This article is based on our recent webinar, ‘4 Steps to Making Total Talent Management Part of Your Workforce Strategy.’ It outlines how to design your programs by working through five key phases that will help you get your project off the ground successfully.
Creating a clear vision for the future of your programs can be similar to designing a house: going about it in phases will ensure your project becomes a reality without getting overwhelmed or halted!
To get started, break out key initiatives into five distinct phases:
1) Identify Missing Components
Begin by identifying which major items are missing. All too often we can be mesmerized by the shiny details and miss out on whether the basics of the program have been included.
Begin by clearly defining who will be in charge of managing the programs. Next, think about your current recruiting systems. While you may feel you have a great system today, can it scale to meet future challenges? For instance, if you project any growth for your full-time or contingent workforce and are managing everything using spreadsheets, it may be time to invest in an ATS or VMS accordingly. The same goes for how you’re managing this technology.
Also, consider whether you are able to effectively manage everything in-house or if starting an RFP for recruitment process outsourcing or a managed services provider would make sense.
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2) Integrate Teams and Technology
Next is integration—both of teams, and of technology. This might seem scary, but it doesn’t have to be! Do you want to integrate your full-time and contingent recruiting systems together? That’s completely up to you. Many organizations benefit from keeping them separate, but they may still integrate both sets of data into their HRIS systems to hold the data as the highest system of record.
Here, you’ll also want to determine whether to integrate your program management teams. Some organizations can manage both programs. It’s about deciding what makes sense strategically—whether you want them managed by the same or separate organizations.
3) Review Your Vendor Management
The next phase involves looking at your vendors. Maybe you work with a full-time recruitment agency today, or maybe you don’t. But you’ll definitely be working with your staffing agencies on the contingent workforce side. If you are combining vendor management and looking for better ways to source top talent, review whether the staffing suppliers on your contingent side can also manage your full-time placements.
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4) Outline Key Sourcing Strategies
This next phase is more strategic. With the “great resignation” taking place in the marketplace, you may be experiencing the same challenges as other professionals: sourcing top talent and keeping them engaged. Filling the gaps in your workforce may require more creativity today than before!
One way our full-time, contingent clients and management partners get creative is through the strategic sourcing initiatives they have put in place. When building your ideal program in this phase, consider the following:
- Employee referral programs
- Talent pooling and talent network creation
- Direct sourcing initiatives on the contingent side
- Creating a strong social media presence for your hiring arm
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5) Analyze and Adjust
As with any program, it won’t remain the same forever. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is the need to be nimble, flexible, and to adjust at short notice.
To start this process, you can start off by going through process documentation, but you can also start performing consistent analysis and tweaking of your program as needed.
Here are some of the ways you can adjust your program:
- Request a vendor RFP periodically to ensure you are getting top talent.
- Perform rate alignment to make sure you are not over- or under-paying for talent.
- Revise job descriptions to make sure your programs are keeping up with the ever-changing market.
- Undertake system optimizations. Are you incorporating all the new functionality?
You should also stay on top of industry trends. Attend conferences (HCI, for example) and other forums to gather information, and use this knowledge to make changes to your program
Total talent management is more than just sourcing. Going through a rigorous design phase, and adopting a mindset of continuous improvement and adjustment will help you design the best program for your organization.
Watch the full webinar to find out more about developing your workforce program and how to bring it all together. Alternatively, reach out—we’re here to help you with your contingent workforce management needs.
Meet the Expert
Taylor Ramchandani – VP of Strategy
Taylor Ramchandani is responsible for the management and strategic planning of the VectorVMS vendor management system. Taylor is committed to client satisfaction and to ensuring VectorVMS technology meets the current and future needs of clients and managed service providers (MSPs). She uses market research and in-depth industry experience to create products and services that make extended workforce management efficient and intuitive. Taylor oversees product development, marketing, and business partnerships for VectorVMS and is responsible for driving innovation for contingent workforce management. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
