Hays : Future-proof tech talent strategy to boost business performance

A world-class, future-proof recruitment strategy is the key to improving the performance of technology companies, finds recruitment specialist Hays. In a recent poll, 45 per cent of nearly 500 respondents agreed that it improves overall productivity, alongside customer experience (26 per cent), product quality (19 per cent), and financial performance (10 per cent).

Having an intentional recruitment strategy is especially critical now in the aftermath of the pandemic, which accelerated the digital transformation of many businesses over the last two years. The increased reliance on technology has resulted in a surge in demand for IT specialists while simultaneously supporting a boom in the technology sector. Some of these roles include cloud architects and engineers, cybersecurity professionals, data and machine learning experts, developers, UI/UX specialists, as well as change management specialists.

As reported in the 2021 Asia Salary Guide, there is to be significant focus on the emerging technology space in Malaysia, with pronounced emphasis on design areas like user experience and user interface, creating a necessity for candidates in relevant product manager and digital transformation roles. With more companies moving onto the cloud, there will also be a rising need for cybersecurity and DevOps professionals.

Short supply of tech candidates drives urgency to rethink talent management

Job seekers are increasingly prioritising work-life balance, a healthy corporate culture, and clear career development paths as we transition to a 'new normal' of remote or hybrid working. As such, it is crucial for leaders to look at how they can better future proof the business, both from a people and process perspective. With a short supply of qualified candidates available to fill ever-increasing vacancies within the tech sector, employers should pay more attention to rethinking talent management, which includes cultivating a balanced corporate culture, defining pathways for personal and professional development, as well as development a long-term recruitment strategy.

Dr Maggi Evans, Chartered Occupational Psychologist, Consultant and Coach at Mosaic Consulting explains in a Hays guest blog, "We need to be keeping an eye on the future. We need to be exploring the possible scenarios we will be faced with and taking action now to ensure that we are well positioned to attract, motivate, develop and retain the talent we need in the future, in an agile and responsive way."

There are four emerging themes of talent management, she notes. First, location of work, in which the increasing adoption of hybrid working models means rethinking how companies can balance potential financial gains from lower facilities cost with safeguarding productivity, engagement, and performance. Second, flexibility should be built into workforce planning to ensure businesses have access to the talent needed for both the short and long term.

The third emerging theme, personalisation, involves understanding the different circumstances each team member is in and finding ways of supporting them to thrive in the workplace. Finally, building and reinforcing workplace belonging and culture is key to differentiating from other employers and creating a clear employee proposition in a new era of work.

Evolve hiring processes with automation and AI tools to enhance candidate experience

As competition for tech talent heats up, employers must rethink hiring processes and be prepared to evolve them quickly to attract candidates and enhance their experience with the business. Jacky Carter, Customer Experience Director at Hays recommends building these processes with automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

"What automation and AI does is enable processes to be completed at a scale that is simply unachievable by humans. The need to do this is about to be ramped up significantly given the environment we face and the levels of unemployment that are predicted - the likes of which most of us will have never seen, meaning the rate of applications and candidates seeking roles will increase tenfold," she says.

Aside from solving challenges of scale, the automation and AI approach also enables organisations to take a more candidate-centric approach. By including automation and AI tools in the hiring process, businesses can better collect data on when, how, and why candidates interact with businesses, map out the journey of each candidate group to understand how touchpoints and interactions fit together, and continually test, evaluate, and optimise the process. This would help ensure fairer candidate screening, better candidate fit, and safeguard future talent pipelines.

In a digital age where information is readily available, candidates increasingly prefer one-to-one, personalised communication. Aside from having a calendar of regular and relevant content that provides specialist insight and advice to build familiarity and trust with candidates, businesses can also use sophisticated data analytics tools to track and measure how candidates interact with this content for richer candidate insight. It is then easier to gauge and provide candidates with suitable and appealing opportunities.

However, employers should be careful not to rely solely on automation and AI and ensure the use of these technologies is guided by parameters that are defined by people. Managing Director of Hays Malaysia, Tom Osborne explains, "Leveraging AI and digital tools certainly help to optimise processes and help businesses hire right. However, we mustn't forget about the importance of human nuances in hiring, such as setting the hiring criteria, building relationships, and matching the right opportunities are provided to the right candidates."

Partner with tech-enabled recruitment specialists to boost performance

To scale up tech recruitment and strengthen company performance in a candidate-short environment, businesses should start building strong in-house capability by evolving their hiring processes as explained above. Otherwise, consider working with recruitment specialists with technology-enabled capabilities like Hays to deliver a personalised experience at scale.

For example, Hays' Find & Engage strategy combines recruitment best practices and candidate relationships that Hays consultants have developed over many years with today's emerging technologies and data science techniques. Not only does this ensure that the most qualified candidates are found for every role, regardless of whether they are actively looking for an opportunity, it also helps guide the decisions of which of these candidates to call, and what to say.

This strategy was first tested with IT contractors registered on Hays' databases worldwide. Using a chatbot to lead an automated outreach programme resulted in in 41 per cent of recipients responding with useful information, which enabled consultants and hiring managers to narrow down the talent pool to only engaged candidates. Using automation technology, Hays also streamlined repetitive front and back-office processes such as gathering and processing compliance data.

"Whether you choose to recruit in-house or use external agencies, the focus should be on cultivating long-term, meaningful relationships. And when your recruitment strategy is enabled by technology, you'll easily find and engage the best talent out there in a scalable way," says Tom. Targeting, interacting with, and eventually hiring the best candidates who are engaged from the start goes a long way in improving business productivity and performance overall.

Download our 2021 Hays Asia Salary Guide here.

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About Hays Malaysia

Agensi Pekerjaan Hays (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd ("Hays Malaysia")is one of the leading specialist recruitment companies in Malaysia in recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people across a wide range of industries and professions. We provide mid to senior level recruitment services across both finance and commerce industries. We have become known as the experts in sourcing regional and global candidates, as well as returning Malaysians.

Hays has been in Malaysia since 2012 and boasts a track record of success and growth, with two operating offices located in KLCC and Sunway. At Hays in Malaysia, we operate across the private and public sector, dealing in permanent positions in the following specialisms: Accountancy & Finance, Banking & Financial Services, Construction, Digital Technology, Engineering, Finance Technology, Human Resources, Information Technology, Insurance, Legal, Life Sciences, Manufacturing & Operations, Marketing & Digital, Procurement, Supply Chain and Sales.

About Hays

Hays plc (the "Group")is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2019 the Group employed 11,600 staff operating from 266 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2019:

• the Group reported net fees of £1,129.7 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £248.8 million;
• the Group placed around 81,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 254,000 people into temporary assignments;
• 18% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 27% in Germany, 23% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 32% in Rest of World (RoW);
• the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;
• Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA