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Using Hourly Talent Pools to Support Salaried Hiring
By Steven Hunt, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, Unicru
The current levels of unemployment in the US economy are temporary. Demographic and economic predictions suggest there will be 5 to 10 million more jobs than qualified workers over the next 5 to 10 years. This talent shortage will be caused by the baby boom generation leaving the workforce and the increasing skill levels required to perform many US jobs. Even conservative predictions suggest that the talent shortages we will face in ten years will make the labor shortages of the late 1990's seem trivial. Many companies may soon find themselves unable to execute business strategies simply because they cannot find the employees to carry them out.
One of the most effective ways to prepare for the upcoming talent shortage is to proactively build talent pools to support future staffing needs. Talent pools provide potential candidates that a company can readily access for future hires. They are typically composed of a large number of individuals who meet some general requirements regarding employment eligibility, work capabilities, and/or career interest. Talent pools can include existing employees who could be transitioned into new jobs and people outside of the organization who are considered potential candidates for future positions.
Organizations with large hourly workforces have an inherent advantage when it comes to developing talent pools. Hourly employees are an easily accessible, potentially rich source of future candidates. However many organizations do not leverage the potential that hourly workers offer for filling professional jobs. While the use of hourly employees for staffing salaried jobs provides many compelling benefits, it also poses a range of unique challenges. This article details some of these benefits and challenges, and discusses recent innovations that can help companies utilize their hourly workforces to counter the coming talent shortage.
The following are some advantages associated with using hourly workforces as talent pools for salaried positions.
- Pre-qualified Applicants. Hourly employees have already met certain job requirements simply by obtaining and holding an hourly job with the organization. These may be as simple as passing background checks, demonstrating basic levels of reliability and interpersonal skills, and showing a sincere interest in working for the company. However these things distinguish hourly workers from external applicants who the company knows little to nothing about.
- Accessible. Companies that have the appropriate technology in place can quickly and easily communicate with their hourly employees about potential jobs. No money or time has to be spent using more expensive recruitment efforts that may be required to reach external applicants.
- Increased Employee Commitment. Treating hourly employees as a source of potential salaried candidates sends a strong message that the company values and supports the career growth of employees at all levels. This can result in increased organizational commitment and retention of high performers who are looking for a career and not just a job.
- Strengthened Employer Brand. Stories of highly successful salaried professionals who started their careers in entry-level positions can help attract additional career minded applicants for future hourly jobs. Such companies will find it easier to attract applicants who are looking for a place to build their careers. This includes attracting more skilled applicants who may accept an hourly job as a "foot in the door" to gain access to professional opportunities within the organization.
There are a variety of challenges that can prevent realization of the advantages listed above. Fortunately advances in staffing technology and assessment science offer methods for overcoming these challenges. A few of these are listed below.
Problem: Finding the right applicants
Large organizations often have over 50,000 hourly employees. Searching through these employees for individuals who might be good candidates for a specific position can be overwhelming. Most companies do not even know what sort of talent and capabilities exist in their hourly workforce, let alone how to find them. One company I worked with paid an external recruiter over $10,000 dollars to source candidates for a highly specialized position only to have the recruiter recommend one of its existing hourly employees. What's more, this employee took the hourly job because he hoped it would help him find professional career opportunities with the company!Possible Solution: Automated candidate search tools.
Dr. Dan Crow, a Chief Scientist at Unicru, recently developed an artificial intelligence based assessment method called SmartMatch that automatically a^?oereadsa^?? and sorts thousands of resumes in seconds. SmartMatch does not rely on keyword searches, but interprets the meaning of words in different contexts. Recruiters can efficiently evaluate resumes based on what they imply about an applicant's skills, as opposed to simply looking for specific combinations of words. The capability to interpret the meaning of resume text is particularly important for hourly employees as they are often current or recent college students who may not be familiar with the technical terminology recruiters use to describe job skills. What's more, the ability to automatically sort resumes makes it possible to locate employees with unique skills without requiring them to actually apply for the job.Problem: Overwhelmed by ineligible internal applicants
Many hourly employees do not want to remain hourly employees. They can be a^?oeovereagera^?? in their pursuit of job opportunities, applying for dozens of jobs regardless of whether they meet the necessary requirements. One organization I work with estimated losing several FTEs of recruiter time each year to screening and responding to applications from internal employees applying for jobs they are not qualified to perform.Possible Solution: Detailed Qualification Screens
Internal employees often apply for jobs they are not qualified for simply because they do not understand the job requirements. Many job descriptions do not clearly state requirements and applicants may not carefully read the descriptions anyhow. One method for addressing this is to use automated tools that screen candidates by asking questions about their skills and experiences. Well designed screening tools also serve to clearly communicate job requirements so that applicants can determine if they are qualified before they actually apply.Problem: Hourly employees lack critical qualifications
Even large hourly workforces are unlikely to contain employees with the skills and credentials needed to perform many professional jobs. However, as the talent shortage intensifies this problem is also likely to be mirrored among external candidates. We are already seeing this in certain job types. For example, there is currently such a shortage of pharmacists that there are very few unemployed, qualified pharmacists looking for work. Recruiters must hire them away from another company or reach them straight out of school. Such a talent scarcity will soon become common for a much broader range of specialized, professional jobs.Potential Solution: Identify talent and develop knowledge and skills
There is little chance that a highly skilled employee will remain in an hourly job when they could be in a salaried job that pays higher wages. Consequently, hourly talent pools are of somewhat limited effectiveness for finding applicants who already possess all the skills and experiences needed to perform certain salaried jobs. However large hourly workforces are very likely to contain individuals with the underlying talents and motivation needed to succeed in a variety of professional careers.Companies that want to maximize the value of hourly workforces are starting to explore methods to identify high potential hourly employees and provide them with developmental resources to turn them into high performing professional employees. The advent of web based personality, motivation, and ability assessment makes it much easier to identify these employees by looking at their underlying talents and what they "can do," as opposed to solely evaluating things they have done in the past. As the talent shortage increases it will become more and more critical for companies to focus on these methods for "making" rather than "buying" candidates with highly sought after skills and knowledge.
Problem: Not all hourly employees want to or should be salaried employees
Many hourly employees do not want to move into salaried positions. And there is considerable value in having a stable core of long-term hourly employees.The Solution: Value all forms of employee commitment
It is important that organizations respect and recognize the value of employees with different career goals. Career development and recognition programs must ensure that all employees who demonstrate organizational commitment are valued, regardless of whether commitment is demonstrated through pursuing increasing levels of responsibility or making long-term contributions in a single position.Final thoughts
There are several other things organizations should consider as they seek to more effectively leverage their hourly workforces as salaried talent pools. First, care should be taken to avoid over-emphasizing the importance of having once been an hourly employee within the organization. The most effective leadership team is likely to have a mix of people steeped in the history and culture of the organization and people with different perspectives based on experiences working in other companies.
Effectively managing the operational aspects of staffing large salaried and hourly workforces also requires the use of highly robust staffing technology. The technology platform should be specifically designed to support both hourly and salaried jobs. It must provide the automation and ease of use needed by hourly applicants and store level hiring managers, and the range of assessment and candidate management features needed by recruiters to effectively source, evaluate and fill salaried positions. These are not minor differences. Do not simply assume that a system that works well for salaried staffing can also support hourly staffing or vice verse.
Fully engaging and leveraging hourly employees as a source of salaried talent has a myriad of immediate and long-term benefits. These include creating a stronger employer brand, increasing employee performance and retention, and more swiftly meeting staffing demands in an ever more competitive talent market. The best way to reap these benefits is to discourage thinking of hourly and salaried workers as qualitatively different kinds of people, and to think of them as one large group of individuals who collectively provide the key to the long-term growth and success of the organization.