Round up is the monthly show on The Recruiting Future Podcast channel that highlights episodes you may have missed and gives you my take on some of the key learnings from the guests.
Episodes mentioned in this Round Up:
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Transcript:
Matt Alder (1m 7s):
Hi there. This is Matt Alder. Welcome to the May Roundup episode of The Recruiting Future Podcast. If you have not listened to Roundup before, it’s a short review of the episodes that I’ve published in the last month to make sure you don’t miss out on the valuable insights my guests are sharing. During May, we explored some of the most important and fast moving issues in Talent Acquisition at the moment. It really does seem like a highly significant period in the evolution of TA, and I was delighted to be able to speak with such a high caliber of thought leading practitioner to attempt to make sense of just what’s going on.
Matt Alder (1m 47s):
Over the eight episodes I published in May, we looked at the short, medium, and long-term impact of AI, the future of employer branding, and checked in on two other important areas – remote working and DE&I. The first three episodes of the month featured some of the great conversations I recorded at Unleash America a few weeks ago. As you can imagine, the implications of generative AI dominated the discussion there. From talking to a range of practitioners, vendors, and thought leaders, it was clear that everyone agrees that talent acquisition will be changed quickly and forever by new technology.
Matt Alder (2m 29s):
However, it’s not just technology that’s driving change. Aside from the obvious economic issues, many employers are rethinking their whole approach to talent, and this was reflected in several conversations I had about blurring lines between talent acquisition and talent management. Episode 518 features short interviews which really capture the essence of the themes and issues being discussed to Unleash. Take a listen and you’ll hear me speak to John Vaca – the CEO of Recruiting Toolbox, Sarah White – the Founder of Aspect 43, Mervin Dennon – HR Analyst, and my co-author on Digital Talent, Chrissy McConnell, Internal Recruiting Lead at Guild.
Matt Alder (3m 15s):
I recently hosted a webinar on the future of talent acquisition, and I asked the audience to consider this question. Will there ever be as many recruiters again as there were in August 2022? The arrival of universally available generative AI and a harsh economic climate has caused the perfect storm in our industry, but how much long-term disruption of talent acquisition and potential elimination of recruiting roles could there be? My guest on episode 519 was Allyn Bailey, a highly experienced talent acquisition leader who previously held a global role at Intel and is now the executive director of hiring success at Smart Recruiters.
Matt Alder (4m 2s):
Allyn recently put out a challenge on LinkedIn that she was prepared to debate her belief that a major organization would move to Recruiterless Recruiting within the next 18 months. Because I consider her to be one of the most innovative thinkers in the industry, I took the opportunity to talk with her and learn more about her hypothesis. I also got her thoughts on the future structure of talent acquisition teams and her advice around re-skilling and retraining for those at risk of being displaced. This interview has sparked some serious debate in the industry. If you haven’t yet listened to it, I highly recommend that you do.
Matt Alder (4m 49s):
Storytelling is one of the things that makes humans human in recruitment. Marketing and employer branding stories persuade, create empathy, and drive the emotional connections that make people take action. With the rise of automation and generative AI, human-based storytelling will likely be a critical differentiator between employers. Do we understand how to tell compelling stories and RR strategies around storytelling sophisticated enough to deal with the future of more disruptive change? On episode 520, I spoke to Lauryn Sargent, co-founder of Stories Incorporated and an expert in Storytelling for recruitment marketing and employer branding.
Matt Alder (5m 33s):
It was great to have Lauren’s thoughts on the future of storytelling and listen to the great advice she has to share. Episode 521 continued the Employer branding theme as there’s a strong argument that it’s never been more relevant or important. The last few months have seen many employers making layoffs as they respond to market conditions and some sense of normalization after the pandemic. It’s fair to say that some employers and potentially, whole industries have suffered severe reputational damage because of this, so how can companies rebuild their reputations as employers? This is not only important from a talent acquisition perspective, it’s a vital part of retaining the talent they already have.
Matt Alder (6m 20s):
My guest was Emily Firth, founder and partner at The Truth Works. Emily is an employer brand and employee engagement expert and shared her views on how employers can rebuild and manage their reputations in the current market landscape. Some great insights here on the post pandemic state of Employer branding. The lack of delineation between internal and external communications and the likely impact of generative AI. According to recent estimates, between 15 and 20% of the world’s population is neuro divergent. Although our understanding of the brain has taken some massive leaps forward, a large proportion of neurodivergent people do not have a formal diagnosis.
Matt Alder (7m 5s):
The advantages for employers with neuro inclusive cultures is significant. Not only do they open important pools of talent, but they’re also recognizing that everyone’s brain is different. This can enable a substantial increase in collaboration, innovation, and productivity. My guest on episode 522 was Ed Thompson, Founder and CEO of Uptimize, an author of a new book, A Hidden Force Unlocking the Potential of Neurodiversity. At Work, Ed has a vast amount of knowledge and experience to share on how to increase Neuroinclusion. We discussed the dangers of ignoring neurodiversity, the value of different types of brains in an organization, and some of the bolders in the road to building an inclusive Recruiting process.
Matt Alder (7m 56s):
Elon Musk, David Soloman, and Sam Altman are three CEOs who’ve recently publicly spoken out against remote and hybrid work. Problems with communication, productivity, skills transfer, and culture are some of the most common issues cited, but does dragging people back to the office really make these things better? The advantages of hybrid and remote work are considerable, and there are undoubtedly other ways of addressing their challenges than ordering a mandatory return to the office. On episode 523, I spoke to Jen Fong, VP of People at Customer IO.
Matt Alder (8m 36s):
Customer IO is a fully remote business with employees in 30 countries, and Jen offers some great insights on embracing the advantages of remote while dealing with its challenges. We discuss why remote work is so important to customer IO building community and connection culture, and touched on the importance of skills and strategic workforce planning. Many employers have been publicly committing to making DE&I, their most important focus for several years now. However, as the economy becomes more challenging and some companies roll back from flexible working, is the needle still moving on diversity and is it still the business priority that we were promised it would be?
Matt Alder (9m 25s):
My guest on episode 524 was Michael Barrington Hibbert, CEO of Barrington, Hibbs, Associates, and co-founder of 10,000 Black Interns. Michael is an active influencer in driving better diversity and inclusion within the finance sector and instilling a belief in the importance of social mobility. He has essential insights on how employers can keep diversity front and center by aligning DE&I strategies to critical business goals. Importantly, he also has advice to share for employers on how not to lose the DE&I progress they’ve made. As the market changes, the vast amount of hype, speculation, opinion, and hyperbole around generative AI can make it difficult to know how to start integrating it into the talent acquisition workflow.
Matt Alder (10m 14s):
The long term implications of AI for talent acquisition are profound and it’s essential for TA teams to get fully up to speed with current capabilities and use cases. How can AI become talent acquisition co-pilot, and where is the best place to start? On Episode 525, I spoke to Sal Magos, co-founder and CEO at Metta View. I’m getting tremendous insight into AI’s potential by talking to super smart vendors who are baking AI into their product sets. Metta View is the perfect example of such a vendor. In our conversation, Sal shared his experiences on how AI can save vast amounts of time and resources.
Matt Alder (10m 57s):
In the interview process, we discussed how AI will transform TA and how employers should be reacting, as well as transparency in the recruiting process and the role of specialist tools. It’s very clear that effective technology is a critical pillar of any TA strategy, and with the current unprecedented pace of innovation, regularly reviewing the tech stack is essential to success. However, it’s important to recognize just how difficult it can be to secure budget for new technologies, particularly with a current challenging economic backdrop. What can TA leaders do to ensure they’re making a compelling case for investment?
Matt Alder (11m 42s):
My guest on episode 526 was Jeff Lackey, Founder of JKL Advisors, Former VP of Talent Acquisition at CVS Health, and former Global Head of Resourcing at Rolls Royce. Jeff has unmatched experience in developing TA Tech Stacks and has some invaluable advice to share on building successful business cases for investment. Our conversation focused on understanding the value TA brings to an organization and how that can be aligned with strategic business objectives and enabled by technology. Onwards into June, I’m looking forward to publishing some more insightful interviews from another collection of cutting edge thought leaders and practitioners.
Matt Alder (12m 26s):
Don’t miss out if you haven’t already. Then make sure you subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or wherever you get your Podcasts. Finally, make sure you go to RecruitingFutureFeast.com to subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Thanks very much for listening. I’ll be back next time and I hope you’ll join me.
