Scaling Talent Mapping
Cambridge Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
We have scaled up and improved our recruitment and hiring process at the Cambridge Public Library over the past year by strategically utilizing the organizational and collaborative functions of Smartsheet and folding more staff into the recruitment and hiring process. Using Smartsheet, the Library has built custom workflows, processes, and dashboards to automate and refine recruitment processes and identify gaps in talent management as a supplement to the applicant tracking system. Our design innovation has also allowed for more staff members to partake in the recruitment process as we continue to expand.
Challenge/Opportunity
Previous recruitment processes and tools did not allow for tracking, measuring, and planning for current and future talent needs. In the past, our recruitment process was largely managed and executed by 1.5 staff members. As we have grown our library team 20% over recent years, this was no longer feasible. It was a challenge to identify areas for improvement in the requisition to hire processes, prioritize recruitments for key positions, and optimize succession planning while including more staff in the process. In addition to the basic functions that an applicant tracking system provides, there was a need for an additional layer of data that captures the entire recruiting lifecycle.
Key Elements of Innovation
With an improved recruitment and hiring process, management is better able to:
Prioritize and plan ahead for upcoming vacancies earlier in the recruitment lifecycle.
Provide transparency and consistency in hiring processes. Department Managers and administration staff have clearly defined roles and are vested in each step of the recruitment cycle.
Identify skillsets needed for positions, meet the City and Library’s equity and inclusion goals, explore marketing strategies, and clearly define timelines.
Consistently hold a kick-off meeting with the hiring panel and admin support to go over what skills and abilities the hiring manager is looking for, to review the City and Library’s equity and inclusion goals, to identify where to post the opening, and to go over the timeline including interview panel holds for efficiency in scheduling.
Identify trends and reasons for turnover.
Use data to improve time to fill rate.
Achieved Outcomes
Increased collaboration through standardized processes and less dependency on one person.
Live dashboard with key metrics to capture where we are with recruitments and report to stakeholders.
City and Library’s equity and inclusion goals are emphasized from the start.
Efficiency in scheduling interviews.
Ability to identify gaps in talent, resources, or processes earlier in the recruitment lifecycle. Yearly trends help us understand which positions tend to turnover at a higher rate and ways we can restructure positions for employee retention.
Data-based decision making used to prioritize recruitments, attract a diverse talent pool, target marketing and advertising for hard to fill positions, and identify talent pipeline for succession planning.
Highlight recruitment strengths and challenges to stakeholders.
Almost everyone in administration has areas of responsibility related to recruitment, hiring and onboarding and hiring managers are brought into the process.
