Support for this podcast comes from Plumb. Plumb is a revolutionary workforce solutions provider that knows when people flourish business thrives. With their powerful new platform Plumb Thrive, you can unlock science-based data to help you measure and match human potential to job needs. Plumb Thrive provides personalized career insights, improves quality of higher and creates high performing teams from a single, simple to use platform. Want to learn more? Visit www.plumb.io and discover all the ways that Plumb can help you thrive. There's been more of scientific discovery, more of technical advancement and material progress in your lifetime and mind. Hi there, welcome to the August Roundup episode of Recreating Feature with me, Matt Alder. If you've not listened to Roundup before, it's a short review of the episodes that I've published in the last month to make sure you don't miss out on the valuable insights that my guests are sharing. My thanks to Plumb.io for their support of Roundup. I think the approach they're taking to skills-based thinking is both highly innovative and highly pragmatic. You should definitely check out their website and find out more. So, summer is now coming to an end and a new season is upon us. And it feels like one that's going to be pivotal for the future of TA. Change and transformation are in the air. Vendors are queuing up to launch new AI-enabled products, and the conference calendar is packed with events. The next four months are going to set the tone for 2025, and there are some big decisions for employers to make about the future of TA. As ever, Recreating Feature is here to bring you the insights you need to make the key decisions about the future of TA in your organisation. The podcast was back up to its usual two episodes a week during August, and I'm really grateful to the brilliant guests that I've spoken to over the last four weeks. First up in Episodes 631 was Dr Charles Handler, President and Founder of Rocket Hire. Rocket Hire is an organisation that designs, implements and validates employee selection solutions. Charles is also a featureist, working extensively to research and understand the impact of AI on the future of assessment. Assessment is the one area of TA acquisition, where we have proper peer-reviewed science about what is and isn't effective. Unfortunately, the use of science and assessment has tended to only happen in large organisations, and then not necessarily consistently. AI has the potential to change everything, making assessment technology faster and more accessible to employers of all sizes. However, there are huge dangers here. Not only does AI bring with it the potential for more bias in the process, things are moving so quickly that it may well be that some of the technology solutions coming into the market are built without due consideration of the fundamental principles of science and psychology that should be applied to assessment. Charles was the perfect person to talk to you about this evolution of the market and the steps that TA leaders can take to ensure their technology is fit for purpose and embed a more strategic approach to assessment. A whole new generation is entering the workforce at a time when work is changing for everyone. Getting the right talent is hard enough, but there are also considerable challenges in retaining talent and providing the right skills development to deal with the current speed of change in business and technology. So how can employers take a holistic approach to talent acquisition, talent management and L&D that resonates with a Gen Z audience while engaging the wider workforce? My guest on episode 632 was Delet Kalinga, global assurance talent leader at EY. EY has intensely focused on changing outdated perceptions around auditing as a career to bring new talent into their business. This is part of an overarching talent strategy that also focuses on upskilling and retention. In the interview we talk about the work that EY is doing to attract and retain the next generation of talent into auditing, the way attitudes to work are changing and how employee experience and learning and development methods need to adapt to these changing times. The pandemic created a moment of realisation and momentum about the importance of wellness at work and the role of the employer in this. Four years on from the first COVID lockdowns, it's become apparent that an effective well-being strategy is a vital part of talent acquisition and retention. So how should employers consider their employees well-being? What support can they offer and how do the employer and the employees both benefit? My guest on episode 633 was Luke Bullen, VP of Wellhub in the UK. Wellhub connects employees to the best options for fitness, mindfulness, therapy, nutrition and sleep. Luke had some fascinating and valuable insights to share on the latest thinking around well-being and its strategic importance to all employers. We talked about its continuing momentum and why it's now a board-level issue and the impact on talent acquisition, productivity and retention. Traditionally, hiring has been anchored around getting the right talent into the organisation. However, in these highly disrupted times, is this still the right way of operating? In our fast-changing world of work, looking at the skills needed to do the work offers organisations the flexibility to expand internal and external pools and consider outsourcing, offshoring, gig work, process improvement and AI-driven automation as alternative ways of getting the work done. So how does this work in practice? And what are the implications for the future of recruiting? My guest on episode 634 was Bruce Morton, Head of Strategy for Allegious Global Solutions. Bruce is a deep thinker about technology and the future of work and had some valuable insight into how some of the organisation's allegiance works with are thinking differently about talent. Allegious has also implemented a large-scale automation programme in its own business, which Bruce believes will facilitate a much more human-centric approach to recruiting. We're living in a time of unprecedented disruption in talent acquisition. Exponential advances in AI, shifting attitudes towards work, the ever-shrinking lifespan of skills, ageing populations and global workforce accessibility are all converging to create a revolutionary moment in our industry. Any one of these factors would be transformational on its own, but together they demand a completely new approach to how we attract, hire and retain talent. TA leaders know that getting their transformation strategies right is crucial. It's not just about filling jobs, it's about aligning with long-term business goals and staying ahead of the curve. But with change happening so rapidly, simply reacting to it isn't enough. It's critical to anticipate what's next and ensure strategies remain relevant and effective in this vast evolving landscape. There is a unique opportunity here to actively shape the future of talent acquisition. So how can you get the strategic foresight that you need to plan for such an uncertain future? Earlier in the summer, I spoke about the tools and mindsets required at RecFest UK. Episode 635 is an audio recording of that presentation, which explores the forces driving change, AI as a frenemy, the six elements of future casting and what the TA team of the future might just look like. As we've seen, the world of work is changing rapidly and this swift pace of change is forcing employers to rethink the kind of talent they need within their organisations, traits like curiosity, innovation, agility, flexibility and problem-solving are now more into mom than ever. However, despite the desire to attract and retain individuals with these qualities, traditional recruiting processes can often repel them and talent management strategies may often overlook those who are already part of the organisation. Retaining such high-value talent is also a significant challenge. So what do organisations need to do to hire and retain the change catalysts and innovators that they seek more effectively? And how can they better identify those that are already in their workforce? My guests on episodes 636 were Tracy Lovejoy and Shannon Lucas from Catalyst Constellations. Tracy and Shannon define catalysts as the visionaries within an organisation who quickly process information, translate it into actionable opportunities and are relentless in driving positive change. They have a vast amount of insight to share with employers about identifying and nurturing catalysts and lots of advice to catalysts themselves around managing their careers and reducing burnout. TA transformation has been a recurring theme on this podcast in recent months. A unique combination of macro and micro-forces is driving the need for substantial change, compelling TA leaders to respond swiftly and strategically. Technology, particularly AI and automation, is very much at the heart of this transformation. But what does this mean for established ATS vendors? How are they adapting to the evolving market landscape? And how are their product strategies being shaped to anticipate the future? On episodes 637, I spoke to Rebecca Carr, the newly appointed CEO of Smart Recruiters. Previously serving as Smart Recruiters Chief Product Officer, Rebecca offers insight into the importance of a product-led approach in these rapidly changing times. In our conversation, she shared her perspectives on the urgency of accelerating the leap from traditional ATS to the next generation of hiring solutions. We also discussed the importance of the hiring manager experience, the impact of the uncertainty around AI legislation and regulation, and her advice to TA leaders on designing tech strategies for the future. It's been a tough couple of years for TA acquisition. There was a time during the post-pandemic hiring wave when companies were struggling to recruit enough recruiters. Now the situation is the polar opposite, with TA team shrinking and many recruiters still being laid off. In such economically uncertain times, it's difficult to determine whether AI is starting to be a factor that impacts jobs in TA. However, based on the current adoption rates, it's probably fair to say that AI is still only a minor contributor to the overall situation, but this is quickly going to change. As employers start to look at transforming TA over the longer term, AI and automation will inevitably play a significant role in shaping the TA teams of the future. This raises important questions about job displacement and re-skilling. These are not just questions that AI raises for TA, they're questions that span the entire organisation, with a strong likelihood that all jobs will be impacted in some way. So how can employers prepare their workforce for these impending changes? And what is the likely split between job replacement, job enhancement and job creation? My guest on Episode 638 was Kamal Alawalia, President of Ika Kai Labs and former President of Eightfold AI. Kamal has extremely well-informed insights on AI's impact on jobs and skills, and valuable advice for employers and employees around evolving processes and upskilling. A huge thank you to Plum and Smart Recruiters for sponsoring Recruiting Future during the month of August. So onwards into September, and the start of what looks like it's going to be an epic conference season. I'm doing a lot of travelling in the next six weeks and visiting four different countries. If you are hiring success in Amsterdam or HR Tech in Las Vegas, I would love to connect, so please look out for me. It's also not too late to get your tickets to RecFest USA, which is happening next week in Nashville. You can get a ticket for just $99 by going to RecFest.com/USA and using the code MATLDER-99. That's MATLDER-99. There are eight great more interviews coming up on the podcast in September, so make sure you don't miss out on any of the conversations by following Recruiting Future wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks very much for listening. I'll be back next time, and I hope you'll join me. This is my show. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
