Empowered by technology, a direct sourcing solution can help build and maintain a highly engaged talent pool.
By Debbie Bolla
The hiring patterns of the past 13 months have been turbulent to say the least, with some industries experiencing serious cutbacks (hospitality, travel, and entertainment) whereas others went through major growth spurts (tech and engineering). Contingent workers played a large role in filling that demand, offering the much-need flexibility and skill sets to achieve business goals. In fact, Ardent Partners’ research finds that nearly 80% of enterprises experienced an increase in the use of contingent talent over the past 12 months. But as organizations remain in recovery mode from the COVID-19 pandemic, the talent and hiring markets will continue to be challenging, requiring innovation and strategy to get ahead.
“It’s absolutely going to be a candidate’s marketplace for at least the next four to six quarters,” says Mike Wachholz, CEO of Geometric Results, Inc. (GRI), a leading independent MSP. “Companies have to be prepared now to not only leverage contingent workers as a strategic part of their talent acquisition strategy, but also be thinking about how to find them, engage with them, and attract them to the organization.”
Growing and maintaining a highly engaged talent pool will be a major advantage in the next war for talent. A direct sourcing model through an MSP is well-poised to easily build an on-demand talent pool through its use of strategic branding to a variety of candidate types through social media and networking.
Having a known talent pool is also a key piece to engaging with contingent labor. “A known talent pool is made up people that have previously worked for or are connected to organizations so they have better alignment to culture,” explains Wachholz. “Their ramp up time is going to be much faster, so the quality of work and the value of their work with the company increases. For the worker, they’re able to continue to work for organizations where they’ve had a great experience.”
Technology is another main driver, with candidate management platforms hitting their stride and delivering a competitive advantage. “In 2021, technology platforms and their digital capabilities are mature so the time is really ripe for companies to dip their toe into these new types of candidate engagement models,” notes Wachholz.
From sourcing and talent pooling to candidate engagement, assessment and matching, and onboarding, today’s technology -in conjunction with an MSP -allows organizations to leverage their brand and network in order to find and attract top talent.
An MSP can also help organizations connect the technology dots by integrating cloud-based platforms and offering access to streamlined dashboards of all worker types. “You’re going to want to have complete access to data information on your talent pool, on your candidate pool as well as looking at how this is impacting your full-time employee strategies,” says Wachholz. “Analytics and a data engine can drive visibility into your workforce.”
By having a focused process for talent pooling that’s enabled by today’s technology, the entire candidate supply chain is being leveraged, so other important talent strategies like internal mobility or temp-to-perm assignments become much more cohesive.