4 Reasons To Build A Talent Pipeline In PLM / Smart Manufacturing
I don’t typically write about my day job as I often feel you’d be rarely interested in hearing about recruitment stuff versus what affects you each day in your working life, but occasionally there comes along something that makes me want to vent!
When a market dynamic is so clearly in high demand with a low supply of resources, a different resourcing strategy needs engaging compared to what’s been always done.
When you think it’s easy to find great talent in a “niche” market, because you’ve got Premium LinkedIn, it isn’t!
When you think customers will wait for months for you to sort out your hiring approval, work through your process and for the chosen one to work their 90-days notice, you’re sadly mistaken. You see customers manage tenders very confidentially and will keep you guessing until the last moment before announcing you’ve won and then you’re expected to mobilize almost immediately.
Solving these issues are simple to talk about but hard to implement and making the omelete means breaking a number of eggs and egos!
Let’s fix this for the sake of your next customer and project….
What Is Talent Pipelining?
Talent Pipelining is taking a different approach to your headhunting strategy. It is more about taking a proactive approach to what might be, rather than what was (the, after the event reactive approach). This is where you need to move from headhunting to fill an open or new position, to thinking about who your company will want to hire in the future, because of potential projects.
There are massive benefits to Talent Pipelining, however, many companies do not follow this process. For companies who continuously recruit throughout the year, Talent Pipelining could save you with your cost per hire and shorten the length of time it takes you to find the right candidate.
A talent pipeline consists of potential candidates that can be continuously nurtured and approached when vacancies arise.
My little world sits in the installation of product innovation platforms such as 3DEXPERIENCE, to the management of the product lifecycle with various PLM Applications, to smart execution of manufacturing with Virtual and Physical Manufacturing solutions and everything Industry4.0 in between.
It’s a world in ever growing demand, with a great lack of skills and the market knows it.
It’s a case of who you know, not who you can find on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is so often misused as an alternative to cold-calling/door knocking and who enjoys being on the receiving end of that?
It’s a community that likes to talk to people who understand them, who appreciates what they do and who earns the right/respect to engage.
Talent Pipelines are particularly important for companies that are consistently trying to hire in competitive talent markets e.g. solution/technical/infrastructure architects, domain & functional leaders, installation consultants, business process consultants etc with specific PIP/PLM/DM/MES application skills. Having warm, “ready-to-hire” candidates here can make a huge difference to the consulting business:
Benefits of a Talent Pipeline
Talent Pipeline is not just another buzzword. Organizations that approach headhunting more proactively, and focus on building relationships and pipelining the best talent can expect a multitude of benefits.
Better Quality Candidates
A benefit that any recruiting team can enjoy; building an effective talent pipeline almost always help companies hire better candidates, because:
(i) Minimize the “panic stations”
Instead of panicking to find candidates for the latest project you’ve just won/started, headhunters take a more long term approach. Hiring targets are communicated well in advance, so recruiters have a clear idea of the volume and type of candidates that they need. They have time to focus on identifying the best possible candidates, not just submitting the first people that they find or those that are immediately available.
(ii) Minimize the “right place at the wrong time”
It’s rare that the perfect candidate is available at the exact moment that you need them. This can be very frustrating for headhunters — they find a great candidate, but can’t do anything with them because there’s no need right now.
Talent Pipelines are the perfect way to deal with this issue. Either you can nurture exceptional candidates that aren’t ready to move, or you can create new roles that are always open so that you can hire the top candidate whenever they become available.
Engaging inactive candidates
Inactive candidates are not actively looking for new opportunities and certainly won’t respond to job advertisements or LinkedIn DMs.
The majority of this specialist market is made up of passive talent, not active job seekers so, if you want to compete for the best talent, it’s vital that you’re able to engage them effectively. For a start you need their attention, their respect and trust.
Talent Pipelining lets you your team identify and build a relationship with these under radar candidates without pushing specific job openings. Over time, you can introduce the idea of roles that could be a good fit and see if they resonate — a far more effective method of passive engagement.
It’s less of a “street fight”
When you’re hiring reactively you’re typically hiring those actively seeking a new role and that means great competition. When hiring “reactively”, this can represent a significant problem. There’s no time for “courtship” as teams scramble to get the candidate and it turns mercenary — $$$s, titles and promises!
By operating a pipeline model though, headhunters give themselves more time to “sell” candidates on their culture, their organization, their future, their goals and overcoming any perceived limitations (square peg, square hole).
Options
One is “yes” or “no”, Two is a choice and Three gives you options!
Yes, any headhunter’s job is to give you options and until they have, they shouldn’t stop. To do that and to deliver you quality, takes some lead-time before the project is awarded.
And so The Bottom-Line!
When building a consulting practice in a rapidly emerging sector, agility is the name of the game. Dynamics are shifting, be that demand, supply, your customer demands and timelines and a flexible system is essential. Waiting on something too rigid results in disappointed customers and at the end of the day, why else are we in business but to exceed their expectations?
An effective Talent Pipeline can:
– halve the time to hire, because headunters can nurture relationships ready for when the time is right.
– lower the cost per hire, because long-term thinking and effort reduces the cost of immediate-term desperation!
– landing the best, because time means a wider choice rather than a compromised single option
– minimized business disruption, because “start now” vacancies will disrupt your business and might leave employees with higher workloads. Furthermore, work will be delayed or not completed at all. This will lead to declines in customer service, lower quality work, and revenue loss. With a strong talent pipeline, companies can quickly refill these positions and minimize negative impacts.
Please build your Talent Pipeline, embed your headhunters in the community, have them engage and add value to your target talent market for the long-term success of your business
Always love to hear your feedback and a big thanks for making it to the bottom of this article
Andrew
#plm #recruiter #productlifecycle #3dexperience #enovia #catia #delmia #solidworks #teamcenter #aras #simatics #sapplm #technomatix #exalead #sapplm