A recap on 2020 and a look ahead to 2021 (including the top recruitment trends)

What a year! 2020 has been an interesting one for sure, but it wasn’t all bad.

At Profile Resourcing, we’ve had a busy year full of positives, and the future looks bright for the recruitment sector too. In our last blog of the year, we’re recapping the highs of 2020 and looking ahead to the recruitment trends of 2021.

A look back on the highs of 2020

Despite local lockdowns and a touch of furlough, there were many things to celebrate in the Profile Resourcing camp this year.

Welcoming Rachel Brockway

At the start of the year, we warmly welcomed Rachel Brockway to Profile Resourcing as a recruitment specialist.

Having spent five years working at MK Dons Football Club, Rachel brought a wealth of relationship and client management experience. And she is a delightful addition to the team, favoured by many of our clients and candidates.

Welcoming Jason Sinclair

In the sunnier month of June, we also welcomed Jason Sinclair, FCMI, as our new relationship director. Jason brings 30 combined years of business engagement, relationship management and recruitment management expertise to the team, as well as his bubbly personality.

And he’s already made an enormous difference. Jason is the lead of our diversity and inclusion drive, making Profile Resourcing the diverse recruiter of choice in Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas. If you haven’t spoken with Jason yet, join him over on LinkedIn.

Supporting the bus shelter

This time last year you might remember us donating a new washer-dryer to the Bus Shelter MK. Well, in 2020, we formalised our partnership with the local rough sleeping charity, and now provide career advice and support to Bus Shelter MK guests looking to get back into work and earning a living.

Voyaging to infinity

After an extensive search, we implemented a new recruitment system to improve the service we provide to clients and candidates. Voyager Infinity is a smart recruitment software system that powers us to recruit smarter and faster while improving the candidate and client experience.

Back to full force

In September, we were pleased to be back to full strength, helping companies across Milton Keynes and the rest of Buckinghamshire kick-start their recruitment campaigns and navigate the challenges that recruiting during a pandemic brought.

Planting trees

Becoming ever more conscious about our carbon footprint, we were delighted to partner with MK start-up MoreTrees and start planting trees to offset our emissions. Not only that, but every tree we plant helps alleviate extreme poverty and reverse the effects of deforestation too.

Sleeping out (or not)

Lockdowns were hard for all, but imagine having no home, no bed, no food and nowhere you felt safe to go. This thought prompted Andy Setterfield to sign up to the CEO Sleepout MK, raising money for charities and causes tackling poverty and homelessness in the UK.

Unfortunately, the sleepout was delayed from November to April 2021 – but, that gives you plenty more time to show you support.

A look ahead to the recruitment trends of 2021

But enough about us – what’s in store for your business in 2021?

After an explosive 12 months, recruitment will almost definitely be different next year, but how?

1. Challenging end of interview questions

Candidates are likely to arrive at interviews armed with some tough questions for employers, with the treatment of staff during the global pandemic being a hot topic of conversation.

Expect to answer whether you made redundancies, how you handled furlough, how you kept in touch with employees, whether you implemented remote working and how COVID-19 affected business performance. And your answers will matter. A recent survey found that 93% of people would rather work for a less successful company that supported employees, over a more successful one that didn’t.

2. A bigger focus on equality

Diversity is finally being given the attention it deserves, with enormous implications for the recruitment process.

With companies around the world pledging their support to Black Lives Matter in 2020, candidates will be eagerly looking to see how these words translate into actions in 2021. Expect your advertisements, interview questions, policies, board composition, and company culture to be heavily scrutinised by candidates looking for companies that genuinely foster equality and diversion.

Relevant reading: BAME, recruitment and job adverts – are you doing enough?

3. Wider geographical diversity

With the largest working from home experiment successfully completed this year, more businesses are adopting flexible working practices that allow employees to work all the time or part of the time remotely.

This will positively widen talent pools, with remote jobs resulting in 20% more geographical diversity among applicants. However, this comes with considerations for how you handle an increased volume of applications and what your company culture and compensation will look like with a distributed workforce.

Struggling to handle an increase in applications? Read our guide to recruiting during a pandemic.

4. More consideration about employer brand

Instead of showcasing your perks, salaries and fancy office space, showing empathy and action might attract more candidate attention next year.

The toughness of 2020 will see a candidate’s impression of a company heavily influenced by positive actions such as nonprofit partnerships, employee assistance programs and acts of kindness – spelling a different path for employer branding exercises.

5. Different employee motivators

Employee motivators have also changed, leading many employers to change their benefits packages too.

More than half of employers are adding EAP, paid time off, wellness benefits, mental health support, and critical illness insurance to their benefits programs, as employees become more health-focused than money motivated.

It’ll be an interesting year for sure, but, if this year has shown us anything, it’s that we can work together to overcome anything that 2021 throws at us.

A final word from us

Finally, thank you for all of your support throughout 2020. We wish you a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year. And, if you’d like to discuss anything in this blog or how we can support your 2021 recruitment strategy, get in touch.

 


About Profile Resourcing

Profile Resourcing is a recruitment consultancy based in Milton Keynes and helping businesses across Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.

We’re focused on delivering affordable recruitment solutions and executive search support while maintaining an outstanding service at an affordable price.

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