The Inside Scoop—Recruiting Insights from Industry Leaders

The team at MP has decades of experience in the world of HR, recruiting, talent acquisition, and more that can help many of today’s businesses run smoothly with a happy team of the top talent available. In a recent panel discussion, our team took a deep dive on our experiences with clients and the key takeaways you can apply to your organization. Here are the top six insights on recruiting in today’s competitive landscape. 

What challenges do we consistently hear from our clients?

The difficulty in finding qualified candidates. In today’s candidate pool, hiring departments are just inundated with resumes due to the number of people out there looking for work, or even just looking to change positions. Many of our clients post positions and can receive over a hundred applications in a couple of days’ time. 

This results in a significant amount of time and resources devoted to reviewing resumes and prescreening candidates, which could be better allocated elsewhere. 

The length of the hiring process and declined candidate offers. Many of our clients aren’t sure what is causing a candidate to decline an offer, but it’s important to keep in mind that there is currently a tremendous amount of competition out there. There’s a lot of talent. Everyone’s looking for the best, and many recruiters are hunting in the same spots.  

From the initial search efforts to the candidate offer, the timeline can stretch far longer than anticipated, and then, in some extreme cases, it can take even months to fill an open role. Hiring Managers can risk losing top candidates to competitors that seem to move or tend to move a little bit faster, due to having more efficient hiring practices. 

Engagement and retention. These endeavors are challenging for some clients. Attracting talent is one thing, but then, what are you doing to engage them and then retain them? The modern workforce values culture, growth opportunities, and schedules that enable them to be both present and productive at work and at home. For some candidates, these values outweigh compensation. Our clients come to us and they need assistance in telling their story—helping them sell their opportunity.  

The complexities with diversity, equity, and inclusion in recruitment strategies. It’s a growing challenge for some. Most organizations are committed to it, however can face difficulty launching effective and authentic strategies for doing so. It’s more than just filling quotas—it’s about creating an environment where diverse talent is truly valued and integrated. 

What is the largest post-pandemic impact on recruitment?  

In the wake of the pandemic, we’ve witnessed several notable shifts and recruitment practices. This likely won’t come as a surprise, but the most significant impact is the widespread adoption of remote work models. 

Work-from-home accommodations. Many organizations embrace telecommuting options to accommodate health and safety concerns, but more recently to promote employee flexibility. This shift has necessitated adjustments and recruitment strategies to make sure that companies can attract and onboard talent. Many clients are now faced with truly assessing how important it is for a role to be remote, hybrid or on site. 

The emergence of hybrid work arrangements has pushed companies to be more agile, adaptable to evolving preferences, and really work to understand different organizational needs while recruiting for new talent.  

What are the best practices for finding top talent? 

Seeking out both active as well as passive candidates. Through targeted sourcing efforts, including leveraging various channels such as networking events or social media platforms, companies can be best positioned to land top talent. 

96% of the placements MP made last year were through passive hires. These individuals may not be actively seeking new opportunities, but could be open to the right opportunity if presented with one. 

Putting real value behind open positions and offers. By focusing on proactive recruitment practices that prioritize relationship building, candidate engagement and providing value to potential hires, MP can consistently attract top notch candidates for our clients and their organizations. 

What is our best advice for expediting interview processes? 

Communication is essential. We often advise our clients to streamline their interview process by clearly defining roles and responsibilities to all the parties that are involved. Setting realistic timelines and maintaining open lines of communication through the process with both our clients as well as the candidates that we are working with is vital. 

Leveraging technology can significantly expedite the process. There’s a variety of tools that we can use, including video interviewing platforms and applicant tracking systems that can significantly streamline scheduling, facilitate remote interviews and provide valuable insights into the candidate interactions that we have. 

Gathering and analyzing feedback. Addressing any disconnects with clients often involves understanding their specific pain points and challenges by actively listening to their feedback and working collaboratively to identify areas for improvement.  

What are the biggest recruiting hurdles MP faces with our clients? 

Overall communication and providing feedback. Understanding the importance of timely communication is essential within the recruitment process. Obtaining prompt responses as a recruiter or a talent acquisition partner can help provide the best quality candidate for the role. But if our client declines the candidate, it’s vital for MP to understand the “why” behind that, so we can really connect as an extension of your team. 

Prolonged hiring processes. MP can advise on how many interviews to hold and whether they should be virtual or on site, depending on the job. What’s important to remember is that most candidates are not just interviewing with one organization, but they most likely have multiple other interviews lined up. With this, sometimes it simply boils down to who can get the candidate an offer faster. 

What we recommend is having less interview steps, but more time during each interview. So as an example, instead of taking a four-step interview, maybe consider doing two steps. Each of those interviews last longer for a more in-depth conversation with those candidates. 

Are there strategies that can be implemented in the hiring process that aid in employee retention? 

Plan for long-term relationships. Retention starts in the beginning of the recruitment process. During initial conversations or engagement with candidates, make sure to take the time to really understand the candidate and not just be screening for the qualifications of the job. Are they a good fit for that particular position? But are they also a good fit from a culture standpoint? Do you understand the candidate’s motivators and demotivators versus just trying to fill the role with first available? 

Understand what positions your company at the top. MP has intake meetings with hiring managers or HR executives from our clients’ organizations to understand not only the job description and requirements, but also a deep dive on the pros and incentives that make your company different from a competing company.  

You’re not only interviewing the candidate, but they’re also interviewing you. Understanding the reasoning behind a candidate accepting a job will really make it easier to aid in that employee retention later and once they’re a part of your team. 

Ready to recruit? 

MP delivers qualified candidates at a lower cost-per-hire than contingency or contract recruiters. Our systematic, metrics-driven recruitment process produces fast results. Schedule a brief, 15-minute consultation to start filling open positions today! 

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