Engaging managers ‘is biggest recruitment challenge’

Nick Elvin

Recruitment teams find engaging line managers within the hiring process the biggest challenge when attracting talent, according to new research by WCN.

The e-recruitment software firm surveyed HR professionals from some of the UK’s biggest recruiters and found that a fifth (22%) of organisations struggle to identify and engage with scarce talent, battling to employ their line managers within the process.

Furthermore, 16% of HR professionals said they find it a challenge to have the right technology in place and utilise it properly, causing candidates to fall out of the process as it becomes an overbearing challenge to manage their expectations during the process.

The research also highlighted that budget restrictions and managing limited resources, the top issue for HR professionals last year (22%), is now a lesser concern preoccupying 12% of respondents.

Ruth Ferguson, marketing manager at WCN, said: “It’s interesting to see how priorities have shifted from managing limited resources to the lack of engagement by line managers. Recruitment teams are now expected to do so much more – manage candidate expectations, large volumes of CVs and applications, and use of latest technology and social media platforms to engage with new talent, making it clear why many companies are struggling to do it all.

“While HR often contribute to the recruitment process, it is also important that they build up the capability and confidence of line managers in order to ensure that engagement levels can be sustained day in and day out, as this will affect the atmosphere, focus and direction of the business, which in turn affects recruitment and the hiring of new talent.”

The research also found that 44% of HR professionals named social media as the biggest innovation to affect the recruitment process when attracting new talent; followed by deploying automation, bulk processing and online technology enabling candidate screening.