How today’s talent trends are shaping hiring on a global scale

4 mins, 47 secs read time

If you’re confused by recent economic shifts and what they mean for hiring, you’re not alone. We’re seeing a skyrocketing number of open jobs at the same time as reports of slowing growth and high-profile layoffs. If these apparent contradictions are leaving even economists stumped, how can you make sense of them as a talent professional?

Greenhouse recently partnered with HiBob to explore what’s happening in the global talent market today and how that’s likely to inform your hiring for the rest of the year and beyond. Breanne Murphy, Global Head of Partner Marketing at HiBob, moderated the “Growing with intention: Scaling and supporting world-class teams” panel discussion with Greenhouse EMEA General Manager Colm O’Cuinneain and HiBob’s Global Director of Sales Engineering Mike Kaupe at HiBob and Sourcing and Employer Branding Manager Sarah Morrison. Explore some of the highlights from their conversation below and check out the full recording, available on-demand here.

What’s happening with hiring right now?

“We’re seeing a lot out there at the moment, especially from a candidate experience perspective,” says Colm. While there’s a softening in the market and a slight reduction in the number of open jobs per company among Greenhouse customers, it’s still a very competitive talent market. According to the Candidate Economic Sentiment report that Greenhouse released in June, two-thirds of candidates say they’d look for a new job if their compensation package was reduced. Summing up these findings, Colm explains, “Candidates feel like they’re in the driver’s seat, particularly when it comes to compensation packages and job choices.” Sarah agrees with this assessment, saying, “You’ve got to have a strong proposition and a strong offer in order to get to candidates now.”

Candidates don’t just have high expectations when it comes to compensation. Reflecting on her recent hiring experiences, Sarah says, “Candidates today are asking questions they haven’t asked before.” In addition to asking about hybrid work and working from home, they’re also paying attention to company growth and what that might mean in the near future. “They’re asking more strategic questions,” says Sarah. This means talent professionals need to be prepared to answer tough questions, especially if you’re doing more proactive sourcing.

What should you keep in mind when hiring globally vs. locally?

The distinction between local and global doesn’t feel as significant in a hybrid world, observes Colm. The majority of workers say they want to continue working remotely, so it looks like the hybrid model is here to stay. And workers aren’t the only ones who benefit. “It gives companies a different opportunity to be strategic with where they find talent,” says Colm. “You can tap into different talent pools, both in your own country and internationally, and that allows companies to be far more diverse, which is massive from a cultural perspective and a longer-term organizational growth perspective.” Now that it’s possible to do an HQ role from anywhere in the world, new career ladders are being unlocked for global employees.

But there are some key considerations to keep in mind when building a global team. Mike admits he’s constantly thinking about his team’s development. “What is the support that you’ll provide them? How are you going to mentor and lead them from afar?” In addition to creating frequent points of contact and helping his team members build communication skills, Mike also looks for ways to have existing team members mentor or share their professional knowledge with others on the team.

Similarly, Sarah says it’s critical to nurture your team members and spend time with them, pointing out that “different people come to work for different reasons.” Some people are looking for connections with their coworkers beyond just hopping from one video call to the next. But you wouldn’t necessarily know this unless you make an intentional effort to do so. As Sarah explains, “Actually spending conscious time speaking to people and understanding their motivations – really getting to connect with people – is really important in order to set the team up for success.”

How Greenhouse developed its Dublin office: Key lessons

As General Manager of EMEA at Greenhouse, Colm has played a key role in establishing and scaling Greenhouse’s Dublin office and shares that “it’s been a phenomenal journey.” For any other company looking to expand globally, Colm offers the following tips:

• Clearly articulate your employee value proposition in your job descriptions, but also recognize that it will change over time. Being one of the first 10 employees is different from being employee number 250 or 1,000.
• Put effort into crafting an incredible candidate experience. When you do this, it makes it much easier to pick up with silver medalist candidates again. Even though they didn’t receive an offer for the role they applied for initially, their great experience with your company means they’ll be much more open to hearing from you about roles that open up later.
• Be open to taking some risks. Colm openly shared the strategy deck with candidates in order to build trust and provide full transparency into what they could expect when joining Greenhouse.
• Create opportunities for employees from different offices to meet. Colm and his peers spent time in the Greenhouse HQ in New York to learn firsthand about the company’s culture and values. Greenhouse also assembled a landing team of employees who went to the Dublin office in the first six months to share more of the nuances of Greenhouse’s culture and values
  

Curious to hear from the panelists on even more topics like employer branding, developing your teams with limited resources and creating competitive compensation strategies? Check out the recorded webinar, available on-demand here.