Imagine you’re leading the migration from your accounting software’s legacy platform to a new enterprise-level system. Your team is buzzing with excitement—and anxiety. Along with the technical hurdles, you’re realizing the talent landscape needed to pull off this migration has shifted dramatically. You need people who understand both the old and the new, who can adapt fast, and who can keep your professional services running smoothly during the switch. So how do you build and retain that team amid this complex change?

We sat down with Maya Singh, a seasoned operations lead who’s overseen multiple enterprise migrations in the accounting software space. She shares her insights on talent acquisition strategies specifically tailored for migrations—strategies that go beyond posting a job and hoping for the best.

What’s the biggest talent acquisition challenge during enterprise-migration at an accounting-software firm?

Maya: Picture this: You’re migrating a platform that hundreds of professional-services consultants use daily to manage client accounting tasks. The stakes are high because any downtime or mistakes directly impact client billing and compliance. The biggest challenge? Finding candidates who not only have technical chops but also understand the nuanced workflows in professional services.

Many migration hires are either too technical—think backend developers who don’t get the user needs—or too client-focused without the system expertise. So the talent gap is in hybrid roles.

Also, the urgency of migration means you can’t afford a long ramp-up. You need people who hit the ground running but are also ready for the inevitable curveballs.

How can operations teams mitigate risks related to talent during these migrations?

Maya: Risk mitigation starts with how you approach hiring itself. One trick is to break down your talent needs by migration phase. Early on, you want people who can map legacy processes and anticipate pain points. Later, you need trainers and support staff fluent in the new system and client workflows.

We created what I call a “phased talent pipeline.” Instead of hiring everyone upfront, we stagger recruitment and onboarding. This reduces burnout and aligns skill sets to migration milestones.

For example, during a 2023 migration, one team segmented roles into three waves:

• Wave 1: Legacy analysts and migration architects (hired 3 months before go-live)
• Wave 2: Change management specialists and client liaisons (1 month before go-live)
• Wave 3: Support engineers and training facilitators (right at go-live)

This way, we reduced turnover by 18% and improved post-migration support satisfaction by 22%.

What advanced sourcing tactics have you seen work for filling these hybrid, phased roles?

Maya: Traditional job boards don’t cut it here. You need to find people who understand both legacy accounting software and enterprise cloud systems.

One tactic involves targeted outreach on niche platforms like GitHub for technical folks who have contributed to accounting APIs, combined with professional services groups on LinkedIn. Also, tapping into user communities of your legacy system—like forums or even existing consultant networks—can surface hidden talent.

Another angle is internal mobility. We ran a “migration champions” program that invited existing consultants curious about the new platform to rotate into migration roles temporarily. This not only retained institutional knowledge but also cut onboarding time by 30%.

Finally, don’t underestimate employee referrals. When we incentivized referrals specifically for migration hires, our candidate quality went up, and time-to-fill dropped by 14%.

What role does candidate experience play, especially given the complexity and stress of the migration environment?

Maya: Candidate experience can make or break your hiring outcomes. Imagine someone comes in excited about working on a migration project, but your hiring process is convoluted and slow—by the time you make an offer, they’ve accepted elsewhere.

We streamlined our process with a two-day virtual “migration skills sprint,” where candidates completed real-world scenarios instead of generic interviews. It was intense but gave candidates a clear sense of the job and team while letting us see how they’d handle actual migration challenges.

Plus, we deployed continuous feedback tools like Zigpoll to gauge candidate sentiment after each stage. This helped us tweak the process in real time. Candidates reported a 40% higher satisfaction score compared to previous, more traditional interviews.

How do you handle change management in talent acquisition during migration—especially employee fears about switching systems?

Maya: Change management often focuses on end-users, but your hires feel it too. Mid-level professionals can be hesitant to move into migration roles if they fear disruption to their career trajectory or lack confidence in new technology.

Transparency is key. During recruiting, we openly discuss migration risks and how the role fits into long-term growth. We also highlight success stories from prior migrations.

One effective approach was to run peer panels where candidates hear directly from people who’ve thrived in migration roles. This humanizes the challenge and builds trust.

But a word of caution: this approach requires time and effort. It won’t work if you’re trying to fill dozens of roles in a week.

How do you measure success in talent acquisition when focused on enterprise-migration?

Maya: Beyond time-to-fill and cost-per-hire, consider metrics tied to migration outcomes. For example:

• Training completion rates within the first 30 days
• Reduction in user support tickets related to migration errors
• Employee retention in migration roles at 6 and 12 months
• Feedback scores from change management surveys (Zigpoll, CultureAmp)

In one 2022 case, after implementing phased hiring and immersive onboarding, a firm saw a 35% drop in migration-related client escalations, which correlated with higher early retention in new hires.

Can you share a quick comparison of traditional vs. migration-focused talent acquisition approaches?

Any advice on pitfalls to avoid when recruiting for this kind of migration?

Maya: Don’t hire solely on technical skills without vetting cultural fit and adaptability. Migrating legacy systems is stressful and ambiguous—people who can pivot and communicate clearly are invaluable.

Also, avoid trying to close all roles simultaneously. It’s tempting but leads to overload and onboarding chaos.

Finally, beware of ignoring internal candidates. Sometimes the best talent is already in your firm but needs encouragement to step into migration roles.

What’s one actionable step you’d recommend operations professionals take right now?

Maya: Start by mapping your migration phases against your current and projected talent needs. Then, create a phased recruitment timeline with clear role definitions.

Use candidate feedback tools like Zigpoll early to see what’s resonating and where candidates drop off.

And lean into internal mobility early—identify potential “migration champions” among your existing consultants and start conversations now.

This sets you up not just to fill seats but to build a resilient team that can carry your migration across the finish line—and beyond.