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

All around the world, debates about hybrid and remote working rumble on as employers and employees experiment to find mutually agreeable and effective ways of working. There is a lot of noise in the debate around the future of work, and I really want to cut through this. With that in mind, I'm going to focus the next three episodes of the podcast on the future of work, exploring the real issues, looking at the practical solutions that are being put in place and taking an informed look at what the future might look like.My first guest in this mini-series is writer, speaker and consultant Julia Hobsbawm, author of the brilliant book "The Nowhere Office". In her book, Julia explores what is happening at the moment in the context of workplace changes over the last few decades and examines the current issues to help map the future. In the interview, we discuss:Reimagining and reframing how we workThe four phases of work since 1945How the pandemic has accelerated trends that were already thereThe complexity of hybridThe real challenges with developing the next phase of workUndoing assumptions and old normsThe challenge for talent acquisitionAutonomy, flexibility and networksThinking strategically to improve wellness and mental health.Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I'm a firm believer in looking outside the talent acquisition universe to see what lessons we can learn from other disciplines and areas. Elite sport is always an interesting parallel as selecting and developing talent is a critical aspect of building a winning team.My guest this week is Mehdi Kordi, the coach of the Dutch national track cycling team. The team have had a massive amount of success in recent years, including winning three golds, a silver and a bronze at the last Olympics, despite having considerably fewer resources and less funding than some of their competitors. It was fantastic to hear first-hand from Mehdi how they have achieved this, and there are some very valuable lessons here from TA leaders everywhere.In the interview, we discuss:What makes a good coachManaging riders, employees and partnersGetting the best out of peopleHow do you spot talent?The importance of resilienceThe mental versus the physicalThe role of technologyRunning a world-class team with limited resources.Collaboration and partnershipsUsing culture to drive performanceClarity and transparencyWhat does the future look like for track cycling?Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Everything is changing very quickly in talent acquisition, and many employers are struggling to keep up with the ever evolving best practices that are driving results. It's a critical moment to get a helicopter view of what talent acquisition strategies are working and the successful attributes of the highest performing recruiting functions.My guest this week is Janet Mertens, VP of Research at The Josh Bersin Company. Her organisation has recently published an independent report on Human-Centered Talent Acquisition which looks at the strategies and tactics successful talent acquisition teams are deploying in these challenging times.In the interview, we discuss:The background and methodology of the research projectA perfect storm in talent acquisitionWhat business practices are having the most significant impactThe critical business issues talent acquisition is addressingBeing bold, creative and human-centeredIntentional experience designWhat truly drives competitive advantageAttracting and retaining top talentThe importance of authenticity and consistency in EVP and employer brandingThe role of recruiters as talent advisorsRecruiting technologyLevels of talent acquisition maturityListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

The current challenges talent acquisition teams face are well documented, and on this podcast, we explore the strategies and technologies that TA leaders are using to address them. The one thing we don't talk about enough collectively as an industry is the considerable effects two years of unprecedented pressure and disruption have had on everyone's mental health.While wellness, in general, is a big industry topic, there hasn't been much direct conversation on the importance of self-care and strategies to build resilience for Talent Acquisition leaders and their teams.My guest this week is Ben Gledhill, a Talent Acquisition leader who has done innovative work for several UK based organisations. Ben is one of the talent acquisition community's deep thinkers and, over the last two years, has done a lot of research into the importance of building individual resilience and the role it plays in the effectiveness of talent acquisition strategies.In the interview, we discuss:What it has been like to be a Head of Talent Acquisition during the pandemicWhy we need to talk more about mental healthResilience as part of the TA stackFive elements to build resilienceAdapting to sudden changeSelf-compassion and self-careChanging the narrativePurpose and controlForgivenessIs technology a help or a hindranceWhat does the future look like for talent acquisition?Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Last week I attended my first face to face HR and Recruiting Technology conference for two and half years. UNLEASH America took place in Las Vegas and was an incredible mix of great content and the opportunity to meet the really innovative technology vendors in our space.One of the most interesting keynote sessions was a panel debate on the ethics and legal responsibility for using AI in recruiting. The panel was hosted by my fellow podcasters, Joel Cheesman and Chad Sowash of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, so I caught up with them afterwards on the expo floor to find out more and get their views on the future of the industry.In the interview, we discuss:The return of face to face conferences and eventsAI and The Equal Employment Opportunity CommissionWhat the future might look likeA full transcript will appear here.Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcast

Effective storytelling is a crucial part of hiring, flowing through recruitment marketing, employer branding, assessment and onboarding but does your organisation have a strategy that sits behind it? Knowing what kind of stories to tell and how and where to tell them is something that brings a considerable competitive advantage. So how can we all get better at telling our stories compellingly and effectively?My go-to storytelling expert is journalist, writer and tech entrepreneur Shane Snow. I'm delighted to welcome him back to the show to do a deep dive into storytelling strategy. In a world of challenging talent markets and virtual hiring processes, this interview is a must listen for everyone.In the interview, we discuss:Why business storytelling is important and what it can achieveThe four elements of a great storyStorytelling in employer branding and recruitingThe three different types of business storyWhy should people care?How and where do you tell a story?Weaving storytelling into every piece of communication • A full transcript will appear here shortly.Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts

The one theme that has come over very clearly in the conversations I've had with talent acquisition professionals in the last 12 months is the relationship between speed and quality in the hiring process.Speed is currently a competitive advantage which means many employers are focusing intensely on speeding up their hiring process. However, quality of experience and quality of hire are still critical, so how do you speed up talent acquisition and improve quality at the same time.Earlier this year, Mervyn Dinnen and I joined forces with the team at Metaview to work on a piece of research to see if we could answer this question. We spoke to employers who are successfully improving both speed and the quality of the talent acquisition to distil the mindset, strategies and tactics they are using to solve this complex challenge.We recently published the results in a whitepaper, and I'm delighted to welcome Germaine Yokoyama-Heiliger to the show to discuss the findings. Germaine is a People Experience and Operations consultant who was previously Chief People Officer at several high growth tech companies. She was one of the people we interviewed during the research, and she has some very valuable perspectives to share.In the interview, we discuss:The current state of the market and the background to the researchCan you increase speed and improve quality at the same time?How difficult is it to overhaul the recruiting process?Being ready to hire and running a great processThe importance of talent managementTalent intelligence and dataBeing transparent and legitimatePartnering with leadershipHuman to human interactionUsing technology to understand what works, what doesn't work and what training is neededWhat does the future look likeDownload the full report hereListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Diversity in hiring is a critical issue for all employers, but many are still struggling with it. So who is doing it well, and how much of a role can recruiting technology play in diversifying talent pools.My guest this week is Shaun Daly, Head of Resourcing at The Open University. Over the last few years, The Open University has been increasing the diversity of its organisation by rethinking how it does hiring, building an inclusive employer brand and deploying point solution technology which helps to enable these strategies.In the interview, we discuss:Recruiting challenges at The Open UniversityOperating with legacy systemsDeveloping a compelling employer brandAnonymous recruiting and diverse interview panelsMaking the candidate experience more engagingRecruitment marketing automationOnline eventsTalent pool segmentationFuture innovationsListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.A full transcript will appear here shortly.

This is part two of my mini-series on personalization. So to recap, I feel very strongly that personalization is the new Megatrend in Talent Acquisition. Offering personalized recruitment marketing, candidate journies, assessments, feedback, onboarding, and communication will be critical objectives for employers over the next few years. Candidates are demanding it, the technology is here to facilitate it, and the amount of friction that will get removed from recruiting processes will be a win for candidates, recruiters and hiring managers.So what is possible, and how are employers dealing with the practicalities of personalization in talent acquisition?A few weeks ago, the awesome team at Paradox invited me to speak and record some interviews at their client board event in Scottsdale, Arizona. Paradox is a technology that is really driving the progress of personalization. It was very insightful to talk to some of their clients about the need for personalization in their TA processes and the change journies they are taking their recruiters and hiring managers on to make personalization happen.In this second set of interviews from the event (check out Episode 435 if you want to hear the others), you'll hear from Derek Braun, Staffing and Recruiting Manager at GoWireless and Steffanie Chaviano, VP of Talent and Patient Access at Autism Learning Partners. Derek and Steffanie talk us through their experiences of using conversational AI to transform the effectiveness of their recruiting strategies. First up, though, is Adam Godson, Chief Product Officer at Paradox, talking about some of the psychology behind conversational interfaces.These are some of the topics you'll find discussed in this episode:Personalisation at scaleThe psychological elements of conversation designUsing conversation to drive processesConnect with people, not softwareHow technology is affecting recruiter career choicesHandling high volumes of applicant flow is an engaging way.The importance of being user friendly for hiring managersWhat does the future of talent acquisition look likeListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts

Those of you who have read my book Digital Talent (available wherever you get your books!) will know that I feel very strongly that personalization is the new megatrend in talent acquisition.Offering personalized recruitment marketing, candidate journies, assessments, feedback, onboarding, and communication will be critical objectives for employers over the next few years. Candidates are demanding it, the technology is here to facilitate it, and the amount of friction that will get removed from recruiting processes will be a win for candidates, recruiters and hiring managers.Two weeks ago, the awesome team at Paradox invited me to speak and record some interviews at their client board event in Scottsdale, Arizona. Paradox is a technology that is really driving the progress of personalization. It was really insightful to talk to some of their clients about the need for personalization in their TA processes and the change journies they are taking their recruiters and hiring managers on to make personalization happen.I'll be sharing these interviews over two episodes of the show. Later in this episode, you'll get to hear from Adam Chen, Chief Marketing & Experience Officer at The Amenity Collective, Rachel O'Connell, VP of HR at Great Wolf Lodge and the return to the show of Victor Gaines SVP of Talent Acquisition at Aveanna Healthcare.But first of all, I sat down with the amazing Madeline Laurano, Founder of Aptitude Research, to get her views on the drive towards greater personalization.These are some of the topics you'll find discussed in this episode:How technology is driving personalizationCreating experiences through conversationHigh volume recruiting challengesSignificantly reducing time to hireChange managementBuilding a consumer grand candidate experienceUsing personas to differentiate the employee value propositionThe role of technology in personalizationImplementing technologyThe future of talent acquisitionListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.