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

Talent Acquisition is in a state of fast-accelerating disruption, and it has never been more critical for TA leaders to demonstrate the strategic value of their function. However, in the current volatile environment, many organisations are still struggling to get the essential elements of recruiting right.

So what should TA teams be focusing on to make sure they are fit for purpose in an uncertain future?

My guests this week are Kurt Bridge and Christian Le Loux from Macramé Consulting. Kurt and Christian are both highly experienced TA Leaders. They have much advice to share on building the right foundations for talent acquisition and implementing effective data-driven recruiting.

In the interview, we discuss:

• How do TA Teams innovate

• Fractional leadership and scalability

• Building a foundation to be strategic

• Operating models, workflows and experience

• What is data-driven recruiting?

• Proving strategic value to the organisation

• Combating short-termism

• What will TA look like in the future?

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

AI and recruiting have been extensively discussed this year in podcasts, blogs, conferences, webinars and LinkedIn posts. However, the one angle I've not seen covered is what it is like to recruit for AI professionals. 

Such a new industry means a severe shortage of experienced talent, and AI companies must work hard to outsmart their talent market competition.

My guest this week is Lauren Saltus, a Senior Recruiter at Runway, an AI research company focused on the creative sectors. In our conversation, Lauren shares her experience of refocusing to become a specialist AI recruiter and discusses some of the critical factors that influence talent in this area. There are some great insights here, not just for AI recruiting but for anyone who is operating in a market where there is a significant skill shortage.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current state of tech recruiting and why AI recruiting is different

• Creating a research brand to attract talent

• Individual managers as talent magnets

• Diverse hiring, bias and recruiting people with untraditional backgrounds

• Training AI on diverse datasets

• What is the future for recruiters?

Listen 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.

Episode mentioned in this Round Up:

Ep 557: The Complexity of Talent Acquisition

Ep 558: Making Talent Acquisition Magical

Ep 559: Wellness, Culture, Recruiting and Retention

Ep 560: Hiring For The Future

Ep 561: Building The Foundations Of Skills-Based Hiring

Ep 562: Vulnerability At Work

Ep 563: How Will AI Change TA? (Live at RecFest)

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

This time last year, most of us hadn't heard of generative AI, but it has dominated our industry discourse in 2023. The dramatic emergence of generative AI has illustrated how fast disruption is accelerating and has made us think deeply about the future of talent acquisition.

Back in July at RecFest, Tony de Graaf, Global Director of Hiring Success at SmartRecruiters, invited me to join him for a fireside chat about the potential impact of generative AI on TA. Even though three months is a long time in AI, this is still a very relevant discussion where we attempted to unpick what is happening and understand how AI is shaping the future of talent acquisition.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The AI hype cycle

• Does AI take away tasks or jobs?

• The pressure for change that is coming from the top of organizations

• Strategic workforce planning and hiring for future skills

• Moving from being operational to being strategic

• The transformation of marketing

• Democratized access to technology

• Is this the end of recruiting norms that we take for granted?

• Being relentlessly open-minded and questioning everything

• The future workforce talent and skills crisis

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Showing your vulnerability is becoming a common theme in personal development as a way of fostering good mental health and a route to building resilience and reducing anxiety. Leaders are often told to show vulnerability at work, but the dynamic between doing this in your professional life is somewhat different than in your life outside of work.

So, how can leaders use their vulnerability to motivate their teams, and what skills do they need to learn to do so?

My guest this week is Jacob Morgan, Futurist, Speaker and Author of a new book called Leading With Vulnerability. I've always been a fan of Jacob's writing. In our conversation, he talks about the art of leading with vulnerability and shares some insights about the skills we will all need for the uncertain future of work.

In the interview, we discuss:

• What is vulnerability at work?

• Adding leadership to vulnerability

• Taking action to create positive outcomes

• Creating connections

• Warmth and competence

• The importance of intention

• Motivation and growth mindset

• Predicting the future

• What skills do we need to develop for the future of work?

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

Having covered both topics extensively on the podcast this year, I'm very much of the opinion that the move towards skills-based thinking will be more disruptive to recruiting norms than the rapid adoption of generative AI.

The adoption of skills-based hiring and the move towards skills-based organizations is still happening slowly. However, as more organizations question blanket requirements for college degrees, new upskilling and reskilling initiatives are emerging that could help move the needle quicker.

My guest this week is Michelle Westfort, Chief University Officer at InStride. InStride works with businesses to use skill-based hiring to expand talent pools by partnering with employers to construct career education paths to provide employees with the skills they need to do their jobs.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Why some employers are moving away from degrees

• Do employers understand skills-based hiring?

• Diversifying talent pools with more equitable hiring processes

• Understanding the skills needed for specific roles

• Just in time, skills development

• Evolving the relationship between Universities and employers

• Deconstructing the degree

• Strategies for long-term professional development

• Mapping education to skills requirements

• What does the future look like?

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

The business world is changing quickly, and the skill sets that employees need are constantly shifting, developing and evolving. So, how can companies develop strategic workforce plans and build long-term talent pipelines in such an unpredictable and fast-changing environment?

My guests this week are Jennifer Longworth, Director of People and Culture at Entuitive, and Ugo Orsi, Chief Customer Officer at Digitate. Jennifer and Ugo have a unique combination of perspectives on how AI is shaping the workforce of the future and some solid practical advice to share

In the interview, we discuss:

• Current talent challenges

• Hiring for the skills of the future

• The importance of a growth mindset

• Building trust and motivation

• The current use and future potential of AI

• The emotional impact of the AI

• Powerful automations

• Embracing change management and curiosity

• Adoption issues within middle management

• Ageing populations and reducing labour markets

• Thinking instead of executing

• Strategic workforce planning

• Increasing the ability to collaborate

• What might work look like in 10 years?

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Recruiting and retaining the right talent continues to be highly challenging for many organisations. Understanding the key drivers here is critical for any company that wants to achieve a competitive talent advantage.

It's starting to become clear that the impact of prioritising wellbeing on an organisation's culture is significant enough to have a powerful influence on hiring and retention. So, what can employees do to move the needle here quickly?

My guest this week is Beth Ridley, founder and CEO of The Ridley Consulting Group. Beth works with CEOs to achieve thriving workplace cultures and embed diversity, equity and inclusion values into their business. She has some brilliant insights to share on the relationship between wellness, culture, recruiting and wellbeing and also offers some highly actionable advice.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Culture and leadership

• Diversity as an asset

• Applying an inclusive lens to leadership

• The role of culture and wellness in attraction and retention

• How can recruiting be more inclusive?

• Values, expectations and outcomes

• Elements of Wellness

• The value of wellness for employers

• How small things can make a big difference

• Generational expectations

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

This special episode was recorded at the first ever Recruiting Future Podcast live event at the HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas. I was blown away by how many people came along and shared their views on the future talent acquisition.

On such a magical night (we even had a magician doing card tricks), it seemed fitting to ask people what we need to do to make talent acquisition more magical. Here is a selection of the brilliant insights shared with me and my guest co-host Jenny Cotie Kangas from White Rock Consulting.

Topics covered include:

• Automation and human interaction

• Candidate and employee experience

• Skills based hiring

• Speed and engagement

• Hidden pools of talent

• Influence and persuasion

• Co-operation and collaboration

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

When discussing talent market challenges and recruiting technology trends, we often refer to talent acquisition as a homogeneous activity with common challenges and processes. However, many organisations have highly complex hiring operations that deal with challenges that can be as unique as the employers themselves.

My guest this week is Lisa Scales, Talent Acquisition Director at Royal Mail. As well as being one of the UK's largest employers, Royal Mail also hire 18,000 seasonal workers every Christmas. We discuss everything from supply chain management to sophisticated recruitment marketing and social mobility. Lisa gives us a fascinating insight into a highly complex hiring strategy. 

In the interview, we discuss:

• The recruiting challenges at Royal Mail

• Scaling up

• Outsourcing and driving results via third parties

• Appealing to a younger generation of workers

• Purpose-driven work

• Using recruitment marketing to shift perceptions

• Social mobility and reflecting your customer communities

• Recruiting 18,000 seasonal workers

• Agile management of a contingent workforce

• The role of technology

• Robotic Process Automation

• What does the future look like for talent acquisition

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts