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

One of the things I have been doing on the show this year is investigating new technologies in the assessment market. As the speed of adoption increases, it's essential to understand the actual science behind what is being developed. I've always been fascinated by language and what we might be able to learn from the words that people use. With that in mind, I was very keen to talk to this week's guest. Mike Durland is CEO of Receptiviti. Receptiviti has a robust scientific methodology that uses language data to uncover emotions, personality, and psychology.This is essentially an interview in two parts. In the first half of our conversation, Mike talks about what we can learn from applying science to language. In the second half of the conversation, he shares some important insights that Receptivit has uncovered about the effect of remote and hybrid working on different parts of the workforce. It's fascinating stuff.In the interview, we discuss:The relationship between psychology and languageThe secret life of pronounsApplications for recruitingWhat are people saying about work?How happy are people working from home?Has the pandemic driven an increase in empathy at work?The different effects of the pandemic on senior and junior employeesHow to be a great place to workWhat can we expect in the future?Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

Digital transformation remains a crucial issue for most organisations. The pandemic has exponentially accelerated the pace of change, with companies scrambling to supply products and services to meet the demands of our increasingly digital economy.The need for digital skills and continuing issues of gender diversity are two of the implications for talent acquisition. TA leaders must have a strong understanding of the evolving digital landscape.My guest this week is Bev White, CEO of Harvey Nash. Harvey Nash have a long starting reputation for providing market intelligence via their annual CIO survey. This year the research has been refocused as the Digital Leadership Report. Bev has important insights to share around the role of talent in the future development of the digital economy.In the interview, we discuss:The background to the Digital Leadership ReportKey findingsWho are the digital leaders within organisations?The unacceptably slow growth in the increase of females in digital leadership positionsThe rise of flexible and hybrid working and why this is cause for optimism What can employers do to improve gender diversity?Creating systemic, sustainable changeAre digital skill shortages holding back growth?Investing in apprenticeshipsThe vital importance of reskillingOpening up new talent pools via remote workingHow is recruiting evolving, and what role is technology playingWhat can we expect in 2022Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

We often talk about evolution in talent acquisition. That has always seemed appropriate in an area where the pace of change has been relatively slow compared to other areas of the corporation. However, what we are seeing now is much more like a revolution as talent shortages, changing business priorities, and rapid technological advancement send shock waves through the industry.So what does talent acquisition transformation now look like, and how are employers moving at pace to keep up with the changing landscape.My guest this week is Yasar Ahmad, Global VP of Talent at HelloFresh. Yasar is only six months into his role but has quickly embarked on an ambitious recruiting transformation strategy that is already showing tangible results.In the interview, we discuss:Talent acquisition challenges at Hello FreshRecruiting maturityFrom 1.0 to 4.0 and beyondInvestment from senior leadershipDriving a vision based on candidate experiencePutting talent intelligence at the coreHiring and retaining recruiters by communicating a long strategy and building a sense of purposeThe transformation roadmapThe role of technologyAutomationTurning candidates into customersHiring in 24 hoursSustainability in recruitingListen to this podcast in 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 386: Future Talent Acquisition TrendsEp 387: Assessment InnovationEp 388: Candidates In ControlEp 389: Automated SourcingEp 390: Strategic AIEp 391: Scaling Hiring At SpeedEp 392: Leveraging Recruiting TechnologyEp 393: Hiring From Marginalised GroupsEp 394: Lessons From StartupsEp 395: The Challenges Of Recruiting RecruitersListen to this podcast in Apple Podcast

We've been talking continuously about challenging talent markets on this podcast since March. However, we've not so far mentioned the one specific skill shortage which is affecting everyone. The pressure on many employers to scale up their talent acquisition functions is immense, but hiring experienced recruiters has arguably never been tougher.So what can companies do to attract and retain experienced recruiter talent while also building capacity and capability?My guest this week is Amy Schultz, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Canva. Canva has been scaling up at speed over the last few years, and Amy has some very valuable perspectives and experiences to share.In the interview, we discuss:The recruiting landscape at CanvaThe current challenges recruiting recruiters when talent supply is even tighter than it is for software engineersPerceptions of talent acquisition within organisationsAttracting and retaining experienced recruitersInvesting in developing skills to build rather than just buy-inNew sources of recruiting talentRaising up and celebrating the profession.Work, craft and impactBuilding peeks rather than fixing potholesHumans and technologyThe broadening scope of talent acquisition teamsWhat should TA leaders be focusing on in 2022Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Although I've tended to work with very large enterprise businesses as a consultant, I've always been fascinated by startups and the lessons larger, more established companies can learn from them. Although the actual execution will always be different, I think there are some real insights around how smaller, more agile companies think about talent, candidate experience, and recruiting technology. My guest this week is is Ben Butler, Head of People at Dublin based tech startup Evervault. Ben has worked for startup and scale-up companies on both sides of the Atlantic. He has a really fresh approach to talent and some great insights to share. In the interview, we discuss:Recruiting challenges in technologyThe power of a strong value propositionCutting through the noiseBuilding effective outreach and automating follow upHow do you keep great people?Building culture while scalingDemocratising informationBuild speed into a tech stack for competitive advantageThe future of recruitingListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

For many years I've been reading about the work UK retailer Timpson does to hire ex-offenders and other marginalised groups. What they do is a win win win situation. It's a win for the ex-offenders who get a job, it's a win for society as employment is a crucial part of breaking the re-offending cycle, and it's a win for Timpson as they get access to a large talent pool.Now more than ever, employers need to be challenging traditional policies and beliefs to think differently about hiring. With that in mind, I'm absolutely delighted to welcome Darren Burns, Timpson's National Recruitment Manager and Head of The Timpson foundation, to the show. As well as running Timpson's own ex-offender hiring initiatives, Darren also advisors other companies looking to do the same, and he has some unique experience and advice to shareIn the interview, we discuss:The work of The Timpson FoundationTimpson's motivations behind recruiting ex-offendersBreaking the re-offending cycleWorking with prisons in the recruiting processThe benefits of employing ex-offendersAdvice to other employersAccelerator prisons and prison reformWhat's next for TimpsonListen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

Talent Acquisition is having to evolve at speeds we have never seen before, and recruiting technology is playing a central role in enabling this transformation. However, the recruiting technology ecosystem has never been more complicated and confusing. Building an effective tech stack can be challenging.My guest this week has a considerable amount of advice to share on the best ways to leverage recruiting technology in the dynamic environment employers are currently operating in. Ryan Dull is the Founder and CEO of Sagemark HR and an expert in pairing best fit technology, innovative process and industry best practices. In the interview, we discuss:Talent Acquisition challengesTechnology adoptionBuilding Tech Stacks to improve efficiency and increase conversionHow much of recruiting will be automatedHow do TA leaders make sense of the market?Stakeholder buy-in and supportThe impact of vendor acquisition and investment on customersBroader technology trends to keep an eye on for the futureListen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

In today's talent markets, speed is critical when it comes to securing talent. Maintaining speed and quality when hiring is being scaled up is a challenge and is also a position many employers are now in.My guest this week is Katie Morrow, VP of People Operations at Podium. Podium is a rapidly growing business, and Katie has some great insight to share on scaling up hiring without losing speed or damaging the candidate experience.In the interview, we discuss:Scaling up talent acquisitionHigh touch candidate experienceThe mind shift from relocation to remoteDemonstrating company culture in virtual hiringConnecting people to the mission of the businessChildcareThe role of technologyWhat do the next 12 - 18 months look likeListen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

As I mentioned in the previous episode, with recruiting evolving so quickly, I will be dedicating a lot of time on the podcast to providing deep dives into how AI and Automation are being deployed to solve real life recruiting challenges.Conversational AI is a big topic at the moment, with a shift taking place from simple chatbots to sophisticated tools that can radically improve the candidate experience, speed up hiring and allow TA leaders to redeploy their human team members to higher-value tasks.So what are the thoughts processes, decision journies and implications of putting AI at the heart of your TA strategy? My guest this week is Shannon Hughes Swayney, SVP of Human Resource US at Prosegur. Prosegur uses conversational AI strategically throughout their employee lifecycle and has done an enormous amount of work to ensure that it reflects their employer brand values in an authentic and helpful way.In the interview, we discuss:Talent Acquisition challengesPutting AI at the heart of strategyBuilding a talent lifecycle solution and supporting candidate successThe decision journeyBasing a chatbot on a real person and embedding brand valuesScripting and tone of voiceEngagement, retention and complianceThe balance between AI and humansROI and resultsAdvice to TA leadersThe future of Talent AcquisitionListen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.