Posted October 23 2020
By Nicholas Nassi
The ongoing global pandemic has been a steep learning curve for HR professionals across every industry. They have had to – very quickly – learn about furlough, restructure and outplacement, as well as dealing with operational health and safety concerns and the mental health and wellbeing of employees under pressure.
There have been business contingency plans to execute, company wide catch ups to organise and difficult conversations to be had. Many of my candidates have expressed that this has been the busiest time in their HR careers to date – no matter what stage of their career they are at.
So, throughout all of this, recruitment and the hiring process (a function that often falls to HR) has been put on the backburner. After all, everything was shut down – no one was making plans to grow their teams.
Now that some normality has crept back in – although it’s far from business as usual – and companies have had time to assess what they need their business to look like, there are small pockets of recruitment springing up.
But do HR professionals really have the time to spare for lengthy recruitment processes on top of everything else they are having to juggle right now? The answer is – probably not.
That is why I have been working with my clients to recommend that they entertain the idea of video interviews. Not only is this a socially distant way of achieving face time with potential employees, it has many other benefits, too.
On average, clients who use a video interviewing tool see a 50% reduction in time to hire. It also drastically improves the interview to placement ratio by 60% by ensuring that the client interviews only suitable candidates for the role.
This is because you can get to know your shortlist of candidates much better
before you even consider bringing them to interview as they showcase their personality, interest and skills set on a recorded video clip. This time saving element of the shortlist-to-interview stage is invaluable for busy and stretched HR teams.
You can also learn a lot more about your candidate than you ever would from their CV alone. You can read their body language and gauge whether or not you think they would be a personality fit (as important as technical ability) for your business. Do they communicate well verbally? Do they make good eye contact? Are they answering questions fully and giving good examples? Do they seem personable? All of these factors are important – particularly when you are likely to have to onboard someone remotely and help them integrate into a team whilst everyone continues to work from home.
Video interviews can feel less formal than in-person or face-to-face interviews and so, in that respect, you are hoping to see a candidate at their most relaxed and natural.
As a decision maker, you can access their videos from any device and re-watch (at any time) what they have recorded in order to help make up your mind. This also eases the scheduling burden of first-round interviews. More than that, a 90 second video clip is much shorter indent in your diary than a phone interview, for example. Video interviews also allow you to assess a candidate’s grasp of technology.
With offices being encouraged to stay at home for the time being, video interviewing is here to stay. HRC Recruitment are now working in partnership with
Hinterview to deliver the best video experience for our candidates and your business.
To find out more about how it could impact your hiring strategy,
click here to drop me an email and get in touch.