15 March 2022 —The changing face of talent acquisition
The talent landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. While the acute labor shortages and workforce disruptions of recent years have eased in some markets, organizations still face significant challenges attracting, developing, and retaining critical skills. At the same time, advances in artificial intelligence, changing workforce expectations, and ongoing digital transformation are reshaping how organizations think about talent acquisition and workforce planning.
It's never been more important for organizations to take a strategic approach to talent. The competition for critical skills remains intense across industries, geographies, and job functions. Traditional talent attraction methods alone are no longer sufficient, and organizations that continue to rely on familiar approaches may struggle to meet their workforce needs and support future growth.
"There has been a significant shift toward digital, data, and technology-enabled roles across almost every industry," says Jo-Ann Feely, global managing director of innovation at AMS. "The challenge today is not simply talent scarcity. Organizations are navigating a growing gap between the skills they need and the skills available in the market, particularly as technology and AI continue to change the nature of work."
An elevated focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, alongside increasing expectations around flexibility, wellbeing, sustainability, and purpose, has added further complexity to workforce planning.
"Organizations are balancing multiple workforce priorities simultaneously," says Steve Leach, regional managing director UK&I at AMS. "Add ongoing skills shortages, evolving business strategies, and changing employee expectations, and it creates significant challenges for workforce planning. Traditional talent acquisition methods alone are no longer enough."
Amid persistent skills shortages and changing workforce demands, organizations are increasingly realizing they need to rethink how they acquire and develop talent. Rather than focusing exclusively on hiring people who already possess every required skill, many employers are looking for individuals with the potential to learn, adapt, and grow through non-traditional pathways, including structured training and upskilling programs.
The more progressive organizations are becoming talent makers, not talent takers. They are creating new talent pipelines while simultaneously investing in reskilling and redeploying existing employees.
AMS is supporting employers through this journey, helping organizations create workforces that are not only resilient in today's business environment but also agile, diverse, and prepared for future change. The company calls this workforce dexterity, delivered through recruit, train and deploy and upskilling programs.
Through workforce dexterity, AMS encourages organizations to think about skills rather than headcount and to create opportunities for talent to move throughout the business as workforce needs evolve.
"We hire candidates and immediately provide training in areas such as software engineering, data science, and change management," says Feely. "We then place them into client organizations and continue supporting their development before they transition into permanent roles. We recruit them, train them, deploy them, and help create the workforce of the future."
Increasingly, organizations are also looking inward to address skills gaps. Internal mobility, reskilling initiatives, and skills-based workforce planning are helping employers unlock existing talent while building greater workforce agility. Rather than focusing solely on filling vacancies, organizations are creating pathways for people to develop capabilities that align with future business needs.
"There's strong demand for early career talent, but organizations often face challenges providing the training and mentoring needed to develop that talent at scale," says Feely. "Working with a partner like AMS allows organizations to accelerate workforce development while building critical skills for the future. Businesses need to think differently. It's not just about current and future headcount. It's about current and future skills needs."
While organizations can significantly expand their talent pools by hiring for potential rather than experience alone, they still face the challenge of attracting people to work for them in an increasingly competitive market.
What candidates look for in an employer continues to evolve. Compensation remains important, but employees are also evaluating organizations based on culture, career development opportunities, flexibility, leadership, wellbeing, and purpose.
Increasingly, candidates want to work for organizations that contribute positively to society, foster inclusive environments, invest in employee development, and demonstrate authentic values. Candidates have access to more information than ever before and can quickly identify when employer messaging does not align with employee experiences.
It is no longer enough simply to define a set of brand values. Organizations must demonstrate those values consistently through leadership actions, employee experiences, and workplace culture.
Alongside its efforts to support organizations in acquiring and developing talent for the modern workforce, AMS also helps employers strengthen and evolve their employer brands.
This includes amplifying aspects of the employer value proposition that are increasingly important to today's workforce while ensuring that brand messaging remains authentic and aligned with the organization's culture and objectives.
"We are working with organizations across a range of industries to transform and strengthen employer brands," says Leach. "The values that brands promote must be an authentic representation of the organization and communicated transparently. Organizations need to understand who they want to attract and engage those audiences with meaningful and credible messages."
Talent acquisition remains a board-level priority because workforce capability directly impacts business performance.
"Organizations need to think beyond traditional hiring approaches and consider every available talent channel," says Leach. "The skills they need may not always exist in the market today, which is why investing in skills creation, workforce agility, and continuous learning has become so important. The organizations that succeed will be those that can identify potential, develop capability, and adapt as business needs evolve."
Workforce dexterity means looking at every possible talent channel while recognizing that many of the skills organizations need for the future must be developed, not simply acquired. Organizations that proactively invest in their employer brand, hire for potential, and create opportunities for continuous learning will be better positioned to navigate change and build the workforce capabilities needed for long-term success.
