That lyric has never been more true that in the context of contemporary talent acquisition. If an organization is going to meet the goals of their workforce plan, then they will pay their dues. Paying your dues in 2020 will take the form telling our brand stories using non-advertising methods; using tools and techniques to identify more of the talent supply in each target talent segment; creating a talent brand by becoming very transparent on the work itself; and finding new ways of identifying, engaging and nurturing target talent over longer time frame.
Things have changed; the days of being able to rely on advertising a job and having a supply of qualified candidates does not exist for the type of talent most of us need. It seems we are all looking for the same people; and to thrive in this competitive environment, you must distinguish ourselves from other organizations. Instead of “only the best” will do, you now must be content with our fair share of available top talent. The best storytellers will win.
In an era of talent shortages, you need to make certain that you identify most of the talent supply in a talent segment. To do that, you need to use the tools and techniques to mine the extensive sources of talent data which allow you to identify more of the potential talent supply. The talent data (sometimes referred to as “small data”) comes from gathering all possible sources; old and new; as well as, aggregating the public and social information on those prospects. The best data aggregators will win.
No longer can you rely on just exposing our employee value proposition or employment brand to the potential talent audience, now we you must market our talent brand. The talent brand is the work itself and prospects are examining each opportunity in terms of how accepting that role would impact their career. If they accepted your opportunity, what would they learn and how would that knowledge benefit them in the long run. The most transparent organizations will win.
Talent engagement will become more strategic as we think about managing our workforce over 5 to 10-year periods. This will give rise to building more talent pipelines and the creation of profession-based talent communities where the employees are the brand ambassadors between the company and the prospects. The organization that is top of mind when the targeted talent decides to change jobs, wins.
Ringo Starr wrote:
“You know it don’t come easy
Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues”
The anthem for talent acquisition in 2020 will be “You know it don’t come easy,” because you must pay your dues in terms of identifying & mapping target talent, as well as, harvesting & aggregating talent data in order to engage the key target talent. You can win if you put in the hard work in talent engagement.
Marvin E. Smith 