Dynamic talent strategies

Depending how you see 2024, 2025 could be a tougher year for some. We’re in a strange and somewhat unprecedented environment. For us at Michael Page, normally when times are tough you see fee rates going down. That hasn’t been the case – we’re working at record fee rates and the demand for talent couldn’t be higher. 

With the level of uncertainty in the market, candidates are hedging their bets and are hesitant to move, and the salary premium already being paid in certain sectors is making it harder for organisations to put inflated offers on the table that are big enough to persuade candidates to join. That, of course, differs in areas where specific skills are at their most scarce. Anything related to information security, cyber or digital marketing, C-suite leaders need to be prepared to invest heavily to get them through the door and, yes, you can pay more, but it’s not always the best, feasible or even sustainable solution to securing the right candidates for your business. 

The right model for rare commodities and real competitors 

PageGroup can almost be viewed as a data company now. We have a huge international database accessing some of the best talent around the world – talent that doesn’t necessarily need or want to work from a specific location or office. The more flexible organisations can be with their people, the more opportunities they will have to attract the best talent. Leaders will end up in a much more dynamic hiring position than if they are simply just paying more. 

Location strategies are also important, and this is where we see the interconnectivity of cultural skills, centres of excellence, technology solutions and geopolitical factors come into play. We have, for example, a digital hub and marketing studio in our Shared Service Centre in Barcelona because the skillset, internationalisation and diversity of candidates there enables us to hire excellent people. This global approach to talent location has opened up a much wider network of talent opportunities. Other areas we’re seeing opportunities like this include both Kuala Lumpur and Buenos Aires where we also have Shared Service Centres, and which have become great places to hire some really talented individuals. 

Evolving structures of people and the role of technology 

The talent is out there, leaders just need to approach their needs differently. People are becoming more successful and more attractive to employers with broader careers compared to what we saw in the last decade with people specialising. Even if we look at what CFOs are responsible for now, it crosses over significantly with the role of a more traditional COO. We’ve also seen it clearly with the roles of marketing teams and how they have evolved now into much more data-centric teams. The influence and changing use of technology has been instrumental in this evolution and the need for talent that has a broad set of skills with big picture thinking.

At Michael Page, we’ve really taken the time to assess the most valuable use cases for technology, such as generative AI. We’ve created efficiencies for our people with tech taking more general tasks like writing job descriptions, but the way we’re applying it goes far beyond that. Some of the algorithms are really sophisticated and can simultaneously identify and predict talent that may be ready to move based on their career history, as well as salary expectations, the type of organisation and team they’re most attracted to, location and working conditions. 

If you can pay the salaries, then be prepared to pay big. But it’s not the only priority for candidates. When remuneration strategy and talent is scarce, this combined and flexible approach is a more dynamic way of cutting through the competition to attract and retain the best people.

Kelvin Stagg has extensive international experience in finance and leadership roles, having worked in Asia, Continental Europe and the UK for companies such as PageGroup, Allied Domecq and Unilever.