Don't fight the war for talent head-on.  Outflank it.

Outflank (verb): to get the better of, to outmanoeuvre, and to bypass.

I read an article the other day that left me really exasperated.  It wasn’t the article’s fault on its own.  It had more to do with the fact that it was just one more of so many other commentaries I’ve seen about winning the war for talent in a tight recruitment market.

I think I’m suffering from ‘skills shortage’ headline fatigue; like so many other people I talk to.  We can all see the opportunities; but the businesses that desperately need help can’t (or are being told otherwise).

It concerns me to read of small and medium businesses whose strategy for obtaining and retaining their staffing requirements, is to continue to fight for a shrinking pool of permanent staff by throwing more money out there.

One of the more immediate negative impacts of this type of strategy, is the high number of business-critical positions that are being left vacant for damaging periods of time, because businesses are trying to find THE perfect candidate to get maximum value from the package and the high cost of traditional recruitment methods.

Who is telling these owners and operators that permanency and the big package are the weapons of choice for finding experienced skilled management?  It will be a noble and gallant battle fought with old muskets.

As businesses focus on expanding again and using a conventional approach to recruitment, this strategy will unmask a talent mismatch and under-employment that will only continue to challenge and distract small and medium businesses during critical stages of new growth.

To address the shortage of experience and skills, many businesses are approaching their management workforce with new ideas about flexibility.  What they have found is a veritable army of educated, experienced and skilled independent management professionals that form a peripheral workforce to industry.

These flexible managers are able to hit the ground running, delivering services that are fast, compact, and affordable; providing instant outcomes and a high return on investment.
 

Diverging from the conventional approach to recruitment has been an illuminating and rewarding experience for these businesses.

More and more small and medium businesses have changed their approach to resourcing their people-needs and with the help of some creative thinking, have discovered that the market for available talent was not as tight or as expensive after all.

If you want to win the war for talent, keep flexibility in your arsenal.