Uncovering the hidden talent pool

The talent shortage across the life sciences and tech sectors is no secret. As demands across both sectors increase and become more relevant parts of our lives, the skills required to succeed in these roles are now more specialised than ever.

According to Mariana Moraes, senior talent consultant at Intellect, the rapidly evolving nature of both sectors can make finding those with the right skills challenging. Especially since sectors like cell and gene-based therapies, cybersecurity, AI and machine learning continue to grow.

“It’s important that employers take a proactive approach to recruiting so they have a constant flow of candidates in the talent pipeline,” she said. As well as being prepared for any sudden resourcing challenges and can act in a timely manner.

“Hiring with contingency in mind is always wise. Talent pooling and succession planning are core to widening the talent pool in the organisation.”

Such methods to address the talent shortage can include investment in entry-level recruitment such as graduate schemes and cross-skilling and up-skilling existing talent pools. Similarly, the hiring process can mean thinking about the longer term, considering their skills rather than their previous experience.

“If we trust in a person’s skills, capabilities and potential then the talent pool is immediately widened,” she said. “It’s all about hiring for ability and potential over experience, along with hiring for future as well as current needs.”

Another major challenge in the sector is the gender imbalance in STEM subjects in schools and universities, which significantly cuts the available workforce pool.

While much work is done, strategies like offering bridging and cross-skills opportunities for those that demonstrate an interest and aptitude for these areas despite not having the formal training or experience can help.

That skills shortage has been greatly felt throughout the pandemic as gaps in tech and cybersecurity were further amplified.

It requires employers to be more creative and proactive in their hiring approach to find hidden talent, Moraes said, instead of continuing with a traditional approach in an already depleted pool.

“Continuing on the talent hamster wheel of recycling talent around an already depleted pool serves nothing, only spiralling costs to unsustainable levels,” she said.

“While there is positive action being taken at grassroots level to improve the output of skills in these areas, it is not keeping pace with demand nor does it have the ability to happen in an immediate enough way to address today’s shortfall.”

Much of the recruitment process has changed thanks to the rise of remote and hybrid working models. The benefits for workers are quite clear, while employers face both challenges and opportunities.

Moraes said that opportunities are to be found by organisations open to changing the status quo concerning working arrangements and are willing to revisit their value proposition as employers.

“Offers need to be compiled and presented more holistically and should highlight how the role can meet the individual’s work-life balance and longer-term career aspirations as almost the primary consideration,” she said. “Hygiene factors like a competitive base salary are considered a given.

“One thing that is for sure is that there’s a greater movement happening in the market versus last year. Whether that is an improvement or challenge for organisations depends on their agility.”

That market movement has been one of the more significant trends to emerge in the past 12 months with people revisiting career choices or looking for a different work-life balance. This isn’t just down to the pandemic, but generational influences too, Moraes said, where more fluid working structures are desired.

Much of this ties in with the ways that Intellect sources talent. Moraes said that it leverages its expertise and experience in STEM and talent areas to design an approach that ensures employers don’t fall into the traditional trap.

“A recruitment partner knows your business, but is not embedded enough into your culture to have a type in mind, and therefore they will put more diverse candidates in front of you,” she said.

“What we do differently at Intellect is that we are not afraid to have those hard conversations with our clients and to respectfully push back and constructively challenge to get the right mix of exceptional talent for their organisation and its goals.”

This also ties in with the upcoming launch of its talent match app, which will incorporate elements like AI and AR to help workers find roles and companies to fill vacancies. Moraes expects this to have a positive impact by adding more precise and intelligent elements to help organisations find hidden talent.