When it comes to the economy, today’s society is going through unprecedented change. While each generation must live through an era of change, what sets today apart is the rapid-cycle way of doing business.
The rapid pace and complexity of change are driving trends and shifting priorities in today’s economy.
This is especially true when it comes to talent. Traditionally, talent acquisition has been a closed organizational function, but the evolutionary trend of today’s economy is shifting talent acquisition towards a more flexible and unbound environment.
Driven by the digital disruptions and rapid innovations, every sector is coming to terms with the new future of work; the open talent economy.
This is a concept that The Economist defines as “an economy that allows the unrestricted flow of people, capital, goods and services across its borders; the opposite of a closed economy.“
This emerging economy is altering how businesses operate across the globe.
It is drastically changing the look and feel of companies, no matter their size, modifying how they hire and acquire talent. Demand for a dynamic talent model is allowing businesses to access sources of open talent to reconfigure the workplace to be more collaborative, transparent, agile, and flexible.
The open talent economy is affecting virtually every industry, giving way to a more permeable and borderless workplace. For businesses, this means fundamentally changing and reframing the structure of talent and work within the workplace.
To enable your business to increase its access to talent and greatly leverage the sources of open talent available, organizations must be encouraged to invest in their company’s resourcing and talent management practices. To remain competitive in the “war for talent,” many organizations are turning to professional recruitment services to take advantage of this new dynamic model.
Recruitment agencies bring to life opportunities to develop a total workforce solution that strategically works for your business. Below are some key reasons that highlight the importance of employing a recruitment agency to help your organization prepare for the future of talent acquisition.
- The rapid advancement of technology
One of the biggest trends that is further driving the open talent economy is the rapid development of technology. Technology is a significant global force that has impacted how businesses and the global economy manages talent and the employee ecosystem.
On a global scale, technology is evolving the employee ecosystem. It is the foundation of the open talent economy. Technology is fuelling the abilities of employees and candidates alike to leverage their skill sets and professional experience in the global talent pool.
Rapid advancements in technology have unlocked the full potential of the open talent economy, empowering the workforce to work, share and learn from anywhere in the world.
With traditional talent acquisition models no longer effective in this emerging talent economy, recruitment agencies are a valuable source for businesses to tap into a great pool of highly qualified and experienced professionals. Facilitated by technology, recruitment agencies can better match candidates with the right company, allowing for more effective matching and performance and knowledge transfer.
By effectively mining large pools of global talent, recruitment agencies can source on-demand skills and expertise while lowering transaction costs and increasing returns on investment.
- The growth of crowdsourcing
The digitization of work is putting further emphasis on the need for companies to source skilled and highly qualified workers from across the globe.
The face of the IT landscape forever changed when software introduced the open source model. It swiftly replaced proprietary software, emerging at the forefront of technology across virtually every industry.
The same can be said for the open talent economy. As organizations create vacancies and establish role criteria, a recruitment agency can crowdsource talent from various communities to access the best candidates across the world.
Recruitment agencies can immediately reach out to the broader community, and identify the right talent with highly endorsed leadership and management skills to address the challenges faced by the organization. Recruitment agencies can crowdsource talent, creating a new “supply chain” of talent for employers, freeing up companies to focus their time on more strategic uses.
- It addresses the call to action for adaptation
In the open talent economy, recruitment and talent management is no longer seen as an expenditure but as an investment. Talent acquisition is a strategic investment in the scalability and future of a business — one that can help improve an organization’s performance and ROI.
Using human resources consulting services enables businesses to optimally transition from a closed economy to an open one, empowering businesses to gain pace with the talent paradigm shift. The traditional myopic outlook to talent acquisition expands when working with a recruitment agency.
Expert recruitment consultants will have in-depth knowledge regarding this paradigm shift, creating a talent continuum that reaches out to a variety of highly skilled professionals and various talent pools.
Whether it’s hiring outsourced talent or partnership talent and freelancers or open source talent, recruitment consultants can bring all these elements together to ensure your business is targeting the right candidates.
A recruitment consultant’s professional experience, significant expertise, and job market insight mean that organizations are better situated to make educated decisions in this emerging economy. Consultants can translate industry-specific trends to provide organizations holistic staffing solutions that drive business results.
- It fosters future relationships
The partnership an organization fosters with the right recruitment agency can be hugely beneficial in the open talent economy. The right recruitment agency will develop a deeper knowledge of the ins and outs of an organization, understanding exactly what an organization needs across the various talent pools out there.
By using a recruitment agency repeatedly, they will not only be able to know precisely what candidate a business needs, but what skills and expertise are required to deliver success in that position.
As many companies transition operation and business strategies to reflect this new open talent economy, organizations working with the right recruitment agency will feel confident that they can appropriately source the right talent, taking out the worry and minimizing the costs of the recruiting process.
Recruitment agencies will work closely with candidates to foster confidence, improving staff retention and creating organizational magnetism that will keep fewer people from walking out the door, despite the fewer ties that exist between employee and employer relationships.
This collaborative effort can be hugely beneficial to businesses, allowing them to source the perfect candidate sooner than later.
- Overcoming skill shortages
Despite the benefits of the open talent economy of empowering businesses to source global talent for their needs, this emerging economy masks talent shortages that affect employers looking for the perfect candidate. Skill shortages are escalating and gaps in experience and talent are making it difficult for companies to source the right professional knowledge to fill skill gaps.
An external recruitment agency can assist organizations in sourcing the right skills, not only in niche sectors but in terms of wider applied workplace skills as well. A recruitment firm can bridge the skills shortage gap across the talent landscape, from oil and gas and financial services to healthcare professionals.
Recruitment consultants work proactively with businesses and candidates to source the right people with the right skills for the right job. This means businesses can effectively source talent at an early stage before candidates can consider the competition.
While the open talent economy is foundationally built to address the present skills shortage across the corporate landscape, few businesses have the time or resources to effectively develop a flexible approach to strategically source highly sought-after talent.
Expert recruitment consultants have the ability and capacity to find not only the perfect match for a job description but also the right candidate with the ability to acquire and develop specific skills pertinent for the role in question.
This approach provides businesses a great source of talent that’s most needed within their organization.
What happens next?
A company’s talent strategy must account for more than just an influx of available talent. Many things are set in motion in the open talent economy. It is a dynamic environment that requires readiness and strategic changes on the part of the employer.
The open talent economy reframes the boundaries of organizations. With work now becoming increasingly free of the physical requirements of the built workplace, companies will focus on key drivers to rethink development and rewards when it comes to the changing talent landscape.
Companies will be required to adopt new talent management practices work models that reflect the trends of the open talent economy. Practical implications include changes in the labor supply chain, more project-based work models, and redefining workforce planning to involve new approaches to the expanding set of talent pools.
A recruitment firm can be an invaluable asset as your business transitions from a traditional closed economy to an open one. By utilizing all of its available resources, your organization can guarantee it has full access to the wealth of talent pools available.
Considering the broader range of talent now accessible by companies, from large enterprises to start-ups, talent sourcing and acquisition will require the assistance of recruitment agencies that can excel in addressing today’s talent acquisition problems and tomorrow’s emerging challenges to strategically orchestrate the various talent networks to attract and appeal to talent partners and specialists of different skills and experiences.
David Mackenzie is a recruitment professional with over twenty years’ experience in the field and a record of entrepreneurial accomplishment,He is a Managing Director and Head of HR at Mackenzie Jones.
Oyundoyin Anthony
Oyundoyin Anthony is a blogger and an affiliate marketer that offers helpful contents to people who are looking for different products for their needs. He enjoys helping people to achieve success in their business.
