Winning the talent war

Cheryl Levy, KPMG, reports on the strategies companies should consider in order to win the battle for talent in the professional services sector.

A talent war is raging in the professional services sector, with particularly fierce combat in the battle for accounting professionals – especially those experienced in the regulatory requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation.

Intense recruiting competition is going on in several quarters – not only among the ‘big four’ accounting firms, but also among regional competitors, financial-services companies and publicly traded corporations. All are hoping to capitalize on the same regulatory trends and to build accounting and compliance capabilities.

In order to meet their recruiting goals, companies should consider developing an overall plan, centered on internal recruiters who know how to promote the firm, and who are adept at building networks of qualified candidates in the local professional communities where their companies operate.

Structure and strategy
One such recruiting approach, employed successfully by KPMG, relies on a geographic approach, with internal teams placed in each region where the company operates.

Regional recruiters are positioned as key members of the local office, and serve as business advisors to leadership for meeting short- and long-term hiring goals in line with the firm’s business strategy, and reflective of the local business cycle. They understand the needs of the business and the company’s clients, keep abreast of industry and labor market trends, and develop competitor intelligence, as it relates to personnel.

These local recruiters develop intimate knowledge of and relationships with members of the local professional communities, including:

• Local professional association chapter members
• Former employees
• Referrals
• International rotations
• Individuals impacted by local business forces (downsizing)

Identifying and attracting – working the network
As a part of this approach, particular emphasis is placed on building ties with professional associations, whether they’re finance and accounting groups, as well as organizations with people who have specific industry knowledge and skill sets particularly in demand.

A key method of reaching out to these groups is to invite members to attend company-sponsored seminars, where company executives speak on current industry topics. Recruiters also attend these events to generate company interest among invitees. A similar approach can be used with diversity and affinity groups. Many of the professionals contacting through this avenue can either be recruited or leveraged for contacts to other qualified candidates.

The internal network
Another key recruitment strategy that can be developed is seeking referrals from current employees. An employee referral program (ERP) can offer cash rewards and prizes to employees for successfully referred candidates. For KPMG, nearly 39 percent of the firm’s experienced hires came through the ERP.

But to be successful, ERPs should be marketed aggressively to employees. Methods include monthly giveaways of ERP branded giveaway items (refrigerator magnets, note pads, pens, etc.) that help remind employees to talk with friends and colleagues about career opportunities at the company. Also, sweepstakes with larger prizes, such as gift certificates, TVs, and vacations, can be effective incentives for ERP referrals.

Traditional sourcing
Companies also should not neglect the more traditional sourcing methods to identify talent. These include methods such as print ads in trade publications, advertising on national recruiting websites such as Monster, Career Builder and HotJobs, and deep web and telephone searchers for candidates. Additionally, organizations also should maintain their own external career website, where candidates can learn more about available opportunities at the company and its culture.

Candidate care approach
Seeking out and identifying positional candidates is only the first step of the recruitment process. Once candidates are identified and approached, recruiters should begin noting the key areas of the employment proposition that a candidate hopes to improve with their next career move.

Based on this information, recruiters will outline what the firm has to offer and emphasize key points that provide the best opportunity to convince a candidate to change employers. The conversation should move beyond job specifics and compensation to include a discussion of the firm’s other non-traditional benefits. At KMPG, we emphasize the firm’s Total Rewards package, and our Employer of Choice initiative, which focuses on providing outstanding career development and advancement opportunities, in a rewarding environment. These can include:

• Work/life offerings – benefits that help our professionals balance their work and personal lives, such as backup child and elder care, paid time off for volunteering, retailers and service discounts, generous personal time, among others.
• Rewards and recognition – cash rewards for outstanding performance and service recognition awards based on years of employment.
• Learning and development – mentoring, training curriculum, leadership development, networking.

Once candidates decide that they like what they hear, and wish to pursue career opportunities with the firm, a well-oiled interview process kicks in.

The interview process
Another best practice is ensuring that professionals involved in the hiring process are trained in the hiring of high performers and know how to quickly determine the experience level and potential behavior characteristics of their candidates. The recruiter also works with the interview team to develop appropriate behavior-based interview questions for their evaluations.

Prompt follow-up communication with the candidate and the interview team is essential. The goal is to act quickly on those candidates identified as highly desirable through the interview process, and to have every candidate, even those who are not ultimately offered employment, to think enough of the organization to consider future opportunities, and to refer others to the company.

When an offer is tendered and accepted, the recruiting team is mindful that this is not the end of the battle. The period after an employee accepts an offer and starts with the firm is typically when counter offers or offers from other organizations are made. To help maintain the candidates interest and ensure his or her commitment, companies can frequently engage new hires during this period by such activities as a new-hire gift mailing to their homes and scheduling frequent touch-points between new employees and their recruiters, performance managers and transitional coaches.

Early experiences and career navigation
Once a candidate becomes a new hire, the recruiting process should give way to a transition process focused on creating a positive experience for new hires. Support for new hires is crucial to retention. It makes little sense to recruit an individual, only to risk losing them within a year to job frustration and a sense of disconnection that can be a typical experience for new hires at any firm or company.

Last year, KPMG implemented its Transitional Coach Program to assist new hires in dealing with issues often encountered during their first few months with the firm. These coaches are professionals who volunteer to work one-on-one with new hires to help them transition to the firm’s culture, answer typical new hire questions, understand how offices operate, establish new relationships, and develop a mentoring relationship.

In addition, each new employee’s performance manager assists in developing professional goals, and in planning personal and career development, to keep employees engaged and focused on their skills development. Much of this should be handled through face-to-face conversations, and documented on a web-based performance management system.

An enormous amount of resources are devoted to ushering the right people from the identification process through to the new hire (transition) process. And the resources don’t stop there. The firm needs to work to create an environment that encourages career and skills development, and that is a rewarding and fun place to show up every day.

In a talent war, good employee morale means good rates of retention, which is as important to the success of our firm as bringing in new people.

Cheryl Levy is the National Director of Experienced Recruiting at KPMG LLP. The audit, tax and advisory firm is the US member firm of KPMG International, whose member firms comprise nearly 100,000 professionals, including 6800 partners in 148 countries. More information can be found at www.us.kpmg.com.