Regardless of whether they know it, most career professionals practiced digital flexibility over the past year. Case in point: They’ve grown accustomed to working from home.

People have adapted to using telecommunications platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. They’ve become better acquainted with how to use emerging technological tools and advancements to increase efficiency. Their overall ability to pivot has helped keep their teams productive as massive changes occur in the business environment.

For recruiters, embracing and practicing this same kind of digital flexibility matters — and it will continue to matter well beyond 2021.

Digital Flexibility, Recruitment Style

On the recruitment side of the table, digital flexibility enables a candidate-centric hiring process. That is, all digital flexibility should help applicants rather than just recruiters. However, hiring teams will see boosts in their fill-rates and candidate satisfaction from employing digital flexibility.

One of the best ways to improve the candidate experience during virtual hiring involves using one centralized online system for all touchpoints. Having a single portal to handle everything from application intake to new employee onboarding removes the need for users to remember multiple logins and repeatedly input the same personal information.

Digital flexibility can also ensure that the virtual hiring process remains consistent for applicants regardless of the devices they use. Whether a candidate checks in using the latest smartphone or a standard tablet shouldn’t matter. The less their confusion and frustration, the better their overall experience can and will be.

How Digital Flexibility Streamlines the Recruitment Process

Of course, investing in digital recruiting tools is only part of reaching full-fledged digital flexibility. The other element involves developing a process that aligns with the goals of a virtual workforce. After fine-tuning their tech stacks, recruiters should map out flowcharts that help visualize different types of applicant movements through the system.

For instance, are most candidates going to remain entirely online for the full scope of their recruitment experience? If so, can recruiters add personalization and warmth to the candidate experience, even when they’re using a self-guided program? One strategy could be to customize automation by making sure all auto-generated messages sound as human as possible. Alternatively, recruiters may want to insert themselves into the recruitment process earlier to foster one-to-one (remote) relationships with exceptional talent.

Does digital flexibility take effort? Certainly. Yet recruitment teams and corporate hiring departments risk losing great employees if they don’t revamp their processes.

Bottom line: Candidates respond best when recruiters meet them where they are — and that “place” is online.