1、Cracking the Critical Talent CrisisIntroduction1 Create Target Value Propositions and Personas2 Rethink your Target Talent Definition3 Optimizing your Channel Strategy4 Celebrating your Critical Talent Heroes5 Maximizing Employee Advocacy and Referral6 Creating Dedicated Landing Pages7 Ensuring your

2、 Candidate and Employee Experience Delivers on your Promises8 Maximising Recruiter EmpowermentSummaryReferences3679617CONTENTSThere is a growing consensus that the global economy is entering a period of slower growth,if not recession.However,unlike previous economic downturns there is str

3、ong evidence to suggest that competition for critical talent,especially tech talent,will continue to remain a major challenge.Our extensive experience of working with leading employers on this issue suggests there is no one silver bullet that can solve this challenge.However,in this report we outlin

4、e 8 proven approaches that leading employers have used to optimize their critical talent attraction strategies.Leading economists expect global economic growth to slow significantly over the next couple of years.*1 During previous downturns talent recruitment and retention has become easier.This tim

5、e its likely to be different.Despite the negative economic conditions research suggests that critical talent shortages will remain a major problem.*2 So what can organizations do to address this problem?While many will continue to struggle to hire and keep the talent they need to succeed,this report

6、 outlines eight strategies that leading global employers are applying to rise to this challenge and win through the downturn.According to the latest IMF forecast global economic growth among the advanced economies is likely to more than halve to 2.5%this year,followed by a highly anaemic 1.4%in 2023

7、.In addition,they state:“the risks to the outlook are overwhelmingly tilted to the downside.”In response,there are signals that a number of the worlds leading companies are beginning to cut back on hiring.Recent media reports have pointed to:Microsoft eliminating many of its open jobs;*3 Apple layin

8、g off recruiters;*4 Amazon reducing their workforce by 100,000;*5 and Google signalling a need to operate with“fewer resources”.*6 The list of tech companies applying the breaks to hiring also includes:Meta,Twitter,Tesla,Shopify,Netflix and Oracle.Cracking the Critical Talent Crisis3While this may s

9、uggest a seachange in the hiring market,there may be another interpretation.The majority of the firms named above have been hiring tens of thousands of new employees over the last couple of years.*7 Insiders suggest that they have over-hired and are now simply course-correcting in response to less o

10、ver-heated growth projections.This may mean a brief lull in the competition for tech talent,but it is far from meaning a future glut of tech talent on the open market.Overall,Manpower found 75%of companies were having difficulties hiring talent in 2022,the highest proportion in 16 years,a problem th

11、at is very unlikely to turn around quickly,especially since the hiring outlook continues to remain strong across most major economies despite the forecast slowdown in economic growth.*8Taking a longer-term perspective,analysis of potential skilled labour shortages across 20 major economies suggested

12、 the following talent deficits within 3 major sectors by 2025 and 2030.*220252030Financial and Business Services5.5 million10.7 millionManufacturing3.9 million7.9 millionTechnology,Media and Telecoms2.1 million4.3 million4The four main drivers of these shortages were:the continued growth in demand f

13、or skilled labour;the decline in working age populations;tightening immigration policies;and a projected failure of education systems to deliver talent with the right kind of skills.An economic slowdown may result in a reduction in the demand for skilled labour over the next 2-3 years.Determined eff

14、orts within corporations and governments may help to address the skills-gap.Immigration policies may soften.However,the current shortage of skilled talent is so severe that its highly unlikely that any of these efforts will change the macro picture.“Easing”does not equate to stabilization.As Richard

15、 Moody,chief economist at Regions Financial Cmented recently:“While the number of open jobs will likely fall in the months ahead as the economy continues to slow,were a long way from the labor market being balanced.”*9The primary focus is broadly described as tech talent,which covers a broad range o

16、f individual skill sets.Beyond software engineering,McKinsey identifies 7 skills sets that are most in demand.*7DevOps:agile product-life-cycle management,scrum management,agile coaching,continuous integration and continuous delivery(CI/CD)Platforms and products:product ownership,life-cycle manageme

17、nt across platform layers,Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT)Automation:cognitive AI,robotic-process-automation(RPA)technologies,AI-enabled analytics Customer experience:design thinking,user research,journey mapping,test-and-learn at scale,prototyping Cybersecurity and privacy:data-protection laws a

18、nd practices,shift-left security Data management:analytics,data science,data engineering,use-case life-cycle management,automated machine learning Cloud:multicloud and hybrid-cloud architecture,smart distribution/meteringEach of these tech tribes represent specific talent markets that require indivi

19、dual attention.Beyond this broad talent category,there are other critical talent segments and shortages that demand attention.Beyond this predominantly in-demand category,Manpower identifies similarly critical shortages in:sales and marketing;operations and logistics;manufacturing and production;cus

20、tomer facing and front office roles.So what are the steps you need to take to compete effectively for these critical talent groups?Universum is in a unique position to help you.Working with over 1200 companies across 50+countries,Universum provides talent data,strategic employer brand guidance and r

21、ecruitment marketing solutions to many of the worlds leading employers.Drawing on this experience we have identified 10 key steps we believe will help you attract and retain the critical talent you need to win through the coming downturn,with a particular focus on tech talent.5Most organizations dev

22、elop an over-arching Employer Value Proposition to ensure their recruitment marketing conveys a consistent employer brand image.In a crowded marketplace this employer brand clarity is crucial.The more consistent your overall messaging the more likely you are to cut-through and stand-out.Since creati

23、ng a clear and lasting impression requires many opportunities to see,the more consistent your brand messaging the more likely it is to stick.However,being consistent is seldom enough to move target talent through your recruitment funnel.To move potential candidates from brand awareness to considerat

24、ion and desire requires messaging that is far more specific to the needs and aspirations of your critical talent audiences.As a result,leading employers have begun to define Target Value Propositions which bridge the potential gap between employer brand consistency and attributes that are more close

25、ly in-tune with their critical target audiences.This often involves the creation of personas describing the typical backgrounds,behaviours,preferences,values and personality of the key talent segments you are seeking to attract.Universums global talent survey enables us to identify the preferences t

26、hat drive attraction across these different target groups.Coupled with an assessment of the factors driving engagement and retention among current employees,we have created TVPs and personas for an wide range of leading employers.This,in turn has enabled them to compete more effectively for the atte

27、ntion,consideration and preference of the most difficult to attract talent.Create Target Value Propositions and Personas16An increasing number of employers have recognized that they are setting themselves up to fail by creating overly ambitious candidate specifications.In a highly competitive talent

28、 market many are beginning to look beyond qualifications and experience,and hiring for potential.A prominent manifestation of this trend in the tech space is the growing focus on so-called low-code software development,which enables organizations to target a much wider range of candidates with littl

29、e coding experience but the potential ability to learn how to build valuable business apps.Appian,a US based low-code platform provider,expects to give away 1,000 scholarships toward training low-code skills for low-income and under-skilled workers and veterans.*10 According to Gartner the adoption

30、of low-code software development platforms is growing by more than 20%a year,with more than half of all medium-to large-sized companies in the US expected to adopt this approach within the next few years.*11 Another way of addressing talent shortages is to explore adjacent talent pools.This involves

31、 broadening your sourcing criteria to include talent with more diverse backgrounds.For example,Gartner recently reported that a sizable pool of digital talent sits outside of IT functions,including marketing/PR,finance/accounting,sales/business development,science/R&D and engineering.*12 Research fr

32、om the Brookings Institution provides fresh evidence that the growing acceptance of work-from-anywhere employment models is driving a mass migration of knowledge workers in the US.They are heading to a diverse array of cities that for decades saw their best and brightest heading to places like the S

33、an Francisco Bay Area,New York City and Seattle.*13 Across many other global markets where similar work-related demographic shifts are taking place,companies are increasingly turning to remote working,gig working and other workforce models to source by talent location rather than business location.*

34、14 Rethink your Target Talent Definition and Job Descriptions2A final and often under-utilized way to improve your ability to hire critical talent is to re-think your job descriptions,especially for technical roles.This is not to disregard the importance of necessary qualifications and experience,bu

35、t to recognize that a long,laundry-list of requirements is seldom the best way to attract candidates in a highly competitive market.As Tyrone Smith commented in his highly insightful HBR article on re-thinking job descriptions:“The key to success for all of us will be understanding that every employ

36、ee is more than a rigid title and list of expected tasks.In developing the jobs of the near future that will be filled by todays talent,we need to focus on skills,not tasks.This will help to identify the right talent with the necessary skills to accomplish a goal,without locking individuals into a s

37、pecific role or saddling them with inflexible job titles.”*15As part of the Stepstone Group,Universum has access to significant expertise regarding the optimization of job descriptions to ensure they attract the maximum number of qualified candidates.In combination with our research into talent attr

38、action drivers and personas this can make a significant difference to your ability to attract critical talent to apply.Rethink your Target Talent Definition and Job Descriptions2Optimizing your Channel StrategyYou may have the greatest Target Value Propositions,recruitment advertising and job descri

39、ptions but unless you invest in the right channels you will not generate sufficient opportunities for your target talent to see your employment content.While the most direct route is to utilize individual job boards the increasingly smarter play is to use programmatic advertising.This approach uses

40、automated technology for buying media advertising space,as opposed to traditional(often manual)methods of digital advertising.According to a report from Talent Nexus,60%of those employers who had used programmatic recruitment advertising in 2021 claimed that it had decreased their time to hire,and 5

41、7%said they would be increasing their programmatic advertising budget going forwards.*1639Another more recruiter-driven approach is to seek out relevant profiles on the community channels which your critical talent groups use on a regular basis.In the tech space this includes:Stack Overflow:The worl

42、ds number one Q&A website for tech talent,particularly coders and developers,Stack Overflow enables people to get answers to their technical questions from other members.Recruiters search the Users section of the site to identify relevant tags(and profiles),such as the programming language C.GitHub:

43、This is the platform that millions of Developers use to store the coding projects theyre currently working on.As with Stack Overflow the site makes it possible for recruiters to search the programming languages that developers are categorizing their projects under,and to further explore the profiles

44、 of relevant users.While GitHub isnt a professional network,nor are the people using the site necessarily looking to be found,its now far from uncommon for recruiters to make contact with potential candidates through GitHub.Slack:This is a more broadly popular messaging platform which enables work-b

45、ased teams to share information.Slack also hosts independent channels for people who dont work together,and in the past two years,Slack-based networking groups have grown,providing a way for members to swap career advice and tips.According to the Wall Street Journal,many job seekers say they are tur

46、ning to these invite-only networking forums to land new roleswhich makes it an increasingly attractive hunting ground for recruiters.Universums talent survey enables us to identify the channels and platforms that are most used by different target groups to seek job related information.This can provi

47、de a solid basis for your channel strategy.In addition,our sister company,Appcast,one of the leaders in programmatic job advertising,enables employers to post jobs across 30,000+job,professional,niche and social sites,utilizing data insights and algorithms to serve ads to the right user at the right

48、 time,and at the right price.Optimizing your Channel Strategy31011Job advertising is not the only way to catch the attention of target talent.To engage the interest of potential candidates,either before or after they have been made aware of specific job opportunities,story-telling can also play a po

49、werful role.Candidates seldom consider a role in isolation.They also assess the culture of the company they would be joining,the kind of people in similar roles they would be working with,and the degree to which these roles are championed within the organization.Our research has demonstrated that em

50、ployee-centred story-telling can play a key role in changing perceptions of your organization among critical target groups.One example of this is the Future-Makers campaign run by Siemens.While Siemens has always had a positive reputation among engineering and IT students,it was not always associate

51、d with leading digital technologies,such as AI and IoT,despite its significant and growing focus in these new areas of development.One of the ways Siemens chose to address this was to create a consistent stream of social stories celebrating the employees driving new and exciting innovations in these

52、 fields.Over a prolonged period Siemens published and promoted at least 10 of these employee stories from across the organization every month.These stories not only generated significant levels of engagement,but they contributed towards a clear increase in the Siemens association with embracing new

53、technologies and innovation.Universum regularly develops social content strategies and playbooks for many leading employers like Siemens.This includes the translation of EVPs and TVPs into catchy campaign concepts designed to illustrate and substantiate employer brand promises,combining the right de

54、al with the feel required to capture both the rational and emotional interest of target candidates.Celebrating your Critical Talent Heroes through Social Story-Telling4Maximizing Employee Advocacy and ReferralAlthough there tends to be a degree of journalistic prompting and editing involved in most

55、social recruitment marketing content,the quality and regularity of this kind of output ultimately requires a motivated pool of employees willing to contribute personal stories.On a fundamental level this is clearly dependent on a generally positive employee experience.In the majority of organization

56、s it also requires a concerted effort to promote active employee advocacy,particularly among employees within the most critical talent groups.It has become increasingly common for leading companies like Dell,GE and Nike to deliver training programs for employer brand ambassadors based on improving t

57、heir professional on-line profiles and engagement.Beyond the stimulation of employee generated content and advocacy,the other significant critical talent recruitment play is to promote employee referral.Since the majority of talent targets tend to be knowledge workers its no surprise that also tend

58、to be highly networked with other people within their specialist areas.Smart companies put a great deal of effort and imagination into leveraging this source of potential candidates.For example,Salesforce who to date have paid over$5 million in referral incentives,hold Recruitment Happy Hours.These

59、are get-togethers where employees can invite the people they want to refer,a great,informal way for recruiters to get acquainted with potential candidates.*17 At Google recruiters sit down with employees and scour their social profiles asking them who the best people they know working in their field

60、.*18 However you chose to do it,the main point is referral is often the most powerful way for you to identify and persuade critical talent candidates to join your organization.Universum recognizes the key role employee advocacy plays in employer branding and recruitment and has designed and delivere

61、d ambassador training progams to support many of its leading clients.The most recent for the leading global fashion company Ermenegildo Zegna involved a series of training sessions blending personal branding,employer branding,social media policy and story-telling to produce a cadre of well-briefed a

62、nd highly motivated brand advocates across the company.512Attracting the interest of potential candidates through advertising,social content or referral is an important first step,but for most people you also need to ensure there is sufficient content on your career site to reinforce their considera

63、tion and prompt application.A common criticism from many potential candidates is the information they find on career sites is too general for them to make an informed decision on whether to apply or not.Our research suggests that the employers who are most successful in converting consideration to a

64、pplication are those that provide dedicated landing pages for specific target groups.This typically involves a compelling Target Value Proposition,a clear indication of the role the function plays in contributing to the success of the company,and sufficient personal story-driven content to provide a

65、 good feel for the type of people and challenges the candidate would be working with.Through our work in defining Target Value Propositions and developing story-driven content,Universum has helped many leading organisations develop the content they need to create and populate these target specific l

66、anding pages with the content that critical talent are looking for to convince them to progress to the next step and make an application.Creating Dedicated Landing Pages for Critical Target Groups614Words count for nothing if the experience falls short of the promise.This is evidently true when it c

67、omes to consumer and customer brand experiences but is even more important when it comes to choosing a brand which is likely to take up the vast majority of your waking hours and determine our future prospects.Choosing the right job and employer is a highly significant decision,and therefore candida

68、tes are extremely sensitive to the potential gaps between expectation and experience.With this in mind,how well have you designed your candidate and onboarding experience to reinforce your recruitment promises?Top employers are increasingly applying the same design thinking to the candidate,on-board

69、ing and employee experience as they apply to their customer experience.This means thinking beyond the mechanics of the process and focusing on the way it makes the candidate and employee feel.Specifically,it means thinking more deeply about how you can signal and substantiate the authenticity and va

70、lidity of your employer brand promises.If you claim that you are embracing new technologies(especially when it comes to IT or engineering candidates)is this something you are confident your recruitment technology and user experience consistently supports?Is your recruitment and on-boading process as

71、 inclusive,flexible and empowering as your employer brand advertising proclaims?If the answer is no,or maybe,then you have work to do.Universum works with organizations to ensure the candidate,on-boarding and employee experience truly reflects their employer brand promises.This involves identifying

72、the key touch-points with the candidate and employee,the moments of truth that determine whether you are reinforcing engagement with your promise or undermining trust and motivation.When it comes to in-demand talent,who by definition have other choices,this can be a vital factor in determining your

73、ultimate success in converting and retaining the talent you most need to succeed.Ensuring your Candidate and Employee Experience Delivers on your Promises7Maximising Recruiter Empowerment in Sealing the DealThrough the low inflationary times we have experienced for many years establishing strict sal

74、ary bands was a reasonably stable process.Times have changed.In the current inflationary environment,coupled with significantly higher competition for critical talent employers need to be far more agile when it comes to responding to the more dynamic nature of talent market demands.According to Tom

75、McMullen senior client partner and leader of Korn Ferrys North American total rewards group:“This is the most turbulent compensation environment Ive seen in my 30-year career.”*19 In the US a recent WTW survey concludes:“With such a dynamic environment,its imperative for organizations to be prepared

76、 as to how to award and communicate pay changes as quickly and effectively as possible.”*20 Weve heard the same story across Europe and other talent markets.What this means in practice is that employers need to empower their recruiters with far mor flexibility when it comes to offering critical tale

77、nt the pay packages required to seal the deal.Universums talent survey data indicates how important reward-based attributes are to attracting different target groups in different countries,as well as salary expectations.In comparison to the 40 attraction drivers we track in our research we have seen

78、 a significant increase in the importance of competitive base salary and high future earnings relative to other factors.This can provide a strong base-line of evidence to support your reward strategy,as well as indicating which other attributes can help to off-set the need to pay premium prices for

79、the critical talent you need to hire and retain.81516There is a growing consensus that the global economy is entering a period of slower growth,if not recession.However,unlike previous economic downturns there is strong evidence to suggest that competition for critical talent,especially tech talent,

80、will continue to remain a major challenge.Our extensive experience of working with leading employers on this issue suggests there is no one silver bullet that can solve this challenge.SummaryTo find out more abouthow best-in-classEmployer Brands think,visit:*1 IMF:World Economic Outlook July 2022*2-

81、Korn Ferry:The Global Talent Crunch*3 Bloomberg:Microsoft cuts many job listings in weakening economy*4 Bloomberg:Apple lays off recruiters as part of its slowdown in hiring *5 Insider Intelligence:Amazons 100,000 job cuts reflect economic uncertainty*6 LinkedIn:Could job cuts be coming to Google*7

82、McKinsey:Tech Talent Tectonics*8 Manpower:Employment Outlook Survey Q4,2022*9 Business Journals,July 2022*10 -Computer World,June 2022*11 -Gartner:Low Code Report 2021*12 -Gartner:Finding digital skills in non-IT functions*13 WSJ:How the Pandemic Broke Silicon Valleys Stranglehold on Tech Jobs*14 -G

83、artner:How to look and hire for the right digital skills*15 -HBR:Its time to rethink job descriptions for the digital era*16 -Aptitude Research:The state of programmatic job advertising 2021*17-AIHR:7 Brilliant Employee Referral Examples*18 -8 Brilliant Referral Program Ideas*19 -SHRM:High Inflation

84、 Means Re-Setting Pay Strategies*20 -Wall Street Journal:Tight labour market drives US employers to boost 2023 pay risesReferences18ABOUTUniversum is a data-driven,insight-led employer branding agency.Headquartered in Stockholm,we are now active in over 60 countries,with key hubs in Paris,Berlin,London,Zrich,New York,Singapore,and Shanghai.Every year we survey over one million students and young professionals and provide our clients with the analytics,strategy,and creative solutions they need to compete more effectively for talent.