How to build and maintain a pipeline of experts

One major recruitment challenge that is shared by multilateral organizations, NGOs and consulting firms involves identifying and maintaining a pipeline of experts. I talked to a range of experts from across the industry about their challenges and, more importantly, solutions. Here’s what I found. Challenges 1. The changing mandates of the development world As one crisis resolves and another starts to grow, new priorities emerge, and different types of experts are needed to make a change – often, urgently. “Working for a government contractor, the scope of projects change constantly,” one recruitment officer in a major DC-based development consultancy told me. Such ever-changing requirements can prompt high-stress and last-minute searches that may be avoided through the use of the industry-leading Devex recruitment services or similar assistance. 2. Identifying new talent Many of the skills needed for the implementation of projects in newly developing countries – farming techniques, for instance – are rarely taught at Western universities. Identifying new players and emerging experts in the field, with constrained resources, is tough. 3. Difficult countries In crisis regions like Afghanistan and Pakistan, despite the size of internationally funded aid projects, intimate knowledge of the region is crucial. Identifying people with that knowledge is made even tougher where literacy and education is lacking. The more obscure a technical specialty, the harder to recruit from it. Human Resources must be in contact with colleagues in business development so that, as new proposals are being written, recruiters can start their searches early. 4. Geographic diversity Different strokes for different folks – recruiters in development cooperation know that their job is about working across cultures. Building a talent pool that is geographically diverse takes time – and good references, including past performance evaluations, are becoming more difficult to obtain due to liability concerns and challenges related to communicating across time zones – a challenge that Devex Video Interviewing service helps tackle. Best practices Referrals rule Referrals, referrals and referrals. That’s one recruitment manager’s answer when I asked how he finds the best candidates for her pipeline of experts. Connections within your organization and with donors and external partners, or fellow recruiters, often yield the best results. If a colleague travels from headquarters to visit a project, a conference or regional office, ask them to do some networking on your behalf. This might involve a lunch with local counterparts or a meeting with other international NGOs on the ground, to share challenges around hiring experts and gather suggestions for possible referrals. Build relationships with universities and other institutions working in your field that may allow you to share best practices and candidates, especially in very technical fields or when rare language skills are required. Use technology Devex and others have opened up a space for recruiters to network with job candidates; Devex hosts the largest database of almost half a million international development experts. Having a flexible, user-friendly way to access data and search is key, a U.N. staff member who manages a large database of experts told me, as is a system to gather and store staff evaluations after each assignment. Engage your leadership A firm that is interested in developing a talent pool of experts needs to have buy-in not just from HR, but also top-level management and technical leadership. “The technical team are the folks who have substantive interactions with subject matter experts while in the field, at conferences, or collaborating on new business,” one senior development professional told me. “They are in prime positions to nurture relationships with potential hires by staying in touch with the people they meet and keeping them abreast of the organizations’ activities and hiring needs.” And yet, it can be tough to convince programmatic colleagues to do the extra work it takes to recruit new talent. That’s where top management can lead. Consider grooming internal talent Why look far and wide when talent could be near? Establish an internal pool of achievers through a mentoring program, invest in professional development opportunities that go beyond mere conference attendance, and craft a competitive compensation and benefits programs that allows your organization to retain the good talent it’s able to attract. What are the biggest challenges — and solutions — you’ve encountered when building a pipeline of experts? Let us know by leaving a comment below!