The Importance of Project Expertise for Staffing Project Managers
While traditional staffing firms and HR departments are able to successfully fill technical positions, project staffing in project management requires a multi-tiered approach. This post will cover the importance of the Process and Quality Assurance rungs on that pyramid.
The organization’s project management philosophy is the foundation for defining the structure the candidate will have to fit into. It’s the reality that defines what the candidate will have to survive in. In order for an organization to have an intimate understanding of what skills it needs, it has to have the methodological foundation. Self-awareness and reflection of the true culture is valuable; denial and white lies do no good here. As the organization gets a sense of what is available, it is crucial to understand what qualities can be compromised or re-prioritized in the process of ever-refining the requirements.
For this reason, subject matter experts need to be involved in the entire process, whether they are instilled in the hiring department of the organization or by engaging with a staffing organization that has that as a hard competency.
After the selection process is over, the new-hire still needs to be adopted into the organization. For hires made by the organization, this includes the standard steps of procurement, orientation, and on-boarding.
When using an outside staffing firm, though, the firm itself should be sharing responsibility for how their candidate fits into the organization. The hiring organization should be conducting regular status updates. If the candidate was sourced by a staffing firm, they should have their own status reporting system with both the candidate and the client to ensure the transition is going smoothly for both parties.
When there is a finger on the pulse, there can be proactive intervention that anticipates risks and potentially resolves issues before they become bigger problems. Once again, subject matter expertise is a big plus. When a firm can not only recognize potential issues before they arise, but also have an intimate understanding of how such issues are resolved, your relationship is primed for success.
A service-oriented staffing firm would have regular communications with the candidate to monitor and manage this.
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