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

I launched Recruiting Future nine years ago to attempt to understand the future of talent acquisition. Back then, social media was the biggest driver of change, and we were starting to realize how much new technologies would change the world.

Predicting the future is always risky; however, if you approach things correctly, you can spot the trends that will stick and get a sense of what is likely to happen.

I'm actually launching a short digital course next month to teach you some tools and techniques to do this. You can join the VIP waitlist for early access and a discount by going to mattalder.me/course

 Back to the 600th episode. To celebrate this landmark, I invited my long-time collaborator and co-author, Mervyn Dinnen, to a studio in London to explore just how accurate some of the predictions we made in a whitepaper back in 2016 about the future of work were and to discuss what we think will happen over the next decade. There is also a video version of this podcast that you can find by following the link in the show notes.

In the interview, we discuss:

• When I first told Mervyn I was launching Recruiting future

• Tasks, not jobs, in a skills-based future

• How the pandemic accelerated trends that were already there

• Is "return to the office" HR's version of the culture wars

• Why we thought recruiting would be "Tinderized."

• The long-predicted demise of the resume

• Talent Marketplaces

• What does the next ten years look like

• Total Talent Thinking

• Where is the humanity in the AI-driven future of work?

• What is going to happen over the next 12 months

Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube

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We live in a world of work where understanding, interpreting and telling stories with data has never been more critical. Although Talent Acquisition has become more data-centric in recent years, many TA functions rely on summary statistics that don't provide a sophisticated enough platform to use data to inform and influence their organizations properly.

So, what can TA leaders do to make their data strategies more effective?

My guest this week is Ben Porr, Chief Customer Officer at Harver. In our conversation, Ben offered some highly actionable advice TA leaders can follow to level up and tell compelling stories with data.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Why data is so essential in TA

• Answering questions with data rather than with opinions or assumptions

• What organizations are missing out on if they only use summary statistics

• What are the innovative organizations doing?

• AI and automation

• What are the most critical data sources?

• Pivot table versus data visualization

• Human in the loop

• Using data to shift strategies

• How AI will empower decision-making based on smaller sets of data

• What will the future look like?

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Executive Search is often considered so specialized that it should always remain the preserve of Exec Search agencies. However, an ever-increasing number of large employers are now choosing to build in-house executive search functions. So what are the advantages of doing this, how do you do this, and what is the ongoing impact from tighter talent markets and innovations in technology

My guest this week is Katie Howard, Global Talent Acquisition Luxury and Lifestyle Lead at IHG. Katie made the switch from Search Agency to in-house just over a year ago and has been helping set IHG up for success in a highly competitive market for senior talent.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The difference between agency and in-house

• The current challenges in the senior talent market within luxury hospitality

• How IHG differentiates itself

• Approaching and engaging with global talent pools

• Non-linear careers and talent mobility 

• Managing stakeholders in large matrix organizations

• Making the candidate experience match the luxury guest experience

• DE&I

• Rethinking onboarding

• Advice for anyone setting up an in-house function

• The role of AI in executive hiring

• What does the future look like?

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I was delighted to hear two of my regular guests on Recruiting Future were writing a book together. “Talent Acquisition Excellence” by Kevin Wheeler and Bas Van De Haterd is now available, whether you get your books, and it is brilliant to welcome them both back to the podcast to talk about it.

Kevin is the founder of The Future of Talent Institute and is highly respected for his skills in predicting how Talent Acquisition and HR will develop and evolve. Bas is a consultant whose keen sense of curiosity has helped him map the evolution of assessment technology and deliver an annual state-of-the-nation report on corporate career sites.

In our conversations, they bring different perspectives to the concept of Talent Acquisition excellent, offer some actionable advice and give us a sense of what the future might hold.

In the interview, we discuss:

• What is talent acquisition excellence?

• Why AI could be more disruptive than the invention of the Internet

• Shifting mindsets

• Improving selection by using science

• Driving the evolution of recruitment marketing

• How the recruiting function will change, and what skills will recruiters need

• Why employers aren't moving quickly enough

• Where will TA be in a year?

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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 591: Is AI Changing Jobseeker Behaviour?

Ep 592: Understanding Skills

Ep 593: The Career Forward Mindset

Ep 594: Recruiting Data Science Skills

Ep 595: Proving The Value Of Talent Acquisition

Ep 596: Expectations and Experience

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It is almost four years since the first pandemic lockdowns, and even now, it doesn't seem long enough to get a proper perspective on how much the pandemic has changed things. It is already pretty clear that expectations of and attitudes to work have shifted considerably, with significant implications for recruiting and retention.

My Guest this week is Annette Andrews, Founder & Director of Acaria Coaching and a former Chief People Officer. Annette works with large organizations to help them adjust their people practices and policies to align with the post-pandemic perspectives of their employees and future employees. She has some valuable insights on what employers need to do to attract and retain the talent they need.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current challenges for employers and why these are different from what we've seen in the past.

• Benefits, culture and wellbeing

• Showcasing the employee experience

• Implications for retention

• The human impact of a deteriorating candidate experience

• Five generations in the workforce

• Dealing with systemic ageism

• Talent mobility across industries and disciplines

• Changing the structure of the people function.

• How technology will shape the future

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These are turbulent times for talent acquisition, particularly for those teams operating in the technology sector. Despite the continuing demand for technology skills, layoffs are still happening, with many TA teams now considerably downsized from where they were a couple of years ago.

Proving TA's strategic and monetary value has never been more critical, so how can TA leaders make their business case against such a challenging backdrop?

My guest this week is Sam Bethoud, VP of Talent Solutions at hackajob. Sam combines his experience working with a vast number of talent acquisition leaders with hackajob's huge dataset to provide some excellent insights into the tech recruiting market and highly actionable advice on tactics TA can employ to prove the scale of its value to the business.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current state of the tech recruiting market

• TA's commercial impact

• How does TA create measurable monetary value?

• The importance of data

• How else can TA be strategic?

• Changing job seeker behaviour

• What impact will AI have on the future?

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With the development and adoption of AI accelerating at an unprecedented pace, the demand for data scientists and data skills in general is snowballing. To recruit successfully in this competitive talent market, TA teams must understand the specific data skills their organisation needs and the intrinsic career motivations of the data professionals they seek to engage with.

My guest this week is Akshay Swaminathan, Head of Data Science at Cerebral and co-author of a new book called "Winning With Data Science". In our conversation, Akshay offers an insider view on the data science talent market, what motivates data scientists to move companies and the most effective recruiting process for people with this skillset. Essential listening for anyone recruiting data science professionals or working in talent markets with similar skills shortages.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The growing demand for data science professionals

• The specific data skills that employers currently need

• Is there any consistency in data science job titles?

• What would motivate a data science professional to move jobs?

• How should recruiters source and engage in this talent market

• What type of hiring process will drive the most successful outcomes?

• Gig working and fractional working

• Creating business value from AI

• What skills will be needed in the future as the development and adoption of AI ramps up?

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Work and jobs are changing, and the speed of change continues to accelerate. Whether you are in the fourth decade of your working life or looking for your first job, managing a career against this background of disruptive, often unpredictable change is a challenge for everyone. Things are also being made worse by continuing pay inequality and workplace bias.

My guests this week are Grace Puma, the former COO of Pepsico and Christiana Smith Shi, the former President of Direct to Consumer at Nike. Grace and Christiana have recently authored a book called "Career Forward - Strategies from Women Who Have Made It". The motivation behind writing the book was to empower women to maximise their career journey, get paid what they are worth and navigate the unexpected shifts that happen in the current world of work. There is some excellent advice here that Grace and Christiana believe is applicable to everyone looking to develop their career in our turbulent times.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The Career Forward Mindset

• Having a "Cardinal Direction" instead of a North Star

• The importance of mentors and sponsors

• Steering into the skid to deal with unexpected challenges

• Building career equity

• Dealing with pay inequality

• Reinventing work-life balance

• How can employers make the workforce fair and equitable?

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The shelf life of skills is getting ever shorter, which has significant implications for talent acquisition. It is essential that TA leaders take an active role in developing the overall skills strategy for their business. If employers want to be effective skills-based organizations, it is clear that talent acquisition, talent management, L&D and strategic workforce planning must be closely aligned.

My guest this week is Malcolm Taylor, Head of Capability at the UK Health Security Agency. In the last few years, Malcolm has led a highly effective initiative to use data to drive upskilling, talent development and talent acquisition. In our conversation, he shares valuable insights on skills strategy and some interesting perspectives on the likely role AI will play in L&D in the future.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Why upskilling is so essential in 2024

• The shortening life cycle of skills

• Engagement and retention

• Teaching people how to learn

• Mapping skills within the organization

• Can AI create a common skills language across professions?

• Data-driven decision making

• Community-based learning

• The role of TA in skills-based organizations

• The importance of removing silos in the people function.

• What does the future look like?

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