Karen Kandia September 6, 2016
Talent Management is going digital. And rightly so. The World Economic Forum’s theme for 2016 focuses on the age of the digital revolution, noted in Klaus Schwab’s article, and this has percolated into the workplace. The digital workplace, therefore, calls for digital HR; whereby traditional methods of acquiring, managing and developing talent have been replaced. This ‘Digital Disruption’ as quoted by Accenture, gives rise to a customized talent management strategy and the necessity for more effective talent solutions.
Accenture also highlights that “HR will begin to behave more like marketing—analyzing employee data, creating customized talent offerings, and marketing and branding talent and HR processes.” Moreover, “you don’t pick talent. Talent picks you. It’s a candidate’s marketplace, where talent has greater access to information, more paths to explore job opportunities, and benefits from fierce competition for skilled hires” as stated in LinkedIn’s Modern Recruiter Guide 2015.
The rules of the game have been changed, and organizations must adapt accordingly.
In comes LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Talent Solutions
In 2016, most organizations have noticed the need to transform their talent management strategies optimally. Processes have to be tweaked, goals readjusted and systems re-evaluated in order to perform HR’s core function (as) successfully (as can be). Talent Management Strategy can be defined in terms of goal alignment, finding quality hires by navigating skilled talent pools, conducting gap analyses to reach optimization and discovering collaborative opportunities. So how does a “social media” network for “placing online resumes” fall into such a strategy?
LinkedIn and your Talent Management Strategy
a. Finding quality hires
In Bersin by Deloitte’s 2016 Report on ‘Predictions for 2016: A Bold New World of Talent, Learning, Leadership, and HR Technology Ahead‘, an example is given whereby a US retailer recruitment solution enabled applicants to upload their LinkedIn profiles, make a video interview and do pre-hire assessment via gamification. The quality of their hires improved by a factor of 2. Quality of hires acquired is an integral part of any organization’s talent management strategy and also one of the most difficult to fulfill. Highly skilled candidates required to fill niche positions are scarce to find.
Using LinkedIn Advanced Search and InMail, you can fill in the keywords regarding the specific skills you want to find in a potential candidate. LinkedIn then generates a list of professionals who match this criteria. InMail is used to send messages to people who are not in your network, and is only available to Premium account users. InMail is great for recruiting, and proves to be very effective. Once the suitable candidate has been identified, you send them a conversational InMail. This can progress further into securing them for a role.
b. Talent pool search
- A whole new world of passive candidates
Unlike traditional job boards, LinkedIn allows recruiters to search for passive candidates. Passive candidates are candidates who are not actively prospecting for new opportunities, but who would possibly accept changing jobs if a better role presented itself.This element is extremely useful to recruiters, who ensure they are truly concentrating their efforts into the acquisition of the creme de la creme. Traditional job boards do not tap into this area, and thus are becoming outdated – fast.
- Casting a wider net into a global pool Active and passive candidates with quality hire-potential – from all over the world. Targeted search on LinkedIn makes this possible. HR analytics is now what is at the forefront of developing innovation in these key areas. This is not surprising, as most of the HR professionals are held back because of integral mechanisms that offer input into these areas. That’s where LinkedIn comes in. LinkedIn Talent Pool reports are reports generated by LinkedIn with information about where to find talent in which industry/area. These reports are only available to LinkedIn Recruiter users.
Talent Pool Report for corporate finance workers in southeastern Asia (LinkedIn Talent Blog)
c. Performing a gap analysis
LinkedIn is an excellent HR tool. It provides users with visitor analytics; impressions, clicks, rate of engagement, and interactions. These statistics are free to view for organic ads as well as sponsored ads, which also show the number of followers you gain if you sponsor content.
LinkedIn also allows you to view your reach, and identify your follower demographics. You are able to track how many professionals in senior positions are visiting your Company Page. There is comparison data for your followers against those of other companies in your location.
With the analytics, recruiters have the ability to highly target their audience and find ways to extend their reach and influence. Identify your current efforts and compare them to your desired outcomes. This reality check enables you to quantify your goals and work towards them. You are also able to pit your current workforce against your desired one. The Talent Pool Reports gives information on what professionals in a particular industry look for in a job. This informal gap analysis allows employers to compare their current offering against what they would need to offer in order to increase employee satisfaction.
What banking and general finance professionals look for in a job (LinkedIn Talent Blog)
d. Training employees
LinkedIn’s lynda.com is an e-learning service that provides users with educational information purposed to improve their skills. Research from Bersin and Associates shows that high performing companies are 3 times more likely than others to foster a strong learning culture. Upskilling employees keeps them aligned with organizational goals and helps in employee retention. e-Learning services are similarly more cost-effective than formal training.
“The talent pipeline is only as strong as its weakest link” (Nine Best Practices for Talent Management, DDI)
Research from DDI shows that a company’s focus should not only be in leadership succession but developing and promoting all talent to enhance competitiveness. This value creation can be added using lynda.com, which integrates with Learning Management Systems (LMS). This allows it to track and report on a user’s engagement with the courses. lynda.com offers a wide variety of training; including leadership courses and soft-skill enhancement.
Integrating LinkedIn into your organization’s talent management strategy ensures your competitiveness in a highly complex global economy. Supplementing your current efforts with the services LinkedIn has to offer, and discontinuing the use of outdated ones will already put you steps ahead of the rest.
Finding quality hires is a key part of recruitment. Using LinkedIn, recruiters are able to headhunt Senior Executives. Read more on what methods they use on How Recruiters Use LinkedIn to Headhunt Executives, and evaluate your LinkedIn Profile to see if its visibility to recruiters is high.
