We are always on the lookout for…

Have a look at the “Careers” page on the websites of Project Services companies and you will see that they often state something along the lines of:

“We are always on the lookout for… [insert whatever specialists, roles and skill sets they typically contract]. Please send us your CV/Resume to anonymous@…”

So, as a job seeker, you send a CV / Resume and maybe a covering letter (into a black hole). If you’re lucky you receive a canned email saying “Thank you! Your records will be kept on file for future opportunities that meet your skill set.” In all likelihood, you never hear from anyone. You may get lucky – your timing might be perfect – but it probably ends up being a waste of your time and effort. You move on to the next one. That’s just the way it is.

Conversely, as Project Management team member, HR or Operations Manager, you may receive countless speculative enquiries that need to be administered … or ignored! Then, you get a fastball client request, or win a new contract, and because you have a fantastic spreadsheet, somewhere on the company server, of people who expressed an interest in working for the company… great! No problem! Except, that was last updated months ago and it is practically useless. So the process of (re)sourcing, searching, filtering, audit & compliance, grouping, shortlisting, communicating … incurring costs, chasing people, missing deadlines, feeling pressured, willing the world to end, begins.

You run an advert, and get hundreds of applications over email. After you’ve finally finished sifting those, you run an interview process and find a suitable candidate, discounting the others who could have also done a great job. You brief the chosen one on the need to deploy “yesterday”, generate paperwork, and inform the client … only to find out the candidate’s passport or permit to work, or some other critical piece of the compliance puzzle, has expired because their personal admin is “challenged”! You go back to the second choice, but they’ve picked up something else, and aren’t available anymore. Your head explodes.

Mobilising and continuously servicing projects with the required specialists is a costly, time consuming process, and it carries operational and strategic risk, all compounded by inefficient access to, and management of, personal data. There has to be a better way, for both sides, to manage the process – to invite applicants; to share relevant and role-specific data securely and on-demand; to group, organise and communicate more efficiently, cost effectively and compliantly?

Per the verb: to gather people together and organise them for a particular purpose, Marshal is a powerful cloud-based Talent Pool software application that enables Project Services companies to build a community of qualified personnel for current and future projects more efficiently, cost effectively and compliantly, and without needing to process personal data.

As someone who has spent years delivering project services, nationally and internationally, as part of an Operations or Project Management function, sourcing and deploying specialist individuals and teams, often at short notice, I’m very interested in hearing the thoughts of those mobilising or servicing projects currently, or soon to be, about what limits or frustrates you with your current contractor sourcing, deployment and related risk management processes: the negative business impact it generates, from both a metrics and an emotional perspective and, of course, discussing how Marshal can help you solve these issues, so that you can access data, reduce risk, and hire faster.

About Marshal

Strategically, building communities of qualified, interested and motivated people provides greater agility, transparency and resilience to your operations; saves you money; reduces your reputation and regulatory risk exposure, and increases your competitive advantage.

Operationally, Businesses use Marshal to develop, organise and communicate with their talent pool more efficiently, cost effectively and compliantly, via our suite of integrated data management functions that enable secure GDPR-compliant data exchange for on-demand access to a full spectrum of role-specific compliance criteria, from CVs and covering letters to qualifications, certifications, licences, permits, criminal record checks, insurance, travel documents, training records, medical records and more.

Individuals reduce the administration burden experienced in the job search process via a single account through which they collate, manage, share, and update their credentials with multiple companies simultaneously.

With advanced assurance that people are sufficiently trained, qualified, licensed to operate, available and deployable, hiring teams make faster, more informed compliance-based decisions, reducing talent supply chain risk and acquisition costs, and minimising operational losses incurred by supply delays that cause contract disruptions and non-performance penalties.

Individuals use Marshal to create a profile – a folder of employment-critical documents – and request connections with companies they wish to work for, to share their folder (or elements of). When they need to update credentials, they swap out the relevant contents of their folder, updating all their company connections simultaneously, maintaining a readiness and ability to deploy when needed.

Marshal has evolved into a powerful, exclusive digital marketing platform that helps to simplify and scale access to the complex Security Risk Management and Resilience market, in order to develop opportunities, drive growth and achieve objectives across conflict zones to cyberspace.