Welcome to the fourth edition of HR Unlocked: stories, trends, and insights, a monthly series designed to empower Talent Acquisition (TA) and HR leaders. Whether you're navigating evolving workforce dynamics, striving to align TA with business objectives, or looking for fresh perspectives, this series will deliver actionable insights - with a dash of fun along the way.
I’m Dave Procter, Director of Talent Advisory at The IN Group. In this edition, we explore TA Operating Model design; a critical topic which I know many TA Leaders have and continue to wrestle with, particularly in large and / or multi-national organisations.
In previous articles we have considered:
- What keeps your CEO up at night
- Your organisation’s business and people strategies which your TA strategy must relate to
- Your vision, big-picture strategy for TA and how you would measure success
- How to frame TA as a strategic imperative for the organisation
- The future critical skills which will drive your business forwards
- Strategic workforce planning (SWP) and how to take control
Operating model is one of those often mis-used terms in TA. In a similar vein to EVP and employer brand, operating model and org structure are often used interchangeably when in reality they are distinct and separate things.
An operating model defines the jobs to be done; and should never include jobs, or worse still people.
Step 1 = Your Vision for TA – this is your “why” (see previous HR Unlocked articles)
Step 2 = Your Operating Model – this is your “how”… how are you going to achieve that vision? By delivering the jobs to be done.
Step 3 = Your Org Structure – this is your “what”.. what structure will fulfil the operating model? We’ll come back to this, but suffice to say the best org structures follow an operating model!
Dave Procter is Director of Talent Advisory at The IN Group, where he partners with organisations to transform their talent acquisition strategies. His upcoming MBA research focuses on quantifying the business impact of strategic talent acquisition.
