Sanjay Sathé is founder and CEO of SucceedSmart, an executive recruitment platform that blends AI-powered technology with human expertise.
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Talent acquisition and recruitment have historically been seen as transactional business functions. Because of this, many companies often adjust talent teams whenever economic conditions change. During times of rapid growth, executives want to increase the recruitment and talent acquisition headcount; during slowdowns, they might seek to eliminate these roles. In fact, according to research from 365 Data Science, HR and talent sourcing roles were among the most impacted by the mass layoffs in 2022 and 2023. These professionals made up 27.8% of lost positions.
This mindset leads to an endless cycle of fluctuation that can have a negative impact on long-term business viability and success. Forward-thinking companies understand the importance of elevating talent partners to take on more strategic responsibilities and add ongoing value to the business.
As an HR or talent leader, here are key areas you can highlight to ensure executive teams understand how your department helps shape business strategy and supports organizational growth.
Strategic Workforce Planning
As you know, talent acquisition and recruitment is about more than short-term hiring needs. It’s also about proactively anticipating long-term talent and skills requirements. Given the shifting business dynamics in recent years—from the global pandemic to the Great Resignation to recession fears—strategic workforce planning is more important than ever before. In fact, Gartner research shows that, since the pandemic, "70% of HR leaders say they have more opportunities for impact and 58% report they have more authority to determine strategic priorities."
Your HR and talent teams have a unique understanding of your organization’s current and future workforce needs. By collaborating closely with other business stakeholders, you can align workforce planning with broader strategic business objectives. This includes analyzing skills gaps, workforce demographics, market trends and technological advancements to ensure you'll have an agile workforce with the skills needed to scale and thrive long-term.
Succession Planning
A critical part of strategic workforce planning is succession planning because it can help ensure continuity and stability, especially during times of transition or unexpected departures. Effective succession planning will be particularly important in the years to come, with more than 4.1 million Americans retiring each year through 2027. Some are calling this wave of retirements the “Silver Tsunami.”
By taking a proactive approach, you can help identify and develop high-potential employees who could fill key leadership positions in the future. You can also source and build relationships with external candidates for the same purpose. By cultivating a pipeline of internal and external talent, you'll be able to foster a culture of growth and development, which will contribute to increased employee engagement. This approach can also help mitigate risks associated with leadership gaps, such as productivity lapses or lowered morale.
Talent Development
Beyond developing future leaders, your talent management team members can design development strategies that benefit all employees. This includes creating and implementing learning and development initiatives that align with business goals and address skill gaps within the workforce. Some examples include providing access to online learning platforms, offering stipends or reimbursements for courses and certifications, or scheduling professional development events.
Investing in employee development can help improve performance, engagement and retention rates. By offering ongoing opportunities for growth and advancement, you can foster a culture of continual learning and innovation that drives organizational agility and resilience.
Technology Solutions Implementation
In today’s digital-first business landscape, technology plays a critical role across business functions, including HR, recruitment and talent acquisition. According to a survey from The Conference Board, "65 percent of Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) expect AI to have a positive impact on the HR function over the next two years." By implementing effective HR technology, you can drive efficiencies in processes that span the entire employee life cycle, like recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement and performance management. For example, technology can automate routine tasks, improve the candidate screening process and provide insights to drive data-based hiring decisions. With the right tools, you can also minimize conscious and unconscious bias, which allows you to focus on building relationships with candidates and employees.
HR and talent leaders are invaluable partners in driving business strategy and success. By taking on strategic priorities like workforce and succession planning, talent development and technology implementation, you can have a positive impact on business resiliency no matter the market or economic conditions.
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