Transforming Talent Acquisition for Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)

HII’s talent acquisition challenges were multifaceted, rooted in both external market conditions and internal inefficiencies:

1. Severe Talent Shortages
   HII needed to onboard approximately 3,000 skilled tradespeople annually to fulfill critical Navy contracts. Nationwide shortages in shipfitting, welding, and electrical work exacerbated the situation, driven by a post-pandemic labor market that saw the loss of 1.4 million manufacturing jobs.

2. High Attrition Rates
   New hires transitioning from other industries often faced difficulties adapting, leading to high turnover. Additionally, competition from other industries offering competitive wages increased attrition pressures.

3. Extended Training Periods
   Although HII reduced training timelines for skilled trades from five years to 18 months through partnerships and in-house programs, immediate workforce demands remained challenging to meet.

4. Inefficient Recruitment Processes
   Traditional recruitment relied heavily on manual screening and regional outreach, which limited scalability and delayed the identification of best-fit candidates.

5. Diversity and Inclusion Gaps
   HII sought to enhance its workforce diversity but lacked the tools and insights to effectively source and evaluate underrepresented talent pools.

Talanture collaborated with HII to deploy an AI-native Talent Intelligence Platform, tailored to meet the organization’s specific recruitment and workforce planning needs:

1. Predictive Workforce Planning
   Using AI-driven analytics, Talanture enabled HII to:

   • Forecast hiring needs by analyzing historical data and market trends.
   • Proactively address emerging skill gaps critical for upcoming projects.

2. AI-Powered Candidate Screening and Matching
   Talanture’s platform automated key stages of recruitment through:

   • Natural language processing (NLP) to analyze resumes for skills alignment.
   • Rediscovery of qualified candidates from past applicant pools.
   • Bias-free evaluation to ensure fairness in candidate selection.

3. Geographic Talent Sourcing Expansion
   To address regional constraints, Talanture:

   • Identified untapped talent pools in other regions using AI insights.
   • Benchmarked compensation packages against industry standards to enhance competitive positioning.

4. Enhanced Candidate Experience
   A conversational AI chatbot improved engagement by:

   • Providing real-time updates on application status.
   • Delivering personalized job recommendations tailored to candidates' profiles.

5. Retention Optimization
   Talanture analyzed attrition data to implement retention strategies, including:

   • Tailored onboarding programs addressing culture fit for industry transitioners.
   • Offering upskilling and reskilling opportunities to support career advancement.

6. Diversity and Inclusion Enhancements
   The platform incorporated metrics to improve diversity efforts by:

   • Engaging underrepresented groups through targeted sourcing initiatives.
   • Masking identifying information during initial screenings to eliminate bias.