War for talent...
If the war for talent is real… if the war for talent exists in the world of corporate organizations…. If the war for talent can be taken seriously in the context of war when as a nation we are still sending troops overseas then I am in the trenches… For this war is an old school war of bombardment and attrition and the side with the most troops will surely win…?
Corporates have talked about the war for talent concept for years… discussing how to attract and retain the best people, the shortage of motivated skilled individuals… In my talent acquisition terms it is real. My team has hundreds of roles to fill combined with an increasingly narrow pool of talent to talk to. The weapons of war have changed with smart guerillas leading the way with cool social media tools, branding campaigns and viral attacks that grab headlines and candidate attention.
I have some of those weapons at my disposal but they are there to win the small skirmishes, in the main I have the big guns of a global brand and an army of recruiters. My recruiters are the front line in the war, throwing themselves every day into battle whether they won or lost the day before.
Like many, my talent acquisition team that is a combination of HR, recruitment and ex-sales people, the broad church that TA has become in many organizations, working internally and externally to source the best people they can find or afford. I am proud and protective of my team and lead from the front carrying live roles myself as well as the inevitable fire fighting, defensive regroups and the aftermath of friendly fire. My team is more important to me than they realise and to coin an American phrase I have got their backs.
Make no mistake, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind.
Considering ourselves the unsung heroes we lead the attack against our competitors long before a salesperson has left his house, sowing the seeds of fear and doubt that maybe their organization, their career or their manager isn’t as good as they deserve. That joining us will improve the prospects by filling in the gaps or identifying the compelling event in their lives that a new career will support.
We strip them of information, feeding back the useful stuff back to our own sales people, helping to arm them in their own battles and yet we offer compassion, leaving our targets better informed, or with the prospect to a better job… and whilst we are at the forefront of knowledge management.. it is never enough.. we have to work smarter, longer and faster to keep up with our business, pipelining targets long before we need them...
So the discussion point for today… how are you fighting your own war and do you need some reinforcements?
About
I have a background in executive search and selection, headhunting and senior level recruitment combined with people and business management experiences. My focus has always been on the IT services, technology and management consultancy sectors on a permanent and interim basis where I have developed a personal portfolio that covers areas such as EVP, social recruitment and the successful creation of talent pools as well the management and leadership of corporate talent acquisition teams.
Currently working across Europe with high growth, high tech organisations to develop effective blended onshore/offshore recruitment models, covering full commercial engagement, transition and ongoing delivery management.
I am an investor in HiringDay.™ the agile recruitment methodology and have recently created reactive_p the global staffing firm with a focus on the reactive platform technology stack.
I am an avid blogger, writer, public speaker and traveller of trains across the UK.