LinkedIn's lead recruiter shares 3 tips on how companies can cope with greater age diversity, and drive more internal improvements and internal hiring

• Amy Schultz, LinkedIn's director of talent acquisition for product, recently revealed 3 changes companies should make in 2020 during an episode of the "Recruiting Future" podcast.
• The 3 tips were to start regularly surveying your current employees, establish a formal internal hiring process, and change your company's policies to appeal to age-diverse candidates.
• "Start with the minor improvements rather than the big overhauls," Schultz said on the podcast. "Sometimes it's the small thing that's the barrier to employees."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Recruiting professionals need to stay up to date on the latest research if they want to land the best employees.

Amy Schultz, the director of talent acquisition for LinkedIn's product department, suggested 3 changes companies need to make in 2020 to attract the top talent on the "Recruiting Future" podcast.

Schultz revealed the most impressive stats from LinkedIn's 10th annual Global Trends Report, released in early 2020. The report surveyed 7,000 talent professionals, used data from the platform, and included interviews with recruiting leaders.

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A key takeaway was that the future of recruiting is tied to mastering these data and analytics skills. LinkedIn found that over the last 5 years, the number of HR professionals with such skills in their profiles increased by 242%. Also, 73% of talent leaders said they will prioritize people analytics in the coming years, according to Schultz.

She also advised on 3 changes hiring managers should make immediately for better recruiting:

Start surveying your employees about where the company can improve - and immediately start implementing changes.

Schultz advised launching a survey that "frequently" asks employees for feedback on where the company can improve. Once the feedback comes in, Schultz said to immediately begin implementing a program to fix major issues. While larger problems might take more time, Schultz said to offer employees minor wins for less-time consuming solutions.

"Start with the minor improvements rather than the big overhauls," she added. "Sometimes it's the small thing that's the barrier to employees."

Employee surveys can also work to make your office more inclusive. Intel's chief diversity and inclusion officer recently told Business Insider that the company sends out an annual survey to 7,000 workers asking for ways to improve on inclusion.

The survey respondents said they felt hiring managers didn't come from different enough backgrounds, which led to Intel mandating a diverse hiring board.

The most qualified candidates will likely already be at your company.

Perhaps due to a tight labor market, Schultz revealed that, of the companies LinkedIn talked to, there has been a 20% increase in internal hiring since 2015.

"Organizations are realizing how cost effective it is and beneficial as a whole when they recruit internally," she said on Recruiting Future. "People will stay longer and perform better."

Schultz herself helped launch an internal recruiting pilot at LinkedIn, and said it's the company's fastest-growing program.

Schultz recommended companies set up formal processes through which internal employees can move around. This kind of formal process can only lead to a greater number of internal applications, according t0 Schultz.

Recruiters can help by playing a bigger role initiating an internal hire, and can provide managers with data that supports the benefits an internal hire would offer over an external one.

Make your company appealing to both Gen Z and Boomers.

With Gen Z entering the workforce and older Americans pushing retirement, US companies are more age-diverse than ever before. Though age discrimination still exists - as do stereotypes that young people adapt better in a tech company - advocates for older workers say having one work with Gen Z or millennial employees will lead to better mentorship.

Companies agree: Schultz revealed that 89% of surveyed talent professionals say multigenerational workforces make companies more successful. And 56% of surveyed companies updated their policies to appeal to a broader age range.

Schultz recommended recruiters make the workplace more appealing to both young and old workers. Business Insider's Hillary Hoffower recently reported that companies are even hiring "generational consultants" to better adapt their offices for age diversity.

"This is something that has come up over multiple years," Schultz added. "Our nature of work is changing, which is also interesting.