The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly altered the talent landscape drastically. Whether it is for good or if these changes are just temporary is yet to be seen. As with all trends, these pandemic-induced trends will also be confirmed or rejected based on employee interest and its impact on bottom lines.

But now is a good time for HR leaders to dive deep and explore what these trends are, examine whether they should be implemented or not, and prepare the workforce to adapt & thrive.

While trends such as remote work and virtual onboarding had already been seeing an increase in adoption even before 2020, the pandemic made them a talent imperative for 2020 and now even well into 2021.

Industry analysts point out that while the above trends do indeed point to the changing employee mindset when it comes to the modern workplace, some other trends in the background are the ones that will redefine the workforce of the future.

So, what are they?

What Are The Talent Trends For 2021 And Beyond?

A Holistic Employee Experience

In the past week, how many emails have you received that started with the lines “In these unprecedented times…” or “We are in this together?”

Clichéd as they may be, their intentions are well-meaning and pleasant. HR is actually concerned about the physical and mental well-being of its employees.

This is a win-win for both parties.

Today’s HR teams recognize that an employee’s out-of-office life is strongly correlated with their in-office performance. So, enterprises are now partnering with third-party service providers to provide their employees with access to services that enable them to take care of their out-of-office life.

Consequently, they are now rolling out all sorts of gym memberships, meditation app subscriptions, access to one-to-one counseling sessions, and more in addition to the standard insurance benefit.

This means that the recruitment team has one more bait to hook great talent.

Such holistic experiences are not merely add-ons; instead, they are must-haves!

Rethinking HR & Recruitment for 2021

Recruiting and onboarding have gone completely virtual in 2021. If analyst reports are any indicator, this trend will likely persist long after the pandemic has abated.

Virtual meetings are increasingly supplanting In-person conversations. This means that HR & recruitment teams need to be diligent in their candidate research and be well-equipped with tools to carry out the same.

Similarly, people management is also changing thanks to newer technologies. For HR teams especially, an increasingly work-from-home workforce means that it is getting harder to keep track of the workforce pulse.

While tools like Zoom & Teams have somewhat stepped up to fill in the gaps as a result of the pause in watercooler conversations, they are mostly task-oriented and are at great risk of becoming mere 2-D substitutes to human interaction.

The need of the hour is for HR teams to interfere at the right time and foster a sense of togetherness. Virtual happy-hours, post-work socializing sessions, and regularly checking up with employees can yield several benefits in the long run.

Remote Learning Powered By AI

Reskilling & upskilling has become a trending topic in 2020, and by the looks of it, 2021 will also be a big year for employee reskilling.

However, several enterprises and employees are now stuck with incomplete reskilling programs with the pandemic playing spoilsport.

If you keep in mind that specific sectors like automotive & telecom are staring at a huge talent gap by 2023, any pause in reskilling initiatives should be a cause for concern.

Thankfully, with most reskilling now delivered online in an entirely take-it-as-you-please format, this problem has been significantly mitigated.

But there is one more problem—the problem of finding the right reskilling strategy for your employee.

While traditionally, this has been an activity that has been done in-person among employees, their managers, and HR, remote working has added another hurdle, thus decreasing the motivation to actively pursue reskilling.

However, AI-powered reskilling solutions have turned out to be game-changers in this regard.

Every activity in the re/upskilling pipeline, from identifying job roles at risk of disruption to identifying ideal job roles to transition them to, how to get there and how long to get there, is done automatically and efficiently by reskilling solutions included in Draup.

Whether you’re a customer care executive in telecom or an insurance sales representative, you can examine your skills gaps, both technical and soft competencies, and even explore alternate career paths that might be more suitable for your career.

New-age technology powered by artificial intelligence is the common thread spearheading the evolution of talent management.

HR teams & recruiters need to be aware of these trends and identify service providers/tools that will help them create the next generation of a sustainable workforce.