Talent management has undergone something of a sea change in the last decade. Thanks to smartphones, LinkedIn and job boards like Indeed, the sector is almost unrecognisable from its former self.
To stay up to speed with all the rapid changes in the highly disruptive staffing industry, talent acquisition teams are increasingly adopting an agile approach to hiring.
But just how effective is this approach? Guidant Global’s APAC Director, Doug Edmonds, makes the case that combining agile methodology with innovation can enable businesses to source the best people from a crowded marketplace.
Disruption in the labour market is the new norm. Automation, AI and digitisation have revolutionised the nature of work, meaning that while new roles will emerge, some manual occupations will fade away.
Though the future of staffing may seem nebulous and unpredictable, the choice presented to talent acquisition teams is actually a binary one: either be a disruptor or be disrupted. Forward-thinking leaders can convert disruption in the labour market into an opportunity for focused growth.
To be a disruptor, you need talented people. And to attract the most talented people, businesses need talent management teams that are agile enough to flourish amid the turmoil.
Innovation and agility go hand in hand. Technology enables agility. That’s why it’s vital for any agile team to get to grips with the latest technological trends if they want to succeed in today’s increasingly segmented and personalised sector.
Most organisations are undergoing digital transformation in one way or another, which has far-reaching ramifications for teams who find themselves in a new, more competitive market for talent. As technology becomes more integral to competing in the market, businesses are slowly finding themselves transforming into tech companies.
When it comes to innovation, however, one major hurdle is deep-rooted and difficult to overcome: organisational psychology. Simply put, if the movers and shakers within a business are resistant to doing things differently, nothing can change. Putting the brakes on an innovative and untested approach is a common occurrence in leadership — and is one which can hold an organisation back while competitors race ahead.
I recently came across a quote from Dimitri Boylan, chief executive of Avature (a talent management focused CRM solution) which sums this up perfectly - the key is not only using technology but harnessing it in the correct way:
“If your technology is a digital straitjacket, then you don’t have a good shot at doing anything agile. Technology has to serve a new purpose in the organisation; it’s a weapon, and it needs to be wielded by HR and marketing departments to achieve their goals.”
In today’s business climate, a one-size-fits-all approach to staffing simply doesn’t work. Monolithic methods are increasingly being supplanted by a market-by-market strategy that accounts for individual market nuances.
Change does not have to be sweeping. Instead, by making continuous, incremental iterations, managers can yield results and help counter any institutional resistance to transformation. The labour market is a turbulent one, and so making the most out of client-centric platforms can give businesses the means to gain a competitive advantage.
The future of talent management
The article above is based on information drawn from The Future of Talent Management report that was produced by Raconteur and published by The Times. The exclusive report features Guidant Global’s CEO Simon Blockley and explores how today’s organisations are evolving their approach to talent management — from key leadership skills to ethnic diversity in the workplace.