Bayer AG [ETR: BAYN]

Kimberly Prescott

Anyone following the job market over the past few years can agree it has been a rollercoaster ride. Employers face factors such as The Great Resignation, post-pandemic demands for flexible work locations, competition for talent, and a tightening economy. Companies have found it increasingly difficult to plan for future talent needs as widely known skills gaps and financial factors have forced companies to think differently about how to acquire and utilize talent. 

For these reasons, many companies are leaning towards developing a skills-based organization: A network of talent whose applicable skills and capabilities can tackle immediate challenges while continually learning on the job to serve future workplace requirements.

Bayer is at the forefront of transitioning from a purely job-based to a more skill-based ecosystem that can only be possible by leveraging technology. Indeed, the future is going to be a fully integrated talent experience ecosystem with skills at the core.  

“Focus on learning and exploration of the process design while showing an ability to drive and sustain the change.” 

As a basis for this, we looked at three critical factors to determine primary talent segments: which jobs are most challenging to fill, whether these skills are transferable across multiple departments, and if these skills are applicable to the company’s long-term growth. 

As talent segments were defined, a job description library was organized, and skills taxonomy was developed. Looking at this holistically, we considered the future technical skills and the behavioral skills required to succeed in this new environment. 

Talent Acquisition has transformed, moving to a globally centralized sourcing model in major markets where we operate. As the lead of the Global Strategic Skills team, we are focusing most of the time on pipelining for skills, with the balance of time sourcing for niche roles to which we can internally consult our leaders to help shape their talent initiatives. We are utilizing tools that include AI technology to source hard-to-acquire skills in the R&D, digital, and engineering sectors. 

A robust talent attraction and engagement strategy allows Bayer to build talent communities from more traditional outreach like events, social media campaigns, and referrals. We have cultivated strong partnerships with our recruitment marketing teams to help establish where and how we present our career value proposition to talent.

Candidates’ response to the scalable boutique style recruitment approach facilitated by our talent communities has been highly positive. Developing talent communities for current and future needs allows us to stay connected with the candidates and continually evolve our talent narrative. 

Sourcing based on the understanding of future business needs and introducing pre-identified individuals with relative adjacent and potential skills to meet this demand has truly elevated Talent Acquisition to be an integral part of the organization’s Strategic Workforce Planning.

After spending time on this journey, my recommendation to others would be: 

(1) Start Small: Focus on one or two areas, allowing for learning and exploration of the process design while showing an ability to drive and sustain the change. 

(2) Keep it Simple: There are several concepts on how to approach this, but you must design a model that works for your company, ATS, and readiness for change. 

(3) Expect a Journey:  Managing change of this magnitude will not happen overnight. Finally, lean in and listen to your stakeholders. Their feedback will tell where there is an opportunity to modify, and their engagement will highlight where you have it right.