Driving Strategy In Professional Services

3 ways talent can do it

A clear majority of executives agree that finding and retaining the right talent directly impacts the bottom line. And this belief is not unfounded – according to a Gallup poll, companies with an engaged workforce outperform their competition by almost 150 percent higher earnings per share. But the path to engagement is not so clear. That is why so many professional services firms are turning to predictive talent analytics. By infusing smart technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI), into the recruitment process, HR departments can find employees that are not only qualified but are the right fit for a position or company beyond their skillset, measuring aspects such as behavior and work attitudes. Not only can talent analytics reduce turnover and improve performance, but as a strategy it also enables companies to leverage their workforce to overcome disruption and drive firms to the next level.

 

Here are three ways to tie professional services talent to strategy:

Talent evaluation processes should not end with recruitment. By targeting specific strengths and opportunities identified during the selection process, complex data can be used to generate intelligent development guides that are easily understood and customized to drive better staff performance during onboarding— and beyond. With objective performance data based on current employees, you can create custom profiles for each position. These profiles provide unique insight into the behavioral attributes that drive high performance. This customized, data-driven approach allows you to identify who will be a high-performing candidate in a specific role, and who will be a high-performing employee in your unique culture.

Where are your next leaders? How do you identify them if they are not yet employees? How do you provide the right succession paths for your millennials, Gen-Xers, and baby boomers? Intelligent career mapping can identify future career opportunities where employees' key strengths can be maximized. Career map new hires to potential leadership roles to increase the probability of improving employee and organizational performance. To greatly enhance succession planning, use predictive performance data in the initial role where the candidate can be compared against profiles for additional roles in your organization. Work within your operations and human resources teams and determine how success is measured in each unique role across your professional services organization.
 
As the workforce continues to transform, and expectations for the ideal workplace culture change with it, it is imperative that the recruitment process remains agile to adapt to these shifting trends. No longer does sifting through resumes and checking off boxes for qualifications fit the bill – by applying data and analytics to the process, companies can learn to prioritize employee engagement as much as recruiting. And with a data-sourced workforce in place, organizations will quickly learn that an engaged, satisfied employee will not only benefit the reviews on their Glassdoor page, but their bottom line, as well.