Jo Taylor, Head of Resourcing and Talent Management” at TalkTalk Group
The big book for HR says that recruitment ‘Refers to the process of attracting, screening, selecting and on-boarding a qualified person for a job. At the strategic level it may involve the development of an employer brand which includes an employee offering’ and that resourcing is linked to talent management which is: ‘strategic and deliberate in how companies source, attract, select, train, develop, retain, promote and move people through the organisation. The mindset of this approach seeks not only to hire the most qualified and valuable employees but also to put a strong emphasis on retention’.
I have been looking at this really closely as we evolve our resourcing model at TalTalk, which has primarily looked at simply recruitment. I am not saying that is a bad thing at all, but as businesses develop in a changing economy the need for a joined up approach to resourcing models which deliver value as well as cultural change is going to become more important. HRD’s and CEO’s are looking for quality talent that will enhance their businesses and deliver their strategic priorities not just quantity. Therefore a resourcing model which embraces and builds an end-to-end talent management strategy for employees is critical to success.
Making decisions on whether you go in-house, out-house or hybrid is the wrong question to ask. In my opinion, the question should be: What do you want your talent and future talent to think, feel and do in relation to your brand? How can this be a congruent internally and externally and how do you ensure that you build advocates for your business internally and externally? I believe people join a business because they can see themselves reflected at whatever touch point that may be, whether a snappy website or a direct call from a resourcing consultant. The whole candidate experience throughout the process is forgotten when organisations simply focus on cost and time to hire. Let’s move away from this and think more long term, align to the business needs, drive real innovation and ensure that your model is built from this starting point.
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I believe that in resourcing we can over complicate things and build in extra processes and procedures which simply do not need to exist. Simple workforce planning allows your resourcing model to execute a seamless plan. These plans need to be led by the business, but supported by a centre of expertise that can ensure trends and market intelligence are all fed in. Managers and their capabilities also play a strong part in any resourcing function. Ensuring that you have strong resourcing business partners that can work as consultants with business leaders is one way of enabling change. Clarity in messaging from social media and careers sites through to on-boarding processes enable simplicity and congruent messaging at all stages of the recruitment process.
I do not believe that anything I am saying here you are no thinking yourselves. But, I hope that by challenging some assumptions and norms we can build better, simpler and cheaper models for businesses which deliver quality talent now and for the future!
