You Need a Strategic Staffing War Room By Bruce Tulgan

Throughout the economic boom, every organization in every industry was spending unprecedented time, energy, and money recruiting talent. Sweetened deals, including higher-than-usual starting salaries, accelerated raises and promotions, and even retention bonuses were becoming commonplace. It seemed that no perk was off the table. Now that the boom times are over (for now), companies have been downsizing in record numbers and unemployment has edged up considerably. Does that mean that you should stop your recruiting efforts dead in their tracks and wait for the next boom before you resume? No.

The talent wars continue
Look at the realities of the labor market. Still hovering near its "recession" peak, unemployment is nonetheless relatively low in historical terms. Among those with college degrees, unemployment remains below 3%; and for those with critical technical skills, unemployment remains below 2%. While many talented people are lying low during the downturn, the best people always have plenty of career options; therefore, they are difficult to recruit and retain in any economy. According to Towers Perrin, 73% of companies downsizing are hiring at the same time. The downturn has not destroyed, but rather has cemented, the free-agent mindset by proving to workers that job security is dead. The real punch line is the long-term picture: By 2006 two workers will exit the workforce for every one entering. Workforce growth will decelerate, while demand for skilled talent will grow, each year from now until 2020. And the 25- to 44-year-old age group will decline by 15% over the next 15 years.

Withdrawing from the recruiting marketplace during the downturn is a huge mistake, just as it was a mistake during the boom for employers to hire in droves and promise the world. Those who fail to take a long-term strategic approach to recruiting in today’s rapidly changing business world will face a perpetual staffing crisis.

Best practice: Strategic staffing war rooms
Seize control of your talent supply chain, just as you have with other critical resources. You need a strategic staffing war room -- a high-level team of staffing professionals who can partner with every hiring manager to get the right new hire in the right place at the right time every time. How does your organization handle the new-hire requisition process? Candidate sourcing? Selection? On-boarding? Who is in charge of your employer brand?

If you don't know where to begin, go see the prototype strategic staffing war room in Houston, Texas: Tour RES (Recruitment Enhancement Services), a division of the Bernard Hodes Group. For companies that cannot reengineer their entire hiring process and build the necessary operation internally, RES plays the role on an outsourcing basis. Does it work? By streamlining the hiring process with dedicated professionals using leading technology, RES has helped its clients achieve 95% satisfaction ratings from hiring managers, while cutting hiring time by 40% and cutting hiring cost by as much as 60%.