Changes in IT systems, strategies, and organizational structures have had a major impact on the way businesses operate and how well they perform. Through them all, however, it’s still the performance of individual IT employees that remains the key deciding factor in an organization’s success – or failure. As the landscape shifts, the task of finding and retaining high qualified candidates remains an IT staffing challenge. Here, we take a look at three of today’s biggest changes in IT staffing trends and how they might affect your organization.
IT Staffing Trends 2016
For its Global Staffing Trends 2016 report, LinkedIn surveyed over 1,500 staffing and recruitment firm decision makers who focus on sourcing, managing recruitment teams, or managing client relationships. A comparison was then made to staffing trends dating back to 2011, with the results indicating what those surveyed believed would be the most essential and long-lasting recruiting trends this year, including how they relate to IT staffing. Looking ahead, recruiters highlighted these three trends as those they considered the most essential and long-lasting:
- Social professional networks
- Sourcing passive talent
- Building talent communities
Note that all three of these trends place an emphasis on building powerful relationships.
Social Networks
Social recruiting continues to gain momentum within the IT staffing industry, and is expected to become an even more vital tool as time goes on. Utilization of social networks has increased by nearly 75% over the past four years, making them the fastest-growing source of quality hires. Professional networks like LinkedIn primarily serve to connect job seekers with employers, recruiters, and staffing agencies. Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are more casual, but play just as essential a role. IT staffing and recruiting professionals will be well-served by continuing to take advantage of all of these online platforms while searching for great talent.
Sourcing Passive Talent
Today’s employers are looking to recruit the best-qualified candidates and are not solely focused on those candidates who apply for a job. Passive candidates are highly desirable, as they are already performing well in their current positions. It’s a double-edged sword, as that is precisely what makes them so difficult to recruit. But candidates who aren’t even looking for new employment can be enticed to join your organization if you are able to sell your company’s culture and value to them.
Building Talent Communities
Recruiters have been building talent communities for years, but the dynamics have changed. There’s great appeal to having a pipeline of potential future hires available when the need arises, since multiple studies have shown it can take over a month to fill an open position. To build an effective talent community be sure to:
- Make communication a two-way street
- Develop an inclusive, not exclusive community
- Encourage referrals
Understanding where the industry is headed will help you source and recruit great IT talent. Make building relationships your top recruiting priority and you’ll find you’re best positioned to take on the upcoming challenges – and opportunities – that lie ahead.