Agile Talent Acquisition Strategy

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As organizations develop rapidly, recruitment becomes a new problem. Recruiting is failing to
stay up, even though its reputation depends on its ability to quickly react to changing business
demands. Thus, recruiting executives must be adaptive in a very dynamic firm.

We can use this 3-phase approach to construct agile procedures that are more responsive to changing organizational needs:

1. Sense – Create Adaptive Forecasts
2. Organize – Create Fluid Team Structures
3. Execute – Create Responsive Processes

To recruit the high-quality talent needed today, agility is no longer just nice to have–it’s a make-or-break capability for recruiting.

Recruitment departments need to adapt to the accelerating rate of change. According to 75% of recruiting leaders, their function must be more agile now compared to 3 years ago. However, there are 3 obstacles that recruitment encounters in this process.

The 3 obstacles in Recruitment process that we need to conquer are:

• Delayed access to demand change information
• Siloed team structures
• Rigid recruitment processes

Given the industry’s predicted unpredictability, recruiting’s operating model must shift drastically. Due to ongoing instability, recruiting’s operational model must shift from efficiency and uniformity to flexibility and agility.

Disruptions were 2.6 times higher in 2019 and 4.9 times higher in 2023 compared to 2014. In the previous year, these disruptions have prompted employment freezes and surges, sometimes in different organization divisions.

Defining Agility

Agility goes beyond only being quick on one’s feet. It’s how quickly you react to new information. The ability to rapidly switch directions without losing equilibrium is the defining characteristic. In recruitment, agility entails establishing an operating model that enables teams to:

• detect demand shifts early
• organize dynamically execute their tasks utilizing processes that permit frequent iteration and realignment

In a fast-changing world, recruitment agility requires an operational architecture that allows early demand detection, dynamic organization, and iterative job execution.

The 3-phase Agile Talent Acquisition Strategy empowers teams to actively engage in successful and competitive recruiting. This improves recruiting effectiveness and competitiveness in a continually changing market.

We can follow a 3-phase approach to achieve Agile Talent Acquisition Strategy:

1. Sense – Create Adaptive Forecasts
2. Organize – Create Fluid Team Structures
3. Execute – Create Responsive Processes

In the face of unpredictability, recruitment must transform its operating model from efficiency and uniformity to flexibility and agility.

Let’s dive deeper into the initial phase of the process.

Phase 1. Sense

Hiring demand visibility has plagued recruitment. Only 25% of recruitment leaders said the organization’s staffing requirements were visible in 2021. Annual hiring estimates with maximum accuracy are normal. This method doesn’t work since a company’s demands may alter in a few months. However, recruitment confronts three obstacles, including having the least priority and the organization’s desire to participate.

To overcome these constraints, organizations need adaptive demand planning structures and procedures. But how can we overcome the two biggest adaptation challenges?

Take Commonwealth Bank’s example, Business Intervention triggered by hiring forecast variance in Figure 2 shows how Commonwealth Bank hired a talent acquisition strategy manager to collaborate with organization leaders on quarterly hiring predictions. In addition to the quarterly evaluation, talent acquisition strategy managers set up an early intervention with organization executives if they notice a demand shift trigger, such as a high deviation between predicted and actual requisitions.

Current conditions make traditional talent acquisition strategies inefficient. In view of the projected volatility and unpredictability in the years ahead, recruitment leaders should rethink their strategies and adopt flexible ones that can adapt more swiftly.

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The purpose of Human Resources (HR) is to ensure our organization achieves success through our people. Without the right people in place—at all levels of the organization—we will never be able to execute our Strategy effectively.

This begs the question: Does your organization view HR as a support function or a strategic one? Research shows leading organizations leverage HR as a strategic function, one that both supports and drives the organization's Strategy. In fact, having strong HRM capabilities is a source of Competitive Advantage.

This has never been more true than right now in the Digital Age, as organizations must compete for specialized talent to drive forward their Digital Transformation Strategies. Beyond just hiring and selection, HR also plays the critical role in retaining talent—by keeping people engaged, motivated, and happy.

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