In the ever-changing landscape of business, the competition for top-notch talent has never been more fierce. The success of any organization largely hinges on its ability to attract, hire, and retain the best people.
Yet finding the right talent is becoming increasingly more difficult. By 2030, according to Korn Ferry, there will be a shortage of human talent, globally amounting to more than 85 million people.
“If this shortage is left unchecked, then it could result in a loss of $8.5 trillion in unrealized annual revenues,” claims the study.
This is where a successful talent acquisition strategy becomes vital. Not just a routine HR function, talent acquisition is a strategic approach to identifying, attracting, and onboarding the best talent to drive business success and growth.
In this blog, we dive into the critical elements of a talent acquisition strategy and how businesses that leverage the contingent workforce in their approach to talent acquisition can realize significant ROI.
Firstly, What is a Talent Acquisition Strategy?
A talent acquisition strategy is a proactive and comprehensive plan that organizations use to identify, attract, and hire the best talent for their needs.
Unlike recruitment, which often focuses on filling immediate vacancies, talent acquisition is a longer-term strategy that involves anticipating future hiring needs, building a talent pipeline, and creating a strong employer brand that attracts high-quality candidates.
The key components of a successful talent acquisition strategy include:
Workforce Planning: This involves understanding your organization's current and future talent needs, taking into consideration factors like growth plans, skills gaps, and employee turnover.
Employer Branding: Your employer brand is the reputation you have as an employer. A strong employer brand can attract high-quality candidates. This might involve promoting your company culture, values, and benefits.
Candidate Sourcing: This involves identifying and reaching out to potential candidates. Sourcing can be done through a variety of channels, including job postings, staffing agencies, recruitment agencies, social media, and networking events.
Data Analysis: By tracking key metrics like time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and quality-of-hire, organizations can measure the effectiveness of their talent acquisition strategy and make data-driven improvements.
As the need for business flexibility increases and organizations look at innovative ways to acquire talent, many organizations are increasing their use of the contingent workforce to enhance their talent acquisition strategy.
How to Make the Contingent Workforce Part of Your Talent Acquisition Strategy
Contingent workforces, also known as gig workers, freelancers, contract workers, or temporary workers, can be a critical part of a company's talent acquisition strategy. They provide flexibility, niche skill sets, and can help reduce overhead costs.
The contingent workforce provides businesses with:
By integrating a contingent workforce into your talent acquisition strategy, you can access the right talent when you need it, stay flexible, reduce costs, and gain a competitive advantage. The contingent workforce offers a flexible and strategic approach to workforce management in today's dynamic business environment.
But how do you implement the contingent workforce into your talent acquisition strategy?
With that in mind, here are some tips to help your business include the contingent workforce in your talent acquisition strategy:
1 - Identify Your Workforce Needs and Engage the Right Workers
The first step in including the contingent workforce in your talent acquisition strategy is to recognize the needs of your organization that can be met with a contingent workforce. These might include seasonal demand, special projects, or skill sets that aren't required on a full-time basis.
Once you’ve done that, it’s time to engage the right workers. Identify the skills and experience you need and find the right talent to meet these requirements. Find the right staffing agencies to help you fulfill your workforce objectives.
2 - Develop a Contingent Workforce Strategy
Your strategy should outline how contingent workers will be sourced, managed, and integrated into the business. This might include the use of staffing agencies, online platforms, or direct sourcing methods. You’ll need to build a program that gives you visibility and control over your contingent workers, so that you know exactly how much your business is spending on where that money is going. This will allow you to make continuous program improvements.
With that in mind, clear policies and procedures for managing contingent workers is crucial. Hiring managers should have a clear outline for how contingent workers are engaged, onboarded, managed, and offboarded - and where they should save this information.
3 - Establish Performance Metrics
Just like with your permanent staff, your contingent workforce program should be measured against clearly defined performance metrics. Here at Contrax we believe there are five key drivers of a successful contingent workforce program: cost, vendor management, compliance, processes, risk.
In addition, tracking staffing agency key performance indicators (KPIs) - such as fill rate, time to hire, time to fill and turnover - give your business insights into how your vendors are performing. You can read our blog, Top 6 Staffing Agency Performance Metrics to Track, for more information on these KPIs.
4 - Work With a Third-Party Expert
Outsourcing all, or parts, of your program to a contingent workforce specialist who can help you better manage your contingent workforce program is a huge asset for any business. By working with a specialist you’ll be able to access the contingent workforce management expertise, as well as gain the required resources to manage a complex contingent workforce program, that you likely don’t have in-house.
A specialist provider will be able to help your business save money, improve internal efficiency and enhance your ability to acquire top industry talent.
At Contrax, we have a range of contingent workforce management solutions to help your business increase its ROI. Interested in learning more? Book a meeting with our team today.
