Many CEOs and industry experts predict that there will be a recession during 2023. According to economists, we are in a recession if we have two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Currently, this has not occurred yet for the year, but it is important to be prepared in case it does.
At your company, business goes on as usual regardless of the state of the economy. You still need to recruit top candidates and train your staff so you can run your company smoothly and meet business growth goals. So, hiring and employee development are essential regardless of economic conditions.
How to Weather a Recession with Employment Testing
It is always important to hire top candidates, but it is absolutely critical during a recession. You need the best possible team to maximize every business opportunity so you can maintain your competitive edge in the marketplace. Therefore, it is vital to minimize hiring mistakes.
These are some ways employment assessment testing helps you use “hard data” to make good hiring decisions and maximize training opportunities.
- Streamline Your Hiring Process: Your HR team will probably receive more applications for job openings during a recession. So, they need a leading assessment solution like the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM so they can use employment tests to identify top candidates.
- Identify Skills Gaps: When you run “lean and mean,” you cannot afford to have any “weak links.” You must determine what skills your company needs now and will need in the future and recruit employees who can help you reach your long-term goals. Employment assessment tests enable you to conduct skills gap analyses company-wide so you can formulate hiring and training strategies.
- Develop In-House Talent: Business and HR leaders are often surprised to find that the best candidate for a newly created or recently vacated job already works for their company. Employment tests help you find employees with the skills to move into new roles and identify team members who could be ready for new challenges if provided with more training. You can also use employment testing to determine which skills employees need, set benchmarks, and measure progress.
- Reduce Turnover: A recent survey of 500 HR professionals showed the cost of turnover can range from 30% to over 250% of an employee’s total annual salary. Employment assessment testing will help you increase retention because employees are more likely to stay with a company that invests in their growth.
- Recruit Remote Employees: Remote workers often bring valuable expertise to the table, and hiring them is usually less expensive than hiring full-time staff. Employment tests such as DevOps Engineer, Administrative Assistant, and Web Developer help you measure job-related abilities. Employment tests such as Virtual Assistant, Remote Leadership Skills, and Videoconference Communication and Etiquette help you confirm candidates can work efficiently without direct supervision.
- Recruit Passive Candidates: Many employees are open to changing jobs during a recession for better salaries or more job security. If there are senior executives or subject matter experts who currently work for other companies that you would like to add to your team, an economic downturn is an excellent time to reach out to them.
- Target Candidates with Specific Experience: Employment assessment tests can help you identify and hire employees with skills and experience critical to future growth. As a case in point, Apple aggressively recruited developers and software engineers during the economic downturn after the 9/11 terrorist attack. These employees were on the team that developed and released the first iPod and iPhones.
Why Hiring and Training is Critical During Recessions
A Harvard Business Review study reviewed the actions of over 4,500 companies during the last three recessions. Those that thrived were successful because they focused on long-term strategic goals, retained employees in key positions, and acquired new employees who were either available due to layoffs or companies closing or who were willing to change jobs.
For instance, Hewlett-Packard hired top engineers in the late 1940s because U.S. military labs were closing, and Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, and Airbnb increased hiring during recent recessions and ended up more robust than before.
Get Started with Employment Tests
If we end up in a recession and you find it necessary to revise your recruiting strategy, your first step should be to consider where you want your company to be in one year and five years and what skills you will need. This will help you guide your hiring and employee development processes so you can leverage all possible advantages and be ready to forge ahead when economic conditions improve.
Do you want to learn how you can use employment assessment tests to recruit top talent and develop current staff? Contact us to request a demo.