We also look at peoplewho turned us down in the past, or who interviewed, but were not selected forthat role at that particular time. They may be a much stronger candidate nowfor a particular position, or they may be a better fit for a different positionbetter aligned with their experience. Interviews and offers fall apart for manyreasons. Occasionally we reach out to ex-employees, although in that instance,strict rules must be followed to comply with company policies. Forexample, right now we are reviewing a strategy for ex-contractorswho left more than a year ago, are eligible for hire, and fit our coreprofiles today. Yet another example is identifying people who worked on a specificproduct, project, or team in the past and have the appropriate expertise todrive current company initiatives. If those individuals were key players at thetime, chances are that wherever they are today, they are of equal or increasedinfluence. Identifying their current location often leads to new talent poolsor other previously untapped sources of leads. Sometimes these individuals comefrom rapidly emerging, but still relatively unknown companies. By reaching thattalent first, it enables us to gain an edge over competitors fighting forsimilar talent from much more visible sources.
Thisis revolutionary because through peer regression we gain entry into the comparativelyunexploited talent markets. Most of the research is conducted using numerousInternet methodologies, but some is done via ethical telephone elicitation thatadheres to the SCIP.org code. Chief among our methods are search enginequeries and tactics that take full advantage of field commands used in thedesign of the database and syntax they offer. We also use onlinedatabases, social networking tools, etc. Overall, we track about 230different sources of information and discover new ones every day. We don'talways find exactly who influenced whom, but we can make respectable educatedguesses. For example, sometimes we find a specific professor who taught a classand ten of the students in that class ended up being very influential in theirindustry. Call it timing, or good preparation, but regardless of the reasons,for the connection between those successful people, the clue is hard to ignore.Sometimes the best we can do is look at who their colleagues were at the timeand that's good enough. Luminaries aren't always well defined. What we arelooking for is someone who did something innovative that changed or greatlyaffected the industry, broke a paradigm or created a new market.
It’snot all “blue skies and roses”. There are many challenges with this type ofsearch. It is time consuming, delicate work with no guaranteed results.Organizations need to be prepared to invest time and resources into tappingthis hidden supply of talent, but most companies today remain skeptical aboutthe cost-to-benefit ratio. As the talent market continues to shrink, however,this methodology will gain acceptance. Another major source of frustration,even if an organization does recognize the value of investing in peerregression analysis, is that not all recruiters or hiring managers know how tohandle or what to do with a truly passive candidate generated this way. Hiringmanagers must be educated on how to approach, handle, sell and romance suchcandidates. A strong process and communication plan needs to be in place tosupport such strategic efforts to ensure maximum traction and results.Leveraging existing employees and leadership is critical, but more importantly,no single department should be entirely responsible for this process. A cultureand environment must be created in which this process naturally flows from thebusiness to research teams and back again. Instead of reacting to projects asthe need arises, this process must be a constant building of proactive pipelinesof passive candidates. Without support from the business, knowing how to handlethese candidates, and keeping the pipeline growing, the handful of candidatesproduced will “wither on the vine”.
This strategy becomes world class and revolutionary because it ties intoheadcount planning and forecasting. Operating on “instant demand” projects isnearsighted and limiting. The further into the future an organization canimplement this process, the more revolutionary it becomes. Not only should staffingleadership work closely with business units on what investments or big bets arebeing made affecting the future direction of the organization, products,solutions or other offerings, but it should be done one year in advance.Additionally, a PRA talent acquisition strategy must be aligned with thoselong-term business goals. Imagine an organization capable of developingpipelines encompassing the top one percent of talent well into the next fiveyears of forecasted investments and career direction? Recruiting would nolonger be limited to “who you can bring us today,” but instead “who you canbring us tomorrow, that will have a sizeable impact on our long-term strategy.”Top global companies sometimes think this way at the most senior level, butvisionaries don’t just come in C and V sizes. They can start early with thecompany as individual contributors, team leaders, managers or directors, and growinto roles where they make big waves. What if instead of an occasionalaccident, this was a planned strategy?
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