First published on LinkedIn on 11 Sep 2020 (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kheng-liang-ng-367a201_talentacquisition-systemsthinking-leadership-activity-6710111807996014592-JZNu)
I think most people would agree that having the right talents would be key to the success of a company. The term “War for Talent” was coined way back in 1997 and it refers to an increasingly competitive landscape for recruiting and retaining talented employees. This phenomenon still holds true today.
So, what does winning this “War for Talent” mean? Does it simply mean having access to and hiring the best talent in the market? I would like to propose adopting a Systems Thinking approach to the talent acquisition process.
Within the executive search industry, we often hear clients say that they want to hire the best talents in the market. Let’s pause for a moment and think about the definition of “best”.
1) Success of an individual depends on various factors in the larger environment
How do we normally define what is a “best” talent? Typically, a “best” talent would be very successful in what he/she is doing and have a stellar track record to boot. He/she would be highly sought after by the competition. However, we often overlook one aspect: would this superstar fit in just as well in another company? Yes, a superstar is likely to be more capable than the average worker but what makes someone successful is the result of a combination of factors. Does he/she fit the company culture? Will he/she align with the company’s vision? Does he/she have the support of the senior management? Does he/she have good team mates to help pull the weight? And there could be many other factors that are not within the control of an individual.
So the next time we come across a candidate with a great reputation and successful track record, do drill down to understand what made him/her successful and ask yourself if the same set of conditions will be available in your company to help make him/her equally, if not more successful.
One of the main reasons why senior executives fail in a new organization is due to a cultural mismatch. Corporate culture is unique for different companies and it forms the DNA of the company. Even if you bring in a top talent who has been successful elsewhere, if he/she cannot align with the company culture, it is a matter of time that he/she will fail.
Hence it is important to test the cultural fit early in the talent acquisition process and if there is a cultural mismatch, it is better to let go. There is no point getting a “top” talent who will present an organ rejection later on.
2) Losing a good talent may not be a bad thing if he/she can play a role elsewhere in the ecosystem
Beyond cultural fit, companies will need to learn to let go of good talents who will not fit in for whatever other reasons. I believe there is no “best” talent per se, but rather talent who can “best fit” the circumstances you are hiring under.
Letting go of these good talents does not necessarily mean you have lost the talent war. Relating back to the Systems Thinking approach – think about what will make your company successful, just like how you probe what makes an individual successful. A company can be great because of the right ecosystem it is in – for example, having the “right” suppliers, resellers, collaboration partners and customers etc. Besides thinking about hiring people who can make your company successful directly, you should think about how the other players in the ecosystem can do well too. If they do well, you benefit as well. When a good talent is not a good fit for your company, perhaps he/she could fit in better with one of your partners. Make sure that your partners know about this good talent and get a shot at hiring him/her.
Hence, letting go of a good talent could turn out to benefit your company even more subsequently.
3) Do not focus on just “acquiring” external talents. Look at the talents you currently have and bring out their full potential.
Companies often acquire new talent to fill a gap in the company. We need to examine what actually is the gap? Is it a skills gap or experience gap? Skills can potentially be trained but experience takes time to accumulate. If it is a skills gap, is there someone internal who can be trained to do the job before you consider someone external? If you have the luxury of time to train someone internally, the likelihood of this person staying on in the role for a longer time is higher than an external hire since he/she knows the workings of the company well already. In a way, you would have “acquired” a new talent internally. This brings us to the point that talent acquisition is only one of the pieces in the larger “System” of talent management – you need to continuously train and develop your people ahead of time and not just chase market trends so that the need to hire externally is less.
4) Sharing economy will include human capital and not just physical assets
The gig economy was already on the rise before Covid19 hit the world. The pandemic has shown us that the growth of the gig economy will likely happen at a quicker pace than ever. Remote working could become the norm, rather than the exception, going forward and gig workers could fit in this new world very nicely. There are still many things to iron out before gig workers become part of the “mainstream” workforce, such as benefits and protection for gig workers but I am sure it is a matter of time that various government authorities sort them out.
With the gig economy on the rise and real estate utilisation likely to change, companies will need to think about what type of talents they will hire, where they will hire and how they will use these talents.
With more uncertainties over the horizon, perhaps it makes sense to hire more gig workers for work that are non-sensitive and can be outsourced. You do not need to have them on your permanent headcount so it is easier to justify hiring on a project/contract basis. At the same time, the gig workers get work to do and earn an income.
Technology has made it easy to work remotely so companies technically do not need to hire a worker who is physically present in the country. This will broaden the pool of talents that the hiring companies can tap on.
Given the project nature of the work that gig workers do, a single company may not provide enough work to keep the gig worker fully occupied and financially sustainable. Barring any conflict of interest (having measures in place so that the gig worker does not do work for a competitor at the same time), the gig worker could do work for other companies at the same time. This could help resolve the shortage of talents in certain hot domains such as AI/ML, data science and analytics, UX/UI etc.
5) Preparing the talent pipeline is everyone’s business
Speaking of hot domains, certain skillsets, especially those related to technology and digital transformation, data science and analysis, are highly sought after at the moment to the extent that employees holding such positions are getting promotions in double quick time and salaries are spiralling upwards. This trend would eventually become unsustainable.
Many of these skillsets are new in the workplace and it takes time to train people and for employees to gain experience in these hot jobs. Everyone has a part to play to double up on efforts to prepare the larger workforce so that the pipeline of talents for such roles is healthy. Governments need to work closely with companies and education institutions to identify skills requirements and train and prepare the work force accordingly. Individuals need to take ownership of their own learning and development and not depend on their companies to tell them what to learn.
Recently, Google announced that it is launching a 6-month career certification program which could potentially disrupt the higher education scene and replace a 4-year degree program. This could form part of the global trend going forward to speed up the training of skilled workers. Continuous lifelong learning and upskilling will be another trend as the traditional degree courses on their own will be insufficient to prepare employees in an ever-changing workplace. Micro-courses, online learning, work-study programs would become part and parcel of what employees would need to go through to continue to stay relevant.
Conclusion
Talent acquisition, like the other HR functions, are one of the many pieces in the larger Human Resources “System”. Each function, such as talent acquisition, talent development, organization development, compensation & benefits etc, needs to work hand in hand with the other functions, to attract, develop and retain talent.
We should also think about the larger ecosystem that we operate in when acquiring talent for our companies or clients. It is not just filling a vacancy in a company. Think about how the whole ecosystem function and where a talent would best fit to get the best out of him/her.
We must also stay abreast of the macro trends in the talent market and pivot the way we acquire and utilise talents whenever necessary. We need to think beyond our current talent needs too in order to have a sustainable pipeline of talents to meet our future needs.
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