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 651: Navigating TA’s Perfect Storm
Ep 652: Unlocking Global Talent Pools
Ep 653: Assessing the impact of AI
Ep 654: The Power Of Great Questions
Ep 655: Using Culture As A Talent Magnet
Ep 656: Strategic Transformation in TA
Ep 657: The Future Of TA Technology
Ep 658: TA As A Service
Ep 659: Talent Complexity
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Transcript:
Matt Alder: Support for this podcast comes from Plum. Plum is a revolutionary workforce solutions provider that knows when people flourish, business thrives. With their powerful platform Plum Thrive, you can unlock science based data to help you measure and match human potential to job needs. Plum Thrive provides personalized career insights, improves quality of hire and creates high performing teams from a single simple to use platform. Want to learn more? Visit www.plum.IO and discover all the ways that Plum can help you thrive.
[Recruiting Future theme]
Matt Alder: Hi there, this is Matt Alder. Welcome to the November Roundup episode of the Recruiting Future podcast. If you’ve 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. My thanks to Plum I.O. for their support of Roundup. I think the approach they’re taking to skills based thinking is both highly innovative and highly pragmatic. You should definitely check out their website and find out more. November saw a record breaking 10 episodes of recruiting Future. The topics we covered included skills, global talent pools, the effectiveness of current AI use cases, the transformational power of great questions, new models for TA operations, and the true meaning of complexity when it comes to organizations and talent. Talent acquisition appears to be facing a perfect storm. The volume of inbound applications is increasing at unprecedented levels. However, at the same time, budgets are being reduced and TA teams are getting smaller. On top of that, hiring for specialist talent is getting harder with remote work, making talent markets truly global and increasing competition for the hardest to find skills. So how can TA leaders navigate these disruptive waters? AI is often positioned as a magic solution, but cutting through the cacophony of marketing noise it generates is the real challenge.
My guest on episode 650 was Steve Bartel, founder and CEO of GEM. Steve offers us insights and advice from the perspective of a vendor building solutions to the challenges TA teams face, as well as talking about the trends that matter and the long term impact of AI. He also shared some valuable advice on properly assessing potential AI solutions and avoiding some of the common pitfalls currently out there. One of the pandemic’s legacies is the opening of genuinely global markets for talent. The trend of moving work to people rather than people to work is set to grow as effectively tapping into international talent pools can offer a huge competitive advantage for the employers that get it right. At the same time, though, recruiting globally can be daunting with companies having to negotiate the previously unfamiliar cultural, financial and legal complexities.
On episode 652 I spoke to Jonathan Romley, Founder and CEO of Lundy. Jonathan shared his extensive experience in mapping out international hiring plans and highlighted why he sees the globalization of talent as a huge strategic opportunity for talent acquisition. I know that many of you would agree we are now beyond saturation point with the hype around AI in ta. It’s clear that one way or another, gen AI is going to become ubiquitous in the software that we use. So rather than discussing it as a topic on its own, we need to look carefully at the current and future impact on TA in terms of use cases, innovation and the potential to rethink hiring. So what are the proven use cases for AI right now? Where are we missing opportunities and how will things develop in the short term?
My guest on episode 653 was Mark Chaffey, co founder and CEO of HackaJob. We discussed current AI use cases and the lessons that TA can learn from Genai’s impact on software engineering. We talked about why AI shouldn’t just be about automation, it should be about making things 10 times better. We talked about the hype cycle and the short term and long term future for ta. Whenever we talk about recruiting automation, there’s always a persistent narrative in favor of retaining the human touch in some way, shape or form. While technology now enables us to interact in increasingly conversational ways, there’s still an irreplaceable quality in human to human face to face dialogue that no machine or video can fully replicate. So how can we enhance the effectiveness of our conversations in both professional and personal settings? And could asking more powerful, thoughtful questions lead to better hiring outcomes? My guest on episode 654 was Emmy Award winning filmmaker Topaz Adizes, founder of Experience Design studio the Skin Deep. Having conducted over 1200 filmed conversations exploring human connection, Topaz has gained profound insights into what makes questions transformative. In our discussion, he shared what his work has taught him about crafting questions that break down barriers and foster authentic dialogue, lessons that can help us all engage more meaningfully in the workplace and and beyond.
Company culture is a fundamental selling point for attracting the right talent to an organization. However, in many cases it’s talked about in a cliched, inauthentic way during the hiring process. Culture is also often portrayed in terms of working environment or via specific perks rather than being something that holistically represents the organization. So how can TA teams use culture as a genuine magnet to attract Talent in a post pandemic world where work has fundamentally changed on episode 655 I spoke to Kirstie Eustace, Chief Admin Officer at Steward Partners. Steward Partners is an excellent example of an organization that puts their culture front and center in their hiring process and Kirsty had some excellent insights and advice to share.
After many years as being seen as just tactical, TA has the unique opportunity to reposition itself as a strategic function with insights to shape business strategy. However, this will only happen with a significant degree of transformation and those TA teams that stick to doing what they’ve always done are at risk of further downsizing or being automated away altogether. So what do TA leaders need to do to harness the current forces of change and reinvent their function?
My guest on episode 656 was Lyndsay Taylor, Head of Global Talent Attraction at Brooks Automation. Lyndsey has a wealth of experience in TA transformation, strategic workforce planning and driving change. She shared her perspectives on the future of ta, the rise of strategic workforce planning and breaking down traditional HR silos. After all the commentary and debate about AI and talent acquisition over the last two years, we are finally starting to see what this brave new world might look like as many technology providers roll out new AI driven products and services.
While it’s clear that massive changes are coming to the way companies hire talent, there’s still many unanswered questions and contradictory views on what the future will look like. I wanted to get a different perspective on these things. So on episode 657 I spoke to Shashank Saxena, a Managing Partner at Sierra Ventures. Sierra Ventures is an early stage VC firm that has made several investments in AI driven HR software companies. In our conversation, Shashank gives us some alternative visions of what the future of work might look like and the implications for talent acquisition. Transforming a business function is a difficult process. It can become impossible if no one knows what that function is transforming into. It’s vital that anyone undertaking a TA transformation develops a clear vision to generate, buy in and set the direction of travel. With so much disruption going on, there’s never been a better time to create bold, innovative visions that take talent acquisition in a new direction.
My guest on episode 658 was Jill Leonard, global senior director of talent at HelloFresh. HelloFresh has developed a vision for talent acquisition that they call TA as a Service. In addition to discussing HelloFresh’s TA transformation, Jill also talks about her experience implementing video interviewing and the benefits of embracing new technology early. With organizations now having to navigate the rapid changes brought about by geopolitical instability, economic uncertainty, uncertainty, the ongoing climate emergency, and the surge in technology. It’s clear that different ways of thinking about talent are needed. So how can organizations adapt to this complexity and prepare for a future where the old rules no longer apply? What should they consider when redefining their talent strategies in such a dynamic context?
My guest on episode 659 was Graham Abbey, professor in Practice at the University of Bristol Business School and CEO of Farley Performance. From the importance of understanding the difference between complicated and complex systems to the potential of AI in reconnecting us to our humanity, Graham provided deep insights into creating the conditions for engagement, leadership and performance and building an anti fragile organization.
So onwards into December and I have some great conversations coming up to round out the year, so don’t miss out. Make sure you subscribe to Recruiting Future wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks very much for listening. I’ll be back next time and I hope you’ll join me.
