7 Tactics to Win the War for Talent in the Digital Workplace
Remote work is no longer a vision. For many companies, the pandemic accelerated the transition from office to working from home. Various surveys and studies have found that:
- 62% of workers between 22 and 65 say they work remotely at least occasionally
- 73% of teams will have remote workers by 2028
- 69% of millennials would give up some in-work benefits to work more flexibly
- 85% of managers believe that remote employees will become the new norm
The digital world has served up many possibilities for businesses. Not least is the ability to tap into the global talent pool. However, to compete for top talent your organization must employ unique strategies to attract ideal candidates wherever they reside. The aim? To create a talent pipeline of potential candidates for your roles as they become vacant.
Here are seven tactics to include in your strategic plan to develop your talent pipeline in the virtual world.
1. Broaden Your Horizons in Line With Your Business Strategy
You are no longer restricted to local candidates to achieve your business strategy. As technology has advanced, so has the potential to get work done from anywhere in the world. You can recruit the very best talent from the four corners of the globe, and your team can collaborate in real time.
2. Stay Connected to Previous Candidates
Broadening your search for talent does not mean you must trash all your talent pool development to date. You should stay connected to previous candidates who were close to being offered a job. These candidates were close to joining you. They showed promise. They could be the star employee you need tomorrow.
3. Maintain a Cross-Functional Skills Inventory
Many organizations now work across boundaries, teams, and departments. And many employees have skills that remain untapped or underutilized. By compiling an inventory of these skills, your business will be more capable to utilize them in roles as they are needed: an internalized talent pool that can be accessed immediately to help plug gaps when required.
4. Build Your Online Presence
It’s crucial that businesses build an online presence – it could be the number one tool to help you develop your virtual talent pipeline. At a minimum, you should:
- Maintain the recruitment pages on your website – not by simply adding your vacant jobs, but by sharing employee success stories, tips for jobseekers, and demonstrating your company culture
- Develop your presence on social media – becoming involved in industry discussion groups, publishing and sharing relevant content, and encouraging potential candidates to follow you and share your content
When designing your online outreach plan, be mindful of where you are most likely to find candidates and focus on these social media channels. Invest in potential candidates before you have suitable vacancies, so that when you do, those candidates already see you as a caring and conscientious employer.
5. Focus on Career Crafting, Not Hierarchical Promotion
As organizations become flatter in structure, traditional promotion is becoming more difficult. Instead, show that you value employees by providing challenging work that helps them develop their skills and experience in their preferred direction.
Further, develop a leadership program that removes the barrier of geography and utilizes people’s skills to lead teams across borders and remotely.
6. Nurture Your Talent Pipeline
Developing and maintaining a talent pipeline is not a one-time event. These passive candidates must be nurtured. You should ensure that you have a system in place that segregates your talent pool into sub-pools, and then directly send each sub-pool content that they would find interesting and informative. The idea is to engage them as potential candidates before they know they may become candidates!
7. Leverage Specialist Staffing Agencies
Partnering with a specialist staffing agency is a key tactic in the digital world. Such an agency will have a reach that extends far. They will have a pre-existing pool of passive candidates to draw from for your vacant roles. With recruiters who possess specific industry experience, and a capacity to understand your exact requirements, you’ll gain access to high-quality professionals ready to hit the ground running on their assignments in perfectly matched roles.
Start Developing Your Virtual Talent Pipeline Today
Developing a talent pipeline is not an overnight operation. It takes time, investment, and commitment to be successful. When your talent pipeline is operating smoothly, you’ll be ahead of your competitors when it comes to talent acquisition. You’ll never be short of potential candidates from which to select your next hire.
These seven tactics are the foundation of successful talent pipelines in the digital world. We’d love to be your partner on the journey toward achieving your business goals.
To learn more about how we help our clients obtain the best talent with our creative staffing solutions, contact TECHEAD today.