Expert pool access is an important option for any organization. There are times when you need a particular skill ASAP, and don’t have the luxury of going through the regular hiring channels. However, if you find that you are constantly scrambling for talent, you should look into building internal expertise.
What Is Expert Pool Access?
We’re not talking about watching a swimming competition at the Olympics here, but with the right experts, your organization can still make some big wins. “Expert pool access” is all about finding specialists in various business areas quickly and easily.
The need for expert pool access continues to grow in the face of rapidly changing skills. Organizations that undergo fast adaptation or need to deal with a sudden competitive threat often require certain types of expertise that they don’t have in-house.
When Is Expert Pool Access Important?
There are certain situations when it’s vital to quickly locate and engage with an industry expert:
Change Management
A common situation that requires expertise is during times of rapid change or competitive threat. Experts can contribute to “big picture” initiatives like strategy formulation, product adaptations, and competitor analysis.
Temporary Hires
Another common application of experts is as temporary hires to fill in a gap in skills until a qualified employee can be hired. This can happen when a senior employee suddenly quits or if layoffs have gone a bit too far, resulting in a missing capability.
Structural Change
The processes associated with mergers, acquisitions, expansion, and layoffs can all benefit from the services of an expert. Because they aren’t often needed by a single firm, structural change specialists are rarely found in-house, and it’s common for large consulting and accounting firms to assist. An initial public offering is also a form of structural change because it makes a company into a corporation, so experts are often used here as well.
Independent Assessments
There are many situations when a company needs unbiased support that, by definition, rules out the use of an employee. For instance, audits, win-loss analyses, regulatory compliance, and surveys usually depend on impartial external assistance.
Learning and Development
L&D is a classic area for experts. They bring up-to-date professional knowledge to an engagement. Potentially, this could be supplied by an internal expert. But external coaches, mentors, and trainers also have the instructional abilities and experience that make their engagements more effective and efficient.
Obtaining Expert Pool Access
Finding an expert is often urgent, so it’s advisable to check out and develop some of the below resources before you really need them. You might find that your first few searches don’t give you the results you want, but discovering that now is better than during a time crunch.
Networking
Networking for experts can occur through conferences, seminars, or industry events where you can interact with professionals in your field. Online platforms like LinkedIn can also be helpful for identifying and reaching out to experts.
Professional Associations
Basically every profession has its share of official groups, from the American Medical Association to the World Trade Organization (the largest business association in the world). Such associations often host conferences and workshops, and supply resources for connecting with experts.
Consulting Services
These include the Big 4 Accounting firms and the Big 3 Management Consulting firms. These organizations tend to have a global presence, extensive resources, and relatively expensive fees. However, there are thousands of smaller, less expensive specialist consulting firms and individuals, available both on-line and for in-person engagements.
Expert-Matching Algorithms
For workplace expertise, some search companies use a special algorithm that allows the identification of precisely the type of authority that you need. One example is the Growthspace learning and development platform, which enables organizations of any type to match L&D experts with granular skill training needs, and which features a 95% success rate.
Creating Internal Experts
So it’s possible to find experts through many different means. In the long run, however, there are more practical solutions that avoid the rush and expense of hiring experts who are in great demand, with a fee schedule to match.
Recruiting
Most job-seekers are not “one-trick ponies”. They come with a range of abilities that might match one of your organization’s skill gaps. If you find that HR is constantly searching for experts of a certain type, you can list the related skill(s) in job postings and give more weight to candidates who can fulfill the role of expert. Even if they are not at the level of “Deep Industry Expertise” yet, an L&D program can get them the rest of the way.
Internal Development
It can take years and lots of resources to create an industry expert, but many organizations find that it is worth it. Here are just a few of the benefits:
- A guide for strategy, policy, and procedures
- Support for informed creative thinking and change management
- A source of advice during times of crisis
- An element of prestige for the organization, the industry, and the specialty
Growthspace Is All About Experts
If you had to pick a word to describe Growthspace, it would probably be “expertise”. The Growthspace platform attracts coaches, mentors, and technical trainers from around the world. Plus, due to Growthspace’s evaluation system, these experts are always the best in their field.
At the same time, Growthspace can turn your own employees into experts. With the market’s leading personalized talent development technology, Growthspace enables expert-level skill-building at scale. With Growthspace, you can grow an internal expert pool to support your organizational needs.
