Global Market Map, Insights & Benchmarking Project

The Project

Universe partnered with a leading Australian university to deliver an international market mapping and insights project for a Chair & Head of Department role that the University had attempted to appoint twice via two separate external partners. The University were seeking to understand the market in its entirety, not only the talent that existed in market but also talent insights including talent numbers and volumes, demographics including location, size, diversity and specialisations in order to make an informed hiring decision. This information was also to be used as a benchmarking exercise.

The Solution

Universe conducted a global talent map, mapping the talent market to identify all key individuals with the appropriate background and experience for the position, targeting specific institutions and skillsets and research areas of interest globally. This confidential process sought to identify the best talent in the market for this position. The insights we provided examined specific insights of interest to the University – including workforce numbers, fellowship numbers, discipline / specialisation sizes by headcount, gender and age.

Result

We provided the University with a holistic map which unearthed a higher volume of highly relevant potential target candidates that the previous agency had not provided. We also provided the University with data and insights tailored to help understand the unique talent landscape. The insights revealed that there are only 150 people in the Australian market who possessed the relevant qualifications for this position, 30% of these were not suitable due to their specialisation, and on average around 25% were nearing retirement age – meaning the Australian pool in particular was very small. This information was well received within the relevant stakeholder group. Additionally, it was discovered that many international candidates with the requisite level of experience from nominated global institutions were likely to be too senior for the position and subsequently less likely to be interested in a move to Australia for the position.

The market map and insights enabled the University to better understand the challenges in recruiting this position and be more open to a broader variety of profiles to interview. The provision of our insights has resulted in every single shortlist being approved, ultimately saving the talent acquisition partners time in administration whilst enabling greater efficiency in the recruitment process as a consequence. This also enabled the University to make an informed hiring decision.