It is 16 years since executives at McKinsey & Company coined the term “the war for talent” and since then, the name has stuck and continues to describe a phenomenon which has resonated with HR departments and recruitment consultancies up and down the land ever since. But while this 'war' is set to continue for the foreseeable future, both employers and recruiters need to change their game plan if they are to stand any chance of securing the services of those workers who can help steer the ship to safer shores.

Attracting the best talent has always been important, and now it is critical. To ensure that organisations remain competitive and position their organisations from one in which they can grow, companies need to revolutionise their approach to talent acquisition. Yet most are still languishing in the starting blocks. However, opportunities are abound for employers and recruiters.

With more than 1 in 3 employers filling their vacancies using a recruitment consultancy, rapid advances in technology have resulted in highly cost-effective processes to become available. These 'alternatives' have proven to significantly reduce both the cost and time to hire for employers and also, from a recruiter’s point of view, save those all-important man-hours. Employers and recruiters who take the lead in adopting the wealth of new recruitment technologies will steal the march on their competitors.

So what are the recruitment technologies which, whilst still in their infancy, have all the makings of becoming highly effective recruitment tools for employers and recruiters?

Gamification

Built on a desire to increase employee engagement levels and increase employer brand visibility, gamification is tipped to becoming adopted by 70% of the world's biggest 2,000 companies within the next two years, according to a report by Gartner Group. Marriott International developed a hotel-themed online game a la Farmville or The Sims whereby 'players' were challenged to undertake a series of tasks of a hotel manager.

Mobile recruitment

According to Google, 1 in 5 job searches are now made via a mobile phone, with recruitment agencies seeing almost 30% of all website traffic coming from mobile devices. At the same time, almost half (48%) of mobile users stated that they had a poor perception of an employer if a website is not mobile compatible.

Recruitment Technology

In utilising recruitment technology such as multi-posting software and applicant tracking systems, organisations can literally save hours of their day. Suppliers such as LogicMelon provide software which can help recruitment advertising agencies, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) companies as well as Direct Employers. Not only does this technology provide an easy way to advertise your vacancies online, but it can also record the source of every application; resulting in valuable management information whereby organisations are able to calculate return on investment (ROI) and cost per hire. In this sense, creating an understanding of cost per hire and recruitment process can be achieved with minimal effort.

Direct recruitment models

Research from Hyland and Software found that 9 out of 10 (91%) of HR professionals feel that the biggest challenge they face is to be bridge the gap between HR being a transactional function to a strategic partner. The move away from utilising the services of a middle-man, or recruitment agency, in favour of hiring directly has increased apace over the last few years as employers seek better way of improving efficiencies and keeping costs down to support the organisations strategic goals – both in the short and long term.

Which option will you utilise in order to better your recruitment process?