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.

How an RPO Partner Can Help Companies Like Amazon and Other e-commerce Companies Hire Thousands of Employees

During the first two months of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., Amazon experienced an extreme increase in customer demand. To meet this abrupt increase, Amazon successfully filled 175,000 positions in its fulfillment and delivery network. Other e-commerce businesses like Instacart and Chewy also rushed to fill needed positions. Therefore, they needed to ramp up their hiring function to hire thousands of workers to meet the extreme demands placed on their operations. It’s in these kind of extreme situations, recruitment process outsourcing providers (RPO)s offer strategic, consultive, and proactive solutions for quickly hiring thousands of people.

Media rental service Netflix, toy manufacturer Lego, and photography giant Fujifilm. Vastly different industries but they have one thing in common. They used internal disruption to improve their business models and reinvent themselves to adapt to a changing world.

For Netflix, it was recognizing changing technologies and transforming from a DVD by-mail rental business to the king of streaming. Lego, for decades one of the most popular construction toys for children, turned its brand around by releasing The Lego Movie in 2014 and then scaling back its products to focus on those that delivered a great customer experience. Perhaps the greatest adaption came from Fujifilm which not only survived the move to digital photography but started successful pharmaceutical and cosmetic lines.

a·gil·i·ty (noun) The ability to move quickly and easily. (Alternative) The ability to think and understand quickly.

Agility was once limited to the technology space. Today, diverse industries and brands are applying agility to their competitive advantage. GE relied on it to transform itself into a modern digital industrial company, National Public Radio employs agile methods to create new programming, and equipment giant John Deere credits an agile mindset with helping it develop new and advanced machinery.

When Ernest Shackleton set off to explore the Antarctic, his quest was for fame. When disaster struck and his vessel was trapped in ice, he knew that if his team were to survive he had to adjust his thinking. To make his men feel they were part of group that could not fail, he employed a more human touch to his command. After supper each evening, for example, he walked around to his men's tents to tell stories or play cards. Once, when supplies and morale were equally running low, he ordered up double rations to raise his crew's spirits.

What distinguishes a great leader is how they respond in times of crisis. By embracing uncertainty, great leaders can leverage precarious environments to launch new ideas and try new approaches.