How to win the war for talent
The last three years have been very transformative, both for the reality of organizations and for business schools, which have had to closely follow all the change in scenarios that were taking place on a global scale. And as we enter 2023, many human resources managers and especially CEOs who are constantly looking for new talent to join their work teams, the question they are currently asking is: are we hiring the right person for the job?
Undoubtedly, talent is not infinite, which is why open competition in the search for talented people is described as an open war, which in reality is not such, because companies have always looked for the best candidates ever since. Especially in the last two decades in which the technological transformation required certain profiles in key positions, talent became more desirable due to that elementary equation of available supply of talent and demand from companies to occupy positions in which they had to make decisions, direct people etc.
Therefore, the competition exists and in fact they compete to show the candidates the advantages of working in that company. The competition is produced to attract people who are considered the most suitable workers due to their profiles (especially their soft skills), but also who have the highest technical qualifications to occupy a certain position in the organization chart. That is why the hiring challenges have undoubtedly turned into a competitive talent warfare that is going on much longer than it was supposed to. And the question is that during 2023 the battle will still be open.
Therefore, when you continually hear the question that everyone asks that is why companies have to fight to hire the best, it is partly due to that question of supply and demand, but there is also another key at play. : Technological innovation is going at such a speed and with an ever greater depth in terms of the transformation that it produces in the ways of working, that unusual competition necessarily arises in terms of attracting that talent that each company wants for certain jobs.
In other words, before the other question that is in the air, about whether there is currently a war of talents, we insist that it does exist but that it is not a local war but a global one.
What are employers looking for in 2023?
Let’s first outline some 8 top skills employers are looking for on resumes in 2023:
– Adaptability. Adaptability is a key soft skill employers are looking for in 2023.
– Creativity.
– Collaboration.
– Self motivation.
– Problem resolution.
– Communication.
– Time management.
– Digital literacy.
Let’s take a deep dive into 10 of the top skills employers are looking for in 2023
Markets change and especially as a result of crises. The pandemic has perhaps been one of the ones that has brought the most consequences worldwide to the labor market. With the world of work increasingly remote than ever, 2023 is a unique moment for the labor market, since the strong increase in online work that has occurred has also left a new model that is the hybrid, which has modified substantially the hiring landscape. As a result, many job seekers wonder how all of this affects the application process.
25% of professional jobs in North America were already remote by 2022
According to the Ladders remote work study, 25% of all professional jobs in North America would end up being remote by the end of 2022. But all known studies and surveys also indicated in the second half of 2022 that during this 2023 the relationship face-to-face and remote work would continue to lean in favor of the latter.
Hybrid work has also gained ground, with 58% of Americans able to partially work from home.
Does the candidate have the necessary skills?
When it comes to your job application, employers are looking to see if you have the skills to succeed in 2023.
And my advice to any candidate applying for a job, to make sure you stand out in a sea of applicants, HR managers tend to especially consider a resume format that describes very well what your strengths are as a candidate. . In addition, you must write a very powerful letter from the point of view of presentation so that the attitudes, motivations, ambitions, etc. can be clearly observed. that makes it easier for you to go through the successive filters that the recruitment process requires.
1º) Adaptability
Adaptability is a key soft skill that employers are looking for in 2023, as they value employees who have the ability to adapt to changes in the workplace, such as new procedures for getting things done or the adoption of new software.
In order to expose these conditions, the candidate must demonstrate in his detailed presentation in the CV, her capacity for adaptability, mentioning a moment in her work experience in which she successfully adapted to a change. A typical example would be the process that an entire department has to go through when implementing a new management software, which implies the involvement of other teams, facilitating the level of professional collaboration, as well as how they have been kept active and engaged, generating all this an increase of 10% in productivity.
2º) Creativity
Although creativity has not historically been valued equally by different sectors of economic activity, moreover, in some industries it has traditionally been less valued, we find ourselves at a special moment in which adaptability to the functions of the job is accompanied Give yourself a good dose of creativity, as it is a useful skill to succeed in a fast-changing work environment because it means you can generate new ideas and innovative solutions.
Hence, a creative employee is more likely to be able to solve the problems that arise with remote work, changing markets and emerging technologies.
It is important that the candidate especially highlights his creative ability, proven in his work experience, which is evident to any external observer such as a recruiter, who has been constantly proposing new ideas in his previous job, for example, for network campaigns. social networks that increased the number of followers at a rate of 35% per month.
3º) Collaboration
Good candidates who stand out for their talent (hence why they have been chosen) are not always going to be very friendly with all their colleagues. This does not mean that collaboration with the other members of the team and/or department is going anywhere. This is why recruiters are always looking for candidates with strong collaboration skills, as working together virtually can be more challenging. Those with the ability to collaborate well are more likely to carry these skills from in-person offices to home offices, and vice versa.
The candidate may well highlight collaboration skills, including a “brief” under her work experience, which, for example, could be that she has collaborated with clients to consistently deliver high-quality promotional materials.
4º) Self-motivation
With little supervision present in the workplace due to the online format that is carried out from home, self-motivation is required to maintain productivity levels. It is evident that self-motivation implies being very involved and committed, in addition to an essential detail: that the candidate can be proactive while operating independently of others and doing the work according to the planned schedule without having to demand compliance every day.
In addition, motivated employees have a natural predisposition to take on new challenges, their psychology is positively motivated by healthy anxiety that makes them feel comfortable facing new challenges, as well as avoiding obstacles that come their way in their new role. They also have a greater ability to learn new skills and pursue professional development. Their level of commitment is a valuable asset for companies.
There is data that is compelling: only 22% of employees worldwide feel committed to their work, hence if you are a candidate who is currently being offered, you must make clear what your genuine levels of self-motivation are for that clearly differentiate you from the rest of the options they have to choose from.
You could put in your CV (if it is true) that you can prove your level of self-motivation, since in the previous position you had always achieved the objectives that were set for you by the department management, and most importantly, your ability to autonomy, because the goals achieved were achieved without any need for supervision.
Another excellent way to demonstrate self-motivation on your resume is to include any online courses you have taken, for which, and in order to make the description of your skills and experiences clear, you can detail them in a section that you create in your CV call, for For example, “training and training”, in which you record your “continuing education” which will be a good indicator for recruiters that you are a proactive employee.
5º) Troubleshooting
Although historically a professional with the ability to diagnose and solve problems has been the one who has had the best opportunities to occupy positions of responsibility, be it in the commercial spheres and in the circumstances of increasingly complex markets, to internal conflicts derived from the company itself. business operation which also depends in terms of its efficiency on the way in which interpersonal relationships are being carried out, these people with these abilities become an even more valuable asset in 2023 than in previous years.
With rapid changes in work environments and technology, new and unforeseen issues are likely to arise. Companies need to hire candidates who are trained to provide valuable solutions, but also demonstrate their problem-solving skills, so this is an aspect that you should highlight in your CV.
6º) Communication
Current communications have infinite sources from which they come, it is what we receive daily on our mobile devices that invade our own privacy. But with regard to the benefits of communication, we must not detract from the fact that it has always been a valuable skill in the workplace, which is why, in the opinion of experts with whom I agree, it is going to be in special demand. in 2023. And it will continue to grow as the forms of communication diversify. I don’t mean just verbal or email communication, but we have to deal effectively through zoom, various social media platforms, productivity software (like Slack), etc. As a result, strong communication skills are a must in today’s job market, to the point that many organizations discard candidates with good technical skills but lacking communication skills.
To demonstrate communication skills in your CV, you should explain that thanks to your good communication skills, this has facilitated relationships in your previous position, not only at the clientele level but also with other work groups. For example, you can say (as long as it was true) that, in your experience in the middle of the pandemic despite working remotely, you were able to build strong relationships with industry leaders, some of whom the company was able to reach an agreement with. strategic alliance in the commercial field.
7º) Time management
Employees with more remote flexibility also require stronger time management skills because they must be able to complete their daily tasks on time while working independently.
When you know how to manage your time well, that is, your own daily work schedule or that of the people you have to supervise, you are more likely to be successful, since you are effective people in planning your work hours, being productive and doing tasks. This is highly valued by recruiters, so you should include these skills in your CV, adding, for example, a statement of work experience like this: I always complete jobs before the deadlines, taking into account the time that require the revisions and controls necessary for the final report to be published. This reveals, on the one hand, the technical ability to do so; on the other, the determination, that is, the attitude that you show to have in terms of responsibility, which means for employers a basic element for people who will soon have direction of people in their charge.
8º) Digital literacy
As work becomes more dependent on technology, digital literacy is an increasingly critical skill for all job seekers. Employers want to be sure that candidates are able to find, analyze, and communicate information in many forms across many platforms. Consequently, what you should put on your CV to demonstrate your degree of digital literacy, would be something like the following description of a responsibility that you could perfectly have carried out in your previous position: “I analyzed the daily research on social media trends and developed a social media strategy that increased the number of our viral posts, with 1.2 million total views.”
9º) Data analysis
With more companies looking to digital tools and solutions to drive profit, data analytics is a useful skill for any business. In fact, the data analyst occupation is expected to grow 23% between 2021 and 2031.
Being able to analyze data in popular platforms like Google Analytics or Microsoft Excel is required for many roles, such as marketing positions. To include data analysis skills on your resume, be sure to include data-driven examples.
10º) Industry specific tools
We know that the complexities of today’s market have also required employers looking for candidates to know how to take advantage of industry-specific tools in 2023. It’s no longer so important what industry is looking for candidates, but it’s important, it is that in it there are already new technologies that employees have to master.
Almost the vast majority of these skills are soft and also transferable, which you can also demonstrate with a wide variety of experiences. Of course, in the structure of your CV you must specify examples that you have carried out in your role and according to your responsibilities, which demonstrate each of these skills, so it is also convenient, if you can, to quantify them in terms of the benefits derived from it in the results.
Having these examples on hand will help you prepare for a successful interview, where you can expand on your accomplishments and showcase your skills.
The future of recruiting: how to win the war for talent in 2023
We are witnessing scenarios that change them too frequently, and in recent years, nothing in the world of work has been the same. And as we have said from this platform in previous articles, one of the main reasons why people leave companies looking for other horizons (something that was already demonstrated by “The Great Resignation”), is because they do not see any progress in your current job. They see that they are stagnant and that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to grow personally and to have a future in their current position.
According to Isabelle Bichler, co-founder and COO of retrain ai, “After the pandemic led to a temporary hiring freeze in many industries, followed by the recession and mass layoffs, especially in the tech industry, things should pick up. in 2023”.
New hiring trends
Entirely new hiring trends have emerged that weren’t at the top of HR or even on managers’ agendas a year ago.
Below, I’m going to highlight the top recruiting trends for companies to win in the war for talent in 2023 and beyond, shared by leading HR experts:
– Customize recruiting and job postings to be more individualistic and candidate-centric.
– Recognize and eliminate the biases of the recruiting teams to consolidate DEI that corresponds to the acronym of: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
– Optimization of the inclusion of data, automation and AI in the hiring process.
– On the recruitment increasingly centered on the candidate.
– Keep in mind that with the home office already set to stay, there is no longer a clear line between work and private life.
– Human resources departments must have the freedom to design products and services for people, that is, organizations are forced to be more sensitive, to consider the human being behind each employee. It is evident that this is not a fashion nor will it be for one day, because this will be the panorama of the future.
The new era of digitization is here to stay
Now it is not only essential to offer hybrid ways of working, but human resources departments must have the responsibility and freedom to develop products and services that serve the human being. Companies will need to re-establish the new, contemporary boundaries between home life and work life if they are to stay ahead and win the war for talent in 2023.
Accept the change in the candidate pool and use it to your advantage
For those responsible for selecting candidates, the pandemic meant some pros and cons in their day to day. One advantage for employers, according to Lucija Marković, Talentarium’s vice president of outsourcing, is the broader pool of candidates: “people from other countries and parents with young children are in a better position to participate in the job market than before.” .
Other HR industry experts say there has been a clear win for the DEI as there is now a global market, that means fewer excuses to hire only male leaders. Now is the time to take advantage of hidden talents, such as professional mothers or talents who do not want to relocate or who due to personal circumstances have a limited ability to move, but it does not exclude that they are highly competitive from a remote work position.
On diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
To take the next step in DEI engagement, companies need to recognize that the unconscious biases of hiring teams could also be a factor standing in the way of a more diverse workforce. Blind hiring is the process used to remove personal information from an application that could influence a hiring decision.
Sophie Soulane, Equalture’s head of sales, recommends blind recruiting to “make the process as data-driven as possible.”
How to retain talent
There is talk on a daily basis of attracting talent and retaining it. But the question is: how do you retain them? While under current sustainability criteria, candidates are also looking for a future life project in the new organization, there are recruiting industry experts who argue that organizations should focus on short-term goals and provide employees with perspective for the future. next year or two instead of focusing on the broad, long-term job outlook. But this contradicts the personal objectives in which the candidates are looking for that horizon of new possibilities and that guarantees them a future. Therefore, organizations are also being more transparent about the path to growth and making sure that opportunities are distributed fairly.
Regarding the mental health of employees
Without a doubt, the pandemic has shed more and more light on the subject of mental health. Retaining diverse talent is also about how they feel about their roles and carrying out their responsibilities. It is also true that teleworking has reduced the number of contact hours between employees and employers, but the priority of mental health and well-being in the era of digitalization must not be forgotten.
Committed to DEI: goals for 2023
All industry experts believe some of their next goals for recruiting include offering more workplace policies that appeal to diverse candidates, such as flexible hours and location, as well as offering more part-time opportunities, including increasing the number of shared leadership models.
On data, automation and AI
When we consider how we can debias the hiring process, we think about automating it. AI software should not be biased, as AI can learn human biases, depending on who is developing the AI itself. The key to avoiding replication bias is to make sure a diverse team develops the technology in the first place. It is also important not only to use the correct data, but also to clean it of bias; otherwise, you risk ameliorating and replicating human biases.
What needs to be done is de-bias the hiring process, with data-driven recruiting tools in place to help companies find the right people. They use short, fun neuroscientific games to collect unbiased data on both the current team and candidates to base their hiring decisions on.
Human and machine: where is it headed?
AI is here to enhance human resources, not replace them. Using the right data can significantly reduce time and cost per hire and produce a better employer-employee match. But because HR is a people-centric business, the future contains a mix of AI and people.
About the feminine factor
The rapid progress that the integration of women has had at all hierarchical levels in organizations, although there is still much to be done in terms of women in senior management positions, it cannot be denied that a lot of work has been done to reduce the gap between male and female leadership. From associations in defense of women’s rights, especially from institutions such as the United Nations or the European Commission of the EU itself, it is intended that the next generation of women leaders obtain a seat at the table of the boards of directors and administration councils where decisions are made. There is already a first Europe employment platform for inclusive companies that supports employers to attract and retain female talent.