Building a Talent Pipeline for Large Programs

Measure Your L&D Talent

In today’s ever-changing competitive landscape, L&D leaders must be able to leverage their talent to keep pace with ever-changing business realities. Often times, corporate teams find themselves with too many bodies to keep busy and not enough work—or too much work but not enough people to get the job done right. This can be a difficult balance to manage, especially when big efforts carry big things.

Dealing with the Ebb and Flow of Labor Needs

As project requirements keep changing, L&D leaders may worry that relying on temporary team members will reduce morale or require more time and resources to get people up to speed. They also want to avoid costly mistakes and the risk of missing deadlines. If the campaign is large enough, there are additional concerns about keeping stakeholders informed of progress and dealing with the potential consequences of not producing the right results.

This is where staffing can be beneficial. By building an efficient and effective talent pipeline for experienced people—using a flexible temporary workforce model instead of relying on a permanent internal team—L&D leaders can shift their workforce sizes up or down based on what’s needed now instead of next month. They can help handle large projects without putting more pressure on busy teams. In addition, working with the right outsourcing firm can result in significant cost savings and a higher quality product than relying solely on an in-house team.

Advantages of the Part-time Worker Model

Although many organizations think that having an in-house team will allow them to reduce costs in processes such as onboarding, there are still some challenges. An internal team may not be able to scale up or downsize quickly and efficiently due to the current workload or lack of skills needed to fill a new temporary role. Any gaps that exist in certain roles and responsibilities may need to be filled in by a temporary person.

By using a temporary staffing model and partnering with an external staffing agency, organizations can add or remove team members as project needs change. In peak months, it is possible to reduce costs by reducing the size of the team during times of low volume of work, then increasing it again as work ramps back up. Our professional staffing partners have processes in place to match professionals with the right opportunities, and it can take less time than expected to get these flexible team members up to speed on the product culture and project plans. Temporary employees can be selected based on their experience related to the required roles and responsibilities, which do not require additional training.

L&D outsourcing has proven to be a viable option for organizations with limited budgets. It allows access to certain information only at peak times, saving companies the additional cost of making additional employees full team members. It’s also an excellent solution for organizations that may be suffering from creative roadblocks that prevent innovation. By partnering with a specialized human resource center, L&D leaders can work with experts who can bring fresh ideas and energy to the team environment. These experts can also help train internal teams on emerging technologies, as well as provide expert advice that streamlines the L&D process. A partnership focused on shared success that paves the way for sustainable growth and results.

Emerging Technologies Seeking New Skills

The need to integrate AI, Virtual Reality, adaptive learning platforms, and other emerging technologies into a company’s specific training program can present a workforce challenge if the expertise in those technologies does not reside within the organization. Which begs the question: Why should a company expect its employees to be experts in these fields when it can work temporarily with experts who have the knowledge and experience of advanced technology? These professionals can not only introduce these new technologies to the business but also train permanent employees to use them properly.

An interim L&D team is best equipped to help the organization respond quickly to technological developments, stay competitive, and provide internal teams with the critical training and guidance needed to complete large-scale implementations in line with business goals.

Important Considerations in Hiring a Temporary Staffing Agency

Here are some questions L&D leaders can ask themselves to begin building a workforce pipeline and working with a workforce development partner on a larger scale:

• What does success look like in this upcoming program? What results or outcomes do stakeholders want to see?
• What makes this program such a huge undertaking?
• Who is involved? What do they need to show?
• What roles and responsibilities will best support this program?
• What skills gaps currently exist, or where should current team members train to step into those roles or responsibilities successfully?
• How can a flexible team member fill those gaps effectively?
• What questions can I ask potential business partners to get the most out of my investment?
• What concerns do I have about working with a foreign partner?
• Which potential partners or talent do I want to reach?

What to Look for in a Co-Worker

The following criteria are important for making the right choice:

• L&D expertise. A true business partner understands the needs of the client’s L&D team as well as the needs of their students and their organization as a whole. Any professionals who add to the team must have first-hand experience and know how to focus on the results the organization is looking for.
• Depth and breadth of talent. To ensure that the right professionals are placed on the right teams, a true staffing partner must have a strong, in-demand network of diverse talents that can effectively fill any skills gap.
• Ongoing support. Our staffing partner has the resources to provide support even after the project is launched. They must be committed to the long-term success of any program they undertake.
• Cost effectiveness. Choosing the right job isn’t as easy as comparing hourly rates. Everyone works differently, and it’s important to trust that your partner understands how the people in their network work best. A Flex team member’s performance must meet expectations beyond simply checking a box for a specific role or responsibility on the team.

AllenComm has partnered with several clients in expanding their L&D workforce to define their expectations and match their needs across multiple locations, providing valuable insight into what makes for a productive, mutually beneficial partnership.

For example, the client has its biggest task yet: a complete reorganization of the organization with new teams, new systems, and new ways of working—but not enough L&D experts to design new training that will reduce technical time and improve quickly. to work. This client needed a way to scale and scale their recruitment process to meet these needs and save costs by reducing team sizes as needed once the initial heavy lifting phases of the project were completed. The tactics used focused on dealing with volume—the need for more hands—rather than technology or cultural fit.

One client, however, needed a few experienced people for a limited time commitment of six months or less. The nature of the organization required that each individual be highly specialized with certain certifications, but due to the timeline, full-time staff was not an option. By expanding their team with the experts they needed, they were able to complete the project ahead of schedule and even decided to continue using strategies to expand future plans.

Because the needs and goals of each organization are different, it’s important to ensure a seamless and enjoyable experience that goes beyond simply getting the job done. Each team member is a person with his own strengths and values, so candidates should be placed in teams where they can integrate well and actively participate in producing positive results for each major project.

The key is Adaptability

In today’s business environment, with competitive challenges and customer demands, the ability to respond quickly to employee needs is essential. A dedicated pipeline of L&D staff, if built correctly, is a smart way to tackle big projects without putting more pressure on already busy teams. It provides flexibility and agility—a cost-effective way to scale staff up or down as workloads change, empowering L&D leaders to address any challenge in a cost-effective manner.