Skills Acquisition – Whatever happened to the War for Talent?

In recent years, there have been plenty of column inches devoted to the “War for Talent”. It’s become something of a cliché and given the number of recent redundancies may appear incongruous. Despite the recession, the war rumbles on. Where professional roles are concerned, the UK has a growing skills gap that is projected to peak in 2020. Whilst the fall in GDP will slow the size of this gap – it is likely to be a problem for us all over the next decade – and especially as we come out of recession and return to growth.


What about the increased number of available candidates?

At the peak of the boom and thus the peak of resource demand, over 90% of candidates who registered with Sanderson were already in jobs. That figure is now less than 50%. Unfortunately this does not mean that the skills shortage problem has gone away – it only means that the number of active candidates has increased. Most of these active candidates will offer generic skills that you probably already have within your organisation. The problem is that highly skilled people, with niche experience are staying put as opposed to moving around the market.


Adverts = lots of response. But is the response any good?

Possibly yes… but probably no. An advertising led approach to candidate and skills acquisition will get you lots of CV’s, but the best talent (paralysed by perceived market instability) is staying where it is. As a result the skills you attract may not be aligned to your business objectives.

As a result, you really need to ensure that your recruitment partners are adding real value. They should work with you in a way that:

• Offers a real life view of the market – i.e. that passive candidates are not moving for either agency or direct attraction. The recession has changed people’s view of employment and you will need to take a more joined up strategy in order to tease out the real talent from the market by managing their views and opinions.

• Ensures it’s not about money – the real talent in the market place, and particularly highly / niche skilled candidates are not enticed solely by the money or the brand (especially as so many brands have become tarnished in the last 12 months). Every job has to be positioned correctly – in a way that reassures the candidate that it is right for them and worth moving for.

• Makes honesty the best policy – very few businesses can show consistent or aggressive growth and it is more likely you have had to cut back and reposition in order to grow again. Be honest, share the pain you have experienced and share your vision of the future. Good quality candidates will do their research anyway, honesty will build some trust.

Makes partnership the only way – your recruitment partner becomes your voice in the market and an extension of your own employment brand, ensuring you are marketed well to your chosen candidate market. This can only be done with a long-term commitment and strategy. If you get this right you can begin to drive both candidate sentiment and market perception – get it wrong and these elements will work against you.

Done correctly you will end up with a partnering arrangement with a business who will develop a network of top quality talent on your behalf. This not only delivers better results for you, it is also more fulfilling for the recruiter and will ensure you have a long term relationship to rely upon – especially as we move towards a decade of shortages in key highly skilled areas.



Contact me on Twitter @NickWalrond, or by email at Nick.Walrond@sandersonplc.com. Or simply leave a comment below.


"Carpet War" Image source: Flickr Creative Commons - (Photomish Dan)

"Open to Partnership" Image source: Flickr Creative Commons - (CQuarles)

Recruitment Process Efficiency - A lot more interesting than it sounds

As I discussed in last weeks blog, the recent masterclass I gave at a Lean Government event focused on cost efficiency and the development of a lean approach to resourcing.

I divided the masterclass into three topic areas, the first of which was ‘Process Efficiency’. Not a title to set the world on fire, I admit – but something which is a lot more interesting than it sounds – and if it’s not interesting it’s certainly worth knowing. Either way, it’s what I want to look at this week before moving on to ‘Skills Acquisition’ and ‘Blended Sourcing Models’ in future postings. As a whole I’m hoping that my practical approach will put you on a lean resourcing path.


A "One Stop Shop" is not necessarily Lean

In recent years a lot of businesses in both the public and private sectors have moved towards a one stop resourcing shop – this is either run by an in-house team or outsourced to an MSP (Managed Service Provider) or RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcer). As a solution this may work - BUT, and it’s a big but (hence the capitals) it will be geared towards a ‘high volume, low unit cost’ model which will has a major pitfall – it encourages a strictly transactional hiring relationship with the candidates you target. (i.e. need a person – go to market, need a person - go to market etc, etc, etc).

‘You may think that your unit price is competitive, and indeed it may be, but the person you get will not be delivering value for money.’

This means that your cost per hire remains low, but that when you need skilled professionals you’ll be recruiting resource that is below par. Without a proper relationship with the market and some real resourcing expertise this approach will just carry on carrying on. You may think that your unit price is competitive, and indeed it may be, but the person you get will not be delivering value for money.


My recommendation...

My recommendation is simple - form direct relationships with businesses that are already active in the candidate market – those that can deliver the skills you need for the future. You need to do this in advance of any resource requirements. It is critical to ensure that your chosen recruitment partner is then able to track both active and passive candidates (i.e. the good one that aren’t looking for work) to ensure you get someone who is well aligned to your strategic objectives.


...then focus on your non-permanent population

From a total cost cutting perspective, it is our experience that most businesses will achieve the best results by focusing on their professional non-permanent population – be they contractors, professional temps, consultant or interims. – it is likely that a large percentage of this resource is not controlled by any process – and whilst the direct hiring relationship increases the chance of getting the right individual, the lack of control will have led to over-spend and increased risk.

We regularly see situations where contractors have been hired directly by senior stakeholders, against their own budgets, at rates significantly over the market norm. In addition, it’s unlikely that contractors will be operating via robust terms of business, or indeed have undergone the correct level of compliance checking (see Baroness Scotland for further information).


25% savings are a reality

Targeting non-permanent resource in a coordinated and constructive way - ‘finding and replacing’ where appropriate - will (on average) deliver 25% cost savings. Most larger organisations spend in excess of £2m on professional non-permanent resource and should be able to show a minimum of £500k in savings.

Handled correctly, you will have a strong relationship with expert recruiters (in specialist areas) that will deliver the talent that you need whilst working within a framework that delivers value for money and manages risk.

How you get to this point is another topic all together, but as they say – if you’re interested ‘Ask me how’!

Contact me on Twitter @NickWalrond, or by email at Nick.Walrond@sandersonplc.com. Or simply leave a comment below.


"Lean" Image source: Flickr Creative Commons - (Zepfanman)
"Piggy savings bank" Image source: Flickr Creative Commons - (AlanCleaver)