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

Diversity in hiring is a critical issue for all employers, but many are still struggling with it. So who is doing it well, and how much of a role can recruiting technology play in diversifying talent pools.My guest this week is Shaun Daly, Head of Resourcing at The Open University. Over the last few years, The Open University has been increasing the diversity of its organisation by rethinking how it does hiring, building an inclusive employer brand and deploying point solution technology which helps to enable these strategies.In the interview, we discuss:Recruiting challenges at The Open UniversityOperating with legacy systemsDeveloping a compelling employer brandAnonymous recruiting and diverse interview panelsMaking the candidate experience more engagingRecruitment marketing automationOnline eventsTalent pool segmentationFuture innovationsListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.A full transcript will appear here shortly.

This is part two of my mini-series on personalization. So to recap, I feel very strongly that personalization is the new Megatrend in Talent Acquisition. Offering personalized recruitment marketing, candidate journies, assessments, feedback, onboarding, and communication will be critical objectives for employers over the next few years. Candidates are demanding it, the technology is here to facilitate it, and the amount of friction that will get removed from recruiting processes will be a win for candidates, recruiters and hiring managers.So what is possible, and how are employers dealing with the practicalities of personalization in talent acquisition?A few weeks ago, the awesome team at Paradox invited me to speak and record some interviews at their client board event in Scottsdale, Arizona. Paradox is a technology that is really driving the progress of personalization. It was very insightful to talk to some of their clients about the need for personalization in their TA processes and the change journies they are taking their recruiters and hiring managers on to make personalization happen.In this second set of interviews from the event (check out Episode 435 if you want to hear the others), you'll hear from Derek Braun, Staffing and Recruiting Manager at GoWireless and Steffanie Chaviano, VP of Talent and Patient Access at Autism Learning Partners. Derek and Steffanie talk us through their experiences of using conversational AI to transform the effectiveness of their recruiting strategies. First up, though, is Adam Godson, Chief Product Officer at Paradox, talking about some of the psychology behind conversational interfaces.These are some of the topics you'll find discussed in this episode:Personalisation at scaleThe psychological elements of conversation designUsing conversation to drive processesConnect with people, not softwareHow technology is affecting recruiter career choicesHandling high volumes of applicant flow is an engaging way.The importance of being user friendly for hiring managersWhat does the future of talent acquisition look likeListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts

Those of you who have read my book Digital Talent (available wherever you get your books!) will know that I feel very strongly that personalization is the new megatrend in talent acquisition.Offering personalized recruitment marketing, candidate journies, assessments, feedback, onboarding, and communication will be critical objectives for employers over the next few years. Candidates are demanding it, the technology is here to facilitate it, and the amount of friction that will get removed from recruiting processes will be a win for candidates, recruiters and hiring managers.Two weeks ago, the awesome team at Paradox invited me to speak and record some interviews at their client board event in Scottsdale, Arizona. Paradox is a technology that is really driving the progress of personalization. It was really insightful to talk to some of their clients about the need for personalization in their TA processes and the change journies they are taking their recruiters and hiring managers on to make personalization happen.I'll be sharing these interviews over two episodes of the show. Later in this episode, you'll get to hear from Adam Chen, Chief Marketing & Experience Officer at The Amenity Collective, Rachel O'Connell, VP of HR at Great Wolf Lodge and the return to the show of Victor Gaines SVP of Talent Acquisition at Aveanna Healthcare.But first of all, I sat down with the amazing Madeline Laurano, Founder of Aptitude Research, to get her views on the drive towards greater personalization.These are some of the topics you'll find discussed in this episode:How technology is driving personalizationCreating experiences through conversationHigh volume recruiting challengesSignificantly reducing time to hireChange managementBuilding a consumer grand candidate experienceUsing personas to differentiate the employee value propositionThe role of technology in personalizationImplementing technologyThe future of talent acquisitionListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Employer branding has always been important, but it is now absolutely critical to employers if they want to connect, engage and influence in demand talent. Employer branding isn't easy and for larger organisations building a global employer brand is a significant undertaking.So how do you make the business case for employer branding, and how does employer brand activation work amid all of the challenges 2022 poses for employers?My guest this week is Marije van der Togt, Head of Employer Branding at Just Eat Takeaway.com. Marije is highly experienced at building successful employer brands across multiple countries and has a massive amount of valuable insight to share.In the interview, we discuss:Challenges of becoming one company with one storyEvolving recruiting challengesHow strong consumer brands create challenges for employer brandsThe importance of culture in candidate choiceWhy invest in a global employer brand?How employer brand strategy enables the business strategyStorytelling and linking authentic people centric stories to EVP pillarsStrategically positioning podcasting as long form content.The role of data and technologySegmentationAdvice to other employers on developing a global employer brandWhat does the future look like?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 425: Building A High Performing Talent Acquisition TeamEp 426: AI Driven Talent IntelligenceEp 427: The Job Board MarketEp 428: Strategies For The Great ResignationEp 429: Open HiringEp 430: Developing People AnalyticsEp 431: Talent DensityEp 432: Long Term TrendsA full transcript will appear here shortlyListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts

After over two years of unprecedented disruption, it has become evident that things have changed forever. However, many employers are still attempting to stick with the talent acquisition and employee experience strategies they had before the pandemic. So what are the dangers of behaving as if nothing has changed, and how should companies now set their strategies for the long term?My guest this week is Amanda Black, Director of Inclusive Search at Good Works Consulting. Amanda has wide-ranging experience in talent acquisition and DE&I and has some expert insights to share on the long term impact of The Great Resignation.In the interview, we discuss:A disrupted talent marketShifts in the employer/employee modelRevealing inequalities in the systemPermanently changed expectationsLong term solutions and The Great OpportunityHow successful employers are shifting their employee experienceModelling and demonstrating valuesAre companies taking DE&I seriously?Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts

The challenges of 2022 are causing many organisations to think very differently about talent. The employers who are getting it right are looking holistically at talent acquisition, development, retention and attrition to create the opportunity to build a talent dense organisation.So what does this look like in practice, and how can your company get there?My guest this week is Taylor Roa, Director of Talent at Wistia. Wistia is a growing technology company with an incredible culture and a big focus on talent density. They also use video as their superpower to showcase their unique employer brand.In the interview, we discuss:Recruiting challenges at WistiaMeaningful work and culture versus cash and compromiseUsing video to represent the company culture authentically.Making a competitive advantage of putting people firstBecoming a talent dense organisationWhy retention is not about trapping peopleBeing a business that it is good to be fromHow the pandemic has changed workAdvice on getting more from video in employer brandingA defining decade in the future of workA full transcript will appear here shortly.Listen to this podcast on Apple. 

With a growing number of use cases, people analytics continues to develop both in sophistication and the amount of value it drives for employers. However, despite the quantum leap in recruiting technology we've seen in the last few years, I still feel that talent acquisition is significantly lagging behind where it should be in terms of data and analytics. My guest this week is Vic Akosile, an HR Strategy Consultant at Humananalytics. Vic is a highly experienced people analytics specialist. He gives us an excellent overview of what is going on in the space and what talent acquisition leaders need to consider if they want to develop their data and analytics capability.In the interview, we discuss:The evolution of People AnalyticsCutting edge use casesIncreasing digital interactions mean increasing amounts of data.People Analytics in talent acquisitionHow to develop more sophistication in People AnalyticsWhat trends is technology drivingUsing sentiment and network analysis to help with retentionWhere is People Analytics going in the future?Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts

Some of my favourite conversations in the last six months have been around inclusive hiring. Many people are doing brilliant work to support people from marginalised groups into the workforce, and I've learnt a lot from talking to employers like Timpson and organisations like The Bridge of Hope.In this episode, we're going to explore what happens when an employer removes all screening, all background checks and all education and experience requirements from their hiring to be more inclusive. What are the advantages, the challenges, and the results?My guest this week is Nykeba King, Global Head of Inclusion at The Body Shop. A few years ago, The Body Shop created an Open Hiring program to ensure they were being as inclusive as possible. It's a strategy that has produced some amazing results, and it is now giving them a unique competitive advantage in today's challenging talent markets.In the interview, we discuss:Recruiting challenges at The Body ShopWhat is Open Hiring, and how does it work?No background checks, no screening, no education requirementsHow Open Hiring is helping The Body Shop in the current talent marketsMaking recruiting more purposeful with "Targeted Recruitment."Replacing scrutiny with trustRemoving barriers and removing biasImplementation challengesThe danger of second-guessing someone's ability to do a jobWrap-around support to build an inclusive workplaceTime to hire, performance and retentionWhat's next for Open HiringListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Whether it's the Great Resignation or the Great Reset, whatever you choose to call it, it is undeniable that employers are currently finding it extremely challenging to attract and retain talent.So which strategies should companies be exploring to improve their odds in such a difficult market? My guest this week is Christine Wzorek, CEO and Founder of White Label Advisors. Christine is a highly experienced HR leader and has essential advice about building holistic human capital strategies to deal with these incredibly challenging times.In the interview, we discuss:What is driving the Great Resignation?Employer engagement, happiness and fulfilmentAdapting to the new realityWhy talent acquisition needs to mirror salesTreating candidates in a hospitality orientated wayTransparency in reward strategiesScaling L&D with technologyLevelling the playing field for diverse talentGender equalityThe future of talent acquisition and HRListen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.