How to minimise disruption to your recruitment process during the Coronavirus pandemic

As the coronavirus situation continues to develop at pace, never has our ability to be agile been so vigorously tested.

In addition to the major health consequences facing the world due to coronavirus, as both an employer and supplier, we at Sova are acutely aware of the unprecedented difficulties being faced by organisations at the present time.

We recognise that the situation is, and will continue to be, especially challenging for HR and Resourcing teams in particular. The positive news, however, is that we have been working extensively with our clients to identify solutions to minimise disruption throughout this rapidly evolving period.

As a result, we have already been able to quickly implement a series of relatively simple, practical and effective virtual assessment solutions, to help overcome some of the most significant challenges facing talent acquisition.

Screening

The overarching consideration is how to maintain wellbeing of staff and candidates alike, by reducing the amount of in-person interaction. One of the biggest stages in recruitment is screening, which is typically done remotely through online blended assessments, so for many large-scale businesses who are hiring on a very regular basis, this will remain largely unaffected. Smaller, or less digitally equipped organisations, can consider building in an automated element to this stage in the recruitment process, as it can support teams who may be struggling with resource during this time.

The interview stage

The interview stage can also be adjusted to remove the need for face-to-face interaction, by utilising virtual facilities. Taking this one step further by using asynchronous video interviewing technology can alleviate pressure further, as it consists of a one-way interview process which can be watched and scored from any location at a time convenient to the HR/line manager. This can be invaluable in ensuring the recruitment process can continue to move at pace and is particularly effective if used with an online whole-person assessment for a richer candidate evaluation.

Your assessment centre

One of the more complex scenarios to navigate is the traditional in-person assessment centre, which is labour intensive and often largely paper based. We have been working with clients to virtualize their approach, through using digital assessment centre technology with integrated Zoom video conferencing to create virtual interview rooms. This seamlessly facilitates group assessments and further 1-1 interviews, negating the need for travel or physical interaction, thus offering minimal disruption and greater safety for all involved.

Practical solutions

We would like to reassure organisations currently navigating their way through these challenges that there are practical and simple solutions to deliver end-to-end assessment journeys in the virtual space, without needing to resort to compromising on quality of experience for the candidate, nor quality of hire for the organisation.