Stoneseed’s recruitment high bar – Your guarantee of IT project best practice
A paradigm shift for a prospective client this week, pivoting from “there’s a talent shortage” to “we’re not attracting the right candidates” and totally reframing their resourcing strategy
There’s a talent shortage – or is there?
We hear this a lot; it’s becoming a common reason cited as cause of it project challenges and even failure but there isn’t a shortage of it project talent per se.
I mean, the top tier talent is still there, the issue is recruiting and retaining
Admittedly, things like brexit, covid and ir35 have had an impact on the available talent pool and an increase in projects has certainly meant that project managers and business analysts (etc, etc) can be more choosey. This has led to firms and organisations sometimes making a bad hire from a handful of applicants, none of whom were a perfect fit in the first place but who were the best of a reasonably suitable bunch.
Repeat this a few times and you could be forgiven for thinking that the talent pool is drying up and becoming a talent puddle.
Hiring organisations are becoming less selective because they have created a narrative that there are fewer ‘a-game candidates’ to select from. They should actually be taking a leaf out of the candidate’s book and becoming more choosey.
It’s counter intuitive at first blush in a so-called season of “talent shortages”, but rather than lowering the bar to suit the market, by raising the bar to allow just the greatest candidates to qualify, you end up with the best people on your payroll. It’s the stoneseed way – our reputation is built on having the best resources “on tap” through our innovative “as a service model”, to maintain it we have to recruit and retain the best resources in the first place. Anything less than a perfect match for stoneseed’s high standards - is not a match at all.
A talent shortage or your talent gap
I love it when a client reframes a narrative, based on a fresh perspective on the talent terrain that they are in.
One such client, a keen angler, told me that it was like they’d been looking at a river from the bank, occasionally dangling a net into the waters, before concluding that there must be fewer fish in the river because they’d not caught any. It was like they’d realised that their strategy was all wrong, they swapped the net for a rod, learnt where to cast the line and what bait to put on the hook and the improvement in the results was stunning.
“the talent market wasn’t deficient or lacking. Like the water in a river, it had shifted, it was constantly moving. We had had gaps in core competences
A great pmo needs good leadership and a strong team - a challenging talent market does not mean that you have to sacrifice these basic essentials! Stoneseed can provide the missing pmo resources, skills and experience you need through our “as a service” model.
Hiring IT project talent is maybe not your strong suit, it is ours!
Another reason for bad hires is that recruiting, onboarding, and working with it project managers, business analysts, pmo specialists (etc) is probably not your main focus. At stoneseed, it is. Always has been!
That thing that you do, that service you provide, that speciality of yours that keeps the invoice remittances rolling in – we don’t do that.
At stoneseed we create long term relationships with the best it project talent, our prospectus could just say that, except what we also do is get to know that thing that you do, that service you provide, that speciality of yours that keeps the invoice remittances rolling in and we’ll strive to thoroughly understand how you do business, your culture and your values.
Combining these two strengths, a thorough understanding of your business and having only the best in the game on our bench, we can provide the best-fit talent for your needs. No ifs, no buts, no maybes - anything less than a perfect match is not a match at all can be your mantra too, thanks to our high bar for recruitment.
?it's never happened (because of our recruiting, onboarding and retention practices and that development of deep understanding of our clients) but i would prefer to decline to provide a resource than to provide one that, in my heart, i knew was not a perfect fit.
Our combined decades of experience gives us a sixth sense for who the right candidates are and backing this up with more scientific recruitment methods, like peer profiling, we can ensure you have access to talent that feels “made to order”.
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Interlude – calling the best talent
Before concluding, if you’re reading this as a prospective employee rather than our next client, and like how we do business at stoneseed, we're always looking for project managers, business analysts, etc, for various roles across the uk. If you have at least 3 or 4 years of experience, access to a vehicle, you’re looking for a challenge and to improve your skills, apply here.
Our linkedin job board ?is great resource to follow for the latest career opportunities too. Due to ever growing demand for our project management as a service (pmaas), we are looking for talented it project professionals to join our growing team of experts. If that sounds like you, get in touch.
And what’s it like working for stoneseed? Well, we encourage our employees to regularly share anonymous feedback. A stoneseed business analyst said, "stoneseed is a great place to work if you are looking for a company that values a positive work environment
A principal project manager told us, "i love the variety, the complexity, and the exhilaration of taking on a range of diverse and challenging projects. You don't get that variety in most places. This is what makes us so great at what we do, because we have such a diverse skill set, and it is what allows us to continually grow and exceed as a business. So, you feel both personally and professionally proud."
A principal business analyst replied, "i can honestly say, hands down, that stoneseed is the best company i’ve ever worked for, and i would recommend working here to anyone. You will be respected, encouraged, supported and well looked-after."
We believe that a happy team is a productive team, as you can see from these survey replies, the stoneseed family is a happy and proud one, and everyone benefits from this whether you’re a member of the team, or a client enjoying the value of adding positive and motivated talent to your project.
Growing the culture within a business is very much a team effort and, together, we’ve made stoneseed a great place to work, a place to challenge yourself and develop your career. You can meet stoneseed’s recruitment team here.??
Our talent – your success
In conclusion, stoneseed employs a team of project managers, business analysts, pmo experts, and technical advisory professionals, in other words, whatever talent or competency gap you have, we have the right person for you - for as long as you need them. Our stringent recruitment process
Our experts work across multiple technology solutions, sectors, and industries, with programmes such as business change, transformation, infrastructure, digital or it project delivery. To find out more about pmaas and how we deliver services through our flexible, on-demand resourcing model click here.
Working with stoneseed is like a partnership in your success, we will celebrate your wins as much as you do. Your project management as a service resource may be our talent, on our payroll, but they will be your team member. It’s not unheard of for talent to fit teams so well that they are given leaving gifts at the end of a secondment, like a member of staff. Clients will often ask for individuals by name project after project.
As an independent business, we are accountable only to our clients and our team. We have built an egalitarian business culture, we treat our colleagues with equal respect and, when decisions need to be made, our guiding motto is to ‘do the right thing’.
If this culture and these values fit yours, we look forward to working with you, and to helping deliver your it projects together.
Sources and resources
Great article.....and calling all you agents of change out there, we are expanding our team of PMs and BAs. You never know, we just might be that company you are looking for!