The entire hiring sector has been a rollercoaster ride for the last two years. A National Bureau of Economic Research report published, “Most global enterprises have reduced posts for high-skill posts more than for low-skill ones, with micro firms essentially ceasing new hiring totally.” 

Similarly, “over 70% of the firms worldwide embraced Work-From-Home for their existing employees.” says a combined report from Owl Labs and Global Workspace Analytics.

Now that companies worldwide have started to increase their hiring after the pandemic, here are the 5 emerging trends you need to know when hiring sales professionals. 

Change In Evaluation Criteria

In most cases, candidates are hired by appraising their past performance. Even though their track record holds some relevance, their understanding of the market situation and the shifting trends also matter. 

Now, they are valued based on situational interviews or case studies that assess how well candidates can manage a given scenario. Some examples include planning sales strategies 90-180 days in advance or identifying a change in customer requirements. 

Candidate-Driven Market

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of high-value candidates, as well as existing employees rethought their career plans. As a result, they developed in-demand industry skills to seek new opportunities. 

Now, rather than accepting what companies offer, candidates have the upper hand and have high expectations from their recruiters. Leading research and consulting firm Gartner, Inc says there’s a high chance of a 20% increase in employee turnoverin the coming years. Considering this fact, employers could lose out on highly talented people if they choose not to compensate them fairly.

Remote Working

In a candidate-driven market, imposing unwanted requirements on employees and new hires will prove detrimental to the company. GitLab survey stats reinforce this point by stating, “1 in 3 respondents would resign if their WFH was invoked abruptly.” 

As remote working has become the new standard, repealing access to WFH will raise the risk of losing valuable team members or candidates. 

Demand For Professional Hiring Consultants

Companies rely on recruitment consultants to obtain high-value candidates, with immense access to industry knowledge and candidate databases. Lack of external knowledge has led companies to spend vast amounts of unnecessary money on talent hunting. 

Trying to find eligible talent without a consultant is similar to searching for a needle in a haystack. 

Data Analytics-Based Hiring

Firms have now adapted to employing data to make their hiring easier. The help of accurate data and real-time analytics, such as “pipeline metrics,” “cost or time-per-hire,” “candidate experience scores,” etc., will allow you to reduce costs while finding a suitable candidate. 

Concluding Thoughts

To wind up, acquiring and retaining exceptionally skilled candidates requires proper managerial strategy and trend awareness. Sales professionals are willing to work for you as long as you satisfy their expectations and value them as individuals and not as resources alone. 

In times of high talent demand, connecting with the right consultants can make your hiring journey plain sailing. Leave an email for expert consulting on building a formidable team of Sales Professionals for your IT business.