Can Companies Afford Putting the Recruiting on Hold Due to Covid-19?

Immediately I want to state – try not to read this blog with the perspective that "the Jobilla guys have their skin in the game".  Well, of course, we do, but in many ways, there is quite a bit of truth to the reality described in this blog.


What can we learn (again) from Nokia's plunge into the mobile phone business?

I was once having a conversation with a person, who had been involved with large-scale recruitment projects for Nokia in 2008.  When the Nokia mobile operation plunged, naturally there were going to be redundancies planned and executed.  Thereafter the next step was taken, and all recruitment marketing and talent sourcing activities were halted.  Soon a message was sent to all prospective candidates:  "At the moment we have no positions available, thank you for your application!"

Fast forward 3 months, when the recruitment engines were starting up again, the feeling was more of an old unused diesel machine than a well-oiled top performer.  Needless to say, the process required much effort, money, and time to rein back in candidates, open up the doors again for conversations, and onboard the right people. 

Years later the company revisited this experience and understood clearly just how big of a task they had to revive their recruitment process and they never did repeat that mistake again.


Recruitment in the Candidate Driven Market Requires a Lot of Effort, Money, and Time Even Without Factoring in a Crisis

If one becomes aware that the situation is temporary like the seasons of a year, and that recruitment will continue in the future, it is critical to maintaining marketing activities, manage applications and engage with candidates.

Recruitment marketing has evolved to becoming candidate-orientated, which makes the process challenging even without the condition of a crisis.  If one wants to be effective, recruitment marketing needs to be an ongoing process, which includes recurring candidate engagement. 

Studies on the statistics on Jobilla's clients have indicated the most challenging positions require 4 to 6 weeks of time from the start to a signed employment agreement.  The advantage lies with those, who already have candidates in the pipeline and already have called their candidates for an initial screening.  When the process kick starts from zero the costs are enormous in both time, money, and human capital.


Companies with a Vision and Proactive Attitude Turn into Winners

The significance and the quality of communication in the recruiting world have been one of the key factors for recruitment in 2020. Another important topic is the fluidity and effortlessness of the recruiting process. If it's too comprehensive and overwhelming, many candidates are missed out on the process.

In other words, now is the best time to become acquainted with prospective candidates in your areas of expertise, to communicate with them, and fix your recruiting process so you are armed and ready when the clouds clear. And as a bonus, it’s important to understand that your competition is likely not doing anything at all in this space.

At this moment, it serves us well to remember Tony Robbins' wording on long term thinking and its theoretical and practical essences, to be able to look beyond life after a crisis:

“People overestimate what they can do in the short run and underestimate what they can do in the long run.”