What is the goal of talent road mapping? The ultimate goal should be to hire the right talent. Plain and simply talent engineers (recruiters) want a system that can help them map their way to a productive hire. They want the application to provide the compass, stop signs, danger signals and railroad crossings. Software applications are basically replacing the manual paper or email transactions.

· Collection of resumes and employment applications
· Reviewing of each resume received
· Conducting pre-screen evaluation via telephone / face-to-face
· Distribution of resume to business partner(s)
· Scheduling and coordinating interviews
· Collection of interview notes
· Distribution of offer or rejection letter
· Processing of new hire

Theoretically, what a talent engineer (recruiter) really wants is a real-time application that minimizes the paper pushing, automatically collects the important screening data and electronically distributes that information to the business partners for immediate review and feedback; ultimately collecting appropriate statistics that accurately reflect their sourcing efforts, time efficiency and hire success rates.

Talent Road Mapping Must Haves
· To find the resume quickly or can it be pushed to me instantly
· To pre-scan and pre-screen qualified hires
· To accurately track the resumes origin and source
· To share pertinent information in a timely manner
· To customize the system to fit my corporate infrastructure or business goals
· To accommodate my procedural needs as my group expands or contracts
· To produce accurate metrics from collected data for quick reporting

"Many recruiters are torn between roles they were hired to do and added items that are thrown onto their plates such as retention and training, they were either pulled from HR generalist roles or other areas of business into staffing or recruiting for the company without being given the proper talent acquisition roadmap tools," states John Hopper of Austin, Texas based software and consulting firm Source4Talent.com.

Technology is used to enhance, improve or develop old and/or new processes. Talent engineers depend on processes and procedures to meet the company's production and business partner's demands. Applicant management systems fundamentally should provide the talent engineer a road map to navigate their way to a road called Hire Boulevard (AKA Easy Street). Understanding the logistical requirements for building your talent roadmap is essential.

Roadmap Logistics
Web-based solution
Customizable application
Integrated Features
Customer Satisfaction and Support

Many talent engineers are unsure whether they want to manage any or all of the following bullets:
· A corporate career site for external marketing and sourcing
· An internal intranet career portal for internal hiring
· Pre-screening and custom questionnaires for advanced and unbiased talent evaluations
· Assessment tools for unbiased and expedient testing
· Applicant tracking for management of electronic data collected through multiple gateways from multiple regional and international sources
· Vendor management features for 3rd party alternative hire transactions
· Employee referral management
· Background checking features built for improved quality hire decisions
· Requisition creation and management to maximize relationship management with business partners
· Automated workflow triggers to manage business units instantly and to keep it current
· Job board launcher to expand your market reach electronically
· HRIS and Payroll system integration to minimize human resource allocation
· EEOC and reporting tools to enhance compliance and reporting
· CRM and ARM system integration to improve external relationships and add personalization

The bullets above are the headlights that should be assembled to navigate through the talent blizzard. Logistical considerations are valuable speed bumps on the highway to successful and smart hiring. An application management system should be designed to support a talent engineer's need to free up their precious time to do what they were hired to do, to acquire talent.

Related Resources:

www.source4talent.com
www.recruitmax.com
www.goodshark.com