The state of your company’s talent strategy and pipeline as at three months ago has probably been altered dramatically. At the top of your list, you probably are looking at ways to cut costs, and limit new hires currently.
In light of these circumstances, your hiring program and talent pipeline may need to be rejuvenated in preparation for when the economy gets moving again. This is why you need to put your talent pipeline rejuvenation plan into action now, before the hiring frenzy begins.
Why Now?
As a progressive and prepared company, you maintain communications with your hottest prospect leads – previous applicants, subscribers to career page, etc. You have developed a robust and active social media presence to engage passive candidates and project your positive employer value proposition. But to be in the best position for the recovery, you need to do more. Metasys can help you step up your game by working with you to refill your talent pipeline and ensure it is full when it’s time to turn on the tap. Here’s why it may be more important to have a deep pool of candidates now than during normal economic cycles:
- Candidates are paying attention – Many potential candidates are working from home, where they have the freedom to take a peek at what’s happening at your company. During their breaks and lunches, they can check out your social media pages and read your email updates – something they may not have felt comfortable doing in the office. Candidates also may be apprehensive about their future at their current firm, or they may already have been laid off or seen their hours shrink. Whatever the reason, many prospects will be open to overtures from your company.
- Lay the groundwork now – When it’s time to hire again, you will want to have workers in place quickly. The faster they sign their contracts, the faster they can be onboarded, trained, and become productive. But with so many organizations looking to fill positions post-COVID-19, it will become an employee’s market again. The best candidates will be fielding and evaluating several offers, comparing not only salaries, but company culture, benefits, opportunities for advancement, work atmosphere, and more. By communicating these benefits now, you can position your company as a top choice, so candidates will jump when you make the offer.
- You can dig deeper – Workers with flexible, adaptable, and transferable skills will be especially valuable during the recovery. The ”down time” until then opens a window for you to explore candidates’ abilities and look at the kinds of workers you may not typically hire. Search for problem-solvers, leaders, mediators, and people whose talents can be applied in several situations. The best companies of the future will find these gems and have the courage to apply their skills in combination with other flexible talents to get work done in unorthodox, but more efficient, ways.
- Build Diversity – The hiring pause allows you to vet non-traditional skills, but to also engage potential employees possessing diverse perspectives, backgrounds, motivations, and values. With hiring frozen, your workforce is steady, giving you the chance to evaluate its inclusiveness. If your company’s leadership lacks diversity today, now is the time to redouble your efforts to recruit qualified women and people of color. Explore the best media and vertical labor markets to reach these priority markets.
Restoring the Talent Flow
Now that you’re convinced you need to renew your pipeline-filling activities during this relative down time, how do you go about revving up your talent assessment and recruitment efforts? Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Identify your needs – While you’re assessing your current full-time workforce and roster of contingent workers for diversity, also take inventory of their skills, location, and mobility. Compare your in-house talent base to what the market will demand. The gaps will show you where to focus your talent pipeline efforts and help you decide whether you need to hire people with specific skills for full-time work or if it would be better to engage them on a freelance or contract basis.
- Create “Employee of the Year” Personas – Using these needs criteria, create a comprehensive model of ideal employees and gig workers. In the same way marketers build customer personas, your employee personas should include the skills each would possess, their attitudes, the projects they would work on, and the contributions they would make. You could base these personas on composites of current employees – maybe one ideal worker would have Barbara’s can-do attitude, Jack’s lead-by-example charisma, and Mindy’s coding skills
- Groom your brand – Conduct surveys or other intelligence-gathering to determine how your target employees – those who embody the personas you created – view your company as a potential employer. Your reputation in the talent community will largely determine whether you land your fair share of the best prospects come crunch time. Use the information you glean to improve your weaknesses, accentuate your strengths, and mold your image to meet the expectations of your ideal worker persona.
- Stake out your territory – Craft messages and establish your presence where your ideal candidates spend their time. This includes social media, of course, but also community events, professional associations, the pages of the local newspaper, college clubs, and virtual recruiting fairs. Think about how your best employees came to join your firm and go back to the well.
Metasys is a leader in talent assessment, acquisition, and management. Our industry insiders understand the factors that influence talent markets across industries and geographies. Armed with this experience and the best data available, we can devise a talent pipeline strategy that will put you ahead of the competition. Metasys offers a range of services, including candidate vetting, workforce management, diversity sourcing, compliance assurance, and more. We can help you set up a vendor management system (VMS) or freelance management system and teach your hiring managers how to make better hiring decisions. Or, we can customize a talent management program and provide our entire suite of workforce services, allowing you to focus managerial talent and other resources on operations and revenue-generating activities.
We’re ready when you are! Contact us, and let’s discuss how we can put you on the path to an ideal workforce.
