“All creative, talented people recognize the value of process, and have no concerns about revealing to others that it takes many bad ideas to obtain good ones.” So says Scott Berkun, speaker and best-selling author of multiple books on design including The Year Without Pants about his time with Microsoft, and his latest, How Design Makes the World.

When Berkun first started at Microsoft, he was embarrassed to share (or even document) what he considered his bad ideas. But he kept a notebook filled with them and along the way discovered something that has served him well throughout his career: each bad idea revealed some other way of thinking about the problem. And eventually he learned being transparent about his bad ideas with others created a collaborative environment that encouraged good—or even great—ideas to emerge.

The legendary adman David Ogilvy had a saying, "Sell or else." He meant, if your words aren't selling, they're worthless. In talent acquisition, it's "source or else." If your organization isn't sourcing candidates all the time, you won’t be ready to hire rapidly when you need to grow your workforce.

Since COVID-19 hit in March of this year, almost everything about our work and our lives has been disrupted and turned upside down. For instance, HR teams practically overnight have had to figure out how to enable their employees to work from home. And companies in industries highly impacted by the pandemic are laying off, furloughing, or reassigning employees to new positions.

In short, many are learning that remaining agile is critical for survival; yet they’re not completely sure what it takes to navigate this unchartered territory. What does all this mean for RPO providers? That helping clients meet their most pressing recruitment challenges now goes hand-in-hand with guiding them on how to be more agile in their recruiting approach. We recently brought together a terrific team of RPO leaders to talk about just that and we’ll be covering their helpful insights and (mostly) upbeat outlooks over several posts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made companies turn to virtual recruiting. The Acceptance of HR professionals to the changes is mixed. Pam Verhoff, President of Advanced RPO, pointed out, "Some clients are adapting better than others." While Jennifer Cooper, Senior Vice President at Hueman RPO, reported, "Most clients have quickly adapted to the virtual world."

Why Building Your Talent Pipeline During an Economic Downturn is Good for Your Business.

Along with a giant cloud of unknowing, the coronavirus-induced recession has created a new work routine for industries and societies. Workers and companies found themselves adjusting to remote work and work-from-home (WFH).

Once the economy starts bouncing back and businesses reopen, companies need to be ready to begin hiring. 

According to a recent WilsonHCG study, 71 percent of surveyed business leaders expect to begin hiring in the 3rd and 4th quarters of this year. Sixty-three percent of HR and TA professionals surveyed said that their teams are getting ready to start hiring. 

Part of the hiring readiness should be a talent pipeline readiness. To that end, a candidate-centric pipeline is what Best-in-Class companies adopt, according to Aberdeen's analyst, Zach Chertok. Aberdeen's data also shows that a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner is best suited to creating a continuously populated pipeline.

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on employers and candidates requires RPO providers to pivot their business. Pivoting to a new strategy often entails drastically changing an entire organization. But in the case of unexpected crisis, pivoting has more to do with quickly changing course to adapt to outside, uncontrollable forces.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted recruiting practices and caused organizations to rethink their candidate screening process. As companies adapt to these changes, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) leaders are adjusting with them. The ability of RPOs to quickly pivot in any direction makes them the perfect hiring partner to help businesses adjust to the changes in candidate screening.   

States all across the U.S. are briskly moving to hire hundreds and thousands of contact tracers very rapidly. According to a recent NPR story, states nearly doubled their plans for contact tracers within a ten-day period. As states ramp up to build their contact tracing programs in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus and reopen the country, they are faced with monumental challenges. RPO offers a unique solution for building a contact tracing workforce. 

Throughout history, leaders have relied on communication to spark action and ease fears. When one of its flight landed nose first at LaGuardia airport back in 2013, Southwest Airlines quickly and immediately handled the crisis through social media. Honest communication on Twitter and Facebook helped the brand control the story and maintain good faith with its customers.

While there are some notable exceptions, most companies big and small have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The economic impact is obvious, but the pandemic and resultant lockdown have also affected how certain brands and employers are perceived.

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban believes how organizations treat workers during the pandemic “could define their brand for decades.” We agree. We also believe that a time of crisis can often be the best opportunity for companies to let their employer brand shine.