As a Talent Acquisition manager you are responsible for the recruitment strategy. The nature of this process depends on the country or region you are located. What do TA managers actually want in different countries? In this series we will showcase this based on data acquired from the European Recruitment Dashboard and the experiences of TA managers themselves. This time: Belgium.
TA managers in Belgium in data
Based on data acquired from the European Recruitment Dashboard we want to give an insight into the background of TA Managers in Belgium. We looked at the ratio men/women, age, international experience and countries where they would like to work.
Stephanie de Wulf, Talent Acquisition and Employability Manager at the Flemish Government (Vlaamse Overheid)
‘As a TA manager in Belgium, working for the government, I notice that there are more regulations that need to be respected. It does not allow enough flexibility.
At this moment, we are implementing a new Talent SaaS (in the cloud) system, Cornerstone on demand. This is a lot of work, but will give the Flemish government much more possibilities, which we are looking forward to. We also want to make use of artificial intelligence, because we find it important to have an efficient and fast selection process where candidates can do tests and interviews 24/7. Currently we state the time of the interview, which is not always appreciated by candidates.
As a talent manager, it is important to have a vision on strategic talent management. This is not just about recruiting and selecting, but it’s about the added value you want to create towards the business This means following trends and being aware of the job market. At the Flemish government we want our employees to be sustainable deployable. This means that we expact each employee to be on the right spot or moving towards it and contributing maximally to the values of the organisation. That’s hard with 28.000 employees. It is important to be creative. We help people to make use of self leadership when it comes to their career path. We also notice that we have to prepare people for the jobs of tomorrow, even though we don’t always know what these are.
To go forward in your job, you need to take the time one in a while to stand still en reflect on what is happening. I know this is a challenge in todays agitated society: I do notice when I schedule these moments for my team people get creative again and take the time to discuss. Work on your employer brand strategy and also work inside out. Your own employees are the best ambassadeurs to attract new colleagues.’
Steve Goethals, IT Recruiter – Matching Talent at vind!
‘A recent research (in Dutch) shows most Belgians don’t look for a job at all. You really have to convice them to get a new job, even if they would be happier. They value the work/life balance a lot and are not as active on LinkedIn as for example the Dutch.
For me, is it important to align the HR politicy with the goals and challenges of the company. For this, it is important to figure the whole recruitment process, from from vacancy intake to off boarding. You can only do this by using a sourcing plan, employer branding, KPI’s, ATS, testing etc.
My tip for TA managers is to pay a lot of attention to a good sourcer/recruiter who looks at hyperpersonalisation when looking for the right candidates.
The attention for remote e-testing is lacking in Belgium. I also would like to know more about social referral, augmented sourcing and onboarding.’
Isabel De Baecke, Business Unit Manager Talent Acquisition at Solvus
‘The biggest challenge in Belgium lies in recruiting volumes. Because of the language problems, the overheated job market, the influence of mobility challenges and because Belgium mostly is a market for small or medium-sized enterprises, the recruting is in relatively low volumes. This makes the cost per hire high and innovation in the selection process relatively expensive, which means the employer branding budgets are not optimally spend.
As a TA manager you want the right talent on the right place at the right moment. To do this optimally, TA on its own is insufficient. That’s why we aspire to use Total Talent Management at Solvus. Apart from attracting talent internally, we also centralise the development and retention of this talent. But we also invest in attracting different forms of external talents. So I would advise other TA managers to not look at TA in isolation, but to think about a Total Talent management and take the business and hiring managers with you in this practice and the interest of it.
As a TA manager I am interested in new technological development and scanning the market looking for new trends. The added value of tools is not always clear. You have to know exactly what you need to make a right choice in the growing supply. We use tools like ATS and VMS to gain access to the job market and automise tasks so recruiters have more time, which they can use to invest in their relationship with our candidates. Apart from the classic assessment we also focus on value fit and measuring the potential and learning agility. We do this, ecause we believe that almost every job will change fundamentally in the next 10 years.’
