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:
Ep 564: Recruiting In AI
Ep 565: Building A Strategic TA Function
Ep 566: Skills, AI And The Future Of Hiring
Ep 567: The Strategic Future Of Talent Acquisition
Ep 568: Reshaping Talent Strategies
Ep 569: Culture and Connection In Distributed Teams
Building In Public – Episode One
Ep 570: Sustainable Hiring
Ep 571 – The Road Ahead For Talent Acquisition
Ep 572 – Generative AI: Capabilities and Limitations
Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts
Transcription:
Matt Alder: Support for this podcast comes from Plum. Plum believes that when people flourish, business thrives. With its unmatched scalability, this powerful talent assessment tool uses science-backed insights to measure and match human potential to job needs, enhancing talent decisions across the employee journey from hire to retire. To learn more, visit their website at plum.io
[Recruiting Future theme]
Matt Alder: Hi there. This is Matt Alder. Welcome to the November Round-Up episode of the Recruiting Future Podcast. If you’ve not listened to Round-Up 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.
My thanks to plum.io for all their support of round-up. Please make sure you take a look at their website and all of the great work that they’re doing. So that was November, which from a Scotland point of view was dominated by some pretty atrocious weather. Luckily, the storms didn’t stop me getting down to Manchester to speak at the CIPD Annual Conference and do an author signing session for digital talent. Thanks to everyone who came to see my presentation and bought the books afterwards.
The key takeaway for me was in the interactive polls that I ran as I was speaking. The vast majority of the senior HR professionals in the room are not currently using generative AI, but at the same time were reasonably positive about its potential benefits. 45% felt that it could improve the candidate experience, and 40% felt it could reduce bias in the recruitment process. The room was unanimously agreed that AI would change the role of recruiters, but split down the middle as to whether this would be an incremental or a radical change. More to come on this in a blog that I’m publishing next week.
November on the podcast, focused on skills-based hiring, AI of course, and talent acquisition strategy. The month kicked off with Episode 564 by looking at AI through a slightly different lens. As we know, AI and recruiting have been extensively discussed this year in podcasts, blogs, conferences, webinars and LinkedIn posts. However, the one angle I’ve not seen covered is what it’s like to recruit for AI professionals. Such a new industry means a severe shortage of experienced talent, and AI companies must work hard to outsmart their talent market competition.
My guest on this episode was Lauren Saltus, a Senior Recruiter at Runway, an AI research company focused on the creative sectors. In our conversation, Lauren shares her experience of refocusing to become a specialist AI recruiter, and discusses some of the critical factors that influence talent in this area. There is some great insights in this conversation, not just for AI recruiting but for anyone who’s operating in a market where there is a significant skill shortage.
Talent acquisition is in a state of fast accelerating disruption and it’s never been more critical for TA leaders to demonstrate the strategic value of their function. However, in the current volatile environment, many organizations are still struggling to get the essential elements of recruiting right. So what should TA teams be focusing on to make sure they’re fit for purpose in an uncertain future?
My guests on Episode 565 were Kurt Bridge and Christian Le Loux from Macramé Consulting. Kurt and Christian are both highly experienced TA leaders. They had much advice to share on building the right foundations for talent acquisition and implementing effective data driven recruiting. We talked about operating models, innovation and how TA should be providing strategic value to the organization.
The rapid development of AI and increasing sophistication of skills-based hiring methodologies are two potent forces shaping the future of talent acquisition. So what kind of future can we look forward to, and will we see an increase in talent mobility and that decrease in bias that we need to make hiring more equitable and ensure employers have better access to the talent they need?
On Episode 566, I spoke to Ben Porr, Chief Customer Officer at Harver. Ben is a highly experienced IO psychologist who’s been working to reduce bias in the hiring process. Ben’s knowledge and experience has given him expert insights that can help us understand what the future of talent acquisition looks like when you combine the power of AI with the potential of skills-based hiring. Uneven talent markets and challenging economic factors continue to cause widespread market disruption. And as we said earlier, TA leaders need to drive their function in a more strategic direction. As we race towards 2024, I’m going to continue to seek out strategic thinkers who can share the insights we need to move our industry forward.
Marcel Rütten was my guest on Episode 567. Marcel is a consultant, author, podcaster, conference organiser and former Global TA Leader who knows what it takes to build a highly strategic TA function. We discussed talent market trends, how to align TA strategy with business strategy, the importance of root cause analysis and the future of recruiting. The last 18 months, we’ve have seen large scale layoffs continuing in the tech industry as companies attempt to rebalance after a post pandemic hiring frenzy. So how has this ongoing disruption affected startups and scale up businesses in the tech sector, and what lessons could the wider talent acquisition community learn from the way their talent strategies are being reshaped?
My guest on Episode 568 was Lorraine Buhannic, SVP & Head of Talent at VC firm Juxtapose. Lorraine advises Juxtapose’s portfolio companies on the talent strategies they need to hire, develop and retain high-performing talent in these very volatile times. We talked about the long-term implications of the waves of layoffs, why talent is still strategically critical and the importance of removing silos in the talent function. It wasn’t just the technology sector that over hired at the end of the pandemic. Other talent markets have been through a similar journey. So how can employers hire more sustainably, and what new talent strategies are companies adopting to build more flexibility?
My guest on Episode 570 was Carina Clingman, Founder and CEO of Recruitomics, a talent consultancy working with start-ups and scale-ups in the Biotech industry. The Biotech industry has had a big issue with over hiring in the last few years. Carina has some insights on sustainable hiring models which are also relevant in many other sectors.
Three and a half years on from the first pandemic lockdowns the debate about returning to the office still rages on. However, despite all the noise this year, as some large, well-known companies tried yet again to force their employees back to the office, many employers have embraced the reality of remote and hybrid and are working hard to adjust and deal with the challenges of having a distributed workforce. Culture and connection are often cited as the reasons companies want to bring people back to their offices, particularly when supporting the new generation entering the workforce. So what are remote and hybrid organizations doing to address these challenges without invoking a mandatory return to the office?
Dena Singleton, Chief People Officer at Kajabi was my guest on Episode 569. Kajabi is strongly focuses on developing its culture and building connections within its organization. We discussed the strategies they use to do this and how they’re supporting the new generation in the workforce. AI is undoubtedly a game changer for talent acquisition. And as we start to move from the hype phase to the doing phase, its potential capabilities and current limitations are becoming more apparent. So what can and can’t AI do for talent acquisition right now and how will things develop in the future?
On Episode 572, I spoke to Mona Khalil, Senior Manager Data Science at Greenhouse. As well as building AI into their products, Greenhouse has done extensive research with both TA leaders and job seekers to understand the potential positive and negative impacts of generative AI on recruiting.
As we come to the end of another interesting year, I know that many of you will be looking towards 2024 and planning for the new year ahead. One of the best things about 2023 for me has been the opportunity to get back on stage and start presenting again. I’ve spoken at prominent industry events, including the HR Technology Conference in the US, the CIPD Annual Conference in the UK and delivered talks and workshops for several employers.
Back in September, I spoke at the ATAP Global TA Day about the future of talent acquisition. I was delighted to be able to share the audio of my presentation as Episode 571 of the podcast. If you’re unfamiliar with ATAP, it’s short for the Association of Talent Acquisition Professionals, and they do some great work around standards and training in the industry. In my presentation, I outline three forces shaping talent acquisition, three critical trends for 2024 and the practical steps you can take right now to stay ahead of the curve.
Whenever I ask people questions about the future on the podcast, I always caveat the question by saying that no one can predict the future. However, you can develop tools, knowledge and techniques to give you strategic foresight to plan for the future. Once you start properly planning for the future, you actually begin to influence and shape what the future will be.
Now imagine what being able to shape the future would mean for your strategic planning and more importantly, your career. I’m tapping into the body of knowledge that recruiting future has built up over the last nine years to create an online course that will help you identify and understand the key trends that are driving talent acquisition predicts where they’re likely to take us and develop the mindset you need to proactively plan for your career in an industry where disruptive change is going to be the norm for years to come. I’m going to build the course in public.
And in November, I kicked off a new podcast miniseries which I’m calling Building In Public to document my journey from initial idea to final product. Please listen to the first episode to learn more and join the mailing list to ensure you’re the first to know when the course launches.
So onwards into December and things are busy, I’m looking forward to asking the questions in a fireside chat with the brilliant Nick Thompson, Global Head of TA, Haleon at the TA Tech Europe event. There’s also a huge amount of valuable content coming up on the podcast which is really going to help you get ready for 2024. So don’t miss out. If you haven’t already, then make sure you’re subscribed to the show in Apple Podcasts, on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
A huge thank you to Harver, Greenhouse, and Plum for sponsoring the podcast during November. If you’re interested in supporting the show as a sponsor in 2024, now would be a great time to get in touch. Just drop me an email on matt@metashift.co.uk or send me a message on LinkedIn. Finally, make sure you go to recruitingfuture.com to subscribe to the monthly newsletter, Recruiting Future Feast, to keep up to date with everything that’s happening on Recruiting Future. Thanks very much for listening. I’ll be back next time and I hope you’ll join me.
