How COVID-19 Is Fast-tracking Digital Recruitment in Broadcast

The appearance of COVID-19 led to changes in our industry that no one anticipated.

Trade shows are being cancelled, working from home is now more common than not... Things are becoming less certain by the day.

But there’s a flipside — there are more people at home than ever before, which means the demand for content has skyrocketed. Over the past three months, Netflix has more than doubled its expected number of subscribers.

Don’t press pause on growth

So, while it’s true that the way we work is changing, there’s no shortage of demand.

Companies like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are actively responding to this by increasing their capacity, rather than pressing pause on growth.

Yes, there’s uncertainty. And that tempts us to hesitate when adapting or growing our teams. But it’s crucial to get the right people in places to help our businesses navigate these turbulent waters.

We’re facing new challenges

The pandemic has changed the way we recruit, bringing unique problems to the table. There are no in-person interviews, teams can’t suss out candidates face-to-face, and candidates can’t get a feel for the work environment and culture.

Far from ideal.

But we have to play the hand we’re dealt if we want to keep pushing our businesses forward.

Get (and stay) ahead of the curve

We already have the tools we need — Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams have been parts of our workflow for years. It’s now time to use these technologies to make remote hiring the rule and not the exception.

HR teams all over the world are fully embracing this idea by making small but impactful changes to their hiring processes.

Where once there was an in-person interview, there is now a video call. And new hires are now logging into online onboarding portals, replacing team introduction sessions.

But there’s a worry preventing businesses from making the leap to recruiting digitally. The concern is that doing everything online trivialises the process and that a stuttery video call doesn’t have the same gravity as eye contact and a handshake.

So what to do?

That’s quite simple — treat the digital recruitment process with as much importance as you would the non-digital.

Make your position clear from the off. Expect candidates to dress smartly for a video interview? Convey formality in the tone of your communications.

It’s worth investing in outlining and developing your digital recruitment process too. If your candidate can see you’re prepared and are taking the process seriously, they’re more likely to see it that way themselves.

Will there be permanent changes to the way we hire?

Probably. Here’s why —

Broadcast is a tech-focused industry. We’re always moving in the direction of progress, adopting and even innovating digital solutions to our problems.

COVID-19 has simply sped up the process. The more we use these technologies, the more likely our permanent adoption of them becomes. In whichever ways that might mean.

And no, video won’t ever totally replace the in-person interview. But this pandemic has put digital recruitment on the fast-track to becoming something that we will, no doubt, start taking for granted.

The other challenge

There is another recruitment-related challenge the pandemic has presented.

Many people have put career development on hold. But while the pool of top-quality potential candidates has reduced in size, those who are determined — the ones you want in your business — are still open for exciting opportunities.

This is why using an experienced search organisation with a broad network is the best way to find who you’re looking for.

At Hollbridge, we always work with the best candidates in the market, whatever the environment. So if you want to learn how we can help please contact us.