It’s not easy out there for hiring managers, HR executives, and talent acquisition leaders. Besides both the personal and professional panic over the Omicron variant (even though we’re still in the throes of Delta’s continued rampage), these roles must consistently battle the ramifications of the so-called “Big Quit,” aka “The Great Resignation,” and otherwise known as “The Great Reassessment,” etc. Around these parts, we understand it’s instead a “talent revolution.”
There have been many theories, approaches, and strategies proposed that could curb some of the effects of The Great Resignation, but even now, there is no cure-all series of processes that can outright solve all of the current talent issues that are plaguing organizations across the world. And, to be honest, having more and more attributes of the traditional employer-employee relationship shifting towards the worker in regards to “power” is something that has been a long time coming. Aspects such as flexibility, empathy, better working conditions, and more inclusive workplace environments are all now table stakes for the modern-day workforce.
One of the key facets of the Future of Work movement in 2021 (and even more so in 2022) is the enterprise’s renewed focus on its human capital and overall depth of skillsets across the greater organization (as 62% of organizations are prioritizing right now, according to Future of Work Exchange research). So many major workforce shifts over the past two years, including the overall desire for real business and workforce agility, mean that enterprises must reimagine how roles, jobs, and projects are executed over the short- and long-term, given the natural progression of market, economic, and corporate factors (not to mention the ongoing uncertainty regarding a true end of the pandemic in the United States and across the world).
In 2022, enterprises must build towards “talent sustainability.” The concept of talent sustainability revolves around the idea that businesses can, through their workforce solutions (such as extended workforce technology, VMS, etc.), direct sourcing channels, and both private and public talent communities, build self-sustaining outlets of talent that 1) map to evolving skills requirements across the enterprise given product development and the progression of the greater organization, 2) reflect existing expertise and skillsets across the enterprise that can be leveraged for real-time utilization, and, 3) allow hiring managers and other talent-led executives to leverage nurture and candidate experience strategies to ensure that all networked workers are amiable and open to reengagement for new and/or continued projects and initiatives.
There are, of course, several caveats to a true talent sustainability strategy that represent several key innovations and forward-thinking ideas. These items, listed below, all meaningfully contribute to this progressive approach:
- A workforce management “system of record” (i.e., VMS, extended workforce platform, etc.) that can blend both non-employee and FTE data to generate true “total talent intelligence.”
- Access to on-demand talent communities and talent pools via both direct sourcing platforms and talent marketplace solutions.
- An artificial intelligence-led architecture that augments and transfers the mobility of talent to where it is needed most.
- Machine learning- and AI-led candidate assessment, skills validation, and talent fraud prevention.
- A robust DE&I initiative that prioritizes both diverse hiring and inclusive workplace culture.
- A major emphasis on the depth of skillsets, expertise, and human capital available across the greater organization.
- Creating a “culture of learning and development” (via upskilling and reskilling opportunities) help the organization hedge against future skill gaps.
- Joint collaboration between HR and procurement to facilitate total talent management-like capabilities, and;
- Deeper automation of recruitment marketing, referral management, and other facets of direct sourcing to expand talent pools.
Businesses do not want to be caught off-guard when they have a critical need for specific skills, especially in an era when the vaunted “war for talent” rages on at a level never seen before in workforce management history. The Future of Work is many things, and, talent sustainability is becoming one of its most crucial elements.
