Talent Pipeline Case Study
Case Study Scenario
Our case study features a talent pipeline that we built for executive recruiting at a global management consulting firm. Our client, one of the world’s leading management consulting firms, came to us with a voracious need for consultants to feed the growing demand for their services in its Public Sector Organization and Strategy practice.
The Challenge
For the Management Consultant Talent Pipeline to be successful, the ideal target candidates had to have an MBA and approximately five years of experience. Candidates so early in their careers were not as easy to find as more senior executives. Limited professional track records kept most ideal candidates well off-radar, toiling away in relative obscurity, deep within the organizations of competitor firms. In addition, these candidates were often moving targets with near 100% travel schedules, their resulting unavailability making them all the more difficult to recruit. Moreover, our client set the bar high, demanding a rare mixture of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), consulting prowess, cultural fit, and client experience relevant to our client’s current engagements. And ultimately, he/she had to be willing to make a lateral move in salary and title.
Actionable Intelligence
During our outreach, we uncovered critical intelligence that allowed us to make the talent pipeline more efficient – an opportunity that we reported back to the client. We determined that extensive outreach to one of our client’s favorite target companies was unlikely to yield a candidate. The reason? Candidates were often making more than what they would earn at our client company. Moreover, they were generally happy to stay put at a company where morale was remarkably high. In other words, the candidates lacked the necessary motivation to make a move. That intelligence allowed us to streamline our outreach to focus on companies more likely to produce viable candidates. In addition, Intellerati re-prioritized outreach on a near-daily basis to respond opportunistically to news and market events, significantly increasing the number of contenders whom we forwarded on to our client.
The Result
Talent Pipeline Speeds Time to Hire
Intellerati presented the winning candidate in just 27 business days. In fact, the talent pipeline resulted in closing executive searches faster. Over a four-month period, Intellerati developed 41 interested and qualified management consulting candidates, whom we subsequently delivered to our client. To handle the sudden onslaught of so many viable candidates, Intellerati joined forces with our client to usher candidates through the interview process. Intellerati focused on providing concierge-quality care to the candidates, aimed at keeping the candidates warm and engaged. Our client-focused on expediting the introduction of candidates to hiring managers, scheduling interviews with team members, and following up with the hiring managers for feedback and details for the next steps.
Performance Metrics of Talent Pipeline
- 5 business days: Initial Target List
- 4 business days: 1st Candidate Presented
- 27 Business Days: Presented 1st winning candidate who was hired
- Bonus Research: 1,700 Management Consultant Profiles
Talent pipelines can be incredibly effective. But they must be well managed. An article in Harvard Business Review suggests that you Manage Your Talent Pipeline Like a Supply Chain.
