Focus on essential needs only and stay ahead of a looming talent war.
Acquiring human capital is always a strategic challenge. Even firms on hiring lockdowns or those with full headcount have key roles that cause CEO’s and CHRO’s to lose sleep if not resourced. These are not always senior leadership positions, often they are midtier, but the risk they pose if left absent presents a real threat.
Defining a business critical role can be complex. Not only does it vary from firm to firm but line leaders also have strong views on which roles are essential to their function’s ability to contribute to the mission. Our work at HRM centres on the identification and acquisition of Business Critical Talent for clients, our search solutions are specifically designed to meet these challenging needs. We know this talent can only be found with deep insight and rigorous research, that failure to engage the best there is can have serious consequences.
Sometimes it can just feel like your firm desperately needs a role filled or you might be highly attracted to an opportunistic hire. But these are not Business Critical hires and are best left to times when there is more certainty. However true Business Critical roles should be recruited into irrespective of external circumstances, delay simply heightens risk and creates a more significant problem down stream. For clarity, we divide all hiring into this four quadrant grid drawing on role mission impact and skill scarcity for X and Y axis respectively.
Identifying true Business Critical Roles is particularly important during times of crisis. These periods do not last, though firms with disrupted operations know they must be cautious in how resources are focused and which commitments they make. If your operational / service delivery is impacted or your business reputation threatened in any manner by a position being left vacant, then the chances are that is a Business Critical Role.