking to recruit Gen Z, that will likely mean TikTok, as it’s the most widely used social media platform by Zoomers.
Though LinkedIn is the go-to platform when it comes to professional networking, you can broaden your reach by also establishing a presence on other networks. And new channels may also demand new methods, like adding video to a mix of text and still images.
Social media also provides recruiters with an opportunity to amplify how their organizations are making a difference in society and how they’ve created positive company cultures that are diverse and inclusive — qualities are important to Gen Z.
Recruiters can take a page from the marketing department’s playbook when it comes to interacting with people on social media in a way that inspires engagement, builds connections, and highlights what the organization stands for.
“With billions of users active on various platforms,” says recruitment specialist Laura Filer, “social media offers a vast pool of potential candidates and a cost-effective way to showcase your employer brand.”
In 2024, step out of your comfort zone by interacting with potential candidates on one additional social media platform and by finding new ways to use it to put a spotlight on what your organization stands for.
Resolution No. 4: Take more time off
Typically, resolutions focus on ways to get more done and increase productivity. This list is no different, but resolution No. 4 can help you arrive at more productivity in a somewhat counterintuitive way.
Research shows that taking time off can increase both your productivity and your creativity.
Yet, if you’re hesitant to take more personal time off (PTO) — or even the PTO that you have been granted — you’re not alone. Nearly half of U.S. workers who receive PTO, take less than what they’re offered.
Why does this matter? Because 77% of workers say they experienced work-related stress in the last month, according to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) 2023 Work in America Survey.
- 31% experienced emotional exhaustion.
- 26% said they didn’t feel motivated to do their best.
- 23% expressed a desire to quit.
As many recruiters know firsthand, burnout is real. Jun Abo, head of growth for hiring platform JOBYODA, says he took a sabbatical because his recruiting work in an earlier role was mentally and emotionally draining. A vacation can give you time to relax and temporarily get away from the stressors that you encounter conducting your day-to-day duties.
While some may skip the vacation because they’re afraid of falling behind at work, others may take a pass because they don’t feel their workplaces support time off. Only about one-third of respondents to the APA study said breaks were encouraged in their workplace and only 40% said time off was respected in their workplace culture.
This year, resolve to take all of your PTO, and encourage your colleagues to do the same. Doing so could help to cut down on burnout — yours and your teammates’.
Final thoughts
The beginning of the year is a great time for recruiters to reflect on the ups and downs of the previous year and identify the steps that can help them achieve greater things in 2024. And then stick with them. After all, only 9% of those who make resolutions actually keep them.
If you want to end this year professionally in a better place than where you started, spend time outlining the specific steps and action items you will take to turn your resolutions into reality.
