What is Talent Advisory?

If the current market-crunch has reminded us of anything, it’s that it has never been more timely for talent acquisition teams to look for ways to cycle-proof their function.

One way for talent teams to do this is to shift their focus to Talent Advisory.

Offering Talent Advisory services helps to create a more strategic and sustainable talent function that is less exposed in economic cycles. By providing strategic recommendations in-line with broader organisational goals, talent teams become less dependent on external volume. Indeed, many TA Functions are beginning to move this direction and have already started offering some Advisory elements.

In the lead-up to our inaugural Talent Advisory Conference, we’ve been talking a lot about Talent Advisory here at ATC– why we need it, how to do it, who to get involved in the process. From business partnering to talent ecosystem, companies have a multitude of ways to describe how HR services work in conjunction with each other. So, what is Talent Advisory? Here are 4 definitions.

ATC – Delivering collaborative talent knowledge

Talent Advisory provides dynamic knowledge services that enable optimal talent decisions, enhancing how an organisation gets work done. Aligning the Talent Function to organisational goals positions the function and organisation for success.

The utilization of internal and external data, scenario planning and collaborative efforts between Workforce Planning, Data Analytics, Talent Management and Business Partnering allows the organisation to respond to changing market conditions and business needs.

Trevor Vas, Co-Founder and CEO @ TCS Insights – Providing exactly what the business needs

Talent Advisory is a mechanism that positions an organisation for perpetual success by providing the right talent, for the right position, at the right time.

It focuses on providing knowledge services to enhance how an organisation gets work done. This includes a multi-channel approach, encompassing internal mobility, external recruitment, borrowing or loaning talent, and automation. Talent Advisory is gaining popularity due to skills shortages, organisations wishing to retain staff, and importantly the career path it provides to recruiters.

Talent Advisory matches value propositions to the external and internal market.  In other words, Talent Advisory enables the predicting of what candidates will be attracted to.  This is important as it reduces time to hire, enables estimating of projects and builds it confidence with the business.

People have been focussing for a long time on “buy” because it’s easier. But people should have moved to “build” a long time ago. Things are moving fast right now, so it’s time for talent to change the way they’re currently thinking. If you don’t change, you’ll be left behind. This means that Talent Advisory is the next logical step for Talent Acquisition to evolve to.

Sue Howse, CEO @ The Human Collaborative – Talent Advisory as I see it

Talent Advisory, as a top-down approach, identifies the elements of the Business Strategy that are dependent on the right people and capability.  Many, if not most businesses have a disconnect between the business strategy and talent models, planning and practices essential to execute their Business Strategy.

A top-down approach to Talent Advisory starts with unpacking the strategy, identifying the talent-related elements, consolidating them, and then creating a progressive, multi-year plan focussed on identifying and building sustainable talent and capability programs, models, and initiatives. Critical inputs include services and product maps, digitisation plans and other factors which will alter ways of working, growth strategies and future acquisitions, footprint, and diverse workforce requirements.

Helena Turpin, co-founder of Flow @ Work Co – from a Workforce Intelligence perspective

Talent advisory is a strategic service that helps organisations optimise their talent acquisition and management processes to achieve business goals. The driving appetite for talent advisory comes from the need to adapt to a dynamic job market and evolving workforce expectations coupled with advances in technology and the availability of data that make this possible. Talent Advisory is a team sport – with key parties involved including talent advisors, recruiting teams, hiring managers, HR professionals, organisational leaders and increasingly talent tech and data providers.

Find out more about Talent Advisory

Whether your definition or goal is lofty or pragmatic, we’ll be discussing Advisory from many perspectives on Tuesday 16 May at the Talent Advisory Conference in Melbourne. The goal of the event is to help organisations wishing to take steps towards adding value beyond external recruitment.

Together will answers the following questions:

• What are Talent Advisory Services?
• How could the Talent Function be structured?
• Who is best positioned to perform Advisory services?
• What are the core skills of a Talent Advisor?
• How to gain C-Suite buy in to build out a Talent Advisory Function?
• Which Talent Functions have made steps towards this?
• Where does my Talent Function sit on the Talent Advisory Continuum?

Register now and join us.