Talent Pipelining

In areas that have talent shortage, where the strategic relevance of specific skillsets stands out, losing out on or not being able to hire a specific human resource in a key position can result in significant delays in project and task completions, impacting the entire organisation.

Additionally, the lack of a clear vision on the possible alternatives for successors in a specific role can sometimes limit the growth of highly skilled employees who are deserving of a promotion but cannot be given the same due to their indispensability owing to their high level of specialisation in the current position.

Sometimes, companies also need to add specialised resources in multiple locations, for example for creating entire divisions from scratch. These requirements are usually approached through internal advertising processes that do not guarantee the achievement of desired results.

Our Talent Pipelining services meet the need for collecting a portfolio of anticipated applications in preparation for opening one or more searches for specific key profiles.

This approach gives candidates and clients the opportunity to know and evaluate each other in depth, without the urgency and the pressure arising from the client’s need to finalise the open search immediately.

How it works

One of our account managers meets the client in order to clarify the requirements and the reasons for the forecasted opening. He speaks with all the relevant stakeholders in order to identify every technical, managerial, and interpersonal skill required for the role. Once the information is collected, the account manager draws a personalised delivery plan for the search.

This is followed by exhaustive interviews of candidates chosen from within our extensive network of contacts. In this phase, we focus on collecting people of interest, amongst the candidates whose profiles match the future position in question, for applying once the hiring process is open effectively.

After the interview phase, we provide the client with a report containing a shortlist of each of the selected profiles in line with the future position. Through this way, the client has the opportunity to meet personally with the most relevant candidates and arrive upon an agreement together with the chosen candidate with the aim of proceeding with a specific offer once the hiring process is effectively taking place.

During the time between the candidates’ interviews and the green light for the hiring phase, our consultants will update each applicant periodically as well as the client about any changes in their respective intentions, expectations, and requirements.

If for any reason, individual candidates lose their interest in the role, we proceed towards finding new matching profiles.

We also immediately inform each candidate with respect and professionalism if the client decides to not proceed further with their application and eventually wants to stay in touch for future opportunities, in order to not affect or preclude their choice towards other work options.

Benefits and objectives

• Preparing in advance for the succession in strategic positions
• Benchmarking for the correct evaluation, scoring, and promotion of internal applications
• Increased market insight and transparency
• Wider options for a measured and exhaustive decision-making process
• Considerably reduced pressure from approaching deadlines
• More time to get to know the candidates, present the opportunity effectively and reach a higher level of confidence about the matching on both sides
• Opportunity for a deeper assessment of soft skills, personal values and long term professional aspirations

Examples of application

• For preparing the succession planning in technical or managerial positions with strategic relevance
• For long-term projects involving multiple recruitments or for creating new divisions and business units from scratch.
• For maintaining a competitive edge in the market by ensuring timely access to the best professionals inside high-demand niches in order to proceed with a fast-track addition to the team whenever required.

Market Benchmarking

Timely access to data to and information is a strategic and central element for the maintenance of strong levels, that differentiate a company from its direct competitors, thus enabling the consolidation of a competitive advantage in the market.

Our Market Benchmarking services give clients a focused and personalised access to key information and data on new trends, technologies, products, and regulatory or commercial developments.

This is achieved by adopting a more agile and cost-effective approach compared to the traditional solutions for collecting market information.

How it works

Each Market Benchmarking assignment is structured tailored to the needs and priorities of the client.

Initially, our project manager supports the client in identifying the research objectives, their underlying hypothesis, and the parameters that need to be verified, eventually outlining a strategy of empirical validation for the data enquired.

After gaining clarity on these points, we conduct a preliminary research based on the information in the public domain, online sources, and social networks, and if required, we isolate the relevant data using customised scraping algorithms and innovative text analysis technologies.

Thereafter, we activate our international network of confidential contacts and collect personal perspectives and viewpoints from key stakeholders in the market. This allows us to achieve a clearer, more solid view on the topic of interest and its related trends, challenges, and emerging relevant opportunities pertaining to the strategic choices of the client.

After completing this phase of exhaustive information gathering, we submit to our client an organised and structured report, summarising the results of the enquiry conducted.

The assignment is then concluded with a final meeting that gives the client the opportunity to extract further details, arrive at relevant conclusions to be translated into action, and define, if required, further elements in need of deeper research.

Benefits

• Agile collection of relevant data
• Cost effectiveness
• Privileged access to qualitative information validated by attendibile sources
• Flexibility in tailoring the validation methodology in accordance to the research hypothesis

Possible applications

• Benchmarking wages and compensations in a given industry, location, and specific sector
• Agile and focused information gathering on emerging trends
• Collecting strategic information related to areas of staff expansion, structuring of new departments or business units, implementation of systems and technologies, and the development of new products
• Generating market feedback about internal employer branding policies, collecting information to assess the company’s reputation in the labour market, and gathering any related prevalent opinion circulating amongst potential target candidates.

Retained Search

When a company is facing the need to fill a vacancy at the managerial or executive level, a short timeframe for finalising upon a candidate can sometimes result in a shallow and non-exhaustive search.

The pressure from deadlines and the lack of viable alternatives can significantly increase the risk of cutting corners in the process and of arriving at an outcome that is not ideal in the long run, neither for the chosen candidate nor for the company.

In these cases, the primary tool for resolving this challenge comprises expanding, both extensively and in terms of depth, the pool of contacts from which the search is to be originated.

This means drawing an accurate map of the market that will include every profile that is potentially suitable to fill the open position.

This approach guarantees the peace of mind resulting from having proactively explored the entire perimeter of the available options in order to make the most reasonable and value-adding choice.

Our Retained Search services offer a systematic approach to market mapping and the targeted generation of high-level applications to clients who care for the depth as well as the transparency of the methods employed in the search process.

The exhaustiveness of the initial mapping work contributes to the reduction of the time required to conclude the selection process and also increases the overall effectiveness of the processes, with a higher level of final satisfaction experienced by the involved internal stakeholders.

How it works

Upon activation of the assignment, our project manager meets the internal stakeholders involved in the selection process and builds, together with the client’s HR department, an exhaustive profiling of the candidate required.

We move beyond professional and managerial requirements and pay particular attention to the company’s culture and the communication and interpersonal skills required for the profile.

This in-depth profiling is aimed, ultimately, to optimise the integration and the future development of the chosen person in the company’s organisational context.

If the client desires using psychological and behavioural tests in the selection process, we can activate a sequence of internal assessments taking advantage of the diagnostic tools of the prestigious McQuaig Institute of Toronto. These tools help in isolating the traits of current top performers in the specific role being researched, thus enabling us to look for the same traits among the candidates under examination at a later stage.

After defining the requirements, we assign a team of internal resources to the project and activate a specific mapping plan for the target area of the market in question.

We use our extensive network of contacts as a starting point and generate tailored referrals for the open position. Thereafter, by combining all referrals that have emerged with our already existing data, we produce a report containing an exhaustive map of the sector under investigation.

We can, hence, contact each individual candidate figuring in the map, provide them with the information about the vacancy, and select the most suitable and engaged ones for the first long list.

After a second interview stage conducted by our project manager, the evaluation of the assessments, and a thorough selection on the basis of all the elements gathered, we present to the client the final shortlist, which includes the complete mapping report and a summary of every step we have undertaken to reach the presented results.

In this way, the client can take advantage of the complete visibility with which the entire process is conducted and easily request for any amendments that need to be made to the shortlist, for example, adding or excluding specific target companies or candidates on the basis of additional information the business might possess.

After gaining approval on the shortlist, our project manager works alongside the client and the candidates during the interview, negotiation, and offer phases to achieve the best mutual outcome.

If required, he can help with fine-tuning specific aspects of the negotiation before the offer is extended and accepted. We also support the candidate with handling his notice serving, ensuring a smooth transition into the new role.

Post placement

After the candidate has started working in the new role, our project manager organises a debriefing meeting with the client, who then has the opportunity to give an overall feedback on the process, and if required, highlight any areas of improvement and make additional requests for future searches.

The process ends with a post-placement meeting with the candidate, usually programmed to be conducted one month after the starting date. This meeting is aimed at collecting exhaustive feedback on the candidate’s experience of the selection process and highlight any additional requests that could enhance his development path and performance in the new function.

We decide with the candidate upon the elements that should be brought to the company’s attention to make sure that he is put in the best possible condition to contribute towards the goals and objectives of the organisation.

Exclusive Search

For companies, the direct adoption of social networking and online advertising platforms is definitively a valid means to reach the pool of those candidates who are actively looking for a change, more likely because they are not satisfied in their current role or are not sufficiently confident about their future employment situation.

Candidates who are actively looking are, however, just a part of the entire pool of professionals in a given field. There is always a great amount of talent amongst the ones who are not actively looking and don’t respond to ads or messages on social media. They are not active, as they are sufficiently recognised in their current company and are not dissatisfied in their current position at work.

This is where our direct network comes in.

By building personal relationships with many professionals and through maintaining an extensive network of relevant contacts in each field, our recruiters have access to the entirety of the talent pool. This allows us to also reach the high achievers who are not actively looking for a job shift as they are well-recognised and happy in their current position but can, however, consider exploring new opportunities if approached in confidence by a trusted advisor.

Our reputation, market knowledge, and passion for adding value to the most brilliant career paths guarantee an exclusive access to the passive talent pool to our clients, with the ability to establish contact with otherwise not-so-visible high-value professionals.

Our Exclusive Search services provide clients with an access to our entire candidates’ network without the need to visualise directly the underlying market mapping process. The applications are, therefore, activated and presented with a direct, quick, and straightforward approach.

How it works

The activation of an Exclusive Search assignment does not prevent the client from proceeding parallelly with direct advertising campaigns through ads or social media.

In fact, our aim is to reach candidates outside of the client’s range in order to significantly extend the horizon and the effectiveness of the search.

We work with exclusivity towards other agencies to ensure the highest level of confidentiality and a consistent level of professionalism in the delivery of the message to the market, protecting the reputation and the employer branding image of the client.

After finalising upon the profile requirements, our consultants proceed with the search with utmost speed.

At first, we contact those candidates we represent proactively on the market.

Thereafter, we activate our extensive network to generate referrals for high-level profiles that could be potentially suitable for the role.

After two selection stages, we bring the most solid applications directly to the client’s attention for the internal interview process. We follow each interview step, making sure that each candidate can receive specific feedback and that both sides can profit of a consistent level of service and professional ethic.

Upon the positive completion of the interview stages, we help the client and the chosen candidates refine the agreement and reach the best final outcome for defining a positive offer that takes into account the expectations of both the involved parties.

We also support the candidate in the process of handling his notice serving.

The assignment ends after the starting date with a post-placement meeting with the candidate, who can provide a final feedback on the process.

If required, in this meeting, we can agree to highlight to the client any elements that need to be fine-tuned in order to allow the new joinee a higher level of individual effectiveness and future professional development for the benefit of both the parties.

Benefits

• Deep access to the less visible and the not-actively-looking talent
• Higher level of confidentiality and control over the message being conveyed to the market
• Lower external publicity with a targeted approach aimed at reaching the profiles of interest exclusively
• Fast delivery of relevant applications due to the agility of the process
• Possibility of starting the interview process whilst the search is still ongoing
• Adaptability of the requirements during the process

Click here to request information for activating an Exclusive Search.

Temporary management

Our Temporary Management services are designed to support the client in identifying freelance professionals with strong technical and managerial skills in order to cover internal positions for a defined period of time.

This solution is usually best suited for meeting the requirements of non-routine projects. This can be achieved directly by adding the freelancer to the team, or indirectly, by back-filling internal resources moved to the project. Usually, the factors common to all these assignments are the need for solid project management and change management skills.

Another common reason for employing temporary managers lies in the need for immediate technical support in a niche area requiring high levels of specialisation.

In both cases, all freelancers in our network are committed to bringing results from day one and are keen on sharing their know-how with the internal co-workers in the project team.

Our network of freelancers

TA Partners offers access to a wide network of freelance professionals available for on-site projects.

Usually, these professionals have chosen to become freelance agents after being previously employed in a consultancy or a corporate career in a structured company at some point in their careers.

The most common reason leading them to choose the path of independent consultancy is the desire for maintaining “hands-on” contact with the technical work, without acquiring, as it often happens in consulting firms, commercial responsibilities of selling projects to the clients.

Many freelancers also share the desire of contributing their services to a wider circle of companies and sectors in order to wield a greater influence as a result of passing over their experience and adding professional value.

Freelancing also provides the flexibility to allocate the time between projects to personal training and for attending seminars and specialisation courses in order to enrich their professional background and the skillset that they make available to their clients.

Whatever their reason may be for choosing an independent career, temporary managers in our network have in common the commitment to producing results, adding value, delivering work on schedule, and sharing their expertise with the internal resources of the hiring organisation.

As free agents in the market, they can’t hide behind an established brand, nor delegate work to less-experienced colleagues, and they have a strong awareness of the importance of constantly supporting their reputation in the market through delivering enhanced level of productivity.

How it works

After defining the work requirements together with the client, our consultant shares the project details with a selection of relevant freelancers within our network. After checking their availability, he submits a shortlist of matching profiles to the client, who can than proceed with the interview stages.

Sometimes, it is also possible, if desired, to replace the interview with a workday on probation in order to test the chosen profile while observing the freelancer “hands-on” in the role.

If the client desires to structure a wider project team of freelancers, we proceed in the first place with the selection of the most senior profiles. He or she then acts as project coordinator, liaising with us and the client to assess and select other freelancers, and eventually build the project team.

With regard to project duration, it usually lies between 2 and 24 months, whilst the notice period, with the exception of short-term assignments, is usually set at four weeks.

Benefits

• Immediate access to resources with solid project management, change management, and managerial experience
• Hands-on availability of senior resources with strong technical background, performing the required project tasks directly.
• Valid alternative to consultancy firms that employ junior consultants in hands-on activities, absorbing internal know-how and working time. On the contrary, temporary managers can coach the internal team in their area of expertise, contributing to increasing the permanent know-how of the entire unit.
• Flexibility in terms of managing the starting and end dates
• Access to an international pool of subject matter experts
• Significantly reduced costs in comparison to the secondment of senior resources from a consultancy firm
• High degree of operative autonomy, which frees internal management for focusing their attention on other important tasks.

Areas of application

• For the coordination of change management projects
• For PMO function
• When addressing the need for niche technical skills difficult to find amongst permanent employees
• For strengthening project teams or backfilling internal resources moved to other areas and projects
• To Train internal staff
• For flanking and coaching internal managers for mastering new activities

Social recruitment coaching  

Our entire offering of recruitment and market mapping services is based on a direct search methodology, which excludes the use of online advertising on job boards or social networks to generate applications.

We believe, in fact, that online and advertising sources provide access only to the most visible part of the market, actively frequented by those who, unhappy in their current position or unemployed, are engaged in looking for a new job.

There is, of course, no doubt that excellent profiles can also be found among active candidates. Nevertheless, as these sources are also directly available to our clients, we have decided to not overlap with them, and rather, increase the depth and breadth of our clients’ sourcing strategies by focusing on reaching the candidates who are passive in the job market, yet brilliant. These candidates are not receptive to messages on social networks and do not spend time on job boards; however, they are open to consider favourable career opportunities when respectfully approached by a trusted professional advisor.

For this reason, if our clients desire to improve their effectiveness in reaching active candidates by recruiting on social networks and job boards, we are available for structuring tailored coaching programs aimed at helping the client derive maximum value out of these sourcing instruments.

Our objective is to maintain a complete platform supporting the client’s staffing needs at 360 degrees, and we are aware that these technologies can certainly contribute to the successful implementation of an effective and diversified recruitment strategy.

Approach

The coaching program is tailored to suit the objectives and priorities of the client’s internal talent acquisition team.

We consider aggregators of job boards, advertising platforms based on the specific target sector, social networking sites like LinkedIn, Xing, Google Plus, Facebook, and others.

We also examine the use of organised internal contacts and referrals to generate referred applicants as well as to come up with ways to optimise the access to the capital of interpersonal relationships already present in the company but not explored through an organised approach.

If required, we can also provide expertise for the implementation of an Applicant Tracking System, tailored to fit the client’s specific needs, budget, processes, and previously adopted database technologies.

Finally, to ensure the transferability of the acquired know-how to new resources joining the sourcing team, we can structure training courses with interactive videos and final evaluation tests on an online e-learning platform to make sure that the acquired know-how remains accessible to the client even in the future.

Advantages

• Autonomy when it comes to reaching the market pool of active candidates
• Independence from external sources that use social networks and advertising as a primary tool for generating applications
• Ability to prioritise and better select which positions should be outsourced to recruitment agencies, identifying empirically the most difficult ones to fill.
• Ability to assess the effectiveness of external agencies, using as a benchmark the applications received internally.