In our latest Talking Recruitment podcast, Gary Wills joins Neil to discuss why he decided to start a recruitment business at a time of uncertainty during the pandemic, and the steps he took to turn things around after a difficult year.

Gary took part in a charity fun run for the NHS Charities, where he ran from Nightingale London to Nightingale Birmingham on his treadmill which led to TV exposure. This gave Gary a leap in confidence and he set up a not-for-profit support group FurLearn, to give back to others which included everything from building their life skills, personal branding to mental health and live workout sessions. FurLearn has since gone on to win prestigious awards with The Learning Institute.

Gary has now set up recruitment business Talent Today; their core values are driven by the job seeker and hiring manager, which are opportunity, diversity and empathy.

Helen Durkin of Indeed joins Kevin Green to discuss what great employer branding looks like, and how to capitalise on data to generate stakeholder buy-in for new projects. Helen also talks through some of the key challenges she faced throughout her career and the importance of internal collaboration for developing an authentic EVP.

Kevin also asks Helen to reveal the secrets behind the hugely successful employee ambassador programme at Indeed, and what employer branding might look like 10 years from now.

Andrew Porter joins Kevin Green to discuss the evolving in-house recruitment profession, and the importance of fully integrating the TA function into the business.

Andrew also breaks down what good employer branding looks like, advises on the right time to use an RPO, discusses the shifting role of agencies in a D&I-driven landscape, and ‘bravery of adoption’ when it comes to new technology.

Daniel Harris is our latest guest on the GRC podcast, where he talks to Kevin Green about the transformation of Mott MacDonald’s recruitment process into a modern, forward-thinking Talent Acquisition function. Daniel shares his tips for generating buy-in from the business and the behavioural shift required from his recruitment team to implement the necessary changes.

Daniel and Kevin discuss the differences between agency and in-house recruitment, and how to effectively partner with your suppliers. Daniel also shares his take on the future of jobs, the integration of new technology into the recruitment process and what metrics recruiters need to rely on to evaluate the success of their function.

Rob Fowler, the Head of Talent Resourcing at Taylor Wessing joins Kevin Green to discuss some of the key hiring issues in professional services, particularly focusing on challenges surrounding D&I. Rob and Kevin talk through his experience of building a recruitment function from scratch that successfully introduced flexible/agile working and incorporated a strong EVP.

Rob also discusses how AI & technology is hollowing out of the jobs market and the impact it has on professional services, both in terms of the roles they recruit for, and on the recruitment function itself.

Peter Hogg leads the UK & Ireland Talent Acquisition function at Schneider Electric, and joins Kevin Green to share his story of moving from agency to in-house, as well as the challenges of leading a recruitment team very early in his career. Kevin and Peter discuss the importance of professionalising the recruitment function to ensure a true business partnership between talent acquisition and corporate strategy. Peter also shares Schneider Electric’s use of their graduates to deliver a unique EVP strategy on a very limited budget, and the positive impact on the business when the focus shifts from 'experience' to 'talent and potential'. Peter and Kevin also discuss the role of recruitment agencies which are becoming more consultative in nature and critically important for technical hires.

Debbie Robinson of PepsiCo joins Kevin Green to discuss her rise to the role of TA Director - COE. She explains how they currently use data and analytics to monitor, learn from and improve their recruitment process across the globe. Debbie details a unique approach to TA pipelining focusing on key cohorts of roles, and explores the age-old debate of skills vs attitude. Kevin and Debbie also review PepsiCo’s overhaul of the global referral scheme and discuss the evolving role of technology in recruitment.

Lisa O’Daly is the HR Director at Chatham House, joining Kevin Green in the latest GRC podcast to discuss effective recruitment and talent attraction when you are a not-for-profit with limited resources. Lisa talks about the journey of developing a business strategy that ensures the right people, the right culture and the right approach are attained to succeed in a fiercely competitive marketplace

Rachel shares her TA Transformation journey at Siemens UK where in the last two years they’ve taken their Recruitment Function from a Shared Service transactional, reactive recruitment function to a proactive, business partnering Talent Acquisition function. Rachel speaks to Kevin Green about the pain, highlights and tips for success of their transformation in the hope to encourage others to implement change for the benefit of their customers.

Neil Morrison is one of the biggest names in the UK HR space. Formerly the director of strategy, culture and innovation at Penguin Random House, he's now HR director at Severn Trent Water. He talks to GRC chairman about innovations within HR ahead of the 2018 Talent, Recruitment and Employment Conference.