Round Up May 2024

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[00:00:57] Hi there, this is Matt Alder. Welcome to the May roundup episode of the Recruiting Future Podcast.

[00:01:07] If you've not listened to Roundup before, it's a short review of the episodes that I've

[00:01:11] published in the last month to make sure you don't miss out on the valuable insights my guests

[00:01:16] are sharing. A huge thank you to Plum.io for their support of Roundup. I think the approach

[00:01:22] they're taking to skills-based thinking is both highly innovative and highly pragmatic.

[00:01:27] This month, they also launched Plum Thrive, which could be a real game changer. You should

[00:01:32] definitely check out their website to find out more. It's Plum.io. Well, May has been quite a

[00:01:39] month. It started with a trip to the HR Technology Conference in Amsterdam. A big thank

[00:01:44] you to everyone who came to my Ask the Experts session. We had such a great discussion

[00:01:49] around the challenges of skills-based hiring. I also recorded three interviews at the show,

[00:01:54] and more about those later. Later in the month, it was a privilege to co-host True Scotland

[00:02:00] with Chad and Joel from the Chad and Cheese Podcast. The unconference format allowed people

[00:02:04] to discuss the biggest challenges in talent acquisition, sharing ideas and solutions. It's

[00:02:11] very clear that people expect significant changes in the coming months and years.

[00:02:15] While there was some anxiety about potential future scenarios, there was genuine excitement

[00:02:21] around the potential of AI, skills-based thinking and a more integrated approach to talent

[00:02:27] to make recruiting better for everyone. One thing that does concern me is how

[00:02:32] introspective talent acquisition can be, focusing more on its own shortcomings

[00:02:37] and perceived helplessness rather than driving positive change.

[00:02:41] Fortunately, I was blown away by some of the forward thinking and proactive TA leaders in

[00:02:46] Scotland who are genuinely making a difference and innovating for the future. Podcast episodes

[00:02:52] from the event will be going live very soon. Finally, in May, I launched my new digital

[00:02:58] course, Trendspotting, which is designed to help talent acquisition professionals develop

[00:03:02] future-facing strategies. You can find out more by going to matalder.me slash course.

[00:03:09] That's matalder.me slash course. So let's dive into the roundup.

[00:03:16] And once again, I was delighted at the calibre of guests and the quality of the

[00:03:21] conversations we had on the show. Many aspects of how companies hire talent

[00:03:27] have been set in stone and unquestioned for decades. Even if talent acquisition wants to

[00:03:32] drive change, the power of accepted wisdom amongst hiring managers and the C-suite

[00:03:39] is difficult to challenge. So what happens when the CEO of a business

[00:03:44] champions a completely different way of doing things?

[00:03:48] My guest on episode 611 was Jeff Dewing, Group CEO at CloudFM. Jeff's story is amazing,

[00:03:57] and his approach to business is encapsulated in the title of his book, Doing the Opposite.

[00:04:02] When it comes to hiring, Jeff has challenged conventional wisdom around interviews

[00:04:07] and skills head on, with some spectacular results. We talk a lot about CEOs needing

[00:04:14] to be more sophisticated and more empathetic in their approach to talent,

[00:04:18] and that is exactly what Jeff is doing. I loved this conversation and it's an absolute

[00:04:24] must listen. It's becoming very clear that jobseeker

[00:04:28] use of AI tools in the application process has profound implications for talent acquisition.

[00:04:34] Many employers report a significant increase in application volume,

[00:04:38] and there is a potential technology arms race as employers and job boards attempt to use AI

[00:04:45] to identify AI. While this might help in the short term, it won't work in the long term.

[00:04:51] And is jobseeker AI use even a bad thing? On episode 612, I spoke to job board expert

[00:05:00] Alexander Chakovsky. Alexander has been doing a deep dive into how job seekers are using AI

[00:05:06] and its implications for recruitment. He has valuable insights about jobseeker verification

[00:05:11] and its potential to create win-win situations for candidates, job boards and employers.

[00:05:17] We discussed why it's actually very difficult to spot AI use in resumes and applications,

[00:05:22] and how the job board industry should be responding.

[00:05:26] As I've said many times before, automation in recruiting an HR is inevitable.

[00:05:33] This means that every TA and HR leader should be thinking strategically about automation,

[00:05:39] its implications and most importantly, the value it will add right now.

[00:05:46] So what are the benefits of automation and where and how should talent functions be automated?

[00:05:52] On episode 613, I spoke to Brandon Samet, Chief People Officer at Zapier.

[00:05:58] Automation is in Zapier's corporate DNA and they're successfully using it to drive their

[00:06:04] talent density strategy through automation in recruiting, onboarding and skills development.

[00:06:10] In our conversation, we talked about what talent density means at Zapier.

[00:06:15] Using automation to solve hard problems and make things more personal at scale,

[00:06:20] experience design and understanding where to apply automation and where not to apply it.

[00:06:25] The pace of change in recruiting technology continues to accelerate,

[00:06:30] and with it come opportunities to improve hiring outcomes, streamline operational efficiency

[00:06:35] and make much needed improvements to the candidate experience.

[00:06:39] When you add in the increasing volume of applications driven by candidate use of AI

[00:06:44] that we've just talked about and the differing wants and needs of a new generation

[00:06:48] entering the workforce, it becomes evident that we are in the brink of a profound transformation

[00:06:55] in the recruiting process. So what are forward thinking companies already doing?

[00:07:00] My guest on episode 614 was Holly Powell, recruitment business partner at EDF.

[00:07:06] EDF is reinventing its recruiting process for early careers and improving the candidate

[00:07:12] experience by carefully balancing technology and automation with high quality human interaction.

[00:07:18] Holly talked us through the importance of this and why using asynchronous video interviewing

[00:07:24] to speed up their processes has been incredibly beneficial for their candidates.

[00:07:29] Inclusive hiring is vital to building inclusive organisations and the benefits of getting it

[00:07:35] right are considerable, both at a human and at a business level. Recognising bias,

[00:07:42] standardising hiring manager behaviour and analysing data are just some of the things

[00:07:47] employers need to consider to be more inclusive in their hiring.

[00:07:51] My guest on episode 615 was Sarah Hartnett, senior director of people business partners

[00:07:58] at Greenhouse Software. In our conversation, Sarah talked through the steps that Greenhouse

[00:08:03] has taken to build an inclusive culture through inclusive hiring practices.

[00:08:08] The topics we covered including making hiring the starting point for building an inclusive

[00:08:13] culture, connecting DE&I strategy to corporate strategy and the implications of AI on inclusivity.

[00:08:21] Podcasting at events and conferences is one of my favourite things to do. I love meeting people

[00:08:27] face to face and you get the opportunity to access a broad range of views and expertise

[00:08:33] around the topics shaping the industry. As I mentioned in the intro, Recruiting Future was

[00:08:38] an official media partner of the HR Technology Conference Europe in Amsterdam at the beginning

[00:08:44] of May. This was the first time the event had been held outside of the US.

[00:08:49] AI was a central theme in the discussions and I was eager to gather insights on the

[00:08:54] current use cases of AI tools as well as the potential future implications.

[00:09:00] Episode 616 features three interviews on these themes which I recorded at the show.

[00:09:06] My first interview was with Rebecca Carr, CPO and acting CEO of Smart Recruiters. We talked about

[00:09:13] AI as a co-pilot and its potential to enhance the very human aspects of recruiting.

[00:09:18] The second interview was with my friend and co-author Mervyn Dinnon and we talked about

[00:09:23] his concerns around AI's impact on employee experience and creativity.

[00:09:28] Finally, the third interview was with Norwegian entrepreneur Ivan Ansten. During which we talked

[00:09:34] about the AI employment lawyer his company is building and the potential for widespread

[00:09:40] automation throughout HR processes and activities. Skills-based hiring is not just a passing trend,

[00:09:47] it's a significant shift in the recruiting landscape. Many employers are eager to unlock

[00:09:53] its advantages in terms of flexibility, diversity, economic efficiency and dealing

[00:09:59] with talent shortages. But is there a gap between theory and practice regarding understanding

[00:10:06] and implementation? Over the last few months, experienced TA leader Adrienne Thomas and myself

[00:10:12] have partnered with Neil Kelly at Vector on some research to uncover the realities

[00:10:17] and practicalities of skills-based hiring within large global employers.

[00:10:22] Neil and Adrienne joined me on episode 617 to discuss the findings, some of which are quite

[00:10:29] surprising, and to look at what employers need to do to advance with skills-based hiring.

[00:10:34] We discussed the different motivations that employers have to move to skills-based thinking,

[00:10:39] some of the more surprising findings of the research, the intersection between talent

[00:10:43] acquisition, talent management and L&D, the issues employers are having with skills taxonomies

[00:10:49] and what the future might look like. Currently, there are only four LGBTQ plus CEOs in the 14500

[00:10:57] and none in the FTSE 100. This really illustrates the hidden challenges and differences in

[00:11:03] professional opportunities, especially when it comes to promotion and recruitment into senior

[00:11:08] roles. Many employers publicly say that improving diversity and inclusion in their

[00:11:14] workforce is a significant priority, but this will only truly happen with appropriate

[00:11:19] representation at the top of the organisation. My guest on episode 618 was Leila McKay,

[00:11:27] Director of Policy at the NHS Confederation and author of a new book called Breaking

[00:11:32] the Rainbow Ceiling. Leila shines a light on the challenges that LGBTQ plus people face at

[00:11:38] work and offers advice on how companies can recognise and address the barriers

[00:11:43] and build a more inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and succeed.

[00:11:49] A huge thank you to Plum, Willow and CV Wallet for sponsoring Recruiting Future

[00:11:54] during the month of May. So onwards into June. And for once I'm not doing any travelling.

[00:12:00] Instead, I will be mostly focusing on preparing my presentation for RecFest at

[00:12:06] where I'm going to be talking about the way in which AI will shape the TA teams of the future.

[00:12:11] There are also some excellent conversations coming up on the podcast,

[00:12:15] so make sure you follow Recruiting Future wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:12:20] Finally, I recently published a white paper which explores 10 ways that AI will transform

[00:12:25] talent acquisition. If you would like a free copy, you can download one by going to

[00:12:30] matalder.me.transform. That's matalder.me.transform. And the link to the white paper

[00:12:38] and my course will be in the show notes. Thanks very much for listening,

[00:12:42] I'll be back next time and I hope you'll join me.

[00:13:00] Bye!