A resourcing strategy – and a recruitment policy – helps you understand future staffing needs and work out how to ensure those needs are met. The policy should be consistent and transparent, reflect the organisation’s mission and values, and comply with employment law regulations.
The resourcing strategy broadly states the goals that the organisation aims to achieve through recruitment. This could be by external recruitment or developing existing employees; working with the whole organisation to understand its current and future needs; and ways of addressing resourcing (both by filling vacancies and also through the wider needs and expectations of candidates).
The policy should clearly set out the recruitment process; demonstrate consistency across the organisation’s sectors; extend information about the organisation’s recruitment strategy; and integrate with strategic and operational objectives. Finally, check that your resourcing policy chimes with your employer brand, and that your organisation is fulfilling those ambitions and values (see chapter 1).
Components of a resourcing strategy include knowing the talents and skills you need to meet your business requirements; where and how to fill gaps; and how to fulfil your future talent needs:
- workforce planning – the number and type of employees required
- employee value proposition – the ‘give’ and the ‘get’
- resourcing plans – where to find your people; learning and development offer
- retention – being ‘an employer of choice’
- flexibility – addressing hard-to-fill roles; offering different hours and work locations
- talent management and succession planning – what future talent does the business require and where will these managers come from?
Top tips for building a successful resourcing strategy include:
- ensure you have a ‘resourcing champion’ overseeing your strategy, whatever the size of your organisation
- refine the employer brand and employee value proposition (EVP) to determine how you stand out against the competition
- build talent internally by adjusting existing roles, providing training, flexible working, or creating career paths to build loyalty and enhance your employer brand
- develop an internal pool of candidates by using internal referral schemes and contacting previous applicants
- consider establishing relationships with graduates, past employees and other contacts to provide a talent pool
- keep a schedule of hiring practices and expenditure to monitor the most successful and cost-effective channels and inform future strategy
- when selecting a recruitment agency, look for one key expert in your industry that offers a genuine partnership, based on longer-term resourcing needs.
If there is more than one person in your organisation who can hire new recruits, make sure any changes to hiring processes are communicated effectively. It is important to have a clear understanding of the current marketplace and what your business may need in terms of talent for the short and long term. The same goes for your organisation’s targets, projects and relevant timescales, and how these link to future vacancies.
Ensure your recruitment process, marketing and branding are all connected and consistent, to help achieve your goals. Consistency should be seen across job, salary and benefit specifications, and person specifications, as well as your employer brand, which attracts and retains talent in your business.
Conduct regular reviews with existing employees to understand what it is about the organisation that attracted them as candidates and what encourages them to stay. Their priorities may change over time and can inform your resource strategy. You can enable employees to fulfil this process themselves, with a standard feedback form that is accessible when they, not just their employer, feels the need.
