The battle of Waterloo took place on 18th June 1815. This Battle marked the end of 25 years of the Napoleonic Wars. It saw Napoleon Bonaparte with 74,000 troops oppose the Duke of Wellington with 67,000 troops on a hillside south of Brussels in Belgium. These two armies walked to war….

In the days preceding the Battle the officers of each army all dined in the evenings and discussed the coming battle, the soldiers camped with their wives and girlfriends (who in those days followed the armies into Battle). On the day of the Battle the armies spent the morning waiting for the ground to dry and it was not until midday that the French began their attack. The Battle raged throughout the day eventually Wellington’s troops gained the upper hand and when the Duke signalled the final attack, he did so by sitting up on his horse and waving his hat…

These days war is different, when armies go into battle they are delivered by fast attack helicopter or they parachute into a predetermined landing zone using their portable GPS navigation equipment. Modern troops rarely have more than a few hours to prepare, they are not usually accompanied by their wives and girlfriends, and when they are on the battlefield, they do not wave their hats. Instead, they signal via encrypted personal satellite radios. Modern wars are about technology and speed in every sense of the word…

Right now, there is a war for talent. This war is raging in the bunkered offices and cubicled trenches of companies around the globe. It is being waged over mobile phones, emails, panel interviews, reference and background checks and salary negotiations. Moreover, just in case we do not think we are at war, try Googling ‘War for Talent’. When the “results display” then start with the McKinsey report of 1997 and go right through to the Deloitte Research series on talent management in 2008 and when you have finished reading the 26,300,000 articles on the “war for talent” (that took 0.05 seconds to come up on Google) maybe you will be convinced you are at war…

So what is this “war for talent”? Quite simply it is the war being fought between companies in towns, cities and countries across the world…It is the war to secure talented employees who can manage teams, run operations, develop systems, and sell the products and services that modern companies produce and deliver.

The Napoleonic wars lasted 25 years; most economic commentators agree that our war – “The War for Talent” will last at least another 15 years. Why? Because of two key global factors, economic growth in developed countries and aging populations. In 15 years, there will be approx 10 -20% fewer potential employees in the 30 to 45-year-old range than there are now. At the same time, the Global economy keeps growing which requires more workers. So over that period, talent will be in shorter supply and higher demand…That sets the stage for the intensification of the talent war.

The war for talent has changed our approach to recruitment.

Let’s look at one simple fact. Five years ago at Frontline Recruitment the average time between a position being listed and that position being placed was 28.7 days, now it is 18.6 days… this means recruiting speed has increased 35% in 5 years…

In 1815, Napoleon’s soldiers walked to war; if they did that today, the battle would be over before they arrived. It is just same in recruitment….if we take our old methods (those that worked 10 years ago) into our next battle in the “war for talent”, we will be defeated…

The modern soldier utilizes technology to help them act fast. They act decisively based on the information they “have on hand”. They do not wait for “all the information”... because they cannot afford to wait.

We are modern commercial soldiers…are we “good soldiers”? Do we ever procrastinate on hiring decisions, delay returning emails, not make ourselves available for interviews, or not return calls… these are all simple acts but together they make a difference... a difference in speed.

If we are not doing these simple things we are slowing down the process of recruitment, we will lose each hiring battle we are involved in… and the other side, our competitors, will get the talent.

Look at what we can do to help speed the recruiting process. Do manage the process both internally with senior managers who are involved and externally with recruiters and ad agencies, in all cases set timelines for interviewing, impose service level standards, manage call backs and email reply times, utilize technology (interview on Skype video - it is free, use SMS to confirm appointments, use read receipts on emails) and measure and monitor each step always with an eye on increasing the speed of the recruiting process. Do not shorten interviews, do not relax criteria, and do not accept mediocrity…

In short, maintain standards but shorten timeframes – the two are NOT mutually exclusive.

The “War for Talent” the message is simple…

All modern companies are at war. The war is real; it is the “war for talent”. It will rage on for many years…When fighting recruiting battles we need to seize any advantage we can… speed is an advantage… you the hiring manager drives the process… drive fast…, gather information quickly, be demanding of others in the process (recruiters, candidates and colleagues), take action and give yourself the best chance you can of hiring the best talent available…

"You can either take action or you can hang back and hope for a miracle. Miracles are great, but they are so unpredictable."

Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005)

Peter Davis is the Managing Director of Frontline Recruitment Group, a national network of franchised industry specialist recruitment Agencies. The Frontline Recruitment Group was established in 1995 and has expanded at an impressive rate to become one of the Asia Pacific’s leading retail recruitment consultancies. Today, the company continues to set the standard for industry specialist service with a personal touch as it expands into the construction, IT&T, banking & finance, health care and hospitality recruitment sectors.

For further information contact Peter Davis, Managing Director, Frontline Recruitment Group on 02 9347 3844 or national@frgteam.com