A low quality talent funnel doesn’t mean that companies are attracting low quality talent. It means that the methods of attracting the best SAP professionals are not as efficient as they should be, often leading to last-minute placements, reducing the chance of securing the perfect candidates for upcoming SAP Projects.
Current processes in typical SAP talent acquisition lead to an excessively broad reach of talent funnels. This leads to significant time and expenditure in sorting through huge volumes of applications, many of which are not suited to the exact role required. Along with lengthy processing times, the delay experienced by high quality candidates can adversely impact brand credibility.
The SAP Job Market
The issue of an overreaching talent funnel is partly due to the state of the job market in general. Even before the disruptions caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic, jobseekers and contractors frequently resort to applying for every job, in the hopes of gaining a foot in the door, regardless of how well they match the role requirements.
This is exacerbated when coupled with the available methods of advertising a role. A key word search for “SAP” on most job boards shows ads for everything from consultants, to receptionists, to accountants, to warehouse operators, and so on. When advertising specialist roles in generic places, companies begin to see up to 80{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd} of applications being entirely unsuited to the requirements of specific SAP projects.
Enter the “shortlist.” In most cases, the task of weeding out the 80{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd} of applicants without the required skills, experience or (in a post-Covid world) the required ability to travel, is outsourced to an SAP recruitment agency. The agency contacts matching applicants and sends the shortlist back to their client company. The company then shortlists the shortlist and contacts suitable applicants again, possibly several times over.
Impacts on SAP Projects
Due to overwhelming volume of applications and the resulting need to outsource workflows to a third party, several potential issues arise:
- Potentially perfect consultants can be missed under the weight of applications
- Applications are withdrawn as candidates accept contracts elsewhere
- Brand credibility can suffer, losing high-calibre candidates
- Candidate experience suffers, due to uncertainty across multiple points of communication
- SAP projects delayed due to volume of applications to sift through
The low quality of the SAP talent funnel results in a shortlisted pool of applicants who, while they may be fit for the roles, have incurred costs and considerable time to secure. By only receiving applications from candidates that actually meet our selection criteria, we drastically reduce the processing time and associated costs. In other words, we need to START with the shortlist.
To improve the talent funnel, the scope of advertising needs to be narrowed. Your SAP requirements should be served only to those who have the matching SAP skills, are available for the required dates, and are in the right location. This could mean increasing spend on a premium, end-to-end recruitment service, and it is up to each company to conduct a cost / benefit analysis against the time saved vs outlay.
Dedicated Talent Pooling for Dedicated SAP Projects
Alternatively, simply finding the right means to attract only those SAP consultants who match your requirements can empower your internal talent team to own the recruitment process, needing only to sort through the top few best candidates. If your resource managers can have unsuitable candidates filtered out before the role goes to market, you start with just the shortlist of the best possible applicants.
To achieve this means going to where the talent lies. Generic job boards can have a hard task of reaching niche talent, however The percentage of relevant candidates improves when looking in dedicated places. The right tools can further refine your shortlist for a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods. For example:
- Leverage technology to shortlist easily, with built-in search, sort & filter functionality
- Smart-Match with specific niche SAP modules, skills, methodologies and certifications
- Find by technical AND consulting skills
- Automate application filtering by experience, rates, dates, locations, security clearances, citizenship, etc
- View availabilities in real time, match with consultants by project dates
Consider the following example:
Company A has paid for multiple listings for job adverts on generalist boards for an SAP Project Manager. Applicants included SAP Project Manager…as well as general IT Project Managers, BA’s, graduates, students, ABAP developers, construction industry project managers and consultants looking to step up.
At the same time, your company has gone direct to an existing SAP talent pool. A search for an SAP Project Manager returns 100{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd} candidates with SAP Project Manager skills. Each of your SAP projects are resourced without the need to wait for weeks while applications are filtered.
InsideSAP Careers
InsideSAP Careers is our own Talent Resource Planning platform. We have hundreds of SAP professionals already registered, looking for their next project or full time position. Rather than charging for job listings and expecting our talent pool to apply for relevant openings, our platform boasts:
- Free registration
- Free SAP job listings
- Free-to-browse available SAP consultants
- Instant smart-matching between SAP requirements and skills
- Consultant availabilities updated in real-time
- On-platform contract signing
- All contractors insured up to 20m
- Carbon neutral – we plant trees for every hire, every month
Our rates are a fraction of the cost of traditional SAP resourcing, with no recruitment fees or double handling. To find out more, visit careers.insidesap.com.au or contact careers@insidesap.com.au
