A recent webinar from The HR World and sponsored by Morgan McKinley Talent Solutions brought together Morgan McKinley Talent Solution’s Global Managing Director, Ross Crook, Lee Shaw, Head of Talent and Engagement, Shawbrook Bank Limited and Cindy Rubbens, Chief People Officer at premium chauffeur service Blacklane, to discuss the challenges around securing talent for organisations.
Future-Ready Talent Acquisition: Balancing Efficiency and Innovation, provided a host of insights into recruitment practices, offering viewers insights into current market trends and effective steps forward. Here the panelists address two more questions posed during the webinar.
1: Given the importance of onboarding and retention, are you finding that TA is needing to work more closely with L&D / Training? What sort of handover from TA to L&D exists (e.g. results of assessments / skills tests?)
Ross Crook: In principal I think that TA and L&D do need to work closer together, however, in practice I’m not sure they do. Managing attrition is key and so understanding retention – why people leave – is very important and valuable. If you understand that then you can do something about it. It could be a lack of ability in management so training could address that. There could be issues with the recruitment function or it may even be down to the leadership and management style. The flip side is that through an assessment model you could find out what personalities are successful in the business and therefore who you should recruit or what makes a person good for this company. If you can assess against the skillset that works for the business you can reduce the attrition. You’ll get better engagement and people will want to stay.
Lee Shaw: I would say that there is always a need to be joined up from TA to L&D. For me consistency of message regarding employer brand being felt and seen through induction and onboarding is key alongside how capability is built once on boarded.
Cindy Rubbens: At Blacklane we encourage our people to own their training and development journey, taking responsibility for identifying the skills they need to achieve their career goals – they need to be in the driving seat. We do not want people to play a passive role in their own career. It is also an area where AI provides support. As part of the onboarding process new joiners can see themes relevant to them and their role, and choose topics they want to seek more training on. AI tools identify courses relevant to them and signposts new options as they become available. This information is owned by the individual so they are in full control of their career, rather than handed over to other teams.
TA and L&D need to work hand-in-hand to build a future-ready workforce.
For example, as part of a recent initiative we’re evaluating our company’s Values and identified the need to place a stronger emphasis on being data-driven. This insight, spearheaded by L&D through its internal evaluations and ongoing feedback from employees, has had a direct impact on how we approach recruitment. By aligning with L&D, TA now ensures that the concept of “data-drivenness” is embedded in our screening process. This allows us to assess candidates on their level of data literacy right from the start, so we can make informed decisions about whether they meet the needs of the business or where any potential skills gaps might exist.
This is a perfect example of how L&D serves as the compass that informs TA of the skills and traits required for the business to evolve. From there, TA can adjust its strategies to attract and hire talent that not only aligns with the company’s immediate needs but also sets employees up for long-term success within the organisation.
So while TA is the “gateway” for talent, the insights derived from L&D defines the skills and capabilities the business needs. It’s a continuous feedback loop – L&D identifies what’s needed, TA recruits accordingly, and once the talent is onboarded, L&D steps back in to further upskill and nurture the talent pipeline. Collaboration between the two ensures that each hire is not just the right fit for today but poised for success in the future.
2: How can outsourcing parts of your Talent Acquisition process help you to achieve your goals?
Lee Shaw: From a client perspective. Increased flexibility to scale up and down at pace, (less fixed payroll costs), expertise both in terms of technical technology and infrastructure know how along with embedded recruiters who are proven in specialisms and markets and network, external market knowledge and ability to bring outside in.
Ross Crook: RPO can enable your organisation to function and focus on what it does best while others take care of recruiting. If you outsource elements of your business to third parties you can focus on what makes you money and you can do it without increasing your own headcount. The partner you choose needs to be flexible and ready to scale at the pace you need. It means you can bring in expertise from he market, bring in technology, AI, best practice – everything that enables you to reach your goals.
Cindy Rubbens: We choose to outsource talent acquisition, for example, when we have identified experience or expertise for a certain role that we do not have within our own networks.
As a rapidly expanding global business, we are increasing our operations in new markets and in this instance we commonly work with partners who have strong knowledge of the local talent pool. For example, we are a relatively new player in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a growing team, and external experts on the ground are supporting our mission to add exceptional talent to Blacklane.
Outsourcing parts of our recruitment efforts is a strategic decision we make to accommodate specific needs, particularly during times of heightened activity or when specialised expertise is required. Traditionally, organisations might turn to external partners to handle spikes in hiring volume. However, in recent years, outsourcing models have evolved significantly, with one of the more innovative solutions being Embedded Recruitment.
With Embedded Recruitment, companies can engage a recruiter from an external agency who operates as a fully integrated member of our internal Talent Acquisition (TA) team. Instead of just handling isolated roles or projects, this recruiter works alongside our existing team for a fixed fee, managing as many roles as needed during the contract period. They essentially function as if they were an internal team member, which creates alignment with our culture, processes, and goals.
There are several advantages to this approach. First, it offers flexibility. Unlike hiring additional full-time TA members, Embedded Recruitment allows us to scale our efforts up or down based on current demands, without committing to long-term hires. This is particularly valuable during peak periods or when we’re running intensive recruitment campaigns.
Second, we reduce the risks associated with traditional hiring. The agency handles performance management for the embedded recruiter, which alleviates some of the operational burden on our end. If there are performance issues or if the recruiter is unable to work due to illness, the agency is responsible for providing a seamless replacement to ensure there’s no disruption to our hiring efforts.
That said, while the cost of Embedded Recruitment is higher compared to hiring internally, the benefits often outweigh the expense in the right circumstances. Companies gain agility, access to experienced recruiting professionals, and peace of mind knowing that resources can be adjusted quickly as needs change.
In essence, we use Embedded Recruitment not as a blanket solution but as a highly targeted approach for scenarios where we need an extra push to manage high volumes or fill niche roles – without the long-term commitment of growing our internal team. This ensures we can balance operational efficiency with cost-effectiveness while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to changing hiring demands.
