Recruitment and the Planning Paradox

The title of this article isn’t an obscure Harry Potter book, or a film in the Jason Bourne series, (albeit that would most definitely be box office magic, and a great answer on BBC’s “Pointless”). No, it’s a reference to a problem that seems to always linger in the hiring world.

Planning is critical in recruitment. Planning for the year. Planning for campaigns. Planning for each vacancy.

Yet, planning seems to be a perpetual problem. The business is reactionary, the capacity planning is inaccurate, there isn’t enough time. That is the planning paradox. Not enough time to spend planning, planning which would save time. 

When plans are built, they are often revised many times through circumstances. It’s a useful exercise to review the number and phasing of an annual plan against what really happened.  Manpower planning, or capacity planning is all-too-often not wholly helpful. For many technical and specialist roles you can see the evidence that there is virtually no planning at all. The surprise at skills shortages.  The hiring for technical skills only, when the person just isn’t quite right. The unplanned compromises.

The very existence of the ￡multi-billion recruitment agency industry is evidence in itself. The easy fee generation for that industry is the distress purchase. There is still plenty of that.

In my last article I touched on the changing pattern of work. The notion that it is much more fluid than ever before. High employment and the pace of change will result in the current generation of people entering the workplace having multiple jobs, with multiple companies, and even multiple career changes.

Cognisant of this backdrop, the problem that organisations are often trying to wrestle with is retention. Particularly the retention of talent. McKinsey coined the phrase the War for Talent in their publication of that title in 1997. They focussed on the drivers to attract and retain. The idea of a war for talent has served to put upward pressure on salaries ever since as this most simplistic of levers is the one that employers all to easily reach for. Both in attraction and retention.

Reality is we all know the main reasons people move on.

• A lack of advancement.
• The veracity of the old adage that “people join companies and leave managers”.
•  Better reward. Or is it? Is better reward more often a consequence of the decision to move rather than the trigger that spurred the move?

1997 is a long time ago. This talent war is dragging on a bit. Time to start solving a different problem.

The mindset of the modern workforce and the inevitable mathematical limitations on advancement opportunities means that people coming and going is inevitable, something to be embraced and planned for.  

The pressure is felt most acutely by the recruitment teams, and facing the fluidity of the workforce, planning has never been more important. It’s time to stop thinking of a war for talent. Suggesting there is a never-ending war is great for the recruitment industry, but perhaps not necessarily the best way to think about the problem at hand.

It would be all too easy to say that getting the planning thing sorted is the answer. It’s how you plan is the key. That is the recruitment problem where the solution will keep setting you up for success.

It takes imagination and insight. This is a problem of supply and demand.

As the fluidity in the employment market continues, understanding what skills you need to deliver long term plans is critical. Not what the naked numbers are for the next year, or the turnover stats for each area, but an ambitious horizon. A view of the capability required for the future of the business. An understanding of skills required, not jobs to be filled. Understanding what the markets can bear. Understanding what the gaps are likely to be in your skills make-up. Build a plan to address that for 3,4,5 years out. Not for January. Understand what higher education is producing. Understand what the competitor impacts are. Understand your proposition strengths and weaknesses.  And so much more to be understood that is unique to each business.

It isn’t easy. Lots and lots of moving parts. However, if we imagine that the tired old cliched concept of the war for talent is real, then the recruitment teams that tackle planning best will be the victors.

My new book, Hire Power: Use resourcing to sharpen your competitive edge comes out on 9th November. It is available to pre-order on Amazon. A stocking filler treat for your loved ones who dont like Harry Potter or Jason Bourne.