As technology transforms the way we work and the need for global talent arises, the traditional talent acquisition practice of finding a long-term permanent hire based on budget and location constraints doesn’t work anymore. Employers need to find quick and cost-effective talent if they want to fulfill the scalable framework and being rigid about the type of talent they want is a strict no-no.

The present static talent pools are not suffice to meet the ever-growing demands that tech transformation has produced and utilizing the right workforce mix of temps, permanent hires, contractors, and SOWs makes perfect sense. But before your organization decides to step on the TTM bandwagon it needs to get its team in place, ensure effective collaboration between departments, and update its tech stack.

• Align HR & Procurement: Align these two departments towards the overall business goals
• Implement Data-based HR Tech Strategy: Ensure that data from different sources can be analyzed to produce workforce planning insights
• Change Management Plan: Implement a long-term change management plan that involves new roles, innovative sourcing practices, and stakeholders with open-frame of mind
• Form the Right Team: Get together a team of passionate individuals to oversee the transformation

Compare Your Current & Future State: The 3-Step Process

So, if adopting TTM is such a viable proposition, why do we see so many organizations struggling with the implementation? Because organizations forget that adopting total talent management is not a practice, it’s a journey that requires you compare the current and future state, get the right advisory, and fix gaps in talent acquisition. Before you embark on this journey, these are some of the steps you need to take care of.

1) Zero-in on the Right Workforce Mix Using Expert Advisory
The first and foremost step is to determine the right workforce mix that your organization would require in the coming months. The chosen mix of permanent, contingent, and temps should ensure timely project delivery, effective cost reduction, and also maintain impeccable quality. If you have someone who has experience in handling both contingent and permanent talent, as well as years of experience in charting workforce planning trees then you have the first step sorted. Else, we would advise you to take the help of a TTM professional who has experience in implementing such strategies. You need to ask yourself these questions before you begin the transformation process:

• Whether you need long-term or short-term talent
• Skill-set in question is niche or generic
• Project is strategic or tactical
• Will the current pool be enough to meet these requirements?

2) SWOT Analysis to Fix Gaps in Talent Acquisition

The next step is to do complete SWOT analysis of what has and hasn’t worked for your organization. Starting from identifying talent needs, deploying talent, to predicting future needs, you need to identify gaps in your talent acquisition strategy (sourcing practices, hiring data analysis, etc.).

• Study the project completion metrics (time-to-hire, cost-to-hire, assignment completion, etc.)
• Has your talent pool delivered on-time talent?
• Is your sourcing strategy equipped for niche talent?
• Study the past escalations reports
• How many times have you sought the help of subcontractors and in which cases?
• Which sourcing channels and historically worked for you and which haven’t delivered the results?

3) Analysis of Current Tech-Stack
After you have the right advisory in place and have identified the gaps in talent acquisition, it’s time to ask yourself whether your tech stack gives you complete visibility into your HR and recruitment data. Are your ATS, CRM, VMS, and external sourcing tools linked in a centralized framework? Do you have access to hiring metrics throughout the entire recruitment cycle? Do you have the talent to comprehend the available data to produce relevant workforce planning insights (top sourcing channels, top-performing email campaigns, best job advertisements, and more)?

How Total Talent Management Can Impart Agility and Scalability?

Once the organization has got its specifics right and developed a long-term plan, it’s time to understand how TTM can actually impart your organization agility and scalability.

• Utilize Analytics to Establish Alternative Work Arrangements: Many times candidates can’t be found in your expected timeframe, poached by rival organizations, or leave unexpectedly. These situations can put your firm in a state of fix. If you have interconnected tech stack in place then you know exactly how many contingent workers are available offsite and how many permanent workers are in the pipeline. You would also know which sourcing channels have the best probability of producing qualified candidates for this particular role. The hiring manager can then decide to divert most of the recruitment team on a particular channel, decide to source temp talent from another location where the talent is readily available, or may even decide to hire permanent talent for this position.
• Deploy Qualified Talent Quickly: Till the time you get a permanent hire for a critical position, you can fill the position with temp talent to maintain business continuity. It’s a good practice to establish the roles and positions that could be filled with temp talent, this enables the recruitment team to start preparing a robust pipeline using external and internal sourcing channels. So whenever an urgent requirement comes, instead of searching for a permanent hire which can take considerable time, the hiring manager can utilize temp talent from the already available pool.
• Better Workforce Planning for Scalability and Cost-Effectiveness: Organizations with sophisticated talent analytics have better visibility into their future requirements. They are in a much better position to compare their current pool with the predicted future requirements. These organizations are not only better placed to define the appropriate talent mix but can focus their recruitment efforts in a much cost-effective way. Some of the areas in which they can decrease the overall cost include choosing the right mix of talent, best sourcing channels to run paid campaigns, meet-ups to collaborate with, etc.

While everyone knows about the benefits of adopting the TTM approach, the lack of a proper plan, in-effective collaboration between stakeholders, and outdated tech stack can hamper your efforts. So make sure you have the right team in place to achieve this transformation. Remember, this is a long-term process which would go through its series of hit and trials, so stay put.