COVID-19 challenges on recruitment in Ghana
BUSINESSES in the country have been impacted by the pandemic in an unprecedented way. While some of the businesses have closed their doors or sent workers home, some restaurants and “chop bars” for example are only providing delivery services.
The current crises is also forcing almost every business to immediately develop, adapt or improve remote work policies and procedures. The pandemic is affecting how recruitment is processed and organised, resulting in the cancellation of interviews due to social distancing protocols, lack of remote working on onboarding processes and uncertainty about the future.
It is important to note that, how companies respond to this unprecedented pandemic will define their relationship with future employment of staff and customers.
Human resource managers are coming into terms with current changes that will be more permanent and guide employees and organisational leaders through these changes, as well as keeping them safe and informed.
Recruiters working in sectors such as healthcare, logistics pharmaceuticals, delivery, cleaning, etc. are seeing an increasing demand for their services and are likely to make serious and rapid changes to the way they work to help support the fight against the virus.
Some recruitment challenges caused by the pandemic include:
Layoffs instead of hiring
Given the speed and depth of the current crises that began in late 2019, many companies experienced drop in sales and revenue. Employment downsizing has become a fact of working life as companies struggle to cut costs and adapt to changing market demands.
Businesses quite recently, instead of hiring new employees, are forced to lay off their existing employees due to the pandemic.
It is also important to note that certain industries have been hardly affected and this includes the travel and tourism, hotels, bars and restaurants, entertainment (cinemas, casinos), trade shows and business conferences, and manufacturers, especially those who buy parts from China and other places.
Job Interviews Cannot Be Handled Face-to-Face
In general, a good interview process is designed to gather relevant evidence needed to determine which candidates have the skills necessary for the role.
Most businesses in Ghana are arranging for their employees to work remotely to prevent unnecessary travel and face-to-face interaction. Recruiters and hiring managers should use this moment of shifting to remote engagement as a chance to take a good look at their current interview process.
They also need to consider some extra questions if their new employee is going to be working as part of a remote team.
Digitised recruitment process
The process of digital recruitment can be defined as a way of leveraging technology to the source, access, attract, select and recruit candidates for open positions. This is an upgrade to the known conventional hiring process. It includes everything such as career websites, leveraging job boards, recruiting through mobile and online assessments.
Hiring managers can adopt a mix of numerous digital recruiting techniques such as LinkedIn and hiring software to quickly seek out ideal candidates. This means it is very convenient for prospective employees to get hired.
The present world is technology-driven, hence companies need to adopt advanced solutions that can help them conduct more efficient and lucrative recruiting. Some of the digital recruitment strategies include: Mobile-friendly career websites, adopt digital tactics in every step of recruitment, utilise the power of social media, employ customised digital strategies, etc.
Onboarding new employees must happen remotely
We are living in extraordinary times, but we still have to onboard new employees to start working. It is not so simple to provide a great onboarding experience without meeting face-to-face or giving a tour at the office.
Organisations should start learning on how to prepare for the remote work since it has become the norm. Recruiters need to remember that remote onboarding requires new skills, capabilities and processes. The pandemic requires everyone to operate at peak efficiency to address ever-changing challenges.
High volume hiring
Recruiters are faced with the challenge of matching candidates coming out of shrinking industries with opportunities in the growing ones.
Technology companies that provide remote meeting software and other online working and learning solutions and cleaning staff are also experiencing unprecedented demand.
The writer is a lecturer at the University of Professional Studies Accra
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