Recruiting And Developing Talent During A Downturn

Hiring talent that is agile and not necessarily wedded to one particular role is critical in today’s work environment

During the 2008 financial crisis, many companies turned off their emerging talent pipelines. This had a detrimental impact over subsequent years, not only in fulfilling future roles, but also in making diverse hires. With these learnings in mind, many organizations – particularly ones that are committed to diversity – are preparing for economic uncertainty and re-visiting hiring strategy. 

It is important to note that this current economic environment is unusual, however. There are high labor numbers and low employment rates, which are not traditional indicators of a downturn. This means it is imperative for companies to have a strategy for this unique and unusual period. Implementing a skills-based recruiting and development plan will be useful in finding and keeping the right talent during this difficult economic period. 

 

Invest in Skills

A commitment to hiring talent that will be agile and not necessarily wedded to one particular role is critical in today’s work environment. We are seeing this in anticipation of a recession, and also as a result of the pandemic, a talent shortage, and the changing nature of jobs. 

The Society of Human Resource Management released research earlier this year that shows 56% of employers are utilizing pre-employment screenings to get a better understanding of a candidate’s strengths and skills. Recruiters are looking for a range of skills in recruits, such as the capacity to be agile, resilient, analytical, and their willingness to learn. 

If their employment proposition or role changes, the organization can look at the skills adjacency in the organization and move people around. The foundation of these core skills allows that movement to happen, which is important in today’s climate, as the anticipated longevity of the role they are hiring for goes beyond five years for emerging talent. 

Focus on Retention

Organizations may focus on certain hard skills that relate to the job they have recruited for, but the reality is that a candidate has many more skills and strengths available to a prospective employer. One of the key ways to maximize the full potential of talent is to help them build a level of self-awareness. 

Companies can work to understand, identify, and put those extra skills to work. Prior to the pandemic, organizations were focused on filling a single role. The relationship between talent attraction and talent management has changed and it is being more tightly aligned to focus on retaining strong people for the long term. 

When an employee is allowed to leverage their natural competencies, organizations are more likely to retain that employee and help them grow over time. 

Being aware of and nurturing an employee’s full potential needs is critical. It involves reimagining what they could do now, and in the future can do. Organizations that want to develop good talent mobility strategies are providing interns and graduates with insight tools that they can discuss with managers. 

That range of skills is then known to the manager and organization and can be activated later. Investing in an internal mobility strategy also boosts retention. For example, Staples realized the number one reason people were leaving the company was because of a lack of career mobility and, as a result, the company implemented an internal mobility strategy to help keep high-performing employees. By using an internal career platform, Staples was able to match employees' skills and capabilities with potential opportunities and not just the roles that were available that day.

Hire from Within

In a recession, you have an opportunity to save a great deal of money by focusing on an internal talent pool. Doing this takes time and effort, but does not cost any money. Research from Gartner shows that only 33% of employees, who were looking for a new opportunity in the past 12 months, searched internally first. The research also showed that men are well attuned to internal movement, but there is less of a focus on encouraging women to apply for those jobs. 

Therefore, more women move to a new job than make an internal move. Ethnic minority women are even less likely to stay for the same reason. 

Organizations could utilize online assessments to unlock the potential of current employees to thrive in new positions. Employees do not get the chance to show what they can do because they are pigeonholed, however, digital case study projects or work simulations give employees a chance to demonstrate a range of skills applicable to the role. 

Work simulations provide a “portfolio of evidence ” for hiring managers. Individuals capture learnings and key insights they might not know about themselves yet. Digital case study projects or work simulations provide supplementary, unbiased information to go along with an interview. They also allow for greater efficiency in hiring. 

During the pandemic, application numbers doubled within Cappfinity clients. Those who had online assessments and feedback reports did not have to hire more recruiters to get through all the applications. Traditionally, most organizations invest and integrate tools for external recruitment, but internal talent is often untapped. However, there are creative and quick ways to transition to skills-based hiring from online assessments, often with platforms 

Looking Ahead

This recession is not like others and we will continue to see more applications in the emerging talent market. To see a good return on investment in terms of hiring during the downturn, organizations should invest in skills-based recruiting and talent mobility so that they can upskill, train, and redeploy employees. Online assessments and candidate reports allow organizations to access and tap a wide range of skills. The possibility of hiring from within is a great recruitment and retention lever perfectly suited for the current environment.

La Toya Hodge is the Global Head of Marketing of Cappfinity.