Talent Acquisition and Management from Home: Overcoming the COVID-19 Business Challenge

To help minimize the spread of Covid-19 the world suddenly finds itself in lockdown. Organizations are forced to reinvent their ways of working in order to provide business continuity. Travel is limited, face-to-face interviews and assessments are canceled, and employees need to work from home as much as possible. To minimize the impact and consequences of COVID-19 on their business HR leaders are quickly adopting new talent management strategies.

As businesses continue to operate with the limited resources available to them, it is more critical than ever to attract and manage the best talent in a world where “social distancing” is suddenly our reality. No face-to-face interviews can be held, no live assessment, no in-house development centers can be organized, and no in-class training activities can take place. Virtual solutions are now no longer nice-to-haves — they are essential for the business to continue to operate.

Fortunately, technology is the great equalizer. And in this case, technology can help us to support our teams in becoming more effective regardless of their location. SHL’s acquisition of Aspiring Minds last fall was part of a broader strategy to leverage artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies, leading to the development of a complete virtual solution suite that we launched this week.

Forget about pen and paper, the location of participants, the burdensome manual effort for assessors, and travel logistics. Now, we can address our new normal to make assessment and development activities virtual!

Virtual solutions are now no longer nice-to-haves – they are essential for the business to continue to operate.

Let’s Get Digital

Our connected world makes SHL Virtual possible, and indeed, necessary. This is our innovative solution to help customers assess and develop talent, wherever they are in the world. We have combined our leading science with a frictionless virtual experience for participants and assessors, free from the scheduling and logistical constraints of traditional assessment and development centers. It provides the liberty to work with candidates and employees at any time of day, at scale, and to engage quality candidates while reducing recruitment time by 80 percent.

This all means that Talent Acquisition and Talent Management outcomes need not be compromised by the limitations of face-to-face activities. Quality remains exactly the same when executing a live virtual event, but in less time, and with fewer resources needed. On top of that, the environment can be tailored to customer-specific requirements and has a mobile-first, engaging experience, binding applicants and employees to the hiring organization’s brand for the long term.

SHL’s virtual suite conveniently enables organizations to predict the potential of applicants as well as existing workforce, and it leverages our AI-powered video interview solution and a full array of assessments. All in one place – virtually.

Quality remains exactly the same when executing a live virtual event, but in less time, and with fewer resources needed.

We’re Here to Help

We want to help and have decided to make our entire virtual solution suite free of charge during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have mobilized our team of experts to deliver blogs, webinars, and 1:1 coaching to help transition to a virtual talent acquisition and management program that keeps global workforces engaged, connected and productive.

SHL’s virtual team is here to assist, train, and advise as workforces globally adjust to this new and unprecedented reality.

Our world of work has changed, almost overnight. We are committed to helping businesses to operate through our wide range of virtual solutions as they face new challenges – challenges that will likely usher in a new reality even after the threat of COVID-19 is overcome. Contact us to learn more.