Present economic condition notwithstanding, India Inc has been on a hiring spree this year. According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, employers expect positive hiring activity in all seven industry sectors and all four regions even during the third quarter of 2013. The news should make anyone happy.
But not the HR team… That’s because for them it’s still like looking for a needle in the haystack. According to a report by Aspiring Minds, an employability solutions company, around 47 percent graduates in India are unemployable for any job. This means that out of nearly 50 lakh graduates every year in India, not even half are equipped with suitable employability skills. Like I said, HR is not happy a lot these days.
Going beyond referrals and cover letters, companies have begun to lay more stress on the quality of hire. Infact some organizations have transformed the way they hire people. For a change I am not talking about the program but the process. Hiring still means you go through a hundred resumes to find the perfect ten who ‘could’ be the right candidates. The difference is that instead of calling them for an interview straightaway, you do an ‘online check’ on them through networking sites. You can know more about your potential hires online than through a face-to-face interview. According to the LinkedIn Recruiting Trends’ survey 2013, since 2011, there has been a 20 per cent increase in recruiters considering social and professional networks as a key source to find quality talent; at 41 percent in 2013 compared to 21 per cent in 2011.
Employee referrals have also gained traction in the last few years. Infact, one of India’s leading portal, Shine.com integrates Facebook with recruitment, effectively allowing users to leverage their network on Facebook for either applying for a job, being referred to a job, referring a friend for a job. Employers can create a vacancy page on Facebook and access detailed Facebook information of all those who apply for such jobs.
Many companies have decided to spend on the employees’ training and development so that they can be groomed for the next level, thus eliminating the need for a new hire without risking the quality of work.
Assessment tools like problem solving methods, aptitude and personality tests have also become mandatory before interviews. These tools are supposed to give a better understanding on the employability of the employee.
Interviews are time-consuming and sometimes not enough time is spent with a potential employee to take a decision. Some IT companies in India have devised a solution for this too. They request candidates to send in their video in response to a given set of queries. This often results in quick decisions.
Resumes, cover letters, referrals are not enough at times. Even online background check is incomplete if there is no online presence of the candidate. Simply put, any candidate who fulfills the organizational standard that describes satisfactory job performance is best suited for the job.
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