AEC Talent Acquisition in 2023 and Beyond…
By: AECIQ
Talent acquisition has long been approached in a reactionary fashion – with a “we need a hire tomorrow” mentality. This results in high stress for hiring teams and fragmented processes toward identifying quality candidates and getting the right people in the right roles. The shortcomings associated with talent acquisition are often, in large part, a byproduct of not having the right tools in place to effectively drive this process.
While it’s been somewhat slow to arrive in the AEC space, technology has started creeping into the talent acquisition process in recent years. Not technology in the form of ATS, CRM, HRis, HCM systems – these have been around for quite some time – newer applications include more robust job aggregators, predictive analytics using AI, and functionality that allows for automated nurturing of candidate relationships to win the long game in securing talent.
Due to the highly specialized talent that drives the AEC industry, now more than ever it’s imperative that leaders within firms take control of the talent acquisition process. The first step is to truly understand your pools of talent. Talent pools can vary significantly based on geography, technical focus, seniority, etc. Understanding your TRUE talent pool (total addressable market of candidates) allows you to make informed decisions relating to how proactive you need to be when hiring for a specific type of role, how flexible you should be with offers when you have an opportunity to hire one of these candidates, etc. Most importantly, are you in a mindset to come to grips with what your firm is lacking and falling short in? Technology can be a game-changer when it comes to quickly and efficiently scrubbing available data channels to access talent that aligns with your hiring needs. There are seemingly unlimited amounts of data accessible these days – your employees’ time is not best spent going down paths that could lead to nowhere and searching in every data tunnel. Smart companies are allowing technology to be the driving force for sourcing relevant candidates at scale.
Next, we must recognize that talent acquisition is a people business; with talent acquisition, we are not dealing in products or widgets. It sounds like common sense but all too often hiring managers expect hires right away. Rarely do you get instant gratification when it comes to talent acquisition. With the current state of the AEC industry, talented professionals aren’t on the street ready to start with your company tomorrow. Talented people have options and want to make informed, calculated decisions; not rush into things. All of this said, developing relationships and nurturing talent pools is essential for sustained success when it comes to hiring. Companies who are thriving in the current market are not singularly focused on the “now.” Through understanding their talent pools and the circumstances of those candidates, they create retargeting strategies and they nurture those relationships proactively. Without the proper tools and technology, this can be tough to manage and create trackable strategies around.
Finally, technology allows us to accurately track success, performance metrics, and KPIs. “Feeling” like you have a strategy that’s working for you isn’t good enough these days. Your strategy has to be measurable, tracked, and adjusted if it’s not yielding the expected results. If you don’t have technology in place that allows you to track and monitor metrics that are specific to your business and objectives, you are falling short.
While some companies are hesitant to accept it, technology is shaping the immediate future of talent acquisition. If you are not using technology and creating data-driven talent acquisition strategies, you will lose the battle for talent to companies who have a better understanding of their talent pools, can better collaborate amongst their internal teams as well as outside support groups/agencies and, in turn, fortify key hiring metrics.
AECIQ is a technology-enabled talent acquisition platform exclusive to the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction industries. Our cutting-edge technology allows clients to fully understand and manage their talent pools across the US, automate the talent acquisition lifecycle and get unmatched scale relating to passive candidate sourcing and engagement. With AECIQ you don’t pay placement/hiring fees and get guaranteed interviews with passive candidates hand-picked by your internal team.
