1. TALENT ACQUISITION STRATEGY Using Checklands Soft Systems
Methodology (SSM)
2. Stage 1: Define and Understand the Problem Situation Global
Talent Acquisition is a unique challenge, especially for a business
such as Pump Corporation. The company offers a range of highly
engineered industrial products that serve a diversified customer
base in over 50 countries. Without the required human capital in
place, especially in the emerging markets, Pump Corporation could
fail to achieve its business objectives. The current Average
time-to-Fill is greater than 90 days.
3. Stage 2: Express the Problem Situation Economy Customer
Demand Business Requirements E E c c o o n n Internal Talent Pool o
Internal Transfers / o Business Objectives Promotions m m y 1.
Budget Workforce Plan y 2. Criticality / Timing 3. Geography 4.
Internal Equity Employment / Labor Law Organization Hiring Policies
Selection Practices Retirement Prospective External Candidates
Types of Positions Knowledge, Skills & Abilities External Labor
Pool Attrition Economy
4. Stage 3: Select how to view the situation from various
perspectives Subsystems InterdependenciesEconomic subsystem Small
changes in the global economy can cause tremendous changes in
talent supply and demand, which can be greatly exacerbated in
certain local markets. This adds to the complexity of the system as
the macro economy is an aggregate of several economies that are at
varying points of maturity.Customer Subsystem There is a constant
feedback cycle between the business operations and the
ever-changing demands of the customers. As the needs of the
customers evolve, the talent needs of the business shift
accordingly.Business Requirements Through its annual planning
cycle, Pump Corporation re-examines its headcount plans, pivotal
skillset needs, and plots them against business segments and
geographic locations. These human capital plans drive the talent
acquisition activity levels of the organization. The primary
business constraints such as budget, timing, geography, internal
equity of compensation, etc. have to be taken into consideration
while formulating the talent acquisition plan for each segment,
region, and location of the overall corporation.Workforce Plan It
is a dynamic process that changes along with the business
requirements, the attrition of existing talent and the availability
of external talent. The business requirements set the level of the
stock, the attrition is the outflow and the promotion of internal
talent as well as the addition of external talent is the
inflow.Internal Talent Subsystem Human capital is less mobile than
financial or technical capital, local economic conditions in
certain markets can cause unusual imbalances between supply and
demand. For example, Pump Corporation may have a greater supply of
engineers in a developed market than in an emerging market, but it
is often not possible for the engineering talent to relocate to
where it is needed. This immobility of talent results in an
imbalance in the emerging market and could cause that particular
emerging market to become a leverage point on the entire
system.External Labor Pool The scale of the external labor pool is
contingent upon many factors such as the local economic growth,
theSubsystem unemployment rate and demographic trends of the
populations (including age, educational level, ability to relocate,
etc.).Prospective External This subsystem is a derivative of the
external labor pool. The main criteria to create inflow into
thisCandidate Subsystem subsystem are matching the specific talent
needs of a position to the skills of the available candidates. The
resulting filtering sometimes produces counterintuitive
consequences. For example, a population with a high unemployment
rate may still not produce enough candidates to meet demand if the
skill levels are not adequate.
5. Stage 4: Build conceptual models of the system requirements
Business Requirements / Qualified Turnover / Workforce Plan
External Retirement Candidates Prospective Internal Talent External
Talent Pool Pool External hires to meet desired staffing levels
Discrepancy The business requirements/workforce plan is the
balancing feedback loop. The greater the discrepancy between
internal talent and the desired staffing levels, the greater the
need for the organization to find talent externally. The external
talent pool is a renewable stock, but replenishment is not
immediate.
6. Stage 5: Compare the conceptual models (stage 4) to the real
world expression (stage 2) Donella Meadows Ludwig von
BertalanffyThe concept of buffers: A buffers ability to stabilize a
system The concept of feedback and homeostasis: Ideally, theis
important when the stock amount is much higher or lower system
should be at homeostasis when there is an eventhan the potential
amount of inflows/outflows match between supply and demand within
the system.Because the global business environment is very
competitive, However, because the talent acquisition system is
highlythe buffer of talent at any given time is quite small. If
there dynamic, with many leverage points and few buffers, there
isis a sudden increase in demand, there is very little excess
rarely a good match between supply and demand and thetalent
capacity to absorb the demand. This results in a system is rarely
in homeostasis.dramatic increase in demand relative to supply.
Similarlywhen local market conditions turn adverse, there is
arelatively small financial buffer in the system, resulting in
anincrease in supply relative to demand, and therefore, theneed to
adjust the talent base quickly to meet theenvironmental
conditions.
7. Stage 6: Identify feasible and desirable changes to improve
the situation1. Take care of the stocks2. Create an increased flow
in critical growth markets while ensuring there are no system
leakages3. Reduce system delays by proactively identifying sourcing
channels4. Stay tuned to the cloud5. Have a dynamic workforce
planning process
8. Stage 7: Develop recommendations for Action Provide the
right talent on time and where needed Strategy Employment Targeted
Talent Selection Future Resource Brand Pools Competency
Requirements Recognized global Targeted talent pools and Talent
assessment and Workforce planning thatFuture State Employment brand
recruiting resources that selection competency, identifies future
resource 3 Year achieve identified workforce tools & processes
that requirements with planning requirements improve overall
quality of emphasis on critical skills in hires and time-to-fill
emerging markets Develop employment Develop consistent Develop
consistent Develop process and message that attracts top global
university staffing practices tools for aligning future Key
Objectives talent relations and recruitment Develop selection
talent needs and gaps Establish Flowserve as an practices
assessment tools to meet business employer of choice with which
align with strategy strong employment brand Identify and manage
competencies Alignment of talent recognition and a positive
sourcing channels which Develop & deliver acquisition,
succession candidate experience delivers a strong pipeline
interview training to planning, and internal Establish a social
media of talent drive strong selection talent movement roadmap
practices and provide processes with strong candidate workforce
forecast experiences Social Media University Relations Global
Talent Acquisition Talent Acquisition Dashboard Focus Areas Best
Practice Processes Career Portals Recruitment Events and Workforce
Planning Sourcing Resources Selection Assessment Tools Interview
Material Vendor Selection and Interviewing Skills Training
Management