| | JUNE - 2022MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM8In MyOpinionBUILDING A FUTURE-READY WORKFORCE WITH THOUGHTFUL TALENT ACQUISITIONBy Mayada Elkordy, Talent Head ­ GCC, AstraZenecaOrganisations have struggled over the past few years with a shrinking talent pool, which was further intensified during the pandemic. Unfortunately, not many companies have invested much time to focus on the candidate experience and how this will contribute to attracting or retaining the right talent in the future.During 2022, we identified 8 key talent acquisition learnings and practices that we believe can deliver the most impact and create differentiation when it comes to our internal and external candidates' experiences.1.Eye for Talent Facing a talent shortage inspired us to start focusing more on internal mobility, reskilling, and upskilling our internal employees to help them grow and progress against internal opportunities, building a pipeline of future leaders and filling in niche roles and business critical roles from within the organization.We believe that feedback is the breakfast of the champions and therefore introduced the feedforward feedback mechanism following every interview with our internal candidates. This includes sharing candidates' assessment reports and going through a debrief session or feedforward session to reflect on the assessment/interview outcome, supporting the candidate's self-discovery and future development planning goals.2.Identify Impact Players and Difference Makers While Hiring HR professionals and hiring managers need to look for people who are comfortable with ambiguity, agility and have a strong sense of agency.That mindset is hard to teach, so we need to prioritize it when hiring. Other more coachable skills can be taught later. When interviewing, look for someone who has taken charge of their own life. Ask candidates to describe an experience that was messy and ambiguous and see how they respond, how they were able to act and achieve results regardless of the unclear and challenging circumstances. Recruiters need to get out of the standard questions approval and allow candidates to articulate their story and be themselves, fly with their achievements as if they are standing on a stage and singing their song. Leadership isn't just about bringing out the best in others; leaders need to find ways to embrace people coming into the workforce who really want to make a difference. Find your impact players and step out of the traditional way of recruiting. As mentioned by Lis Wiseman in her Impact Players book and latest article, impact players know how to see situations from a leader's perspective and understand what they need, or know, how to ask. They are the people who say: "How can I make your job easier? Is there anything I can take off your plate?"3.Build a Pipeline of Talent - Consistent Talent Messaging Vocalizing our talent story that summarizes key points which will attract talent to join AstraZeneca, provide consistent and compelling messages to attract the right talent who will continue At AstraZeneca, we believe in bringing the best candidates at the right time, to the right place, at the right cost and in the right way
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