Recruiting teams are not immune from the Great Resignation—and in fact, there were over 16,000 new recruiter positions posted on LinkedIn in one day. Coincidentally, 1 in 3 recruiters is looking for a new job. 
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With these new pressures and challenges, talent acquisition and retention are both top priorities for companies. At the recent From Day One conference in Houston, corporate leaders came together to talk about how employers can build stronger connections with their employees and communities—not only to retain top talent, but to recruit the next generation of leaders.

Looking ahead to the next generation of leaders

The speaker lineup at From Day One was impactful—leaders across a wide range of industries came together to discuss how companies can develop diversity in leadership, encourage the next generation of leaders, offer career paths, and balance productivity with well-being. 

This people-first approach was a theme throughout the day, and if the packed seats were any indication, attendees were eager to hear how their organizations can ensure they embody authenticity, diversity, inclusion, and forward-thinking technology—essential components to attract and retain key talent.

April King from DDI hosted two information-packed sessions on what next generation leaders want and 3 key leadership trends for 2022. In their Global Leadership Forecast, DDI surveyed over 2,000 human resource professionals and 15,000 leaders globally to identify best talent practices and trends to guide the future of leadership. 

A few findings stood out significantly:

• Burnout poses a major retention risk—26% of those surveyed plan to leave within the next year, and 44% expect to change companies to advance
• Internally hired leaders are successful 65% of the time, compared to 52% of external hires
• 86% of high potentials are at risk of burnout
  

To read more insights from DDI on growing the next generation of leaders, take a look at their resources from the conference.

In moderated discussions throughout the day, panelists dove into critical topics affecting today’s workforce, like how high-performing workplaces can show compassion, how to manage a healthy workplace in a hybrid environment, and how companies can develop an inclusive culture.

Recruiters as a critical piece of the talent retention puzzle

After a full day of in-depth sessions and conversations, HiredScore’s CRO Jason Scheckner took the stage to present his thoughts on how companies can help retain recruiting talent in this unprecedented era of tumultuous labor forces. 

With over 190 million hiring decisions made with our solutions, we have deep insights into the current trends across talent and HR teams across every industry, and we’ve identified some key challenges facing talent acquisition teams, such as: 

• Hiring backlogs due to pandemic market shifts
• Recruiters near burnout and operating at maximum capacity 
• Increased pressure to meet constantly changing compliance and privacy laws and regulations
  

In a world still in the middle of a pandemic, talent is harder to find and retain—meaning companies are forced to rethink their strategies and invest in new technology to solve business challenges.

Recruiters are the most valuable asset in talent acquisition today, and between what we see from our customers and what the market is telling us, we know that recruiters are at a painful tipping point. 

Jason pointed to a recent study from Aptitude Research, where we learned some of the main reasons recruiters are feeling burned out and leaving their roles:

• 58% of recruiters do not believe that leadership understands their role in the organization 
• 42% don’t have the resources they need to be successful
• 1 in 3 are looking for new jobs
  

We think all of the research presented leads to one very clear point: recruiters need the right tools to do their jobs efficiently and effectively, and adding more steps for them isn’t always helpful.

How automation can help retain top recruitment talent

We talk to experienced TA leaders every day who are collectively trying to solve current challenges. They evaluate many tools under the umbrella of helping recruiters become more efficient.

We hear first-hand from recruiters that they need to find the right candidates and get them in front of the hiring manager as fast as possible. They’re navigating a changing landscape while simultaneously optimizing the candidate experience and meeting time-to-fill metrics.

In Jason’s session, he pointed out three things (from the report mentioned above) that we know recruiters are looking for:

• Technology: Automation to help recruiters reduce administrative burden, communicate with candidates, and make progress toward goals
• Time: More time to engage with candidates
• Simplicity: Solutions that fit existing workflows and provide a simple experience
  

So how can TA leaders start taking steps to provide these for their teams? In Jason’s slide below, he details actionable ways to meet recruiters’ needs:

In the study, we found that while 78% of TA and HR leadership are satisfied with their recruitment technology, only 48% of recruiters are. To close this gap, it’s important for leaders to understand why recruiters aren’t using certain solutions and consider what technology will drive the value recruiters are looking for. 

Resources to help power your retention strategy and corporate goals

The From Day One conference truly curated an impressive lineup of speakers with different backgrounds, industries, and experiences but similar visions of how to achieve success, wellness, and happiness in the workplace. All panelists and speakers were not only insightful, but they were dedicated to creating inclusive and authentic corporate cultures. 

The message we heard is pretty simple: in our current climate, companies are being forced to re-evaluate their strategies across the board. We think everything starts with and comes down to the recruiter. To unlock higher retention, start with your talent teams—investing in their success will be crucial to meeting corporate goals across the board in the coming months and years. 

If you’d like to download Jason’s slides from the event, contact marketing@hiredscore.com. Or, if you’d like to read the Aptitude Research he mentioned, you can grab your copy here: Talent Acquisition Tech and the Modern Recruiter.