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

As talent acquisition rapidly adapts to disruptive times, innovative ways of working and new technologies are being adopted at an unprecedented pace. So, where are the most successful TA teams focusing and what are the mindset shifts we are now seeing in the industry?

My guest this week is Will Staney, founder of Proactive Talent and co-founder of industry community The Talent Brand Alliance. Will has a long history of innovation in talent acquisition and shares his insight into the short-term and long-term strategies the most successful TA teams are currently building.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current state of the market

• Staying lean and nimble while adopting best practices

• What are the most successful TA teams focusing on

• Retention, culture and brand

• Working on short-term and long-term simultaneously 

• Optimization, automation and augmentation

• Agile RPO

• The rise of the gig economy in talent acquisition

• Game-changing technology

• The link between employer branding, DE&I and profit

• Human-centric recruiting and the future of talent acquisition

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

With continuing skills shortages and massive disruption to how and where work is done, it is not surprising to see innovation as employers start to think differently about talent. Fractional hiring is rising and has some significant benefits to employers and employees. But what is it, how does it work, and how is it different from traditional interim and contract hiring?

My guest this week is Matt Widdoes, CEO of Mavan. Mavan is a globally dispersed network of specialized former growth leaders at iconic tech brands working fractionally, and Matt has some unique insights to share on this growing trend.

In the interview, we discuss:

• What is fractional hiring?

• Recruiting as the key to growth

• The current state of the talent market

• Specialist talent as a resource that can be turned on and off

• Benefits for organizations and the implications for the career development of individuals

• The mindset shift employers need to make to use fractional working successfully. 

• Decentralized talent pools

• The kind of roles that can be fractional

• How is fractional different from interim and contract?

• What does the future of work look like

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

This is a special cross-over episode with The Talent Savvy Podcast hosted by Bas van de Haterd and Marlies Farrill. It was a pleasure to join them for a conversation about the latest thinking in candidate experience, undoubtedly an evergreen topic in talent acquisition.

If you've not listened to the Talent Savvy podcast before, I would highly recommend subscribing for a great mix of informed opinion and practical advice.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why candidate experience isn't an object to fix

• An automated personalized experience at scale

• Technology innovation and unchanging human nature

• Differing attitudes to feedback in North America and Europe

• Do we have the right tools to provide quality feedback?

• Consistent and regular communication

• Motivation and targeted marketing

• Examples of employers who are getting things right

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I've never known a more disruptive, uncertain and confusing time in talent acquisition. With so much complexity in the market, it can be challenging for TA talent to get a clear picture of what is happening outside of their own organisations.

My guest this week is Sven Elbert, Senior Analyst at Fosway Group. Fosway is Europes leading HR industry analyst and has recently published its Talent Acquisition Realities 2022 report, a piece of research that looks at the key challenges, trends and forces TA teams are currently dealing with. This is a must listen for anyone wanting an independent view of what is going on in the market.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Stand out findings from the research.

• The impacts of uncertainty on hiring

• Quality of hire

• What TA teams report they are most and least effective at

• How is DE&I working in practice?

• Current market changes

• Availability of skills

• The most in demand recruiting technologies

• Are tech stacks currently fit for purpose?

• Conducting the candidate experience orchestra

• Upskilling recruiters

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Many employers are focusing hard on diversifying their talent pools at the moment. It has been encouraging to bring so many stories to the podcast about employers working to connect with historically marginalized groups and embracing more open approaches to hiring. However, diverse hiring is pointless without addressing equity and inclusion at a systemic level within organizations.

My guests this week are Dr Tina Opie and Dr Beth Livingston, authors of the soon to be published book "Shared Sisterhood". Share Sisterhood embodies a practical methodology that gives employees a starting point with diversity, equity, and inclusion. It inspires employees to explore their personal assumptions, build connections and take collective action.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Shared Sisterhood as a radically optimistic philosophy

• Power dominant and historically marginalized groups

• Addressing equity at a systemic level

• Building authentic connections with people who are different to you

• Where to start with DE&I

• Dig, Bridge and Collective Action

• The difference between equality and equity

• Metrics and accountability

• Ally versus Accomplise versus Co-Conspirator

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcast.

Effectively attracting, selecting and hiring people from underrepresented and marginalised groups is something that many employers aspire to. Unfortunately, only very few have the right strategies and resources in place to be set up for success. Having the right partners to work with is critical if companies are to truly understand the needs of the communities they want to work with.

My guest this week is Roy Baladi, Founder of Jobs for Humanity. Jobs for Humanity works to connect historically underrepresented talent to welcoming employers via training and technology, and Roy has some extremely valuable insights to share. 

In the interview, we discuss:

• What is Jobs For Humanity?

• Advantages of hiring diverse talent

• Diversifying the TA funnel

• Designing a fair hiring process

• Challenging personal bias

• Onboarding, inclusivity and safe spaces

• Making simple accommodations

• Recruiting refugees

• Brain diversity

• Why DE&I is still at the early adopter stage with employers

• Intention and action

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.

Episodes mentioned in this Round Up:

Ep 450: Attracting and Retaining AI Talent

Ep 451: Building Communities Of Talent

Ep 452: Assessment Innovation 2022

Ep 453: Onboarding Evolved

Ep 454: Effective Employer Branding Strategies

Ep 455: Talent Rediscovery

Ep 456: Soft Skills

Ep 457: Employability and Social Mobility

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts

After almost three years of constant disruption, the talent market still shows no signs of normalization. Even with rising inflation and layoffs in some parts of the economy, US and UK job openings remain at record highs.

So what are the implications for employers recruiting in times of economic instability and a cost of living crisis? How do TA teams need to think, and what are the most successful employers doing to hire and retain the talent they need?

My guest this week is Jon Wilson, CEO of Totaljobs, which is part of the Stepstone Group, one of the largest online recruitment companies in the world. This means Jon has access to a vast amount of data and insights into the current hiring market and has some valuable advice to share.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current state of the market

• High job openings and fewer job seekers

• The impact of high inflation

• How demographic factors are driving scarcity

• Why the great resignation will to continue

• Increasing mobility in the workforce

• Flexbility and upskilling

• What are the most successful employers doing?

• Forecasts for the next six to twelve months

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Some of my favourite discussions on this show have been with employers driving diversity, equity, and inclusion, not just because it is the right thing to do but because they are using their DE&I strategies to solve specific business challenges.

My guest this week is Graham Briggs, Head of Apprenticeships & Employability Programmes at Greene King, the UK's largest pub retailer and brewer. The hospitality sector has had an extremely challenging few years. Greene King has been running some incredible programmes to reach diverse talent pools and deliver positive outcomes for their business and the communities they work with. 

In the interview, we discuss:

• The recruiting challenges in hospitality

• Challenging perceptions about career development

• Employability and social mobility

• Communities and values

• Untapping potential

• The importance of C-Suite support

• Partnering with external organisations to reach out to new pools of talent

• Delivering positive outcomes for young people

• Building confidence and focusing on wellbeing

• Working with prison leavers

• Support, development and retention

• Business outcomes and results

• Working with other employers to lobby government

• Advice to TA leaders looking to build similar programmes

• Plans for the future

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Work and jobs are changing, and the way companies select and hire people needs to keep up with this pace of change. We've always talked a lot about soft skills in talent acquisition, but what are they in the context of modern work, why are they important, and how can they be assessed?

My guest this week is Dr Alan Redman, Head of Science and Technology at Clevry. Alan is an expert in the definition, assessment and impact of soft skills and has some very valuable insights to share.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Perspectives on the market and changing world of work

• Understanding what employees want from work

• What are soft skills in the context of modern work, and why are they important?

• Adapting to change

• How soft skills hiring can solve recruiting challenges

• Skills portability and job design

• Being a soft skills focused organisation

• How to assess and measure soft skills

• The future impact of AI on skills and decision making

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.