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

So that was the year that was 2021. As we move into 2022, the seismic changes of the last 12 months have certainly given us a lot to reflect on. The Great Resignation, the AI revolution in talent acquisition, the redefinition of the workplace, the continued depth of focus on DE&I, the list is as long as is it significant. It is impossible to make predictions, but I think it's fair to say that 2022 is potentially even more significant as employers find new ways of dealing with the considerable talent challenges they face.

So what should we expect, and how do we process what has happened? I'm delighted to welcome Lars Schmidt back to the podcast as my last guest of 2021. Lars runs Amplify Talent, a boutique agency, HR leader development platform, and community that sits at the centre of the redefinition of HR. Lars is a passionate curator and facilitator of insights from some of the world's most innovative CHROs and is the perfect person to help us reflect and prepare for 2022.

In the interview, we discuss:

• What positives should we take from 2021

• When emergency measures drive long term changes

• The opportunity to redefine the nature of work

• Moving from Synchronous to asynchronous in communication and collaboration

• What are the most innovative employers doing, and which CHROs are leading from the front?

• What is changing in talent acquisition

• Compelling value propositions

• Preboarding and onboarding

• The future for hybrid working

• Hopes for 2022

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

As I referenced in the 400th episode, one of the standout trends for me in 2021 has been the adoption of AI in talent acquisition and its impact. As we move towards 2022, I wanted to take deeper dive into the practicalities of the revolution AI is driving in talent intelligence, recruiting process and talent management.

My guest this week is Jason Cerrato, Senior Director Product Marketing at Eightfold AI. Jason has a unique combination of experience, having been a talent acquisition practitioner and leader as well as an industry analyst before working on the vendor side. This combination of experience gives him a unique insight into the change AI is driving in talent acquisition, and he has valuable advice to share.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Why not all AI is the same

• How AI is changing Talent Intelligence

• The importance of adjacent skills

• Unlocking more diverse talent pools

• Being dynamic, real-time and agile in recruiting

• Identifying learning capabilities

• How AI is changing Talent Management

• Internal talent marketplaces

• Free Agent skills

• Advice to TA leaders on AI strategy

• What we can expect in 2022

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

When I launched this podcast almost seven years ago, I had an expectation that I was in it for the long haul, but I couldn't have imagined that 400 episodes later, I would be publishing two episodes a week, and the audience would still be growing. Thank you for listening and for your support; it means so much to me.

In keeping with the show's theme for this 400th episode, I want to look forward and not backwards. 2021 has been a year for talent acquisition like no other, and I believe we are seeing trends emerge that will shape recruiting for the next decade or more.

I've had some fantastic guests on the show this year, and I wanted to showcase highlights from five interviews that shine a light on some of the innovations and trends that have made 2021 so important, and that will, in turn, have a significant impact in 2022.

Interviews featured in this episode:

Ep 333: Automation, Simplicity and Experience

Ep 331: Transforming Recruitment Marketing

Future Live: DE&I

Ep 395: The Challenges Of Recruiting Recruiters

Ep 375: The Magic Of Behavioural Science

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

A full transcript will appear here shortly.

Perhaps the only thing that is clear about the future is that it will involve a lot of uncertainty, disruption and change. As we've heard from all of my recent guests on the show, talent acquisition transformation is now happening in ways we could not have predicted 18 months ago.

So what can Talent Acquisition leaders do in 2022 to help their teams navigate an ever more volatile business landscape?

My guest this week is Ira Wolf. Ira is President of Success Performance Solutions and a well-known author, speaker and commentator on the changing world of work. In our conversation, Ira shares some valuable perspectives on what employers can do to support their employees to make the behavioural changes needed to be effective in our new never normal.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The perfect storm that has been brewing for years

• Why we are living on an exponential curve of change

• Complexity with no predictability

• Resistance to behavioural changes

• How can employers accelerate change to match the exponential landscape?

• Being comfortable being uncomfortable

• Abilities, character and environment

• The importance of company culture

• Grit and resilience

• Teaching people to unlearn

• How does talent acquisition need to change

• What increases the effectiveness of technology?

• What can we expect in 2022

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

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 language

• The secret life of pronouns

• Applications for recruiting

• What 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 employees

• How to be a great place to work

• What 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 Report

• Key findings

• Who are the digital leaders within organisations?

• The unacceptably slow growth in the increase of females in digital leadership positions

• The rise of flexible and hybrid working and why this is cause for optimism 

• What can employers do to improve gender diversity?

• Creating systemic, sustainable change

• Are digital skill shortages holding back growth?

• Investing in apprenticeships

• The vital importance of reskilling

• Opening up new talent pools via remote working

• How is recruiting evolving, and what role is technology playing

• What can we expect in 2022

Listen 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 Fresh

• Recruiting maturity

• From 1.0 to 4.0 and beyond

• Investment from senior leadership

• Driving a vision based on candidate experience

• Putting talent intelligence at the core

• Hiring and retaining recruiters by communicating a long strategy and building a sense of purpose

• The transformation roadmap

• The role of technology

• Automation

• Turning candidates into customers

• Hiring in 24 hours

• Sustainability in recruiting

Listen 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 Trends

Ep 387: Assessment Innovation

Ep 388: Candidates In Control

Ep 389: Automated Sourcing

Ep 390: Strategic AI

Ep 391: Scaling Hiring At Speed

Ep 392: Leveraging Recruiting Technology

Ep 393: Hiring From Marginalised Groups

Ep 394: Lessons From Startups

Ep 395: The Challenges Of Recruiting Recruiters

Listen 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 Canva

• The current challenges recruiting recruiters when talent supply is even tighter than it is for software engineers

• Perceptions of talent acquisition within organisations

• Attracting and retaining experienced recruiters

• Investing in developing skills to build rather than just buy-in

• New sources of recruiting talent

• Raising up and celebrating the profession.

• Work, craft and impact

• Building peeks rather than fixing potholes

• Humans and technology

• The broadening scope of talent acquisition teams

• What should TA leaders be focusing on in 2022

Listen 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 technology

• The power of a strong value proposition

• Cutting through the noise

• Building effective outreach and automating follow up

• How do you keep great people?

• Building culture while scaling

• Democratising information

• Build speed into a tech stack for competitive advantage

• The future of recruiting

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.