Technology has been the competitive advantage for companies in the retail sector. Dynamic changes in recruitment industry have impacted both the employers and candidates alike, positively with technology being at the forefront of communication management in an organisation.

The world of digitisation with mobile and social media recruiting platforms leading the recruitment space, the duties and responsibilities of a HR role has grown by leaps and bounds.

Technology outwits even the smartest managers. With the help of performance indicators, candidates are monitored on job. The human resource department then is able to proactively guide staffers, weak performers, tackle any issues promptly with strict adherence to ethics and compliances of an organisation.

As technology has impacted or influenced workings in every other industry out there, how can retail be left far behind?

Retail recruitment is a fairly new concept in the HR sphere. Recruitment for retail space involves careful understanding of the market dynamics, sales and marketing efforts before finding a suitable hire to manage day-to-day retail operations.

Changing Trends in Retail Recruitment in 2015

• Evolution of technology and multichannel jobseeker platforms play a pivotal role towards influencing how retail recruitment works. It is more important than ever before for the retail recruiter to stay in sync with the changing market preferences and dynamics to target specific demographics and cultures.
• Recruiters need to focus on social media and switch to more advanced software platforms that are mobile-friendly for employees to get in touch with the companies looking forward to fill gaps. Social is soon becoming a must-have process to be incorporated in human resource domain to reach out to the passive job seekers.
• Temporary recruitment in retail turns out to be an expensive process when it comes to posting advertisements. Digital on the other hand is an inexpensive medium to reach out to potential candidates. Retail recruiters can post ads for free online and target talented job seekers with right aptitude for the job.

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• HR is soon moving to the cloud and so does recruiting for the retail industry is witnessing slow shift to the cloud platform. Cloud has made possible easy access to information, anytime, anywhere with lower deployment costs.
• Being connected to vital information on the go is imperative to the success of retail recruitment efforts and herein, cloud services facilitate easy management of operational aspects of the business.
• As retail recruitment deals heavily with seasonal trends and temporary staffing, new software have been designed to evolve with the emerging needs of the industry. Such software helps organise large amount of scattered data and provides retailers with the convenience of streamlining paperwork quickly and easily accessible electronic files. Thus retailers can now maintain an easy track of the inventory in store, employee’s progress chart with regards to performance on the floor and sales support thereafter can be monitored.
• To improve compliance management, real-time systems allow HRs to plan meticulously to details. They also help understand liability or risks involved before proceeding with a plan of execution.
• With advancement in retail technology customised to meet different retail requirements, the managers are now able to train their staff and monitor services through visible transparency in practices followed. This allows HR more time to concentrate efforts on productive functions rather than investing time into mundane tasks.

Technology advancements in the retail sphere are definitely offering positive signs of growth opportunities for staffers and employers alike in the near future.

Retail recruitment can only be successful in future, if you have a meticulously crafted retail plan in place. This should be made taking into consideration recent developments within the organisation, to include strengths and weaknesses of your team, from a retailer’s perspective.

Also read: Capitalising on the power of mobile recruitment