Recruiting Future with Matt Alder - What's Next For Talent Acquisition, HR & Hiring?

The climate emergency is the greatest challenge humans have ever faced, and it affects all of us. In August of last year, as part of The Inflation Reduction Act, the US federal government pledged $365 Billion to fight climate change. Since then, over 100,000 climate jobs have already been created in the US economy. Despite the seriousness of the situation and the obvious relevance to our sector, climate jobs and the climate emergency don't seem to be things we are discussing. This needs to change.My guest this week is Natalie Lavery, Marketing Lead at Climate People, a Climate Tech recruiting firm. Climate People are fighting to make every job a climate job. It was brilliant to get Natalie's insight into a critically important market that is full of opportunity.In the interview, we discuss:The reimagining of the global economyWhat is Climate Tech, and what are Climate Jobs?Is Climate Tech the future of all jobsBarriers to jobseekers taking climate jobs and how to break them downAwareness, mindset, and incentivesThe importance of diverse talent and diverse voicesWhat can we all do to make our jobs climate jobs?Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

Digital Talent, the second book co-authored by Mervyn Dinnen and myself, came out a year ago this month. We've been blown away by the response to the book and want to thank everyone who has bought, read and shared it.Twelve months is a long time in our industry at the moment, so I sat down with Mervyn to discuss the book's key themes and how things have developed over the last year. We recorded the conversation in a proper studio, so there is also a video version of this podcast (link in the show notes), which is worth watching just to take in the full glory of Mervyn's shirt. Enjoy the conversationIn our conversation, we discuss:The acceleration of Digital TransformationThe ongoing disruption of Talent AcquisitionRedefining talentResults versus noise in DE&ITaking a more strategic approach to hiringTalent ExperienceTalent MobilitySkillsAI & PersonalizationThe new future of workAnother book?The video version of this episodeListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

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 493: The Growing Value Of TA OperationsEp 494: Confidence and ResilienceEp 495: Results Not NoiseEp 496: Challenging A Narrow Definition Of TalentEp 497: Rethinking Recruiting To Break Down SilosEp 498: The Early Careers Labour MarketEp 499: Strategic Talent AcquisitionEp 500: Ask Me AnythingSubscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcast

The rise of remote working and the widespread adoption of technology has made it much easier for all sizes of employers to tap into global pools of talent. The urban population of the African continent is projected to reach 1.1 billion people by 2040, making it the largest global workforce. With an ever more diverse base of skills across 54 countries, it's not surprising that outsourcing to Africa is on the rise.So what can employers do to tap into this enormous talent pool? My guest this week is Valerie Bowden, founder, and CEO of CRDLE. Valerie spent years traveling and working in Africa and now helps US and European businesses connect to talent in the world's second-largest continent.In the interview, we discuss:Tapping into global talent poolsWhy Africa?Language and timezonesTypes of skillsInternsThe social impact of outsourcingAre you already using African talent?Advice for effective outsourcingThe importance of onboarding and trainingThe future of remote teamsListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.A full transcript will appear shortly.

In October 2008, I started writing a blog called Recruiting Future, and over the next seven years, I regularly documented the changes that were happening in talent acquisition. As part of my blog, I started publishing interviews with industry practitioners, sometimes as videos but often as audio files embedded in my blog posts. I called these "Recruiting Future Expert Interviews". I soon realised that I had found something I absolutely loved doing and looked for ways of going all in and making this a bigger part of my work.The growth of podcasting gave me the opportunity I was looking for. On the 10th of January 2015, I published Episode One of The Recruiting Future Podcast. It was far more challenging to make than I expected, and the sound quality left a lot to be desired, but I didn't care. I was all in and would focus on building a resource to help talent acquisition make sense of the radical transformations ahead.Eight years and 499 episodes later, here we are. I'm still blown away by everything the podcast has achieved. None of it would be possible without the fantastic people I get to interview, the brilliant, supportive sponsors, and all of you who listen and spread the word about the show. For the 500th episode, I thought I would do an Ask Me Anything episode as something a bit different. Thanks to everyone who submitted a question, and I'm sorry that I couldn't include them all; what follows is a representative sample of the kind of topics people were asking aboutThis episode features questions from:Jessica AdamsMatthias SchmeißerMervyn DinnenSara DalsfeltVictoria WilliamsViktor NordJohn WallaceTopics covered include: Strategic Talent Acquisition, Conversational AI, Future Skills in Talent Acquisition, Recruitment Marketing, Assessment, and Podcasting.Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

TA Leaders are under tremendous pressure as we move through 2023. Many are dealing with acute talent shortages, others have to downsize their team, and everyone is attempting to make sense of the implications of rapidly advancing AI technology. Whilst the immediate pressure can drive a focus on short term thinking, there is a massive opportunity for the TA Leaders who take a longer term view to reposition Talent Acquisition within their organization strategically.So what is the opportunity here, which other business functions can we model from, and what practical steps do TA Leaders need to take? My guest this week is Graeme Paxton, Founder and CEO of Caraffi. Carraffi is on a mission to make talent the engine room of everyone's organization, and Graeme has a vast amount of experience in helping TA Leaders think strategically.In the interview, we discuss:The current state of the marketThe strategic opportunity in challenging timesChanging where TA sits in the organizationBreaking the cycleWhen hiring volume decreases, the importance of hiring increasesShortage in critical skillsetsWhat TA can learn from the strategic evolution of MarketingThe three questions that keep CEOs up at nightAligning metrics with the business balance sheetHow to measure the business impact of TAFrom transactional service to business driverUnderstanding the vision of your business to identify future critical skillsetsHow far in the future should TA Leaders be planning?Can TA Leaders be the CEOs of the future?Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

The early careers labour market is evolving. The pandemic severely impacted internships, hybrid working is changing graduate recruitment, and many employers are reviewing their entry requirements to cast a broader net for talent.My guest this week is Dr Charlie Ball, Head of Labour Market Intelligence at Jisc. Charlie is one of the UK's leading experts on Graduate employment with deep insights to share on current market trends that are applicable globally. A must-listen for anyone involved with interns, graduates and college recruiting. In the interview, we discuss:How the early careers labour market has evolved in the last three yearsThe long term consequences of the pandemic's impact on internships and work experienceHybrid working and accredited apprenticeshipsThe changing link between person, place and employmentWhy this recession is different for the labour marketWhy are employers dropping or lowering entry requirements?What does the future look like?Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

The current evolution of TA is not just an outward facing exercise. New thinking around internal mobility, skills, culture and experience means that the lines between Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and Learning & Development are starting to blur. So what can we learn from the employers proactively working to break down these silos?My guest this week is Debby Clement, VP of Talent at Pax8. Pax8 have a massive focus on a quality experience for both candidates and employees and has reinvented its TA strategy to reflect this. Debby has a lot of insight to share on the importance of removing internal silos and having a holistic approach to talent.In the interview, we discuss:The talent challenges of a fast growing organizationThe Big Tech layoffs in context and why it is still tough to recruit the right peopleBuilding a new recruiting modelHeart and whole person valuesTA as the umbilical cord going through the whole businessJob descriptions tell, and job adverts sell.Knitting together Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and L&DThe Wardley Mapping conceptThe unintended consequences of silos in HRPeople AnalyticsThe role of technology and AIWhat does the TA team of the future look likeListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I always find it encouraging to see many employers focusing on social mobility to diversify their workforces. However, much more needs doing, and some seismic shifts are required to broaden the narrow definition of talent many industries use to recruit. My guest this week is Phoebe Anderson, Executive Director at ATLAS Fellows. ATLAS is a not-for-profit organization with the goal of transforming the finance industry by opening doors for under-resourced young people to access life-changing careers. Phoebe advocates for changing entrenched recruiting practices and challenging the narrow definition of talent endemic in the finance industry. In the interview, we discuss:Why a zip code shouldn't dictate a life trajectoryBreaking down barriersThe importance of engaging with High School studentsScholarship, internship, mentorship, and membershipWhat employers need to do to be more inclusiveChanging the narrow definition of talentSkills and knowledge are teachable.ATLAS' advice to employers and their plans for the future.Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Building more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplaces is an ongoing challenge for many organizations. There is still a disconnect between the amount of noise generated around DE&I and the results achieved. So how can employers do better, and what lessons can be learned from other organizations?My guest this week is Bruce Jackson, Associate General Counsel & Managing Director, Strategic Partnerships at Microsoft. Bruce has just published a new book, "Never Far From Home", which documents his personal journey from a housing project in Manhattan to becoming a lawyer who represented Pete Rock and LL Cool J and ultimately worked for the President of Microsoft. In our conversation, he shares his insights into the developing DE&I strategies at Microsoft, and the role employers can play in improving social mobility.In the interview, we discuss:Bruce's journey and dealing with obstaclesThe overwhelming influence the environment you grew up in has on your prospects.What should employers do to improve diversity and inclusion?Practical incentives to help law firms be more diverseImproving evaluation and accountabilityThe role employers can play in improving social mobilityCybersecurity programs in community collegesThe critical importance of not losing another generation of great brave minds.Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.