Recruitment and retention trends in Middle East
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On-the-spot hiring is an emerging trend for personal branding as against traditional resumes. This was highlighted at the recruitment day of the Arabian Travel Market. The seminars also explored challenges and opportunities for regional human resources professionals in today’s Gen Y marketplace.
Panel discussions explored opportunities through social media strategy development, with the integration of social technologies into recruitment, engagement and development process prompting a re-evaluation of business processes.
Lynne Bellinger, managing director UAE for Purple Cubed said: “The focus is on team performance and fostering company values. On-the-spot hiring is also an active trend of particular relevance to this part of the world, with a busy hotel pipeline challenging human resources managers looking to hire for new properties.”
Bellinger also flagged recruitment process time saving as a major benefit, but urged employers to be aware of the fact that a fast hire can result in miscast personality matches in the long run. Another trend on the agenda was gamification, as gaming mechanics are increasingly incorporated into traditional business activities such as marketing, and learning and development.
“Some forward-thinking companies are adapting themselves to fit this new paradigm, and many are doing so by embracing the process of gamification. As the Gen Y workforce is only getting bigger – currently it’s at 25% of the workforce and will rise to 50% within 10 years – trends such as gamification are going to become an accepted part of the business process, supported by technological innovation,” added Bellinger.