The last two years were indeed the most difficult years for India Inc teaching us a lot about who we are as societies and individuals and how we treat the most vulnerable amongst us. It was a test of our moral strength and what kind of world we want to build in the aftermath of the pandemic. The world changed irrevocably and as a result, transformation became a priority for many organizations. Organizations faced more challenges than ever to make the right talent decisions, support in the digital transformation and improve employee experience. The word “Empathy” found its way back in the managerial dictionary.

In the aftermath of COVID-19, the 'great resignation' has impacted many companies globally that saw a large number of employees quit their current organization for better rewards, recognition, work flexibility and other added benefits. Most economies witnessed a much higher rate of employee resignations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a total of 4 million Americans quit their jobs by July of 2021. How can hiring managers retain people in the face of this tidal wave of resignations? Addressing the root cause of these staggering statistics starts by better understanding people. There must be a data driven approach to improving retention as employees now look at workplaces that provides them with a sense of purpose.

Smarter talent management solutions which are science based and real time are the need of the hour to empower human resource professionals and leaders to make smarter decisions to create a talented workforce. The way talent managers interact and conduct their operations impacts every employee in their day-to-day life. Similarly, the HR policies that ensure that their people grow and thrive help create a loyal and skilled workforce alongside the added power of internal brand advocates. 

Attracting the best talent: According to an extensive study done by SHL, an effective candidate experience, inspired by consumer brands can create transformational business outcomes. 87% of candidates said that a positive interview experience would change their minds over a company or role and are also more than twice likely to recommend an organization. Using people science driven solutions made agile leveraging digital technologies, can help attract talent that deliver the best results and contribute to a significant business growth. 

Improved performance: Businesses need to adopt internal recruitment to fill key roles and critical talent gaps. Internal candidates perform better in their roles as it empowers them, helps them grow and increases their trust in the organization. Focus has to be on mobilizing the existing workforce by identifying HiPos and closely monitoring progress. Virtual assessments provide the most efficient and accurate way of identifying talent from anywhere in the world. Organizations are now looking at reinventing their talent management strategy, the speed of hiring, succession and development decisions has now increased.

Accelerate diversity: Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) has always been a goal for most HR managers. The SHL-Lighthouse report stated that companies that perform the best (revenue, employee retention) were more likely to gather a diverse team of stakeholders to support talent mobility initiatives.

Increased engagement: 88% of employees would stay at a job longer if there were career development opportunities, stated a joint study done by SHL & Lighthouse. Internal recruitment strengthens employee engagement and also shortens the onboarding time. It provides the employees with opportunities and contributes to reducing employee turnover as they stay longer in the company.

Analytics & data driven results: Using evidence-based data and not intuition, to identify talent delivers the best and most unbiased results. Assessments are data driven and based on science and technology that deliver a superior experience and yet maintain a human touch to the process. This also helps in building transparency in the process. More importantly, the data needs to be available real time providing HR and leaders insights to take any people related hiring, re-deployment or succession decision.

2022 will be the third year into the pandemic. In the new normal, hiring managers will be empowered to take critical talent decision basis data and not just subjective information. Talent management processes would now increase accountability on both sides of the process. The organizations of the future will see the HR functions deploying the lessons from consumer marketing into their functions to create powerful brand advocates out of the people and create larger business impact because businesses thrive when people thrive.