New research revealed by LinkedIn suggests that slow adoption of new skills in the recruitment industry may be impacting the growth and productivity of UK businesses. 

A study of 500 senior HR and recruitment professionals revealed that nearly one in three (31 percent) admit they aren’t taking full advantage of the data insights into the skills of the wider workforce now available through social media. Not using data insights to inform recruitment activity has a clear impact on the ability of the business to identify and hire the right candidates. Of those surveyed, 28 percent said that the biggest impact is reduced business productivity caused by an increase in the time taken to bring on new people. A further 21 percent reported slower growth, with 18 percent saying the extra time causes a potential loss of revenue.

Chris Brown, Director LinkedIn Talent Solutions, commented: “Talent is the number one driver of success for businesses today. Companies that invest in their recruitment functions, give them a seat at the boardroom table, and give them access to the latest tools and insights have a competitive advantage. Being able to apply data insights to solve hiring challenges is just one of the things top employers look for when building their recruiting teams.” The growing importance of data in recruitment is underlined by the fact that those surveyed said that better data analysis skills (35 percent) was the top priority in successful recruitment in the future, and more than half (56 percent) believe the use of data insights will increasingly shape business strategy over the next three to five years. As part of its investment in new skills, defence company Thales has put 18 new recruiters through LinkedIn’s Recruiter Certification programme in the last year.

Robert Hilder, Global Head of Sourcing at Thales commented, “The prevalence of social media today means employers now have direct access to a vast array of insight into where sought-after skills exist, among both active and ‘passive’ candidates. Recruiters need to know how to make use of all the tools available to them to stay ahead of the game. The ability to analyse and deliver data-driven insight and recommendations to our senior leadership team is something we put a lot of emphasis on when hiring and developing new recruiters. As a result, talent acquisition in our company now has a far higher degree of influence when it comes to informing strategic hiring decisions in the business.”Chris Brown at LinkedIn concluded, “These kind of insights will help organisations find talented people quickly and easily, and also inform strategic business decisions, such as where to locate new facilities and which markets have untapped pools of talent.”