Join industry experts from AMS and SAP Fieldglass at a roundtable on Tuesday 14th May in our own offices at London Wall as we dive into challenges and opportunities facing the Transport, Engineering and Construction industries in accessing the skills and talent they need for the short and longer term.
Whether you’re just starting out on your journey , or looking to take your established contingent labour program to the next level, we’ll share the latest insights and industry specific innovation designed to help you optimise your supply chain to:
Access critical skills at speed
Diversify talent pipelines
Achieve workforce compliance, visibility and spend control.
Spaces are limited, so register here to secure your seat!
Imagine talent acquisition as a vast ocean, teeming with potential and possibility. But here’s the catch: the most valuable treasures don’t simply wash ashore—they’re hidden deep beneath the surface, in the currents and caverns of passive talent pools.
To thrive in this environment, you can’t rely on chance encounters or the occasional fishing expedition. You need to cultivate a sustainable talent ecosystem—a dynamic, ever-evolving community that not only attracts the best candidates but also nurtures and engages them long before they’re ready to make a move.
In today’s hyper-competitive landscape, where the race for top talent has never been fiercer, traditional approaches to Talent Communities are the equivalent of casting a net and hoping for the best. But what if, instead of merely fishing, you could create your own thriving marine reserve? A place where talent grows, flourishes, and becomes deeply connected to your brand before ever stepping through your door.
According to Bersin the linear career paths of yesteryear have given way to a landscape where experiences, purpose, and company culture are king. Deloitte goes further stating, the allure of a compelling mission and purpose now outweighs mere job titles for many top candidates, especially in the tech industry. It’s not just about filling positions; it’s about aligning with the values and aspirations of the talent you seek to attract.
This is the promise of a well-crafted Talent Community—an intricate, living system that, when managed properly, ensures your organization is never short of skilled, engaged candidates.
Let’s dive into the depths of Talent Communities, exploring how they transform the way we think about talent acquisition, making your organization not just a destination, but a journey that top-tier talent wants to be a part of.
Defining Talent Communities
So, what exactly is a Talent Community? Picture it as a thriving coral reef, teeming with diverse, passive talent that’s carefully nurtured over time. Unlike traditional talent pools that merely serve immediate hiring needs, Talent Communities are the deep-sea currents, constantly moving and evolving, designed to cultivate a rich pipeline of candidates who are primed and ready when the right opportunity arises.
These communities are strategically segmented by demand, enriched with personalised content, and sustained by continuous engagement, making them a vital asset for any organization looking to navigate the ever-changing tides of talent acquisition.
Key Characteristics of Talent Communities:
Demand-driven segmentation: Talent Communities are meticulously segmented by job families and geographic regions, ensuring every interaction is relevant and targeted.
Curated nurture journeys: Each segment receives a bespoke journey—think exclusive videos, content that shows what life is really like in the business and virtual events—that immerses them in your company’s culture and opportunities.
Dynamic engagement: Far from static, Talent Communities are living ecosystems where ongoing interactions keep candidates engaged and ready for the right opportunity.
Strategic asset: These communities are not just about filling vacancies; they are about cultivating a loyal network of brand advocates who will champion your organization long before they join it.
Brand advocacy: Members of your Talent Community become ambassadors, spreading the word about your company’s values, culture, and career opportunities to a wider audience.
Talent Community Dependencies
Building a thriving Talent Community requires more than just good intentions; it demands the right tools, the right people, and a strategic approach. At the heart of any successful community lies a powerful CRM system—a hub that not only organizes and tracks candidate interactions but also drives the entire engagement process.
Technology: Configuring Success
A CRM system is much more than a database; it’s the nerve centre of your talent strategy. Industry leaders like Avature, Phenom, and Beamery offer platforms that do it all—from evaluating candidates to automating workflows and even providing insights through sophisticated analytics. But the technology is only as good as the strategy behind it. A seamless integration between your ATS and CRM, combined with tailored nurture journeys for each talent segment, is key to building a community that thrives. (See AMS Verified for an easy way to compare CRM’s)
Success in this realm also requires constant monitoring and tweaking. Governance is essential, as is a team of dedicated professionals who can translate the raw data into actionable insights. KPMG advocates for treating talent pools like supply chains—planned and cultivated well in advance, rather than sourced in response to immediate needs.
Personnel: Driving the Talent Community Strategy
Behind every successful Talent Community is a team of specialists working in harmony to execute the strategy. Whether it’s a Talent Community Specialist, Talent Intelligence experts, or Talent Attraction professionals, each plays a critical role in ensuring the community’s health and effectiveness.
Talent Community Specialist:
These professionals are the gardeners of your talent ecosystem. They segment the talent pool, monitor its health, and ensure that every candidate is on a tailored journey that aligns with your brand’s values and objectives.
Talent Intelligence:
With their fingers on the pulse of the talent market, these experts provide insights into the size and location of talent pools, helping to refine and optimize your community over time.
Talent Attraction:
Crafting the content that fuels engagement, Talent Attraction specialists ensure that every communication resonates with the intended audience, keeping your community vibrant and active.
Sourcing:
These individuals are the frontline, growing your Talent Community by identifying and nurturing candidates who may not be actively seeking new opportunities but are open to the right offer when it comes.
Content: The Cornerstone of Engaging Talent Communities
Content is the heart of your Talent Community, transforming passive candidates into engaged participants. Authentic, personalized, and value-driven content can turn a community into a powerful brand advocacy engine. Deloitte references that almost a third of new workers leave their jobs within the first 90 days due to unmet expectations on Culture (Deloitte) Many Industry experts are beginning to note this change in what candidates expect, with Bersin and also SIA recently referencing the need to engage with talent in a more thoughtful way (SIA 2023)
Personalized Content:
Candidates crave content that speaks directly to them—their goals, their interests, their aspirations. Whether it’s virtual coffee chats, industry insights, or exclusive events, personalized content keeps your community engaged and loyal.
Diverse and Multi-Format Content:
In today’s digital age, content must be versatile. Text, video, audio—each format has its place in delivering a rich, engaging experience that resonates with different segments of your community. Remember, 86% of candidates read company reviews before applying, making it crucial to present a diverse and authentic portrayal of your company culture. (Glassdoor)
Keys to Successful Content
Success in Talent Communities hinges on collaboration, strategy, and authenticity. A well-rounded content strategy that includes everything from newsletters to exclusive VIP content ensures that candidates remain engaged and connected. Authenticity is key—your content must genuinely reflect your company’s culture and values, fostering a deeper connection with potential candidates.
Anticipated Outcomes
When done right, Talent Communities can dramatically influence direct hires, reduce time-to-hire, and improve the ROI of your recruitment channels. Moreover, by maintaining a robust, engaged talent pool, you’ll see long-term savings and a more consistent candidate experience, ultimately enhancing your ability to attract and retain top talent.
Through our experience we have noted the following:
Talent Community Influence: AMS data reveals that 10-20% of direct hires can be directly traced back to these thriving ecosystems. In industries as varied as Defence, Energy, Professional Services, Banking and Pharmaceuticals, Talent Communities have proven their worth, shifting the hiring landscape. Although external benchmarks are scarce, a 2022 poll by Recruiter.co.uk found that inhouse recruitment teams across the UK credited Talent Communities for about 20% of their direct hires, showing that when communities are nurtured right, they deliver results.
Speeding Up Success: In the race to secure top talent, time is everything. AMS’s success stories highlight that implementing a robust Talent Community strategy can slash time-to-hire by 15-20%. With candidates already engaged and primed, you’re not just speeding up the hiring process—you’re doing it with precision.
Maximizing ROI: Tracking the origins of your hires is like finding the golden thread that ties your recruitment efforts together. By pinpointing the original source of each hire, organizations can refine their strategies, doubling down on what works and eliminating what doesn’t. The result? A smarter, more efficient investment in the channels that yield the highest returns.
Strategic Cost Savings: One long-term AMS client saw a remarkable 90% reduction in media spend by building a strategically focused Talent Community. By prioritizing targeted content and effectively utilizing CRM across all channels, they didn’t just reduce costs—they enhanced efficiency, demonstrating that a well-maintained talent pipeline is a smart investment for sustained savings
Crafting Positive Candidate Journeys: Not every candidate will be the right fit, but with a nurturing strategy, even those who don’t make the cut leave with a positive impression. By sharing culture-rich content that resonates with your core values, you attract candidates who are not only skilled but also aligned with your company’s ethos—boosting productivity and retention rates along the way. (Deloitte)
Championing Diversity: A well-maintained Talent Community isn’t just a reservoir of skills—it’s a gateway to diverse talent. Through targeted engagement and thoughtful nurturing, these communities become a magnet for candidates from a variety of backgrounds, ensuring that your future workforce is as diverse as it is capable.
AI and The Future
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a game-changer in the realm of talent acquisition. As AI continues to integrate with CRM systems, it promises to revolutionize how we manage Talent Communities. From automating tasks to providing deeper insights into candidate behaviour, AI is set to enhance every aspect of your talent strategy, enabling a more proactive and efficient approach to building and maintaining talent pipelines.
Conclusion
In 2024, Talent Communities are no longer just ripples in the ocean of talent acquisition—they’re the undercurrents shaping the entire seascape. As the tides of the talent market continue to shift, those who harness the power of these communities will find themselves not merely staying afloat but navigating with precision.
By fostering deep, meaningful interactions and crafting personalized nurture journeys, Talent Communities become the lifeblood of your organization’s future. They transform brand advocacy into a tidal force, guiding the most sought-after talent straight to your shores.
In an increasingly competitive environment, Talent Communities aren’t just a strategy—they’re the sustainable course to long-term success.
"It’s not just a job they want—it’s a job with purpose, and leaders are trying to meet that expectation."
Last week I had the absolute pleasure of facilitating my first roundtable at this year’s SIA CWS Summit on the topic of ‘Transitioning your MSP’.
With roundtable delegates representing a number of large blue chip organisations, we discussed the most important factors and key considerations in a transition from one Managed Service Provider to another.
It was fascinating to hear the different experiences as some of the delegates shared their own successes and challenges on already having transitioned from one MSP to another, whilst others were about to embark on a selection/procurement process for a new MSP and we heard from others who were just about to commence on this journey.
Some of the key takeaways from the session:
We agreed that the starting point of considering any transition is to ask yourself “what are we trying to achieve” from this change of provider? Is it about innovation, cost savings or even improved technology? Once you are clear on this objective there are a number of other key steps that businesses can be taking to prepare, such as:
Data – ensuring you have up to date and correct data with details such as source mix, worker pay rates, tenure etc. This information will be crucial to a smooth transition to a new provider and overall experience for the hiring manager and contractor whilst ensuring that there is no disruption to the payment or extension cycle.
Agree a date for a data freeze – when does the cut off take place between existing and new provider? This will ensure that there is a clean transfer of data but also support the work in progress, agreeing owners and stages of cut off and transfer.
Technology – whilst there are lots of considerations when it comes to technology, future technology and ownership of the tech etc, some key areas to focus on should include; highlighting any integrations that are currently in place as these will need to be identified for the change of tech. Any impact on wider teams to support the facilitation of the finance or HR process and ensuring that the full tech stack including integrations is taken into consideration.
Change and Comms – it is important to have a strong communication plan that includes identifying all service users who will need to be informed of the changes and progress updates. This should include hiring managers, contractors and suppliers but don’t forget other areas that touch the process including Finance, Tax and HR teams. Overall, a robust comms plan will support the change management programme and experience for all users.
Some further learnings I took from the session, firstly all delegates said their number one priority was business continuity. Having minimal to no disruption to their hiring managers and in turn to any critical projects or programmes is incredibly important, particularly ones heavily supported by contingent workers.
Innovation was another key call out, customers wanted to ensure that innovation was being brought by the new provider, particular when it came to technology which supported the solution, with a real mix of organisations who had procured their own VMS or planned on using the MSP’s technology.
I thoroughly enjoyed chairing this incredibly insightful roundtable and hearing from this diverse group of delegates from all different sectors, calling out the benefits of change and sharing their successes and challenges.
All delegates said their number one priority was business continuity. Having minimal to no disruption to their hiring managers and in turn to any critical projects or programmes is incredibly important, particularly ones heavily supported by contingent workers.
At first glance, hiring a painting contractor and managing campus recruiting seem worlds apart. Yet, dive a bit deeper, and you’ll find they share a core principle that’s surprisingly universal. Intrigued? Let me share a story.
After moving into our new home, with the holidays fast approaching and my to-do list overflowing, the walls still needed painting. Despite my DIY enthusiasm, time was not on my side. Reluctantly, I called in a commercial painter. To my amazement, they transformed our home in a day, allowing me to focus on what truly mattered – welcoming family.
This experience was a lightbulb moment, mirroring a concept well-known in business: outsourcing, or specifically, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) in talent acquisition. In our everyday lives, we do this everywhere – we outsource our car repairs to trained mechanics, healthcare to medical professionals, gardening to lawncare professionals, and the list goes on. But when it comes to recruiting, especially campus recruiting, we seem to forget help is available in the form of RPO.
Let’s explore why handing the brush (or the resumes) over to the experts might just be the smartest play you make this season.
Quality:
Quality isn’t just about getting it done but getting it done so well, people can’t help but notice. It’s like comparing walls and trim painted by a seasoned painter to your first attempt at painting; the difference is night and day. Outsourcing campus recruiting throws professional expertise into the mix, ensuring that the job isn’t just completed, but it’s done with a level of polish and finesse that only comes from years in the game. As an example, AMS supported an aerospace client in the redesign of their global engineering program, providing market best practice, insights, structure, and the delivery of a new assessment process. Results: We conducted over 2K final round interviews resulting in female hires increasing from 28% to 42% and had less than 2% written offer declines.
Cost:
Now, let’s talk dollars and sense. Economies of scale? Check. Lower opportunity costs because you’re not tied up doing something outside your wheelhouse? Double-check. Leveraging a professional’s access to significant and varied expertise? Triple-check. But it is not always about saving money. In some cases, it’s about creating better outcomes in the long-term that translates into high-quality hires, improved DEI outcomes, and improved retention, among other things. But make no mistake, administrative aspects of a campus program are the ideal areas to consider outsourcing as cost savings are extremely likely.
Time:
Time is that one thing we’re always running out of, and let’s be honest, spreading ourselves too thin is a recipe for disaster. Handing off aspects of your campus recruiting program can free your experienced team members up to execute where it makes a difference or tackle big-picture projects that really move the needle. It’s about playing it smart and making every second count.
Expertise and Specialization:
There’s something about someone who knows their stuff inside out that just inspires confidence. Whether it’s the pro painter who knows exactly how to bring your vision to life or a talent acquisition expert who can navigate the campus recruiting scene like a boss, that level of expertise is a game-changer. It means better outcomes, less fuss, and a whole lot of impressed onlookers.
Risks and Challenges:
Sure, handing over the reins comes with its own set of worries. Will the service provider get it? Can they deliver to your standards? It’s like letting someone else cook your signature dish for a big party. The trick is in the vetting—checking out their past work, talking to references, and making sure they’re the real deal. Consider AMS: With a 97% client retention rate, a unique specialization in campus recruiting, over 100+ years of campus leadership experience, choosing us isn’t just a safe bet—it’s a strategic advantage.
Benefits and Drawbacks:
The upside? Think potential cost savings, top-notch quality, and the freedom to dive into work that really makes an impact. Not to mention, the ability to scale up or down as your business ebbs and flows. The downside? Costs may add up, building trust takes time, and you might miss having those extra hands for odd jobs.
Conclusion:
The moral of the story? Whether it’s ensuring your home looks its best or sculpting a top-tier early career recruiting program, smart outsourcing is your strategic ace. It’s not just about delegating tasks; it’s about empowering your organization to excel at what it does best, unlocking potential and efficiencies along the way. Ready to play it smart? Let’s chat: Connect with a talent acquisition expert.
“Master your strengths, outsource your weaknesses.” – Ryan Khan
In today’s challenging talent landscape, organizations globally are making the move towards skills-based hiring. By pivoting from a sole focus on candidates’ academic qualification and specific work experience to the skills needed to fulfil open roles, organizations can draw talent from a wider, more diverse talent pool to bridge their talent gaps.
In APAC, India is gradually warming up to embracing a skills-based approach.
AMS recently held a roundtable session at SHRM India Annual Conference 2023 and spoke to some of the region’s leading talent acquisition (TA) professionals on skills-based vs role-based hiring. The panelists explored ways to create more flexible, scalable, and innovative TA teams, and to make business success a reality. They also outlined ways that organizations can hire the right people with a focus on skills, charting a path to creating future-ready teams.
Below are the key points from the discussion.
Transitioning from role-based to skills-based hiring Moving to a skills-based hiring approach is a significant change for many businesses. As one of the panelists pointed out, “It’s not something that can happen overnight.” Good news is, many organizations in India have embarked on the journey, albeit in small steps.
Several panelists had slowly introduced skills-based hiring by combining both role-based and skills-based approaches. Many are trialing small pilot programs – shifting to skills-based hiring for some areas of the business where transferable skills are more apparent and relevant. But as skills-based hiring is not a one-size-fits-all approach, other business areas in which the case for change is not as obvious, have yet to adopt the approach.
Across the panel, the general sentiment was that a skills-based approach works well for roles in the mid to lower levels of seniority, as being in the management level would still require a level of experience. With that, role-based hiring will be more appropriate for the latter. As one expert point edit, “Experience adds to the depth of leadership.”
Some speakers had gone much further in their skills-based transition journeys. One of the experts discussed how they have changed their new job descriptions and ads to highlight skills and capabilities, rather than experience and education. The business has now made this mandatory across all their new hires. “It’s a big cultural and management change, and it means rewiring people’s expectations”, the panelist explained.
Improving time-to-hire Adopting a skills-based hiring approach has helped many businesses open new channels of talent, as well as improve efficiencies in the hiring process.
Two key issues many panelists were facing were the long time to hire and ability to onboard candidates quickly. By switching to a skills-based approach, many said they were able to remove many common hiring barriers – such as losing out on skilled candidates due to the lack of specific experience, receiving applications with irrelevant skills, and minimizing the common (and costly) issue of ‘mis-hires’.
By being able to place the right person for the role at speed, TA teams have benefited from this more efficient hiring process.
Creating a wider talent pool One of the key discussion points from the session was highlighting how a focus on skills, rather than academic qualifications, creates a platform to drive better diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within a business.
The approach allows people with transferable skills to fill roles that may previously have been out of reach for them, especially if the job requirements were based solely on experience or the institute a candidate studied at. This is especially true for typically overlooked talent groups, such as candidates from more diverse backgrounds. A skills-based approach enables organizations to make more equitable decisions based on an employee’s full range of skills, rather than the job description. Shifting the focus to value skills more than experience, education, or previous workplace, helps organizations to avoid biases against certain talent groups.
As one of the roundtable experts highlighted, “By education, I’m an engineer. But I’ve spent most of my career in investment banking, and I’ve been working in HR only for the past five years.” By focusing on transferable skills, candidates and internal employees have the opportunity to excel in roles that they may not have been considered qualified to do historically, despite possessing all the right core abilities.
However, changing to a skills-based mindset can be challenging, and the approach needs to be driven from top-down. Leadership needs to bring this new approach to their TA and HR teams, and as one panelist said, “To drive changing biases within an organization, employees require need to break their circles first.”
Future-proofing through upskilling and reskilling With the intense competition in the market, more organizations are looking at upskilling and reskilling their incumbent staff. As one panelist put it, “You cannot buy talent endlessly. You will need to build it.”
In addition, with technology driving the business’ ever-changing needs, employee skills need to keep up with the change too. One panelist emphasized that “Every skill set you see today is going to disappear very quickly. What we had 10 years ago is now obsolete.”
Many panelists agree that adopting a skills-based approach can give employers the ability to upskill workers and provide learning opportunities. This enables internal mobility and boosts retention rates, demonstrating that the organization values the employees’ skills and potential.
Recognizing that skills are the future, not roles In today’s challenging landscape, a skills-based approach can help close the talent gap for organizations by finding the right talent, more quickly.
As most panelists agreed, there is a strong appetite to look at skills rather than roles. The next step is to convince those at the leadership level to get behind it. As one panelist said, “We have to shift and start investing in skills. If we only invest in role-based hiring, we will all fail.”
Need help in making the transition to a skills-based approach? Contact us today to learn more about how AMS can help drive forward your skills strategy.
Sharing my latest Catalyst article with expert views from Dustin Talley and Laurie Padua on integrating contingent hiring into a more holistic approach to talent management.
“After the 2008 financial crisis, we saw heavy utilization of contract workers. At that time, it was driven by necessity, but not strategic in most cases. This time around is proving to be different. The organizations that get it right will find ways to use budget wisely in place of headcount. Instead of just filling roles reactively, companies are taking proactive measures like building talent pools and equipping their teams with access to on-demand resources,” says Dustin Talley, CEO and founder of Talent Simplified.
The pandemic transformed the world and presented organisations with the opportunity to modernise and find new growth potential. The Great Resignation only accelerated the criticality of the Extended Workforce as part of an organisation’s talent pool. The ability to work more flexibly has never been so highly valued by candidates as part of their decision-making process when applying for roles.
Today, with rising costs, rapid advances in technology, economic uncertainty, and the war for talent – employers are being forced to become more flexible when it comes to creating a workforce strategy that ensures success for the future.
Contingent workers historically addressed short-term tactical gaps in an organisation’s permanent workforce. Fast-forward, and today the Extended Workforce has become the major talent innovation of this millennium culminating into a large, growing, and increasingly strategic part of the global workforce.
Most leaders expect that not only will the Extended Workforce grow as a % of their total workforce, but also the worker engagement models utilised as part of an Extended Workforce will broaden into many subcategories.
“77% of executives believe freelance and gig workers will substantially replace full-time employees within the next five years”
Mercer Global Trend Report
A recent Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey (2023) from Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) indicates that organisations expect an increase in external workforce as a share of their total workforce over the next 10 years with the regular/permanent employee population decreasing.
Traditionally discussions around different types of workers have focused on the merits (challenges) of one vs the other. Workforces can be – and should be – blended strategically to create the most talented workforce to support an organisation in achieving their strategic goals.
Fast forward a few years and an organisation that has an integrated talent strategy that adopts a “skills first” approach and has a leading resourcing programme that asks a simple question: “who or what is the best-fit talent for this specific initiative – no matter the source?”, will win the war for talent!
So, how do you create a workforce that will be resilient in the face of talent shortages, rapid change, and wide-ranging uncertainty? And what does the optimal workforce mix of permanent, contingent, freelance and gig workers look like?
There is no single answer to these questions as the optimal workforce mix will vary considerably based on each organisation’s unique requirements and position. However, as a starting position, a clear understanding of the current state and the key factors internally and externally that will influence the right workforce mix for your organisation is critical.
A helpful place to start is to ask yourself the following questions:
What are you trying to achieve?
What data do I have and what am I missing?
What are you short vs. long term strategic objectives?
What are the current challenges your organisation faces when accessing talent?
What are the barriers (perceived or otherwise) that may influence your workforce mix?
How do we inform and educate our hiring managers and buyers on the range of workforce channels available to them and how do we influence their decision-making?
Although there is no one answer in relation to the optimal workforce mix, we can be sure that it will only continue to evolve and that workforces will need to be boundless, global and with the ability to scale and flex at pace. Typically, an organisation’s workforce will be a mix of permanent employees and a range of the Extended Workforce categories. They will be quantified by skill count, not headcount.
Alongside this workforce mix, people will reskill and upskill to fit the chapters in their career and the needs of organisations that will benefit from their experience.
As organisations increasingly begin to recognise the strategic advantage delivered by an ever-expanding workforce, incorporating contractors, consultancies, professional services etc rather than simply viewing them as a cost. Encapsulating this broader workforce under the term “Extended Workforce” feels more representative and a natural evolution of the contingent workforce reference.
The pandemic demonstrated an Extended Workforce is critical to an organisation’s ability to scale and flex in a rapidly changing environment. Industry research suggests that 58% of total workforce spend is on employees with 42% spent on the Extended Workforce, however by 2028 it is expected to reach 50%.
Leveraging the Extended Workforce to deliver agility and manage everchanging demands is only part of the story, it provides a route to engage highly skilled talent, address DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) objectives and drive greater innovation – all of which add to an organisation’s competitive advantage.
“Sometimes work is best done by Google employees. Other times, the work is best done by specialised companies that have particular expertise.”
“In an era of specialisation, flexible working hours, global supply chains, and remote or project-based work, the extended workforce approach is becoming more widespread.”
Time for a more holistic and collaborative approach
As organisation’s embrace this new workforce mix it requires a more holistic approach to talent acquisition and workforce planning strategies which necessitates far greater collaboration across teams particularly talent attraction and procurement.
“The right talent, in the right place, at the right time, is the equation for success in today’s world. In an era of technological change, demographic shifts and economic uncertainty, companies can enhance their ability to compete by building a flexible work model.”
BCG & Harvard Business School (2020)
Over the next 10 years most leaders expect a growth in the worker engagement models utilised as part of an Extended Workforce. Unsurprisingly technology providers are creating and developing their product suite to support. It is no coincidence that Beeline and Fieldglass now go to market as Extended Workforce platforms, dropping the well-established, but perhaps now outdated, VMS reference.
Despite the recognition that change is happening many business leaders feel unsure how best to navigate their organisation and are left in a period of inertia. The answer may lie in leveraging the Talent Acquisition expertise and technology insight of an experienced partner to compliment internal teams and technology platforms.
“High performing procurement functions avoid body shopping or wholesale BPO outsourcing and focus on MSP hybrid models for select actives to augment internal capability”
Deloitte 2021 Global CPO Survey
Leading organisations are not simply merging previously siloed approaches to internal and external talent but creating a dexterous workforce approach built around the new norm.
The journey to realise the full value of Extended Workforce requires an investment of time to fully explore the underlying drivers of value, develop a clear roadmap and a well-articulated business case for change.
AMS is sponsoring this year’s SIA CWS Summit Europe and hosting an interactive panel discussion on ‘Extended Workforce as a Strategic Skills Enabler?’ at 4:15-5:00pm GMT on 9 May. If you’re attending the Summit, please come and join us.
I firmly believe that now is the time for organizations to leverage their brand for contingent hiring. What I am seeing in the market across the US would indicate direct sourcing is here to stay. This AMS Catalyst article helps explain why.
Contingent direct sourcing creates and nurtures talent that wants to work for an organization and has an affinity for it. Companies have some ownership of that talent pool, with the outsourcer nurturing continent talent and building a pool of talent that will return to work for the organization again and again.
With the latest ONS labour market data revealing that the UK once again reported record breaking vacancies numbers in the three months leading up to May, and with competition for talent fiercer than ever, businesses must place more emphasis on internal hiring strategies.
With the skills gap continuing to widen and available talent levels dwindling, new and innovative external hiring strategies are constantly being turned to as a means of beating the competition for the best staff. While this is certainly important, I’d argue that far too many firms are focusing the majority of their attention on outward candidate attraction and ignoring their current resources – which will only exacerbate the problem. With the ONS also reporting last month that open jobs had surpassed the number of people unemployed, staff are arguably ripe for the picking of competitors. Identifying where internal mobility opportunities lie in order to move staff across the business and boost retention rates will help alleviate some of the pressures on resourcing teams.
It’s important to also stress that reducing employee turnover should be a strategic focus for the boardroom, not just the HR leadership team. Employee turnover involves significant wage inflation as external hires will nearly always come at a premium unless companies are doing a good job of hiring for potential over job-readiness. And with employee turnover there will nearly always be a lag before a new person is in a role, leaving teams under-resourced and productivity declining. So, naturally, employers need to do a far better job of developing and retaining existing talent to both aid retention and help deliver against growing workloads – and encouraging a greater level of internal mobility is key to this aim.
While there is no quick fix for the UK’s skills shortage, opening positions up internally as well as implementing upskilling or reskilling programmes for current staff will boost retention rates in the long term.A lack of career opportunity is regularly cited as the reason that people leave their current employer so ensuring companies are looking at their internal employee population will have a swift impact on skills deficits.
What is certain is that, as it stands, employers aren’t doing all they can to maximise internal hiring opportunities and a new approach to internal hiring is needed, one that includes new technologies that give organisations a holistic view of the skills within the business and can proactively help to match existing talent to new internal opportunities. We need to change our corporate cultures so that managers are encouraged or rewarded to develop and progress their existing talent, not just look externally. And we need to allow talent acquisition teams to proactively approach internal talent for roles in the same way that we would do for external talent.
The UK employment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points on the quarter to 75.6% but is still below pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels. The number of full-time employees increased over the quarter to a record high however, this was partially offset by a decrease in the number of part-time employees. The number of self-employed workers fell during the coronavirus pandemic and has remained low, although they have increased over the quarter.
