DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Where Did the Forest Go?

By Scott Erker, Ph.D.

At the risk of referencing the much overused analogy – don’t lose site of the forest for the trees – I think it can be used to describe a classic pattern that is emerging in staffing today.  For many organizations, the light is at the end of the tunnel. Job growth could be on the horizon. But there are many reasons to believe that the convergence of factors we typically see just before job growth will be compounded by the severity of the recent recession. Do you see this pattern emerging?

• Recruiting resources are lean due to staff cuts.
• Placement and management of contractors is taking a lot of time.
• Turnover of full-time associates is taking a slight upturn as the incumbent population grows restless and sees opportunity elsewhere.
• Some areas of the business are starting to create jobs and the demand for new hires is taking more and more time.
• Hiring managers are especially demanding as they’re nervous about hiring the wrong person (exacerbating to poor business unit performance).

I could go on. At times like this, we should remind ourselves of the foundational elements that lead to successful staffing systems – in good times and bad. While these items won’t help you in the short term they may help you to prioritize (or shape) your week-to-week activities which in turn leads to sanity and hopefully, longer–term improvement. Think about:

• Linking business goals and drivers to talent selection
• Utilizing diagnostic tools to gather accurate information
• Driving development and engagement on the first day in the new job

Read the entire solution in Scott’s post on RecruitingTrends.com.

Scott Erker, Ph.D., is the Senior Vice President of Selection Solutions for Development Dimensions International.

Down, But Not Out

By Scott Erker, Ph.D.

If the staffing function were a fighter in a boxing match, it has just taken a series of one-two punches and is leaning on the ropes. However, there are signs that staffing is coming back into the fight which I saw last week at the 2009 SHRM Staffing Management Conference. While attendance was down from last year’s record numbers, there was buzz about a few significant topics.

First, companies are buckling under the weight of too many candidates for too few jobs, causing manual staffing processes to break under candidate volume. Pressure to hire the right person is extremely high and fear that an eventual turnaround in the economy will drive massive turnover from employees that accepted a ‘placeholder job’ to pay the bills. This fuels interest in ways to find candidates who are invested in the culture of the organization–long term.

Second, legal issues got a lot of attention as the number of grievances filed with the EEOC and OFCCP has increased for two consecutive years and this is likely to continue as this recession drags on. Social media is another legal concern – the temptation to use easy access people searches (thank you Google) to gather information about job candidates is tremendous, yet they risk crossing legal boundaries protecting applicants from discrimination.

While staffing may be down, it’s certainly not out. How is your company hiring for critical functions and preparing for the turnaround?

Scott Erker is the senior vice president of Selection Solutions for Development Dimensions International (DDI).