Issue link: https://insights.randstadsourceright.com/i/724758
6 | www.randstadsourceright.com starting the total talent conversation Start your planning effort by ensuring you have the right expertise and advice, whether from an internal or a third party source. You should seek an expert in all facets of talent acquisition, flexible workforce engagement, related technologies and solutions for both full- time and contingent talent. Despite emerging demand, this expertise is more rare than you may think. That partner should also have an ability to stay up-to-date with the latest innovations in talent management (including solutions, practices and technologies), because this space is changing quickly and constantly. When talking with a solutions provider, beware of a salesperson that claims to be focused on your talent strategy, but in reality, has a particular silo of service to sell you regardless of your business or needs. In short, a relationship of trust is essential. What goes into the conversation? The answer centers around assessing your organization, understanding the issues and taking action. assessing current pain points in your organization If talent or procurement decision-makers constantly face questions from the business about the cost of talent or timelines filling specific openings, the answers to the problems may extend beyond recruiting. These can be particularly impactful to the business due to the costs of open positions. A broad assessment of talent processes may reveal the need to connect areas, such as workforce planning, talent requirements and flexible workforce options. Likewise, negative hiring manager experiences and low quality of talent are recurring issues that a total talent strategy can address. HR and procurement leaders may find themselves struggling to put the operational "parts" together to create a cohesive strategy. They may have trouble resolving conflicting visions among stakeholders, resulting in start- and-stop management of conflicting priorities. While these issues are always present to some degree, a growing number of companies are dealing with the challenges on a more persistent basis than ever before. For these organizations, mapping out a total talent strategy provides the foundation for defining, containing and reducing the issues. understanding the big issues Desired talent is growing increasingly difficult to find. The talent and business issues you experience today will not solve themselves, nor will they remain static. Several challenges and emerging trends can be addressed through a total talent approach. • Stop managing yesterday's workforce. Companies are evolving their workforce to include a larger portion of non-employees, but they are still managing those workers the same way they always have. A total talent approach marks a meaningful shift in strategy that can bring your organization into a new era. • Most large employers don't have plans to change how they organize work. Workforce interests are changing. Gen Y workers have very different thoughts on work and their relationship with employers. Retiring baby boomers are looking for non-permanent work options to put their expertise and experience to work. A total talent strategy can prepare you to more quickly and effectively engage workers, regardless of their preferred work style. • Talent leaders are overwhelmed. More than half of the Fortune 500 from the year 2000 have been bought out or had a significant downturn. Long-existing industries, like taxi services, are being dominated by newly established companies such as Uber, which was started in 2009. Yesterday's workforce strategy isn't nimble enough to adjust to changing needs. For most talent leaders, business is evolving fast, the number of talent options and innovations is high, yet the budgets and time allowed to move the needle grow shorter. A total talent approach is specifically focused on improving agility for addressing the pace of change.