Companies are quickly developing their strategic recruiting capabilities. A new type of Talent Leader is emerging at the executive and operational levels, and this role is clearly emerging as a critical component of any competitive business.

The goal of recruiters and the organizations they work for is to have quality talent (Q-Talent) ready for current and future opportunities – a steady flow of the right people, ahead of the company’s demand for them. Picture an airport with airplanes circling overhead. The talent organization is the control tower. It needs to know who is on the horizon, what their skills are, and whether the company has an empty runway available to bring them in for landing.

Traditional HR practices a liability
The traditional, reactive Human Resources (HR) organization of the past is a major liability for companies going forward. Focusing on HR compliance, filling open positions, waiting around for the next position to open up and then throwing ‘warm bodies’ at it will no longer suffice for organizations that want to remain competitive in a talent-scarce market. Asking a product manager, who is already working 70 hours a week, to spend 10 more hours screening or even reviewing resumes, just will not do anymore.

The fact is, most hiring decisions in companies are made by middle and upper management. HR may help facilitate the process, mining for resumes and such, but usually in a reactive mode by responding to a new job requisition, without centralized coordination and strategy. Therefore, great talent slips through the cracks. Candidates find themselves rejected for jobs that do not quite fit, when ones that do are right around the corner. They are told there are no opportunities, even though an impending retirement is about to create several. They are put off by bad web copy or a lack of responsiveness.

In each case, a more informed, productive recruiting organization could have headed off the problem and turned it into an opportunity. To compete in today’s talent strapped economy it is imperative that companies create a strategic and proactive talent organization that will not only reduce the costs associated with traditional reactive recruiting, but will build and return value to your company as well.

The strategic integration point person
As with any critical business function, such as finance, marketing, procurement or operations, the only way to ensure success is to put someone competent in charge of it. Marketing, for example, cannot be run simply by managing daily tasks. Someone must own the creation of a strategy to support sales of the product or service. Typically, this person’s success is tied to the amount of revenue derived from the strategic marketing initiatives put forth and possibly other metrics, such as customer retention and satisfaction.

To this end, your company needs to have a strategic integration point person for its talent objectives – a Chief Talent Officer – to ensure that the talent organization is empowered with the responsibility, knowledge, and tools to add strategic value to the business and achieve bottom-line results. If your company does not have the right person in charge of talent, then, by default, it does not have a person in place to acquire talent or measure how talent is affecting the business. A company without someone in charge of talent might not even know what its talent needs are.

For a Talent Leader to be successful, she should…

• Hold an executive level position
• Be respected in the organization
• Possess a strong business background
• Have full support from the CEO
• Have direct lines of communication with the other department heads

Some executives might look at this list and say that HR and recruiting can have a ‘seat at the executive table’ when they earn it. But would you ever say that about your CFO? If you are a company leader and you respond this way, chances are you do not have anyone in your current HR organization that can operate at the necessary strategic business level. If this is the case, it is incumbent upon you to identify the right talent to lead your organization’s recruiting efforts and put the person in place. If you are a CEO and you lack confidence in your HR department, this is an opportunity to correct the situation.

This represents an opportunity for other company leaders as well. If you are the company’s current HR leader and lack strategic business skills, ask for development, put a plan in place, and stretch yourself. Your efforts to develop new skills on top of needed HR skills will enhance your career value. If you currently work in a function other than HR, consider applying your business skills to the talent organization – a new line of career development might await.

Hank Stringer is co-author of Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business, and a founding team member of Itzbig.