Enterprise Recruitment: Hiring at a Global Scale

The world’s largest companies must hire across borders, time zones, and cultures to create resilient, strong, specialized teams. Sound complicated? It is.

Enterprise recruitment isn’t a matter of building and repeating a single hiring process. Large companies can (and should!) embrace some repeatable, standardized hiring processes for high-volume roles, but to attract and vet the world’s top talent for executive positions, they also need to remain extremely adaptable and flexible — which is a major feat in a highly-matrixed organization with a lot of red tape.

For our 2024 Hiring Insights Report, we took a special look at just enterprise hiring — at companies of 5,000 or more employees — to reveal their unique challenges, what sets them apart from other companies, and how the high-achievers hit hiring goals in a challenging market.

In this article, we’ll use those insights to give you a speedrun overview of enterprise talent acquisition. Let’s dive in!

Current trends in enterprise recruitment

Let’s start with a bird’s-eye view of where enterprise hiring stands today.

Despite achieving a slightly higher hiring fulfillment of 53.8% than other types of organizations, enterprise organizations continue to face challenges in finding and retaining the best-fit talent. Topping the list of headaches for 31% of our surveyed captains of industry? Talent retention. A lack of qualified candidates (27%)  and unrealistic compensation expectations (27%)  were other challenges cited by survey participants. However, these challenges also present opportunities for strategic innovation and intervention in recruitment.

The report also sheds light on areas where enterprise talent acquisition (TA) teams focused their strategies in 2023. Notably, 37% of survey respondents aimed to improve their time-to-hire, highlighting how important speed is in acquiring top-tier talent.

The report reveals a commitment to building on last year’s successes, with 39% of respondents aiming to grow offer acceptance rates and 38% aiming to standardize the hiring process. This strategic approach suggests that enterprise organizations desire to refine and optimize recruitment strategies based on past learning.

Understanding enterprise hiring process

While enterprise hiring is highly complex, it is understandable. It’s helpful to think of it fundamentally as a step-by-step journey, tailored to align with an organization’s specific needs and budget constraints, all aimed at securing the ideal candidates for open roles.

That said, it’s a delicate balancing act, one that evolves constantly. Let’s delve into each of the processes involved in enterprise hiring, and focus on the shifts that occurred over the last year or so.

1. Planning and strategy development

The first step covers careful planning and strategy intervention. Hiring managers and TA professionals prioritize identifying workforce needs, focusing on critical roles without compromising low-critical positions. Once roles have been identified, the TA team delves into defining the job requirements and creating detailed job descriptions.

This planning ensures that the organization will attract well-suited talent while also establishing expectations for successful onboarding. This plan also covers the budgeting and timeline requirements, identifying which region(s) to hire from, job postings, recruitment events, and background checks. 

2. Connecting with top applicants

This phase is all about deploying a dynamic mix of strategies to reach the cream of the crop in the talent pool. Recruiters are increasingly turning to an eclectic blend of channels, from the traditional job boards to more unconventional platforms like podcasts and billboards, not to mention the ever-expanding realm of social media.

However, the key to attracting and securing the right candidates goes beyond just casting a wide net. It’s about the finesse in how an organization presents itself – the compelling allure of well-crafted job postings, the magnetic appeal of a thoughtfully designed career site, and the influential power of a strong employer brand. These elements don’t just catch the eye of potential candidates; they play a pivotal role in transforming an interested applicant into a fully engaged employee.

3. Screening applicants

With the rise of remote work opportunities, talent acquisition professionals faced increased applicant volume. Our reports cited that 21% of hiring professionals experienced remote work compensation expectations as one of their hiring challenges over the past year. This is crucial to ensure that screening the candidates’ resumes is also aligned with the organization’s needs. Although reviewing resumes is common, inviting applicants to pre-employment tests and assessments ensures a broader evaluation of knowledge, skills, and behavior. 

Our report found that 20% of enterprise recruiting professionals cited applicants whose skills do not match their resume as one of their hiring challenges.

This is where reference calls come into play to confirm applicants’ details and discover any discrepancies. Screening strategies must align with anti-discrimination laws, focusing on behaviors and skills aligned to the open roles, enhancing diversity and inclusion, and decreasing bias in hiring candidates for a more equitable workforce.

4. Interview

In this next step, talent acquisition professionals must carefully define the process, including the format and the questions asked during the interview. Traditional questions may serve as an introduction, but behavioral questions, including candidates’ previous work experiences and hypothetical scenarios, will provide deeper insights into candidates’ proficiency and qualifications for the open position.

5. Selection and job offer

Once the enterprise TA teams have carefully selected shortlisted candidates and offered the job, they must ensure a positive candidate experience during onboarding. Drafting a comprehensive job offer letter, including congratulations and clear job details, sets the tone for the employee. Responsiveness during negotiations indicates how much the organization values its people.

What should successful onboarding look like? It includes meet-and-greets, goal setting for the first thirty days, and ongoing support from various departments. This should also include a 90-day check-in to nurture employee engagement and success from the start.

Strategies for smarter enterprise talent acquisition

As enterprise organizations move forward into 2024 with their recruitment endeavors, we see that more companies are adopting a forward-looking approach and expanding on the achievements of the previous year. While notable progress has been made, there remains a collective effort among these large organizations to improve enterprise talent acquisition.

Our report asked companies what they want to improve next year. They said that they want to make hiring better in many ways. Here are the areas that enterprise organizations are looking to improve in the next 12 months.

Speed, efficiency, and candidate experience were top focus areas for enterprise TA in 2024, supported by efforts to upgrade or better leverage technology.

Challenges in modern enterprise recruitment

Large organizations encounter diverse challenges that require strategic inspection and adept resolution in navigating the modern landscape of enterprise recruitment. 

Brenda Purvis, Principal Consultant for Enterprise Talent Strategy at Kaiser Permanente, noticed that most recruitment teams still get stuck with tedious, time-consuming administrative tasks. “How do we make sure that we’re looking at our recruiting teams and equipping them to really reduce the time spent in all of those phases?” she asked.

Below, let’s explore below the prevailing challenges large organizations encounter in enterprise recruitment and delve into our proposed solutions to navigate these dynamic hurdles adeptly.

“Time is the element that we can have some control over. How do we make sure that we’re looking at our recruiting teams and equipping them to really reduce the time spent in all of those phases?”

Brenda Purvis, Principal Consultant for Enterprise Talent Strategy | Kaiser Permanente

Balancing budgets and role alignment

In an era of economic uncertainty and intense competition for best-fit candidates, McKinsey’s report highlighted the paramount challenge companies face in strategically aligning budgets while securing talent-role alignment. The report showed that 20-30% of crucial positions are occupied by individuals who may not be fit for the role.

Our report highlighted the same challenge, where 20% of the survey respondents cited applicants whose skills do not match their resume as one of their hiring challenges in the past 12 months.

Skill shortages

Unprecedented skill shortages pose a formidable challenge, with nearly 75% of TA professionals acknowledging that their organizations grapple with this issue. A staggering 78.2% foresee skills shortages as one of the top three imminent challenges. 

Our report has cited this as another challenge of hiring professionals, where 27% of the respondents cited a lack of qualified candidates as one of their hiring hurdles over the past year.

Bridging the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) divide

Despite claims of prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), there’s a notable gap between organizational values and practical implementation. A concerning 39% of jobseekers decline opportunities due to perceived DEI shortcomings. In this talent-centric market, enterprises must commit to fostering truly inclusive workforces.

Strategic focus on hiring excellence

Enterprise organizations understand that there needs to be an improvement in their talent acquisition efforts. Based on our insights report, 36% of hiring professionals believed that they must improve their time-to-hire, 38% cited that they will still improve in standardizing their hiring process, and 36% emphasized improving their candidate experience.

Looking ahead, in the next 12 months we’ll see a heightened focus from enterprise organizations on increasing offer acceptance rates (39%) and building relationships with candidates (37%). Strategic investments in technology for efficiency and candidate experience are paramount to overcoming these challenges. 

Hence, survey participants highlighted a strategic emphasis on communication within enterprise organizations, with a significant 58% expressing a preference for utilizing company sites or dedicated texting software. This statistic signals a proactive approach towards optimizing internal and external interactions, showcasing a commitment to staying abreast of evolving communication trends within the professional landscape.

Lastly, a dedicated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives will bridge the gap between organizational values and practical implementation, fostering a more inclusive workforce in this talent-centric market.

Technology’s role in enhancing recruitment

Technological advancements play a pivotal role in reshaping enterprise recruitment. The 2024 report showcases how organizations have prioritized technology-driven improvements. From employing the latest software for interview scheduling to utilizing AI for increased efficiency, enterprise TA teams are leveraging innovation to stay competitive.

Technological advancements play a huge role in reshaping the enterprise talent acquisition teams’ endeavors. Our 2024 report reveals how organizations have emphasized their priorities in technology-driven improvements. 23% of enterprise organizations were more likely to use centralized text recruiting software to communicate with their candidates via SMS compared to other organizations.

In our report, when asked, “What areas in your hiring process did your company look to improve in the past 12 months?” 32% of the respondents cited utilizing AI to make hiring more efficient. 

Founder of Cassilion.AI Jonathan Wall advised, “We should be leveraging automation and AI to do those things that aren’t fun. They kind of keep us from doing the things that really are our superpowers. We’re people people. The message I would give is to leverage all of those tools so that you can have higher-quality human interactions.”

Predictions for the future of enterprise recruitment

Large organizations are keen to double down on successful strategies from the previous year, specifically focusing on improving offer acceptance rates and standardizing the hiring process. We believe that this will change the way candidates view large organizations’ approach to acquiring the best talent in today’s talent-centric market. 

With employers increasingly embracing a mobile-first strategy in candidate selection, applicants can now expect swift and efficient communication at every stage of the hiring journey. This shift will enhance the overall candidate experience and significantly mitigate the occurrence of no-shows and dropouts. 

By streamlining communication through mobile platforms, employers can keep applicants engaged and informed, reducing frustration associated with delays in the recruitment process. This mobile-centric approach aligns with the modern workforce’s expectations, fostering a more dynamic and responsive hiring environment that benefits employers and candidates alike. 

Final thoughts: The enterprise is poised for a massive hiring efficiency boost

The 2024 Hiring Insights Report serves as a peek into the intricate maze of enterprise recruitment, offering a deep dive into the challenges and triumphs of talent acquisition. In its pages, we’ve spotlighted a range of strategic solutions tailored for the unique demands of hiring for large, global organizations.

But that’s not all. The report also underscores the transformative impact of technology advancements in recruitment. These innovations are reshaping the way hiring managers and recruiters engage with candidates, marking a significant shift in communication and interaction dynamics.

We strongly recommend industry professionals to view this report as more than just a collection of insights. It’s a navigation tool, designed to steer the talent acquisition strategies of enterprise organizations towards more effective and efficient horizons, aligning seamlessly with their demands and aspirations.