Talent Processes Are Changing and Here’s How Recruitment Agencies Can Benefit

The approach that HR takes towards performance, talent management and rewards is changing in many companies. Traditional processes, often based on appraisal and structure, are giving way to more agile alternatives. For recruitment consultancies this presents two challenges: firstly to understand the changes that are happening so that we can better advise clients on candidate matches, and secondly to look at how we manage and motivate our own consultants and support staff.

The challenges of attracting, engaging and retaining talent aren’t purely on the agenda for clients - agencies face them too. Leading HR thinker Dave Ulrich often talks of businesses needing to hire the employees that their customers would choose, and for recruitment companies that translates as hiring the consultants that clients would choose to deal with. Conversely, newer cohorts of trainee consultants have preferences and expectations that may differ from previous intakes.

Recruiters are very much part of the professional services sector so should be aware of the way that other businesses in the sector modify their talent processes

Performance management has probably had the most high profile makeover, with major organisations like Microsoft, Deloitte and Accenture changing the way they assess the development of employees. Recruiters are very much part of the professional services sector so should be aware of the way that other businesses in the sector modify their talent processes. The major changes have seen the annual, backward looking, school report style appraisals replaced by ongoing, continuous dialogue between managers and employees. Instead of focusing on how someone has performed in the past the emphasis is now on looking at current performance and helping individuals learn and improve results. To underline this shift many companies are doing away with ratings, rankings and leaderboards. Individual goals are more flexible, responding to fluctuations in a complex and competitive business cycle, and shifts in company culture.

This could present interesting challenges for recruitment agencies. The concept of flexible goals and targets that respond to external factors, and the end of the sales floor style leaderboard, may seem alien at first, but the rationale behind clients doing this makes sense. For example at Microsoft, previous approaches to performance management were seen as judgemental and leading to unhelpful internal competition, which was having a negative impact on the overall business results. Hence the new approach redefines performance as impact - the actual impact individual employees have on their team and business, with individual accomplishment counting alongside the contribution made to the success of others. For recruitment consultants this approach could encourage more collaboration towards overall business goals. It might also improve chances of recognition for individuals who make a significant contribution to their teams' and colleagues’ success without necessarily closing the most placements themselves.

The ability to offer honest and constructive feedback, and to coach and mentor employees to help them grow and develop, means that many of the businesses that adopt different approaches to performance management are also changing the way they identify and develop managers. This has coincided with shifts in the way talent management and leadership development are handled.

leaders are no longer pre-identified high potentials but can come from anywhere within the organisation

For many enlightened companies, leaders are no longer pre-identified high potentials but can come from anywhere within the organisation, and they take responsibility for developing their own skills and knowledge. Talent management itself has become less about linear promotion, instead recognising that many employees want to develop their skills and capabilities by gaining experience of working in different parts of the business, on varied projects and assignments, across functions and disciplines. Many recognise that the roles of the future have yet to be identified or created, and so try to keep expanding their knowledge and experience, especially with analytics, critical decision making and having a broader perspective, also becoming essential parts of a leader’s toolkit.

Managers don’t necessarily need to be the most effective billers but instead can have broad industry and commercial knowledge

Within recruitment agencies there can be opportunities for sector specialists to deepen their knowledge and start to work closely with clients as a business partner. One possibility is to spend time working with a client’s in-house team to cement the working relationship. A number of organisations in other sectors are encouraging their aspiring leaders to gain broad exposure, including time spent outside the business. Managers don’t necessarily need to be the most effective billers but instead can have broad industry and commercial knowledge and be able to coach, mentor and improve consultants.

To harness these shifts in talent development, some of the key priorities for recruitment agency owners should be to:

• Identify the behaviours they want to promote and reward
• Hire consultants who exhibit those behaviours, rather than based purely on previous performance
• Know what really motivates their employees (it might not be what you assume)
• Promote the performance culture that will deliver the service offering which will keep clients loyal
• Define the role influence and impact plays within different teams
• Offer opportunities for development that will enable employees to build on their key strengths and interests

In a future blog I will look at how rewards and benefits are also changing, and their importance in retaining consultants and attracting trainees who may have other options. They are becoming increasingly flexible and holistic, recognising the varied priorities and demands of employees at different life stages.

With people processes evolving the recruitment industry can lead the way, as advisors and also through leading by example.