Article: Innovative ways to recruit a workforce that can survive changing market trends

Recruitment

Innovative ways to recruit a workforce that can survive changing market trends

Learn how to use cutting edge recruitment function to drive business shifts and cultural agility, to remain relevant in these times of hyper change.
Innovative ways to recruit a workforce that can survive changing market trends

In all business conversations, talent acquisition becomes a crucial part of it because everything that we do is designed around people. Given the way the whole environment has progressed in terms of diversity, inclusivity, client demands, etc. it is becoming both a challenge and opportunity for talent acquisition teams. Working and strategizing, how to get the best talent at the best cost, and living up to the expectations of the business goals are some of the pressing issues TA faces today. And one solution to this is bringing about an agile model in recruitment. 

The agile model is no more just limited to tech but has seen seeping into other functions, including talent acquisitions. In today’s world, agility has brought about a change in the way how companies hire, develop, and manage their people. Before understanding how TA can bring about changes to better meet business needs, it’s essential to understand the crucial changes that the market has undergone. 

Fundamental Shifts in the industry:

• Localization: Protectionism across key target markets, risks in dependence on landed resources, etc.

• Talent Needs: Combination skills, the expectation of a right fit to client project requirements, and a narrow shoulder for navigating. 

• Low unemployment rates: The US has been seeing the lowest unemployment rates for tech workers in years. 

• Dynamism in business: Shorter business cycles, sharper curves, technology, and business model redundancy. 

• Rise of Gig Economy: LinkedIn predicts that by 2020, 43% of the US workforce will be made up of freelancer. 

• New Breed of workers: The digital natives, they are the ones with smartphones, short attention spans, and are all about videos, etc. 

The above pointers indicate a rapid transformation wave that has taken over the HR department. Innovations are now becoming a strategic imperative for most companies and not just acting as a subset. And the most critical part of this puzzle is the people that are hired to run these functions. Thus TA teams need to be the first one to change traditional methods to adapt to the ever-changing market trends. 

Here are some innovative ways that recruiters could adapt to hire new age talents and live through the market transformations: 

• Innovation TechHub hiring –Localization: Build expertise for skills in a location rather than just project staffing needs. Focus on the customer and cultural alignment, inclusion, and acceptance. 

• Flip the HTD Model: Build innovative recruiting practices – train to hire, internships, Liberal art, etc. Disrupt the supply chain and rebuild the market. 

• Talent Branding and Diversity: Localize talent branding in each geography, mentor campus champions 

• Accelerate deployment: Integrated staffing model across FTE and contingent workforce, internships, learn on the go, etc. 

• Adjacent skills hiring/Refactoring: Hire external talent with adjacent skills and train them on high demand skills.

• Strong tech adoption in recruiting: Use AI and ML tools, IntApp, MyInfy, etc. Focus on Hire to retire automation, data-driven selection, and real-time data for joint strategy development for business. 

There are no right or wrong ways of hiring people because every company has different goals and processes. The aspect you need to focus on is creating a recruitment process that is not only candidate friendly but helps the company in finding talent quickly and efficiently. Like Lynn Roger, BMO’s chief transformation officer, puts it, “Speed is the new business currency.” 

 

(This article is based on a session by Vardharaj Venkataraman, VP – Talent Acquisitions, Infosys Limited on Recruitment as a driver for business shifts & cultural agility during TAC 2019 organized by People Matters.)

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Topics: Recruitment, #PMTAC

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