Happy New Year from everyone at Talroo!

At the start of a new year, we tend to reflect on our previous year and look forward to the coming year. As I sat down myself to reflect and set goals, I asked myself, what we should expect to see in recruiting and talent acquisition in the coming year?

With some thought, I came up with three predictions I have for 2019, and am sharing tips and resources that will help you leverage these predictions.

Prediction: More Benefits & Higher Salaries for Hourly Workers.

Earlier this year, Amazon lead the charge by increasing their minimum hourly wage to $15. This year, we will see more companies raising wages and/or offering more benefits. With the unemployment rate at a 50-year low and an economy that continues to grow and expand, employers are in competition with each other to attract (and keep) the right talent.

Money talks. And with what we know about the Millennial and Gen Z workforce is that they greatly value financial independence, meaningful work, and healthy work-life balance.

Leverage this: Start by providing your employees with above-average compensation. For hourly positions, overtime compensation should be generous. You’ll also want to entice employees and candidates with perks that allow them a more satisfactory work-life balance, like flexible schedules, on-site gyms, work-from-home opportunities, catered snacks and meals, company-sponsored healthcare plans, and more.

Also, give your junior employees more visibility on projects, allowing them the opportunity to see their contribution to the company. Provide them access to mentors within the company, and have managers routinely discuss career goals with their supervisees. Employees are more likely to be satisfied if they can see their contribution and know what their next forward movement within the company will be.

Check out these articles and blog posts to learn more about your ideal candidate and what those candidates are looking for on their next roles or company.

How to Compete for the Next Generation Workforce – Talroo Blog

The Complete Seasonal Hiring Playbook – Talroo eBook (You don’t have to be hiring for seasonal positions for this resource to be worth it. Head to page 11 to learn about your ideal candidate, and then flip to page 21 to learn what these candidates want from an employer)

Prediction: Acceleration of the Fusion of Talent Acquisition & Marketing.

How do you serve customers well if you don’t have the staff? If you don’t have the amount of staff or quality of staff you need, customer service will suffer, and your customer retention will suffer as well, impacting your lifetime customer value.

At this point, marketing teams will invest to acquire new customers, but with the shrinking lifetime values, that means less money for marketing. This is a cycle that will continue to be a challenge. If you can’t staff your business efficiently, the economic health of your business is negatively impacted. Recruitment marketing is ultimately more valuable than consumer marketing.

Leverage this: You need to hire the right staff, get your customer service up, and watch your lifetime customer value soar. Easier said than done, I know. You need to get your job in front of as many people as possible. Post your jobs on the big job boards, but also utilize technology like Talroo to get your job in front of unique audiences.

Also, when creating your job posting, utilize the data that exists about what a successful job posting looks like. Take advantage of the research that has already been done on how to increase your clicks and applies.

Check out these articles and blog posts to make this happen.

Think Like a Marketer to Attract Better Candidates – Talroo Blog

Top 5 Things You Need to Know to Run a Successful Hiring Campaign – Talroo Blog

Prediction: Lack of available workers means more robots in the workforce.

Have you seen this Boston Dynamics video? While these robots are expensive, if you can’t find the workers you need today and you can show a return on investment, why wouldn’t you use your tax break and invest?

In 2019, I see robots becoming more prevalent in retail, shipping and logistics, warehousing, and many other industries. They will automate tasks that do not add to the customer experience, allowing your human employees to spend more of their time on the things that matter, like your customers!

And for companies that aren’t ready to bring in fully automated robots, there are options like exoskeletons that leverage your human employees, allowing them to lift more weight or complete repetitive tasks for longer periods of time.

Leverage this: Your industry will dictate what robotic technology is right for you. To start, do some research to see if your competitors are using robotic technology, and if they are, what that tech is and how they are using it. You’ll also want to make a list of tasks that you believe could be automated at your company, and then research available technology that can accomplish those tasks.

Check out these articles and blog posts to make this happen.

Flippy Robot Now Cooking Up Burgers – USA Today

As Amazon Pushes Forward With Robots, Workers Find New Roles – New York Times Article

We Tried the Exoskeleton Ford Factory Workers are Using – Video by Quartz

Battery-powered, Full-body Exoskeleton Lets Users Lift 200 Pounds – NewAtlas Blog