Employee Value Proposition

6 Steps to Overcome Talent Scarcity

4 December 2015|

Updated on 6 March 2019

Regardless of the economic conditions, organizations need to be prepared to deal with the talent crunch, let's look at six steps that tackle the challenge

HR organizations need to adopt a set of best practices that will bridge the gap between the people they need and the people they attract. It’s called the talent paradox: Even as the world economy continues to expand after the global crisis in 2008, a report by the ILO released in 2015 notes that the challenge of under employment and unemployment remains “as daunting a task as ever”, at the same time an astonishing number of companies have been searching in vain for specialized talent.

The talent shortage has many causes: increasingly specialized job requirements, vast numbers of Baby Boomers leaving the workforce, and a young workforce that lacks the skills that most organizations need. The results are all bad: In a global survey of CEOs, respondents blamed the talent shortage for rising talent related expenses and an inability to innovate effectively and pursue market opportunities. Many reported having to cancel or delay a key initiative, missing growth forecasts, and noticing a drop in quality standards—all because they couldn’t find the right people at the right time.

At the receiving end are the HR departments and recruitment firms, who have an undue pressure to scout for the best employees. A total of 46% of global companies feel that recruiting and sourcing high-skilled talent is the number one priority in HR . With limited resources at their disposal, and the intensive process that hiring is, here are six simple, realistic and practical methods which can assist in simplifying the process and also deliver great results:

Build your brand: Building good brand equity ensures that a company has an edge; it automatically attracts the best talent. In order to build strong loyalty, it is important to showcase the passion for the organisation, the work, and the people. Additionally, the focus should be on giving the employee a wonderful experience, from the moment application is sent to time they exit, so that they are habituated to a certain set of values and culture, and fail to settle for anything lesser.

Run automated referral campaigns: Consciously focussing on making the referral process easy to share gives a head start to reach the ideal employee. Employee referrals are 54 times more likely to get hired, are expected to stay longer, and perform better than non-referrals . It is important therefore to use employee networks that already exist, instead of relying on the traditional recruiting methods.

Integrate Social Media: It is critical to run campaigns on the right platform. Traditional channels will only reach a limited set of people with similar skills sets; instead go where potential recruits reside online. Research shows that 3 out of every 4 Internet-User in Asia-Pacific is an active Social Media user. Tweet and connect to other people on Twitter who Tweet about your company’s industry. Study how your organisation is represented on LinkedIn, and give out regular ‘teaser’ videos that showcase the culture of the organisation. Remember to actively engage the present employees and leverage their networks.

Understand your employees: Studies have shown that some 48% of employees say their skills go unnoticed, and 75% feel their work history and experience aren’t leveraged by their employers. Identify, and if necessary, re-allocate roles best suitable for employees, and make sure they have a pleasant experience, work-wise and otherwise. Nothing can hurt the organisation more than the ramblings of a disgruntled employee online.

Develop externally: Working with schools and colleges should involve collaborations, and partnerships with institutes, in creating curriculum, trainings, short-term projects, workshops etc. This ensures that the new hires that join the organisation already come equipped with knowledge and skills required for the job.

Get Creative: Finding creative and practical solutions to workforce related issues involve questioning the traditional conventions of hiring and recruiting. Relaxing criteria based on age, experience and sabbaticals might go a long way in increasing the talent pool one can recruit from, and consequently, brings the potential employee one step closer to the organisation. Further it is also worth exploring people groups like older workers, veterans and people who have left the workforce but might be persuaded to re-enter.

Since only a quarter of global recruiting leaders use data very well, It is not only essential, but indispensable to focus time, resources and energy, ensuring the process of identifying talent is efficient instead of inviting mass applications. Organizations can’t wait for a change in economic conditions to spur a change in their talent prospects. Even as the jobs become more specialized, the problem of talent crunch in here to stay, organizations need to regularly sharpen their best practices to find the right people.

This article is a part of the People Matters- Oracle Let's Talk Talent series. Click here to visit the Let's talk talent page to read more such articles.

Topics

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#Lets Talk Talent

Author

Aaron Green