As we welcomed in the new year, the recruitment sector is rising to meet the challenges that 2022 may bring. With technological developments and new processes being implemented to respond to the ongoing pandemic, as well as the adoption of new practices to ensure inclusive and robust hiring procedures, the trends we’re likely to see become mainstays in 2022 are embracing and adapting to the ever-changing world we’re living in now.  

Here, we’ve set out three of the biggest innovations we’re likely to see being adopted in recruitment this year, and how they could benefit businesses in the long term.

Digital identity verification

With COVID-19 and the requirement for remote working came the introduction of digital identity verification. Previously, new employees were legally required to present hard copies of identity documents to employers in face-to-face meetings, however in the wake of the pandemic, the Home Office announced temporary regulations allowing right to work checks to take place remotely.

Since then, technology to support this has developed rapidly, and now digital identity verification is fast becoming preferable to in-person meetings.

Aside from the minimised risk of spreading coronavirus, digital identity verification has proved to be much more efficient than face to face meetings, allowing for checks to be conducted more quickly.

For new employees, it offers a less time-consuming solution, too, and can therefore help to improve your overall on-boarding experience.

It can also be more accurate, as with digital facial recognition technology staff members can more easily verify the identity of new employees, helping to reduce the risk of illegal hiring.

At Reed Screening we’ve pushed for digital identity verification to become a permanent fixture post-COVID, and on 27^th December the Home Office announced that digital technologies will be able to be used remotely for identity verification from 6^th April 2022, a change we warmly welcome. Digital identity verification has the potential to streamline recruitment processes for employers and candidates alike.

Artificial intelligence in the recruitment process

Across every industry, automation of process is becoming ever more prevalent, and recruitment is no exception. Using technology to automate manual tasks means that time consuming processes are made more efficient, speeding up the recruitment process and leaving staff more time to focus on more complex responsibilities.

For example, artificial intelligence can be used to scan applications and rank them in terms of relevancy to the role, shaving hours off a recruiter’s initial screening process. The faster the screening procedure, the more efficient your recruitment process, which not only improves productivity and reduces overall costs, but also provides a better experience for candidates.

AI can also minimise the effects of unconscious bias in recruitment, as each application is dealt with in exactly the same way as dictated by the machine learning programming.

This is a double-edged sword, however, as while it means that human error or bias plays no part in the screening process, it also means that more complex situations or applicants with non-standard experience or qualifications may be treated unfairly by a machine learning programme.

AI has its limitations – machine learning is only as good as the data it works from, and successfully implementing machine learning into your recruitment process can require huge amounts of work in terms of data cleansing and removing any existing inherent bias.

Fairer and safer recruitment

2022 sees the widespread implementation of more inclusive and robust recruitment processes. These are important not only to protect businesses against claims of discrimination against protected characteristics (such as race, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or socio-economic backgrounds), but also helps businesses to reflect their customer and client bases, as well as strengthen their overall reputation as an employer. By opening up the recruitment process, businesses are also opening up their opportunities to hire exceptional candidates that previous processes may have dismissed.

Fairer recruitment processes include ensuring job roles and requirements are presented clearly and without indirect discrimination against certain candidates as well as being proactively inclusive of non-standard educational or work experience backgrounds. This might mean including international equivalent qualifications alongside UK-based ones, and including accessible solutions throughout the recruitment process, such as BSL interpretation, alternative forms of application packs, and other materials to open up the process.

While official standardisation across recruitment is lacking, candidates are open to inconsistencies between employers, which leaves employers open to claims of discrimination. Is 2022 the year we see more consistent end-to-end hiring processes across industries?

In 2022, the recruitment industry will respond to the challenges and opportunities that the times present – a continuing pandemic, tightening budgets and limited resource, technological developments, and stronger demands for fairer and more inclusive practice.

To find out more about how Reed Screening can help to make your recruitment process ready for 2022, get in touch with our team.

Want to know more about what to expect this year and how that can affect your business? Take a look at our e-book: Trends and Innovation in Recruitment and Screening.