Untapped Potential: How to Source & Engage Internal Talent with Your CRM [Video]

Internal recruitment is a powerful driver of growth, retention, and profitability, but only 6 percent of respondents to a recent Deloitte survey rate themselves as 'excellent' when it comes to fostering internal mobility. Fifty-nine percent rated themselves 'fair' or 'inadequate.'

Last week on Talent Experience Live, we explored ideal ways to improve internal recruitment practices with Resource Solutions, a multinational firm that specializes in recruitment outsourcing. Norma Gillespie, Managing Director, EMEA & Americas and Ian Blake, Technology Director, answered some big questions about how HR and Talent Acquisition professionals should better leverage their CRM to nurture internal talent, support agility, and ensure company stability.

What are the biggest challenges HR professionals face regarding internal talent in our current environment?

Many companies have different databases for CRMs and internal candidate tracking, which leads to a disparate experience for internal talent, and perhaps, the feeling that it’s easier to look outside the company for new jobs.

Culturally, managers sometimes keep a tight hold on their top performers, but this is a short-term strategy. Employees who don’t have internal career growth opportunities will likely seek them externally.

When it comes to the internal talent pool, the focus needs to shift from strictly procedural to inspirational.

How has COVID-19 affected internal talent activities?

The pandemic has forced nearly every company to focus more on financial resilience. Employers should create agility to support this transformation, with even more emphasis on internal skill sets and talent sharing.

What this means for HR and recruitment leaders:

Fully understand the internal talent pool – analyze existing teams and skill sets.
Use that information to develop a strong internal talent marketplace focused on developing in-house skill and talent sharing throughout the organization.
Get ready for reliance on the contingent workforce to grow.
The concept of hiring for potential will gain prominence as companies look toward recovery and need to fill roles that fit the “new normal.”

How will HR tech evolve in the near future?

The need for businesses to embrace agility and adaptability is driving a shift toward platform-based technology rather than point solutions. Talent experience platforms allow recruiters to draw insights from one place, creating a more seamless experience. They eliminate the frustration of having to jump from system to system that can arise from using stand-alone solutions, such as an ATS.

Are employees really embracing remote work? Will they be eager to return to an in-person setting?

Resource Solutions clients are beginning to closely assess the need for office space, indicating a possible continuation of the work-from-home model.

Some job roles will always need to be fulfilled on-site, and employee interaction will always be important, but businesses are realizing the benefits of allowing remote work.

How can you leverage the CRM for more than just job applications?

Employee engagement must be an ongoing practice; a strategy for which the CRM is essential. It’s important to position the tool as a place where employees can interact with their peers, build community, and discover new opportunities.

Recruiters can use the CRM to identify top performers, and provide them with targeted information and materials to keep them engaged.

How do you set up your internal talent marketplace for success?

Once engaged with an internal marketplace, the challenge is to keep employees inspired and motivated.

Technology’s role. The company must rigorously audit skills and create learning pathways for employees, wherein tech crucially enables progress. Resource Solutions uses the Phenom Talent Experience platform to capture information from employees regarding skills, experience, and goals, and perform targeted skill development.

Resource Solutions also uses internal recruiters to support employee mobility. These employees function as “talent brokers," providing similar services to employees that external candidates would receive, such as interviewing tips and process guidance. Internal recruiters also help facilitate contingent assignments.

How has AI changed CRM usage on a regular basis? Has it helped productivity?

AI has improved three important areas of CRM functionality:

Transparency: Recruiters can now better understand the algorithms that power AI decision-making. This leads to improved automation and candidate matching, giving recruiters more time to interact with top talent.
Efficiency: Targeted matching to find candidates, specifically in high-volume roles, is saving valuable time and effort.
Reporting: The importance of reporting cannot be overstated. With it, organizations can measure how AI is improving processes and the candidate experience.

AI is a powerful tool, but avoid thinking of it as a magic bullet. Using it effectively and ethically will always require the human layer, and the underlying goal is to increase efficiency so recruiters can spend more in-person time with candidates.

What recommendations do you have for companies just getting started with their internal talent marketplace?

Set the tone for success by envisioning the talent marketplace as a forum for employee engagement and growth rather than simply for job transactions. Other tips include:

Design the marketplace as an experience that builds excitement among internal staff: A resource for planning mobility and career growth.
Plan for it to function as a content hub, where employees can post questions and get insight from their peers into various areas of the company.
Use information shared by engaged employees (i.e., their skills, experience, and goals) to guide them down a career path.
Consider appointing departmental ambassadors to help with internal networking. Resource Solutions uses this approach, which can be done virtually.

The internal talent marketplace is a logical place to include a portal for mental health resources, Gillespie notes, which is always important and may be particularly beneficial right now.

How can you transform passive candidates into active candidates?

Understanding the candidates and knowing more about them in advance of presenting a job opportunity is key. The Phenom platform collects specific information about candidates, allowing recruiters to perform targeted campaigns to help convert them into active candidates over time.

Resource Solutions hosts podcasts with hiring managers to humanize the experience. Personal touches like these go a long way toward nurturing active candidates. The Phenom platform includes functionality that supports promotion and automates back-end activities for registration, making it easy to facilitate this type of outreach.

Need an AI-powered CRM that can quickly illuminate best-fit job seekers — including internal candidates? Get a demo of the Phenom CRM.

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