Happy Wednesday to everyone tuning in to today’s episode of The Hirewell Update. I’m your host, Ryan Brown, vice president of our corporate functions team, and this is my co host. I’m Emily Goor, director on our go to market recruiting team. Before we kick off the show, you can find all of our content at talentinsights.hirewell.com. Or if you’d like to learn more about Hirewell and our service offerings, check out our website, www.hirewell.com. Em, it’s the last show of 2024. I can’t believe I feel like we were just sitting down for our first show. So we know we’re here. I know we were just catching up about holiday things.
And, um, it’s been a while actually, since we sat down and did this show. So we’re a little overdue, but wanted to get one more in before the end of the year, before the holidays, before your birthday, right? Christmas baby for those who don’t know. I’m sure others know, but, so yeah, last, last one of the year.
Last one. I know. And I mean, we’ve talked about this offline a number of times this year’s flown by. It’s like we blinked in the years over the, especially Q4 has been busier than ever. It’s definitely not your typical Q4 season. That is for sure. We are running the wheels until the wheels fall off this year.
Um, and we’re coming up on our holiday break too. Hirewell closes down the week between Christmas and New Year’s, which is great. And I think everyone’s looking forward to some much needed rest recuperation until we do it all again next year. Yeah. And I love that you mentioned where, how busy we are. I think like hopefully a great indication of the market.
I know we’re going to talk about some of that, you know, just common themes that we’re seeing now, or that we’ve seen this year in our topic today. But, um, just a reminder too, if you, if you want to chat about those things, like obviously if you’re, hiring in Q1 next year. Um,. Our desks are filling up. So let’s chat now sooner than later.
Number one and number two, even if you’re not hiring or you’re thinking about using agencies, not so sure, we’re always happy to just chat about market insights, tell you what we’re seeing right now, Um, talk about, I mean, like you said, we, we’ve definitely seen a spike in. And new roles right now. So we’re always happy to just be a resource, talk about what we’re seeing in the market, um, and potentially how we could partner in the future.
Absolutely. Yeah. Great points Em, well, this is the last show of the year. 2024 is quickly coming to a close. So what better way to end the last episode of The Hirewell Update for this year, then to reflect on some of the challenges and opportunities that we faced over the last year. And also to look ahead about what we can expect
in 2025 and how to get it here. So we want to break down some of the most impactful trends that we’ve talked about over the course of this past year, share some lessons that we’ve learned along the way to help everyone, you know, prepare and get ready to go for next year. Um,. So to kick off the conversation, we want to start within digital transformation.
Technology has continued to be a huge game changer this year. We saw AI, artificial intelligence, automation, data analytics really changed the course of how especially folks in recruiting are operating. Yeah, I mean, 100 percent automation tools helped, you know, staffing professionals reduce. Time that they’ve just spent on like admin tasks, like scheduling and just overall communication.
And I know for a lot, this, this freed up just more time for recruiters to focus on what really matters, right? Like building meaningful relationships with hiring managers and with candidates. I think like, AI been using it a lot, honestly. Um.,. But you know, I know it’s, it’s, it kind of became really central to like talent identification, job description, creation, like personalized candidate outreach.
And with the rise in data analytics also, I know that’s kind of another thing that we’ve seen, like recruiters were really able to make. I think smarter, more data driven decisions. I know we love data. Um, but yeah, more data driven decisions and kind of overall, like enhancing both placement success and Just like operational efficiency.
I think a big takeaway here, technology isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about empowering your team to work smarter while strengthening human connections. So as we head into 2025, I think like data will remain a really key, um, you know, key driver to, to business decisions. Absolutely. And to echo what you’ve shared, Em, I know there’s a lot of hesitancy around AI and it’s still something that’s new that organizations, people in general are exploring.
There’s a lot to uncover about it, but I think adopting it where you can to create those efficiencies and make The mundane tasks are, you know, repetitive tasks, something that can be taken off of your plate and utilizing AI in a way that just makes your job more effective. And you can utilize your time in a better way, especially with Intel and acquisition, where so much of that particular work can feel very repetitive.
It’s a lot of the same tasks. So the more you can optimize that stuff, definitely the better. I’m excited to see what we do. We’ve got some big changes coming at Hirewell internally in 2025 when it comes to a lot of, a lot of this topic. So I’m really excited about it. Yeah. I like that you mentioned too, you know, it’s definitely for specific tasks.
Like I think it can be a controversial topic just in terms of how people have kind of used it to like, in terms of like, Screenings and their ATS is like, I’m not a huge fan of that personally. You know what I mean? Like, but I know in terms of using it, um, you know, for writing job descriptions and researching competitors of companies so we can be strategic with our candidate outreach, I think.
Um, yeah, I think. I could debate that for a long time, so I won’t get too deep about where it’s smart and where it’s not. But I think, like you said, kind of, uh, choosing where it makes sense that we can work a little bit smarter. Absolutely. Maybe we’ll, that’ll be a topic for next year. We’ll see. See what the market brings.
We’ll get that one down for later. Perfect. One of the other trends that we saw, um, specifically this year was kind of the reemergence, but also the continued growth of the gig economy. I think we saw a lot of organizations really tapping into pools of freelancers, contractors, and recruiters specifically have really, in some ways, needed to rethink their talent management strategies, how they’re connecting with candidates.
What their work is looking like. And this has really meant that folks are building talent pools for contingent workers, folks in the gig economy, and helping to streamline processes for managing some of their, those short term roles. I think what’s exciting about the gig economy is that it gives businesses agility, and I really think that we’re going to continue to see this grow in 2025.
Um, in years past, it was a huge part of our business and probably, you know, more of an equivalent to the work that we do on direct hire basis is we’re starting to see that reemergence come back But for many years post 2020, it was full time permanent hires or nothing So it’s exciting to see some of Some of those changes.
Um, and I think the lesson learned there is that flexibility is key that what we’ve learned in terms of the talent market, what candidates are looking for, and also what employers are looking for, it’s that, um, that flexibility piece is really crucial. And the gig economy, like I mentioned, it’s not a trend.
It’s a permanent shift, in my opinion, that we’re going to see and how people think about work. Yeah. No, that’s such a good one. I know that that’s been a big, you know, and maybe not like total shift, but just more aggressive on that side of things this year for us. Um,. Moving on to something that I think has become more important than ever.
Um, if I had a dollar for every time I brought this up, honestly, with a, with a client, I’d be talking about it this year. Yeah, I know. Right. And I know, like you said, a lot of these topics are not new to us this year, kind of summarizing some, some major things that we’ve seen, but huge thing this year.
Candidate experience. In a competitive job market, a positive candidate experience can seriously make all of the difference. Um, I think this year candidates kind of expected like personalization and job recommendations, like transparency and pay and process and like processes and just seamless onboarding experiences.
I think, I mean, and we talk about this so much like throughout interview processes, how important candidate experience is, um, I think big lesson learned like by crafting a transparent, personalized experience, recruiters can honestly build stronger employee brand, employer brands, and attract top talent. I say all the time to clients, like, of course you want to give your top candidates a great candidate experience because if they’re choosing between multiple opportunities, they’re going to
go with the one that they’ve had a good experience at, not the one that took, you know, 10 days in between each step to get back to them and, you know, blew them off here and et cetera. But at the same time, I don’t think people think about enough. The people that did not get the job, what do they walk away from the experience saying about your company?
Totally. What are they walking away saying about X company? Hey, I didn’t get the job. But I’d recommend it to a friend cause I had a great experience. So I think like, you know, when you’re thinking about that employer brand and how to attract top talent in the future, um, you know, Oh my God, give me a soapbox here because the experience, like I will, I will die on this hill.
It’s so crucial. And we’ve seen that more than ever, especially in, like we mentioned time and time again, it’s a competitive market, even when things are challenging in terms of certain positions, like there’s still always going to be. A particular skill set that in the job market creates a competitive market.
And not that we’re saying like the candidate experience is only important during that time, but that’s when you see how important it is because you have candidates that have multiple opportunities and they’re really going to go with the organization that gave them the best experience. It’s a huge indicator of what your culture looks like, what they can expect in terms of long term growth and development.
So, I mean, I’m right there I’m with you Em in terms of stepping up on the soapbox on that one. It’s so crucial. We’ll write that one down again, too, for next year. We can always talk more about, about the candidate experience. There’s not enough time to talk about it. Um, but I think finally, in terms of just what 2024 has showcased in terms of that emphasis on the importance of talent retention and development has been so key with the talent market as tight as it has been.
Companies have really been focusing on upskilling employees, providing really clear development opportunities. And what we have said time and time again on this show is that that really does lead to greater employee satisfaction and retention. You want to keep your employees that are are great and you want to create opportunities for them to stay with you long term.
So, I mean, we’ve mentioned this a number of times as well. Happy employees stay and you have to invest in professional development. You have to foster engagement. This really helps to reduce turnover, but in the long term, what that means is it’s enhancing your business’s stability. So it’s not one of those things that you can skimp out on.
It’s so essential for, for your talent internally and for your organization’s success long term. And I think kind of with that topic, it’s like learning and development. It’s become like less of a check the box and really truly more of a priority. It’s like, Oh, we, you know, people think we have to have these things.
It’s like this, this should be a priority. Like you said, happy employees stay when you give folks the opportunity to grow or to kind of drive their own success at a company. They’re going to stay long term. I even think, you know, perhaps, you know, I don’t want to get too off topic here, but Hirewell as an organization, we do 360 reviews and I, this is kind of fresh in my head because we were just going over results of those
360 reviews. Perhaps you had a similar conversation and in your, um, and you’re kind of debrief for the, for the reviews, but, uh, you know, we got the feedback as an organization that we could be investing more in and, you know, I hope that’s okay that I’m sharing. I’m sharing this. You know, I think like, I think that a lot of organizations would get that feedback of, Hey, we’re doing great here, but I would love to see more opportunities for learning and development.
You know, I think, um, I think that’s a lot of organizations, a lot of employees would probably say similar things as like, Hey, this has been great. Love the things we’ve been offered so far, but would love to even receive more of these, you know, opportunities or, You know, um, just ways to continue to learn and to develop.
So I think, um, I know that’s something that we’re going to be continuing to invest in at, at Hirewell. And, um, yeah, I think other organizations could benefit there as well. Totally. And just to add a quick note to that point, Em, I think when people hear development, they automatically assume that means some sort of promotion or you’re stepping up in terms of like the, the, corporate wrung or whatever it could mean.
Development is so much bigger than that. And while some people do associate that, and it’s certainly amazing goals to have to want to, you know, continue your growth through promotion and things like that. There’s so many opportunities for people to develop outside of what that looks like, and that should be a part of
each specific role that somebody holds throughout their career. So there’s also, I think this piece too, that’s just as critical within the talent retention and development spaces. How has your organization defining what development looks like? Like, are you creating a culture around understanding that growth and opportunity and development looks much bigger than
you know what? Sometimes this narrow view can look like for a new title, a promotion. I think employees to challenge themselves to think about that too, because I, the amount of times I’m sure you hear to Ryan, I’m talking to a candidate. Oh, you know, why are you looking for new positions? Oh, I want opportunities for growth.
What does that mean? How are we defining it? I always follow it up with, what does that mean to you? What does that look like to you? You know, are you looking for a higher title? Are you looking for opportunities for X, Y, and Z? So if you’re a candidate, or you’re somebody listening to this, keep that in mind too, like, you might think that that’s a really great answer. No offense to anyone, but like, you might think it’s a great answer and shows you the growth mindset or you’re, you know, a lifelong learner and all these, you know, cute words that we threw out there, but like, really think about like, what does that mean? Like if you want opportunities for growth, what does growth look like to you?
What would be fulfilling to you? In terms of growth. So, I mean, we could we could go on and on all day, but I feel like I mean, like, so, like, the question is, like, what is all of this mean now for staffing professionals heading into 2025. 2025 is going to take me a moment to Oh, my gosh. I know. Always does.
It’s going to take a bit, but I think I think it’s kind of simple. It’s focus on working smarter, not harder. Embrace AI and automation to increase efficiency while maintaining the personal touch. I think that’s really important. Critical and important to highlight. Um,. Use data to drive business decisions.
Data, um, adapt to the demand of, you know, for flexible work in the gig economy. Um,. And invest in your talents, growth and engagement. Period. Yes. What a great way to summarize that. I completely agree with everything you said Em and like I mentioned a number of times, um, these are all topics we’ve talked about all year long.
So to put this together, just kind of look at things from a trend perspective, I think is, is really valuable. And we have learned quite a bit in 2024. It’s taught us a lot. We’re taking some valuable lessons with us as we step into the new year, 2025. Em, I’m ready to take on new challenges. And take a look at fresh opportunities
Em, I don’t know if you are, but I’m hoping the rest of our viewers are too. Um,. Make sure if you are a viewer to check out all of our videos from this past year, yeah, our talent insights website to help you better prepare for 2025. Like I said, we talked about all of these topics today, a number of times throughout the year, if you want specifics, more
details. Do yourself a favor, we’ve got alot of great content on there that can help you make some goals for next to make it even better than this onel absolutely and again opportunity if you want to chat more about these things. If you go, I’m sure everyone now is running back to our library and gonna start watching specific shows. Always happy to connect live too and talk about what we’ve seen in the market, especially as we’re heading into a new year, a new quarter.
I’m always happy to chat further. Absolutely. Well, I cannot believe this is the last show of this year. Em, we have been doing this for a minute. I think what, 2018 was our first year, maybe? Yeah, it’s been a while doing The Hirewell Update. We have gone through many iterations on this show. Um, I am so lucky to have a partner like you to create this content with.
Thank you Em for being my co host for what feels like forever in the best way. I’m looking forward to all of the content and insights that we share next year. 100%. I’m a lucky gal to have you as a co host and, um, it’s been, it’s been a long time and more to come. Y’all are not rid of us yet. Just a new year and we’ve got a lot in store.
We sure do. Awesome. Well, Em, I think that wraps it up. Take us home for the last time, for this year, for the final time in 2024, that is a wrap for this week’s episode of The Hirewell Update. Thank you all so much for joining us, as a reminder you can find all of our content at talentinsights.hirewell.com. Or if you’d like to learn more about Hirewell and our service offerings, check out our website it’s www.hirewell.com. We hope you all have a happy, healthy holidays, all the good things. We will see you in 2025. 2025 it is. See you then, Em. Bye. Thanks everyone.
