The war for talent is over, long live the war for skills!

The hunt for talent and skills has always existed!

Did you know that we've been recruiting forever? 

There's plenty of evidence in the literature to show that recruitment as we commonly understand it began with the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. But we could go back a little further, to prehistory for example, and man's need to survive, feed and protect himself, and thus to unite in order to be stronger.

Alone, it was very difficult to subsist, to gather the good things, then later to hunt without tools, then to build the latter to be more efficient. It was therefore necessary to recruit to create a group, and in order to do so, one had to convince others, albeit rather summarily and naturally, for physiological reasons, but convince them all the same. Of course, there was no process to speak of, each person having to bring the other along to become their ally in gathering, hunting or weapon-making. To make the right choices, it was necessary to know why, who and how to recruit. 

The war for skills and talent

Recruiters: schizophrenic hybrids in search of specialization

With globalization and the proliferation of different types of company - VSEs, SMEs, large corporations, multinationals, start-ups and even self-entrepreneurship - talented people can choose where they want to work, their career path. Just a few years ago, companies were still in the business of publishing job vacancies and - alea jacta es - come what may. Today we have headhunters, independent recruitment agencies and consultants. We're talking about attracting, developing and training talent, and offering a turnkey permanent contract is no longer enough. Until now, recruiters have been generalists: whatever the type of position, need, seniority or urgency, the same people took care of everything.

But when it comes to finding very specific people with very specific skills, there can be no room for approximation or improvisation. To attract and convince someone, whatever the field, you need to speak the same language, have the same vocabulary and, what's more, have expertise in the field. After all, business is becoming increasingly technical. But being an expert isn't enough: it's also important that the company offers a challenging and attractive working environment. With social networks (Linkedin, various job sites, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.), candidates are inundated with proposals.

Like a child lost in the aisles of a candy store, the 2.0 candidate is just as amazed as he is lost. Recruiters therefore specialize in one area, but must also be as creative as possible. Providing an enhanced candidate experience has become a standard today when it comes to attracting talent. The best create and manage a pool of internal and external candidates. They work with schools and training institutes to recruit the most promising young graduates.

Companies are introducing new ways of recruiting: games, role-playing, group stages, stress tests, co-assessment... Differentiating from the competition in form is becoming more important than content, but few candidates are fooled. The proposed project remains the central element in the choice. 

The skills and talents of the future

How do you recruit people who ignore their own potential? 

85% professions of 2030 don't yet exist according to a study by Dell and the Institute for the Future. Whether from the point of view of the hiring company or that of the jobseeker, we've reached a rather comical level of complexity. One doesn't know who it's looking for, and the others don't know that they're wanted. This is where forward-looking management of jobs and skills becomes essential. A company's development and long-term survival are closely linked to the implementation of a coherent GPEC policy.

And to do this, it's not just a question of execution, but of strategy, which must first be discussed and decided. Why is this so? Quite simply because a GPEC strategy cannot be improvised, and requires a financial investment commensurate with business ambitions. Anticipation requires a precise knowledge of what has been done in the past, and a clear view of the players within the company. The aim is to stay ahead of the game, avoid falling behind competitors, and have the right resources in place for the future.

To do this, we need to change our frame of reference: we're no longer talking about finding talent or professionals in a particular field, but about skills. We need to identify, evaluate, develop and plan this management. Let's concentrate on the first stage, identification: what skills are we looking for and where can we find them? This first step alone is a major undertaking. What kind of skills do you need? You'll probably want to have an overview of your employees' "technical" know-how and experience.

An employee who parachutes or volunteers as a fireman acquires experience that is either transferable today, or that will be useful for the jobs of "tomorrow". Candidates' resumes, which hopefully were digitized when they were hired, may be the first point of entry for human resources to begin skills mapping. The second are social networks, if employees have been willing to have an online profile and keep it up to date. Few employees will themselves communicate their know-how internally. 

These skills are totally unknown assets for the company, yet so strategic for the future. A discovery process is therefore essential. Once again, you can easily imagine the magnitude of the task. 

Digital, the new weapon for hunting them down

Digitization, you name it!  

Technology will support, simplify, accelerate and record recruitment processes, but it won't recruit for you. The development of a recruitment strategy and its execution depend solely on the company and its employees. Technology will never be a magic wand. Nonetheless, in a totally connected world, where quantities of data and information are increasing at exponential speed, it is important to be able to capture it, integrate it and make it intelligible, in order to extract a competitive advantage for development. In recruitment, for example, the approval and follow-up workflows alone consume resources and time.

Multinationals, and even start-ups, have up to seven interviews, and are always on the lookout for the perfect candidate. Once the candidate has been recruited, the work doesn't stop there. With an increasing number of employees resigning before the end of the trial period, it's important to have an on-boarding, integration and development process that is commensurate with the investment made in recruitment. Added to this are the legal obligations associated with hiring: a single declaration, registration with pension funds, occupational medicine registration, keeping a single personnel register, registering with the Labour Inspectorate and drawing up the payroll. 

Having the right technological tools at their disposal enables the most advanced companies to focus on innovation, strategy and predictive management of their human resources.

Find out how Mercateam can help you master your know-how, request your demo