"War for Talent"

Every few months or so, you’ll see headlines like “war for talent” that generate so many debates on Linkedin there’s almost no point in writing another one (she says…doing it.)

The narrative is (more often than not) bleaker than Dickens himself – but in a standard Recfindr fashion, we’re going to challenge this conventional wisdom and instead focus on a more proactive approach to talent acquisition.

We’re big fans of re-framing things. Focusing on re-thinking talent shortage in a way so it unlocks new opportunities for success.

All the TA’s in the world will know that the concept of talent shortages is not black and white. While certain industries or geographic regions may face challenges in finding specific skill sets, the broader notion of a universal talent shortage is more often (extremely) oversimplified. Rather than accepting this at face value, recruiters and employers should critically evaluate their needs and consider alternative approaches (Please see previous blog on failure – it fits in quite nicely).

Right, on to strategies:

• Untapped talent (obvious one)
• Remote working (another obvious one)
• Transferable skills (god, there’s a trend here)
• Upskilling

Untapped talent sources.

It’s no mystery that every single big brand has their own little stand at the University job fairs, using that as a pipeline for talent. Which is a great angle – however, they often greatly overlook individuals with diverse backgrounds on experiences. Focusing on underrepresented demographic groups, nicher communities of different backgrounds and ethnicities can greatly enrich our talent pool and bring fresh perpsectives to our teams. Here’s BEAM as an example - https://beam.org/about?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwMqvBhCtARIsAIXsZpZcCGZUFzdonZTMwlc_LDad4rWkLXBeK9I8KuEbVKtUx0KlUMzE0_UaAoprEALw_wcB

Remote working.

The topic that’s been doing every HR person’s head in in terms of what’s right, what’s company policy and what the ‘rules’ are. There’s no denying the fact that remote working has gotten rid of geographic barriers IF you offer remote working. If you don’t, well, consider it. You’ll be widening your talent pool to the whole globe.

Transferable skills.

This one is massively underrated, and it normally has to do with the hiring managers expectations. I’m going to use crypto here as an example as it wasn’t too long ago this happened. A crypto client wanted a regulatory compliance candidate with a solid understanding of crypto payments, and tokenisation, and like, 200 years of experience. Back in 2019.

Hated bursting the clients bubble but that just won’t happen. Talent Acquisition and Recruiters in agency have a massive responsibility (and quite frankly, their job) to advise strongly on what’s feasible and what’s not. Why? Because they’re the ones with the recruitment experience. Not your COO.

In the crypto situation, finding an individual with a strong regulatory background with an interest in crypto who has covered payments is a far more realistic approach to the search. Not only are you embracing diversity of skill set, but you’re also generating the skillset of the future here.

We don’t give enough credit to transferable skills, and we should.

So, how do we translate these concepts into actionable strategies for TA? Well, like most things, it’s mind shift. It’s education. It’s seeing the opportunity. If there’s one thing that you can take away from this today if you’re in TA (if you don’t know this already) is stand your ground and put your foot down when it comes to unrealistic expectations of your hiring managers. You’re there for a reason, because you know your sh**.

To hiring managers, listen to your TA. Or your recruitment consultant. It’s their job to know what’s feasible, what you could do as an alternative, and what flat out won’t work. It’s in their best interest to ultimately make the placement so it’s not as if they’re ripping you off or being lazy about it.

Rethinking talent shortage is 100% a holistic approach that encompasses diverse talent sources, remote work opportunities, and pro-active recruitment strategies. By looking at it as a ‘non-problem’ in the first place, it’ll make it a lot easier to come up with a solution.

And if you need advice on a niche sector, you can always find them on Recfindr.