Building a scalable talent strategy

Every organisation relies heavily on the people who drive and support it, and companies with talent that stays effective amidst scale and flexibility find themselves uniquely equipped to outpace competitors. The hard data backs this up: in a 2018 McKinsey survey, 99 percent of respondents who reported their company’s talent management was very effective said they outperform their competitors, compared with 56 percent of all other respondents.

However, talent management is as finicky as it is essential, even in the most stable of economic states, and it’s certainly far tougher today. Many global disruptions continue to shock both newsrooms and businesses, and an increasing need for geopolitical resilience has made hiring models like offshoring or nearshoring far more viable. Regardless of direction, a delicate balance between caution and opportunity therefore needs to be maintained through an equally flexible talent management strategy.

How then can HR and TA professionals today continue to ensure access to talent that’s both scalable and competent? We explore how to get your business started.

Verifying the robustness of your talent management strategy

If you’re reading this, you probably already have a talent management strategy in place, and are looking to flexibly scale it amidst potential digital and geopolitical disruptions. However, if you’re looking to scale your business anywhere, the first question needs to be: Is your strategy ready for it, and can it be applied elsewhere - specifically your scaling location of choice?  

A resilient, future-proof talent management strategy should have, amongst other things:

1. Clear alignment with your business objectives
   
   Every hiring decision, workforce development initiative, and retention effort should contribute directly to achieving organisational goals. By understanding the specific needs of your business, short- or long-term, you can build a talent pipeline that matches these needs.
   
   
2. Resilience in the face of future opportunities and disruptions
   
   Turnover rates, skills gaps, and service delivery interruptions – these can take many forms depending on how the market continues to transform. Your strategy therefore needs to have both real-time, data-driven insights to determine the best way forward, and talent providers who can consistently and reliably act on this data to best support your potential path forward.
   
   
3. A comprehensive talent retention and attraction plan
   
   Giving your talent the platform to develop their own goals will encourage them to stay, and attract new talent. By fostering growth opportunities, you create an environment where personal goals align seamlessly with organisational objectives, driving higher engagement and productivity. This approach leads to improved quality of hires, reduced operational costs due to lower attrition, and organic visibility that complements your broader employer branding efforts.
    

Figuring out where and how to scale your talent 

Now that your talent management plan is sound and you’re ready to scale your talent, the next step is determining how and where to scale. Successfully navigating this complicated process will not only reinforce your operational resilience but also unlock specialised skills with cost efficiency.

1. Where to scale your talent
   
   Our in-house Market Intelligence experts have identified some key factors to consider when selecting a location, including your innovation agenda, scope of activities, and optimal cost savings. Once these are identified, having country-level insights on metrics like English proficiency, industry specialisation, salary ranges and other cultural factors will inform your decision further – you can find our summary of key offshoring hotspots here.
   
   
2. How to scale your talent
   
   Depending on your organisational needs, the form of your scalable workforce could differ. For example, if you’re looking to expand an “always-on” function, an RPO provider can manage the end-to-end recruitment process to allow for agile, strategic scaling of talent capabilities. Certain business processes have peaks and troughs – think seasonal periods with high service demand, or initiatives like summer early careers programmes, contingent workforce solutions will allow organisations to meet this demand, minus the surplus and risk.
    

Navigating the challenges of a scalable talent strategy

As you navigate your scalable talent differently, unexpected pitfalls will happen and must be prepared for in advance, especially when entering an offshore or non-permanent arrangement.

One frequent stumbling block that’s particularly relevant for offshore talent scaling involves bridging time zones and navigating cultural differences. Properly managing these will call for effective leaders who can combine your organisation’s strategic focus with local nuance. Human-centric leadership approaches that prioritise inclusivity and psychological safety are 1.5x more likely to retain high performers, and 2.6x more likely to meet objectives as a ‘people-first’ organisation.

Another notable base to cover involves compliance with local regulations, an issue with a steep learning curve if you’re new to a locality. However, there is an easy fix - when searching for a partner to offshore with, look for one that’s been operating at your location of choice. Their established local processes, along with the cultural nuance that comes with working on the ground, lay plenty of groundwork for offshoring success.

How can offshoring be the answer to a robust talent management strategy?

You may have noticed how offshoring has come up several times in this article as a reliable option for scaling your talent. That’s largely in part to its advancement in capabilities beyond elementary tasks. Knowledge-intensive services that demand specialised expertise now make up two-thirds of offshoring services worldwide, reflecting its value for strategic business operations.

When looking to revamp your talent strategy to account for future flexibility and scale needs, offshoring is an incredible opportunity that top organisations worldwide are already leveraging. When done strategically and sustainably, building up an offshored function as part of your global talent strategy can open many avenues to both current and future business success.

Robert Walters has curated, cultivated, and embedded high-performance offshore teams for clients since its inception in 1995. Want to learn more about how our experiences can help your business growth? Reach out to our experts today.

Alternatively, check out our Offshoring Talent e-guide, where we explore three different phases companies can consider as they plan their offshoring strategy.