2. Introduction
To truly influence business decisions, you
need to understand where the industry is
going. This annual report uncovers recruiting
trends in India that will move your
organization forward, and help position
yourself as a strategic business partner.
What’s more interesting is a renewed
emphasis on relationships, which is a
critical factor in talent acquisition. Learn
how this theme ties into the top priorities,
upcoming challenges and opportunities
ahead in 2016 and beyond.
5. Most important trends
75%
* What is the single most valuable metric that you use to track your recruiting team’s performance today?
* Out of the quality hires your organization made in the past 12 months, which of the following were the most important sources?
* To what extent is the talent acquisition function at your company responsible for managing employer brand?
* Over the next 12 months, which of the following would you consider to be the most important priorities for your organization?
With growing business optimism in India, business leaders are looking for quality talent to deliver rapid and sustainable
growth. It comes as no surprise, that talent leaders use quality of hire tops as the most valuable performance metric. To
attract quality hires, organizations are heavily using employee referral programs. Companies are also putting more focus
on employer brand, making it a shared responsibility between talent acquisition and cross-functional partners. And since
talent leaders want to keep the talent they worked so hard to recruit, employee retention has emerged as a top priority.
39%
agree quality of hire
is the most valuable
performance metric
36%
say employee retention
is a top priority over the
next 12 months
37%
either share or contribute
to employer branding
55%
say that employee referral
programs are the top
source of quality hires
Share these stats 5
6. 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Hiring volume increase
Hiring budget increase
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
63%
76%
71%
78%
50%
57%
50%
53%
62%
68%
Finding candidates in high demand talent pools
Compensation
Competition
40%
32%
38%
Biggest challenges
75%
Send these stats to your CFO 6
* How do you expect the hiring volume across your organization to change in 2016 versus 2015?
* How has your organization’s budget for recruiting / talent acquisition solutions changed from 2015 to 2014?
* What are your company’s biggest obstacles to attracting the best talent?
The gap between hiring volume and budget has significantly widened this past year. While hiring volumes remain
stagnant, the budget for recruiting solutions has dropped. This means that talent leaders have to do more with less.
Hiring volume vs. budget Obstacles to attracting top talent
8. * What is the single most valuable metric that you use to track your recruiting team’s performance today?
* What metrics does your organization use to track quality of hire?
75% 75%
Download the graph 8
measure quality of hire through
new hire performance evaluation50%
measure quality of hire through
time to productivity45%
measure quality of hire through
turnover or retention statistics43%
Most valuable metric Measuring quality of hire
Quality of hire keeps the top spot
While the urgency to fill roles caused “time to fill” to grow to this past year, quality of hire continues to be the most
valuable performance KPI. Most companies measure quality of hire with performance indicators, like new hire
performance evaluation and time to productivity.
Quality of hire Time to fill Hiring manager
satisfaction
Cost per hire
2014 2015
39%
46%
26%
12%
31%
13% 13%13%
Quality of hire Time to fill Hiring manager
satisfaction
Cost per hire
2014 2015
39%
46%
26%
12%
31%
13% 13%13%
9. * In general how well does your organization measure quality of hire? Read more on the blog 9
Leaders who think their companies measure quality of hire "best in class" or "very well"
Australia/
NZ
China SE Asia MENA India
33%
0%
100%
Global average
19% 20%
39%
43%
54%
India leaders confidently measure quality of hire
High = We are best in class / Very Well
Low = Somewhat well / not too well / not at all
How well organizations feel they measure quality of hire
While most talent leaders aren’t convinced they are measuring quality of hire effectively, those in India are feeling the
most confident.
11. 20132011 2012 2014 2015
43%
55%
42%
0%
50%
100%
Employee referral programs Internet job boards Social professional networks
About LinkedIn Recruiter 11* Out of the quality hires your organization made in the past 12 months, which of the following were the most important sources?
say employee referrals are an
essential and long-lasting trend41%
say social professional networks are
an essential and long-lasting trend40%
Top sources of quality hires
Referrals are the top source of quality hires
Employee referrals re-emerges as the top source of quality hires. Social professional networks continue to stay steady.
Not only do talent leaders see employee referrals and social networks as top sources of quality hires, they also see them
as long-lasting trends.
12. India leads usage of referral programs
* In general how well does your organization utilize our employees for job referrals?
51%
53%
Leaders who think they utilize employees for referrals "best in class" or "very well"
Australia/
NZ
China MENA SE Asia India
39%
0%
100%
Global average
32% 32%
43%
55%
65%
High = We are best in class / Very Well
Low = Somewhat well / Not too well / Not at all / Don’t know
How organizations utilize employee referrals
While most countries don’t utilize their own employees for recruiting new hires, India is leveraging their employees
extremely well. Strong relationships with employees and their networks will help organizations identify and source quality
talent.
About LinkedIn Referrals 12
14. 75%
Download the graphs 14
* Please indicate the extent to which you agree with the following as they relate to your company’s employer brand?
* Which channels or tools have you found most effective in spreading your employer brand?
2012 2013 2014 2015
62%
63%
52%
0%
50%
100%
Social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter)
Company website
Online professional networks (e.g. LinkedIn)
2012 2013 2014 2015
72%
78%
65%
0%
50%
100%
Brand has a significant impact on our ability to hire
great talent
Employer brand is a top priority for our organization
We have a unified employer brand that feels right
for our company
The push for employer brand is paying off
How organizations value employer brand Most effective employer branding tools
Employer brand grows as a priority, and as a result, organizations are creating a unified strategy. While the top employer brand
channels may be down trending, social professional networks continue to be the best tool.
15. Talent acquisition owns employer brand
Talent acquisition shares or contributes to
managing employer brand
2012 2013 2014 2015
41%
37%
0%
50%
100%
75%
* To what extent is talent acquisition at your company responsible for managing your company’s employer brand?
Employer brand ownership
Partnership with marketing is crucial
As leadership pays more attention to employer brand, it becomes a more shared responsibility. Therefore, talent
acquisition is working with cross-functional partners, usually marketing. A strong relationship with marketing will power
talent brand excellence.
Boost your talent brand 15
43%
Say they share or
contribute to employer
branding with marketing
17. 29%
47%
22%
Very much so
To some extent
Not much/Not at all
Don’t know
28% 45% 25%
2%
*Figures may not add to 100% due to rounding.
Employee retention
Recruiting highly-skilled talent
Internal hiring & transfers
36%
5%
31%
Get the graphs 17
* Over the next 12 months, which would you consider to be the most important priorities for your organization?
* To what extent does your company recruit the internal candidates?
Employee retention emerges as a top priority
Employee retention is top of mind with talent leaders. However, internal hiring (which helps address employee retention)
is significantly lower on the priority scale. Furthermore, less than one-quarter aren’t recruiting internally at all. Leaders
who are truly concerned about retention will start to prioritize internal recruiting.
Recruiting priorities Recruiting internal candidates
18. 75%
Time to focus on internal hiring
* Which of the following statements best describes your company's internal hiring / internal transfer efforts?
A well-defined program
for advancement
opportunities
Ad-hoc internal
hiring process
A well-defined
program for lateral
opportunities
Internal hiring program
is not run by talent
acquisition group
No internal
hiring program
32% 24% 15% 13% 9%
Re-recruit your talent 18
Since internal hiring isn’t a top priority, there is no standard approach. While the majority of organizations have a well-
defined program for career advancement, a large number of internal hiring occurs on a case-by-case basis. Even 13% say
internal hiring isn’t even run by talent acquisition. Not only should talent leaders formalize the internal recruiting process,
but recruiters should maintain relationships with candidates post-hire and keep them in their long-term pipeline.
20. Recruiting trends that are here to stay.
75%
* What do you consider to be the three most essential and long-lasting trends in recruiting for professional roles? Get the graphs 20
Employee referral
programs
Utilizing social and
professional networks
Employer branding Measuring quality of hire Internal hiring/transfers
41% 40% 34% 22% 21%
Looking ahead, there are certain areas that will continue to remain dominant, like social professional networks and
measuring quality of hire. We also expect employee referral programs, employer branding and internal hiring to get
stronger in 2016 and beyond. The common thread among all these is the power of relationships – the relationships you
have with your potential candidates, cross-functional partners, and employees will pave the path to success.
21. Put these insights into action
75%
21
1
2
3
Download the global report. Visit our website to download the global
report and see what’s trending worldwide.
Share the data. Present this report, or download all the graphs here
to share these insights with your boss, CFO, team and direct reports.
Continue learning. Dig into certain topics by download ebooks and tip
sheets on talent brand measurement, strategic sourcing, and more.
Now that you have the data, use it to plan for the future. Set yourself up for success by incorporating these trends and
insights into your strategies. Start planning for next year, get buy-in from leadership and your team, and show off your
strengths by using the data today:
23. About this report
We surveyed 3,894 talent acquisition decision makers who work in a corporate HR department and have some
authority in their company’s recruitment solutions budget. These individuals focus exclusively on recruiting, manage a
recruiting team, or are HR generalists. These survey respondents are LinkedIn members who opted to participate in
research studies. They were selected based on information in their LinkedIn profile and contacted via email.
We also compared historical Global Recruiting Trends research taken from 2011 – 2014, which had similar sampling
criteria and methodology.
23
Survey fielded August – September
4,125 global respondents2014
Survey fielded August – September
3,379 global respondents2013
Survey fielded May – July
3,028 global respondents2012
Survey fielded April – June
3,263 global respondents2011
Learn what’s trending around the globe. Download the report
24. 24
US: 200
Canada: 305
Mexico: 150
South East Asia: 300
Brazil: 231
China: 200
Australia /
New Zealand: 300
South Africa: 123
India: 298
Nordics: 87
Italy: 199
MENA: 180
UK: 405
Spain: 180
Germany: 200France: 200
Benelux: 225
25. About LinkedIn Talent Solutions
LinkedIn Talent Solutions offers a full range of recruiting solutions to help organizations of all
sizes find, engage, and attract the best talent.
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive
and successful. With over 350 million members worldwide, including executives from every
Fortune 500 company, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network.
Subscribe to our Blog
talent.linkedin.com/blog
Check out our Slideshare
slideshare.net/linkedin-talent-solutions
Follow us on twitter
@hireonlinkedin
See our videos on YouTube
youtube.com/user/LITalentSolutions
Additional insights
[need shortlink for https://business.linkedin.com/talent-
solutions/ms/build-engage-recruit-staffing/home]
Connect with us on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/company/1337
25
26. Researchers
Sam Gager
Team Lead, Research
LinkedIn
26
Erin Stites
Research Consultant
LinkedIn
Kate Hastings
Global Insights Director
LinkedIn
Nathan Gordon
Research Associate
LinkedIn
Authors
Stephanie Bevegni
Marketing Manager
LinkedIn
Lydia Abbot
Marketing Associate
LinkedIn
Afrodisia Cuevas
Research Associate
LinkedIn
