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

In this episode Matt Alder speaks to Bogomil Balkansky, VP at Google about Google entry into the recruiting market

In this episode Matt Alder speak to Mike Bailen, VP of People at Lever, about a modern approach to Recruitment Marketing

I launched The Recruiting Future Podcast in early 2015 as a way of making sense of what was going on in the Talent Acquisition space. The intention was to seek out stories and opinions from the people who are working on the front line of our changing industry and share them as widely as a possible. I’m absolutely delighted to have reached episode 100 and I’m hugely thankful to everyone who has helped to make the podcast so successful. It couldn’t happen without the brilliant guests, the supportive sponsors and the amazing listeners. There are over 45 hours of content across the recorded shows and to mark the 100th episode I wanted to do something to make it easier for people access some of the brilliant thinking and case studies that have been featured over the last two and half years. In this episode, you can hear extracts from 10 of my favourite interviews covering some of the key trends in talent acquisition including Recruitment Marketing, Recruiting Strategy, Data & Analytics, Recruiting Technology and The Future Of Work. Not only that you can find 40 interviews categorized by the key trends they cover in the free white paper I’ve written to accompany this show. Download the Trends In Talent Acquisition white paper here A special thanks to the wonderful people at Lever who are supporting the 100th episode and the white paper. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Matt Alder talks to Louis Halton-Davies about the huge benefits of using Programmatic Advertising for Recruitment Marketing

Despite all the recent advances in recruitment technology focused on improving recruitment efficiency, speed of hiring remains a significant issue for the vast majority of organisations. In fact there is actually a growing body of evidence that suggests speed of hiring is slowing down. So what can employers do to improve this situation? My guest this week is author and consultant Scott Wintrip. Scott has developed a methodology to eliminate hiring delays which he sets out in his recently published book, “High Velocity Hiring” In the interview we discuss: • Why time to hire is such a problem • The concept of Candidate Gravity • How employers can enrich the flow of talent into their organizations • Why common interview techniques don’t work and what should be used to replace them • Maintaining an inventory of talent for on demand hiring Scott also shares his thoughts on recruitment technology and tells us the single most important question employers should be asking themselves before they make technology investments Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes

Employer Branding has changed significantly in the last few years. Challenges round talent availability and evolving communication trends are forcing companies to think more strategically about the way they get their message out to their markets. We often hear about Employer Brand innovation in technology companies but how are things now working in more traditional companies? My guest this week is Euan McNair, Talent Acquisition and Employer Brand Consultant at Standard Life who are based in Edinburgh. Standard Life have been doing some interesting employer branding work recently and I know you’ll find the insights that Euan shares fascinating. In the interview we discuss: • Why Euan is so passionate about Employer Branding and how he defines it • The end of job adverts and the rise of employee story telling • Who owns Employer Brand • Channels, data and formats • Having a candidate centric approach Euan also shares his view on the likely future of the Employer Brand space Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes

Ever since my earliest of days in this industry I’ve be fascinated by Corporate Career Sites. It’s also become very clear to me in recent years that career sites should absolutely be the focal point of the new approaches we are seeing in recruitment marketing. Unfortunately I don’t think many employers have realised just how critical their career site is to their recruiting success. One person who does understand this though is my guest this week. Adam Templeman is Head of Commercial Staffing at QuintilesIMS. He has recently helped launched a new careers site for the organization and has some great insights to share. In the interview we discuss: • How recruitment marketing challenges have stayed the same but the answers to them have changed • The vital importance of engaging with target audiences • Using rich, dynamic and targeted content on career sites • Getting ATS integration right to increase conversions and improve candidate experience • Matching employer brand to employee experience Adam also gives us his views on the importance of automation and talks about what is next for QuintilesIMS Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Data and analytics continue to be key topics in Talent Acquisition. But what should employers be measuring, what value can the data give them and how widely is a data driven approach to recruiting actually being adopted? To answer these questions as well as many others, I’m delighted to welcome Kyle Lagunas, Research Manager at IDC, as my guest for this week’s show. Kyle has been intensely studying the development of data driven recruiting for several years and has some very interesting insights to share. In the interview we discuss: • The gap between current technologies and adoption • The evolution of measurement practices in recruiting • Recruiting skills versus Recruitment Marketing skills • How data can be used to optimize a recruiting operation • What is possible with analytics and how to measure beyond the usual activity metrics • An example strategic framework for developing data driving recruiting Kyle also give us his view on the future of some other current trends in talent acquisition including AI, Recruitment Marketing Platform and Chatbots Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes Find out more about my new book “Exceptional Talent”

The trends in tech recruiting are something that every employer should be following with interest. Even if your company isn’t currently recruiting tech professionals, it is important to know what is happening in the sector as the methodologies and practices being used for tech recruiting today, are likely to be used by everyone tomorrow. Tech Recruiting is the bellwether sector of our industry. Who better to get us up to speed with developments in this area than my guest this week, Hung Lee the founder of Workshape.io. Hung always has some great insights to share and it was brilliant to have him on the show. In the interview we discuss: • The current challenges in tech recruiting and the strategic decisions companies need to make to deal with them • The importance of mind-set shift • Having an “Always On” attitude to recruiting • Myth busting • The re-invention of the recruitment process • Interoperability, modularisation and decoupling Hung also gives us his views on the future of the sector and shares some of the great content he has recently curated. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

This week we don’t just have one guest, we have eight guests! A couple of weeks ago the guys at TA Tech invited me to the Rec Tech conference in Barcelona. Rec Tech is one of the biggest global trade conferences for the Job Board and Recruitment Technology industry. In this episode of the podcast you’ll here from eight senior leaders from the industry talk about the future of their industry, the changing nature of candidate expectations, the threat from Google and the potential of programmatic advertising and artificial intelligence. Thanks to the following people for taking part • Dennis Alshuler - Zip Recruiter • Renato Profico - Job Cloud • Dominique Cerri - InfoJobs • Monis Rahman - Rozee.pk • Ben Sole - Reed.co.uk • Angela Hood - This Way Global • Josh Gamble - Recruitics • Sergio Gonzalez - Cornerjobs Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

During the research process for my book, Exceptional Talent, it became clear that the importance of the concept of Employee Experience was growing rapidly. To talk us through the reasons behind this and to break down the key elements of the employee experience, I’m delighted to welcome eminent futurist and best selling author Jacob Morgan to the show. Jacob has recently written a new book called “The Employee Experience Advantage” which is based on detailed research into over 250 global employers. In the interview we discuss: • The three systems that make up Employee Experience • Corporate culture as the “side effects” of working for a particular organization • The four attributes of physical space • Tools to get the job done • The ROI of having a great Employee Experience • The future of HR Jacob also give us some examples of employers who are doing great work shaping their Employee Experience and the trends we can expect to see in the coming few years Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

One of the most talked about areas of HR and Recruiting is People Analytics. But why is it such a popular trend and, in practical terms, what does People Analytics actually even mean? I can think of no one better qualified to answer these questions than David Green, Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM and one of the world’s leading commentators on this topic. I’m delighted to have David as my guest on the show this week. In the interview we discuss: • David’s definition of People Analytics • The difference between analytics and reporting • Specific use cases of People Analytics across the talent lifecycle • Why recruiting is such a good fit for People Analytics • Predicting the future with Predictive Analytics • Internal and external data sources • AI and why we should believe some of the hype David also shares his views on using analytics to improve the employee experience and gives us his predictions for the future of this space P.S. My new book “Exceptional Talent” is available now. You can buy copies here directly from Kogan Page the publisher and if you use discount code FHRET20 you’ll get 20% off. If you want to subscribe to the Exceptional Talent mailing list to be kept updated on addition content and workshops we will be developing you can do that here www.exceptionaltalent.io Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

A bit of a special episode this week. As regular listeners will know, “Exceptional Talent” the book I’ve co-authored with Mervyn Dinnen has just been published. With so many of the themes covered in the book crossing over with those that get covered on the podcast I thought it would make sense to give you a deep dive into the book’s content. My guest this week to help me do this is, of course, my co-author Mervyn. Topics we discuss: • What is the book about and why did we write it • Our definition of Exceptional Talent and the Talent Journey • Getting Talent Attention • Recruitment and Marketing • Art vs Science in the reinvention of Assessment • Continuous Onboarding • HR as Talent Producers • Developing The Employee Experience • Engagement and Retention • The implications of more technology in the workplace You can buy the book here directly from Kogan Page and if you use discount code FHRET20 you’ll get 20% off. If you want to subscribe to the Exceptional Talent mailing list to be kept updated on addition content and workshops we will be developing you can do that here www.exceptionaltalent.io Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

This week sees a first for the show, rather than me just interviewing one guest, in this episode I’m interviewing two. I recently headed down to Pepsico’s UK offices in Reading to have a conversation with Kevin Hough, their Head of Talent Acquisition for the UK and Ireland, and Dan Fitzpatrick, Talent Acquisition Lead for PepsiCo Global Concentrate Solutions. We covered a lot of ground in our discussion and it was great to hear Kevin and Dan talk about some of the everyday realities of in house recruitment within a large corporate. In the interview we discuss: • PepsiCo’s recruiting challenges • Anticipating STEM recruitment needs • How Talent Acquisition is changing as a discipline • Is recruiting the same as marketing? • The changing skill set of the in house recruiter • Rethinking relationships with recruitment agencies • The role of technology Kevin and Dan also give us their views on the likely future for talent acquisition. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

The future of job boards has been an ongoing debate in our industry for years. A debate that has been dominated by predictions of their demise. These predictions have so far proved to be erroneous. But what is their future? Who to better to ask than my guest this week Peter Weddle. Peter is the CEO of TA Tech, the trade association for the global talent acquisition technology industry. He has been a close observer of the job board market since its inception in the 1990s and has some great insights to share. In the interview we discuss: Peter’s history in the industry and some of the changes he has seen Why talent acquisition vendors are looking at solution stacking and building partnerships and alliances The potential of programmatic advertising and what recruiting can learn from mistakes made in e-commerce advertising The challenge of transitioning from duration based advertising to performance based advertising Other ways that Job Boards are changing. Peter also shares his views on the future and gives us details of several unique events being run by TA Tech during 2017 Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Time for something completely different. One of my favorite industry podcasts is Hiring On All Cylinders produced by the lovely people at Entelo. This week, in the interests of friendly podcast co-operation, I’m doing a podcast exchange with them. I’m interviewed in the latest episode of Hiring On All Cylinders, talking about my new book and everything I’ve learned from interviewing all my wonderful podcast guests. Meanwhile on this week’s Recruiting Future Podcast my guest is Jill Witty, VP of Talent and Operations at Entelo. Jill has helped the company scale up from 7 employees to a 120 employees and has some fascinating insights into the modern world of Talent Acquisition. In the interview we discuss: • Innovative recruiting approaches • Diversifying talent pools at the top of the funnel • Establishing a compelling and competitive employer brand • Values based recruiting that focuses on culture add rather than culture fit Jill also gives us her take on the future of talent acquisition technology and in particular the potential role of artificial intelligence in recruiting. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Over the last few weeks a number of guests on the podcast have mentioned that they have been included in Glassdoor’s Best Places To Work list and I’m sure many of you are interested in finding out more about what this actually means. My guest this week is Lisa Holden , Employer Communications Manager at Glassdoor. I spoke to Lisa to find out how the Best Places To Work list is put together and also to understand more about the growing correlation between employee voice and employer brand. In the interview we discuss: • The origins of Best Places To Work • Debunking some common myths • What are the common traits that propel employers up the list • Why the relationship between employee voice and employer brand is so important • The vital importance of transparency Lisa also talks us through some of the more surprising inclusions in the list and gives us her thoughts on future trends Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes ANNOUNCEMENT: You can now download a dedicated Recruiting Future Podcast app for your smart phone or tablet. Just search for “Recruiting Future” in the Apple or Google Play app stores.

Over the last few years, we have seen the development of a new type of recruiting technology, the recruitment marketing platform. Designed to make Talent Attraction more strategic and bring marketing technologies and techniques to recruiters, these platforms are certainly making an impact but I sense that there is still a lot of confusion surrounding them. My guest this week is Madeline Laurano, principal analyst and co-founder of Aptitude Research Partners. Madeline has recently authored a market report on recruitment marketing platforms which is designed to give potential buyers much needed insight into this emerging space. In the interview we discuss: • What recruitment marketing platforms are and what they are not • The changes in Talent Acquisition that are driving the market for this type of technology • The key features and capabilities of recruitment marketing platforms. • The value and results clients are seeing from using these platforms • What buyers should be looking for when selecting a recruitment marketing platform Madeline also gives us her view on the likely future of this market in terms of partnerships and consolidation. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

One of the things I’ve learned from interviewing people for the podcast is that very often the most effective recruiting innovations come from the recruiting teams at tech start-ups who have successfully scaled. This is normally as a result of the size of the recruiting challenges they tend to face and the speed at which they must overcome them. My guest this week is Anna Lambert, Director of Talent Acquisition at Shopify. Shopify is a great example of a tech company that has scaled massively and Anna has some great insights on recruiting innovation to share. In the interview we discus: • How to maintain quality of hire as you grow • The life story approach to recruiting • Interview shadowing • Effective strategies to overcome human unconscious bias • The critical importance of employer brand Anna also talks about the advantages of her non-recruiting background and gives her view on the outlook for the future. Shopify are currently looking for new recruiters to join their team, more details are available on their careers site Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

I’ve noticed that there is an increasing amount of discussion about the use of personas as a tool for sourcing and recruitment marketing. However I also suspect that is still not a great deal of understanding about what personas actually are and just how useful they can be. I can think of no better person to shed some light on this top than John Vlastelica from Recruiting Toolbox. John returns for a second visit to the show after his incredibly popular interview last year on hiring managers In this interview we discuss: What are personas, how can they be used and what are their advantages The key components of a persona and how you go about creating them How personas can be used to build pipelines in a way that massively accelerate time to hire Using personas to help shape the recruiting sell by defining magnet people and magnet projects John also give his thoughts on the future role of technology in this area and explains why he wants to see more employers using these persona based methodologies. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Employer Branding and Content Marketing are two phrases that are being used more and more frequently these days. But what do they actually mean? How do they work together and why should employers be investing time and money into them? My guest this week is someone who knows the answer to all of these questions, James Ellis from Bex Consultants. James is an Employer Brand and Content Marketing specialist who has some really interesting insights into these topics. In the interview we discuss: • The definition of an Employer Brand • How employers can use re-framing to influence the perception of their brand • How Content Marketing can be used for Employer Brand activation • Brand patterns and story telling • The evolution of content formats James also talks us through the employers who he thinks are doing this well and give his advice for companies who are just getting started on this journey Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes Click here to pre-order “Exceptional Talent”

As part of my continuing focus on getting a diverse range of opinions and voices on the show, this week I thought it would be interesting to get the views of a Global HR Director. My guest for this episode is Graeme Cook, Group HR Director at ground engineering specialist Keller, a company who employ 10,000 people across 40 different companies. Graeme’s career has itself been a global one and he has worked in several different countries for his past employers, giving him a genuinely global perspective. In the interview we discuss: • Some of the key considerations and challenges of operating HR at a global level • Skill shortages in the Oil, Gas and Engineering sectors • The three key parts of the HR Director’s role and HR’s position within the organization • Technology, automation and the future of HR Graeme also talks about his transition from working in finance to working in HR and gives his views on the challenges of managing a multi-generational workforce. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes Click here to pre-order “Exceptional Talent”

It has become very clear from the conversations I’ve been having with employers this year that the problems posed by current and future skill shortages have never been higher on their agenda. The best companies are acting to solve these problems by thinking differently and tapping into some extremely valuable pools of talent that they may have previously overlooked. My guest this week is Jane Hatton Director of Evenbreak, a job board that matches talented disabled job seekers with inclusive employers. In the interview we discuss: • The strong business case for employing disabled people • Popular misconceptions round the implications of employing disabled people • How people with particular impairments (autism as one example) can bring particular skills to the workplace • How employers should go about attracting disabled people to their organization and how they should be adapting their recruitment processes to get the best talent • Which employers are doing this well Jane also shares her advice on the first steps employers should take to gain access to this valuable pool of talent Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Over the last few years there has been a massive proliferation in the number of talent acquisition tools and technologies on the market. The pace of change shows no sign of slowing down and it is increasingly difficult for talent acquisition leaders to know just where they should be focusing. My guest this week is Lance Haun, Practice Leader at The Starr Conspiracy Intelligence Unit. The Starr Conspiracy have recently published their 2017 Talent Acquisition Brandscape Report. A piece of research designed to help make sense of a confusing and fast moving market. In the interview we discuss: • How do you categorize and segment such a “nebulous” market sector • The current biggest area for innovation in talent acquisition • Dealing with the potential implications of Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn • The two key future trends everyone should be aware of Lance also gives us his view on the future pace of change in the sector and the likely impact of any potential global economic slow down Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

It is always important to step back and see the world through a different lens. With that in mind, I’ll be talking to several people on the show this year who have a vested interest in recruiting but aren’t viewing it from inside the industry bubble. My guest on this week’s show is Charlie O’Donnell founder and partner at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures in New York. Charlie is an early stage investor in a number of fast growing start-up companies and has first-hand experience of seeing which recruiting strategies are working in these dynamic business environments. In the interview we discuss: • The importance of effective team building • The challenges of defining and hiring to cultural fit • An “A Player” culture versus a learning based culture • Where the real skill shortages are in start-up recruitment • The effectiveness of having an iterative approach to developing job descriptions Charlie also shares his advice on how recruiters and start up founders can work better together Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Talent Attraction in areas of extreme skill shortage is something that is consistently difficult. I’m always interested in any creative ways that employers are using to tackle the problem, particularly when they don’t have a massive budget or unlimited resources to use to solve it. My guest this week is Ruth Penfold, Director of Talent Acqusition at Shazam, a company who are regularly having to use innovative talent attraction approaches to bring on the board the talent they need. In the interview we discuss: • Why Shazam’s existing employees are their most importance Talent Attraction tool and why recruitment is everyone’s responsibility • The benefits of a transparent culture • The importance of candidate communication and an authentic candidate experience • Why being seen in the right communities is critical to success • Generational mindset and purpose We also discuss Shazam’s priorities for 2017 and Ruth gives us an insight into the unique musical experiences on offer to Shazam’s employees! Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

For this first episode of 2017 I wanted to offer you something a bit different. Last year I was fortunate enough to deliver the opening keynote at HR Tech Fest in Johannesburg. My topic was the dual role I feel HR needs to play in the digital transformation of business. It was quite a personal presentation for me as I shared some of the lessons that I’ve learned from the 20 years of my career I have spent being digital disruptive in several different industries. The conference organizers, The Eventful Group, made an audio recording of the presentation which I’m delighted to share with you as this week’s podcast episode. In the presentation, you’ll hear me talk about five key lessons I’ve learnt about digital transformation: 1) Change is Exponential 2) There is a Revolution at Work 3) Exceptional Talent Wins 4) Perfect is not Best 5) Think the Unthinkable In case you are wondering you don’t actual need to see the slides to understand the presentation but if you want to have a look you can find them here on SlideShare Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

It’s always great to welcome a previous guest back to the show. I’m particularly pleased this week to be able to welcome back William Uranga, Director or Technical and Corporate Recruiting at GoDaddy. Last time he was on the show William shared the tactics GoDaddy were using to recruit in some highly competitive markets. In this week’s episode William gives us an insight into the journey his talent acquisition are on to move from being reactionary to operational and ultimately to be genuine strategic partner for their business. In the interview we discuss: • How GoDaddy’s recruiting challenges have changed • Finding new ways of being proactive and partnering with the business • Making talent acquisition predictable in its delivery • The benefits of providing analytics to hiring managers • An incredibly smart way of improving the candidate experience If you are an in house recruiting leader looking for a model for change then this interview really is a must listen. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Some of the most interesting and effective technological innovation I have seen this year has been in the area of assessment. Whilst many of the new approaches aren’t yet widespread, I think they point towards a coming fundamental shift in the way we think about this part of the recruiting process. My guest this week is Dr Nathan Mondragon, Chief IO Psychologist at Hirevue. Hirevue have been doing some fascinating work within the science of assessment and its ability, via data and technology, to accurately predict performance. In the interview we discuss: • How technology and science are challenging the established norms of assessment • The hidden data in words, inflection, pauses and facial micro expressions • How video analytics can be combined with subsequent job performance data to develop predictive hiring models. • Using science to understand the art of recruiting and the changing role of humans within the recruitment process Nathan talks about the types of tangible ROI that employers in a number of different industries have gained from using this approach and he also shares his thoughts on what we can expect to happen in the future. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

2016 will be remembered for many things but in our industry one of the most notable trends has been the reinvention and resurgence of recruitment marketing. I’ve been working in recruitment marketing since 1999 so its certainly not a new thing but it has been interesting that this year has seen so much discussion and debate around it. To help me make sense of this my guest this week is HR Pro, Recruiter and industry commentator Tim Sackett. Tim recently hosted Smashfly’s Transform recruitment marketing conference and I was delighted to have him on the podcast to talk about the latest thinking in what is a critically important area for talent acquisition. In the interview we discuss: • Why Recruitment Marketing is back on the agenda and what has changed • Marketing spin versus authentic employee experience • The role of story telling • How technology is supporting the reinvention of the discipline • The advantages of corporate recruiting and marketing departments working closely together Tim also talks us through which employers he thinks are doing this well and also shares his views on the likely impact of President Trump on recruiting and HR in 2017 and beyond. This episode of the podcast is kindly supported by Hirevue Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

This week we return to the popular topic of improving the Candidate Experience. There is a lot of talk at the moment about the importance of treating candidate’s as customers but what happens when your candidates actually are your customers! My guest this week is Ben Gledhill, Talent Acquisition manager at retailer Sofology. Sofology is going through a digital transformation process at the moment to fulfill its aim of being an omnichannel retailer. They have been looking hard at their candidate experience and Ben offers some great practical insights into their learning and the improvements they have made. In the interview we discuss: • How a negative candidate experience can affect Sofology’s business • Building an emotional link with candidates • How to achieve total visibility on the candidate experience • Mandatory hiring manager interview training • The vital importance of a mobile optimized ATS • Using NPS ratings for candidate experience measurement • The value of explaining the recruitment process up front on the corporate career site Ben also talks about what’s next for talent acquisition at Sofology and gives us his view on emerging recruitment technologies. This episode of the podcast is kindly supported by HireVue Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

The first digital project I ever worked on was building a career website for German engineering giant Siemens. Since then I’ve been fascinated by the evolution of corporate career sites and I am currently working with a number of my clients to help them optimize this area of their talent acquisition strategy. My guest this week is someone who shares my obsession with career sites. Bas Van De Haterd is an independent consultant and entrepreneur based in The Netherlands. For the last 10 years Bas has run a major piece of research which audits the career sites of the largest 500 Dutch employers and he has a huge amount of insight to share. In the interview we discuss: • How to audit a career site • The single simple thing employers could do which would improve their response rates by 25% • Three areas which can be improved to give a better candidate experience • How to optimise a legacy ATS system to improve the application process • The balance between jobs, conversion and employer branding • Bas also talks about the development of mobile and shares his thoughts on innovation in this area. This episode of the podcast is supported by Metashift Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In last week’s episode I featured interviews with nine people who were searching for innovation at the HR Tech Conference in Chicago. This week I wanted to continue the same theme but with more of a focus on specific trends in recruiting. My guest this week is Andy McIlvaine who is conference chair for The Talent Acquisition Technology Conference and The Recruiting Trends Conference both of which are organized by Human Resource Executive (the company behind HR Tech) and take place in Austin Texas in November. In the interview we discuss: • The changing role of video in the talent acquisition process • Candidate Relationship Management and Candidate Experience • The latest social media methods and Recruitment Marketing Platforms • Whether talent shortages are genuine and what employers can do to solve the problem • Unconscious bias in recruiting • Predictive Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Andy also gives us a taster of the case studies that will be presented at the conferences and shares what has surprised him the most as a journalist covering this sector. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Innovation and disruption are words that are used so often these days it is sometimes difficult to spot technologies that are genuinely innovative and genuinely disruptive. This seems to be a particular problem in the HR and Recruiting space. Last week I was one of the several thousand attendees at the HR Tech conference in Chicago trying to find clues about where our industry is heading. In this special HR Tech episode of the show you’ll hear from a number of people I met on my quest to discover HR innovation nirvana. My guests are: Gareth Jones from Chemistry Labs Bill Boorman from Recruiting Daily Kirstie Kelly from Launchpad Robert Newry from Artic Shores David Green from IBM Al Ademsen from The Talent Strategy Institute Chris Broderick from B .near Global Manish Goel from Trustsphere Neil Morrison from Penguin Random House We discuss everything from People Analytics to fake Artificial Intelligence and attempt to make some sense of the diverse HR technology landscape. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

One of the topics we’ve never really covered in much detail on the podcast is the role of sourcing in corporate recruiting. It is obviously something that is absolutely critical to many organizations particularly those who are recruiting in market segments that are suffering skill shortages. My guest this week is Chris Shaw Director of Talent at Meteor. Chris has previously been part of the recruiting team at Google and was part of the team who recruited 300 hires in 11 months at Twitter. At Meteor he focuses on recruiting the top 1% of the top 1% of technology talent and I’m delighted he agreed to come on the show to share his thoughts and some of the practical techniques he uses. In the interview we discuss: • Why turning passive candidates into active ones is always better than post and pray • How to identify your Hiring Bar • The importance of a great ATS • Automation and personalization Chris also gives us a step by step walk through of the techniques he uses and share his thoughts on the future of sourcing This episode the podcast is kindly sponsored by Lever, where ATS meets CRM Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

The critical role employer branding plays in attracting top tech talent to companies is something we have covered a few times on the podcast. However, what happens when you need to create an employer brand for an entire country? The Irish government recently initiated a project to do just that in order to service the growing need to import top tech talent into the Irish digital economy. My guest this week is Niall Dowling who is Strategic Director at Atomic, the marketing agency who are delivering the project and its resulting website www.techlifeireland.com In the interview we discuss: • The strategic thinking behind the employer brand • Some surprising insights from the research that reveal the motivations that drive people to relocate • Audience segmentation and personas • The importance of quality of career and meaningful work • How the brand has been activated and optimized for the target audience. Niall also shares the results of the project so far and offers his advice to companies looking to attract senior talent from abroad. This episode of the podcast is kindly supported by Lever, where ATS meets CRM Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

The balance between global consistency and local nuance in recruitment marketing is a difficult issue that provokes a lot of debate. It has become clear to me from working with a number of employers in this area that there are no right answers and every company needs a bespoke approach to be successful. My guest this week is John McCall who oversees Talent Branding for Groupon in the EMEA region. Groupon has grown via acquisition in EMEA, creating a number of challenges for brand and marketing consistency. In the interview we discuss: • Groupon’s definition of Talent Branding and how they are positioning themselves as an employer of choice. • Creating a core central truth with local variations • Marketing effectively in multiple languages • The role of mobile video and social engagement • The importance of messaging consistency throughout the business John also talks about what is next for Groupon and gives us his thoughts on the future of Talent Branding This episode of the podcast is kindly supported by Lever, where ATS meets CRM Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Changing established ways of thinking is difficult. Changing established ways of thinking about recruiting within large organizations can seem impossible. However, with economies fluctuating, technology improving and people’s communication preferences developing, driving effective change is a key part of the job for every in house recruiting leader. My guest this week is Samantha Ramsay, Head of Resourcing and Employer Brand for House of Fraser. Over the last two years Samantha has been systematically challenging assumptions, moving mindsets and embracing new technology to order to drive change within her organization. In the interview we discuss: • The difference between recruiting and resourcing • How fundamental change creates massive impact • Questioning standard practice in recruiting • Why House of Fraser prioritise behaviours and traits over past experience • Success with bespoke online assessment and video interviewing Samantha also shares her view on the relationship between resourcing and marketing and how resourcing should now be positioned in a very different way The podcast is kindly supported by Lever, where ATS meets CRM Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Employer branding has never been a more popular discussion topic with a huge amount of content and conference time now dedicated to it. However, when you dig below the surface, there is very little that addresses the day to day concerns of employer brand practitioners, particularly those working within global organizations. Working in partnership with my regular co-collaborator Mervyn Dinnen and in conjunction with employer brand solution provider Papirfly, this summer we did a piece of research design to restore the balance by uncovering the real issues in employer branding. On the podcast this week I’m joined by Sara Naveda, Client Director at Papirfly, to discuss the research and its findings. In our discussion we cover four key issues: • How to align internal and external brand to greater effect • Why employer brand becomes even more important in times of commercial turmoil • How to adopt employee generated content to grow your employer brand at scale • The importance of measuring effectiveness of your efforts, and best practice techniques for doing so You can download the full insight report here for free Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Planning and executing a social media strategy for recruiting and employer branding is never a straight forward undertaking. However, doing this within a global organization can be particularly problematic. Complex stakeholder relationships with PR, marketing and comms are a key issues as is getting the right segmentation of channels across geographies and audiences. Local versus Global is a debate I’m often asked my opinion on. My guest this week is Charu Malhotra. Charu has a wealth of experience working as an interim within a range of global organizations and has some unique expertise in building global social recruiting strategies. She is currently leading EVP and Employer Branding projects at Ferrero. In the interview we discuss: • The specific challenges social media presents for complex global organizations • Transparency and fishing where the fish are • Content types • Alignment, stakeholder relations and project management • Global versus Local • The power of social media as a research tool Charu also shares her thoughts on the future development of social media and tells us which emerging social channel she thinks has the most potential. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Over the past five years there has been an investment boom in technology products aimed at the talent acquisition market. The industry is getting more complex by the day and making sense of it is a constant challenge for corporate recruiting leaders. My guest in this episode is Jon Kestenbaum Executive Director at New York based think tank and incubator Talent Tech Labs. Talent Tech Labs have done a huge amount of work to map out and understand this technology market and has developed a taxonomy that identifies 27 different categories of product in the sourcing to onboarding journey. In the interview we discuss: • How to make sense of the complex market by cutting through the marketing spin • Disruptive solutions versus point solutions • The importance of analytics • The Five key trends of 2106 • Levels of innovation and tech adoption being seen among corporate employers and staffing companies. Jon also tells us what has surprised him most during his two years at Talent Tech Labs and gives his view on the likely future of the talent technology space. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

I realized recently that in the previous 60 episodes of this podcast we’ve had hardly any discussion about Applicant Tracking Systems. I’m very keen to rectify this. ATS systems are crucial to so many employers as a key part of the recruiting process. Many people feel that they have not kept pace with the changing nature of recruiting and the expectations of their users. This is certainly true of some systems but there have been some recent innovations in the ATS space that I wanted to get some opinion on. My guest this week is Jess Hayes, Talent Manager and HR Lead for Lost My Name. Jess has worked with a number of different types of ATS during her career and I wanted to get her views on the changes in the space. In the interview we discuss: • How the purpose of an ATS has developed over the last few years • Expectations of the ATS and why software should adapt as user requirements develop • The responsibility of the recruiter • Limiting the administrative burden so recruiters can spend more face time with candidates • Why integrations are so important • The potential of nurturing workflows • Advice for anyone changing ATS or purchasing one for the first time Jess also tells us which of the new breed of ATS is her favourite and gives her thoughts on the features and functionality that will be needed in the future. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Recognising and addressing unconscious bias in the recruitment process is one of the biggest issues HR and Recruiting professionals face. Dealing with it can be difficult, especially in large organisations, but it certainly not something that is impossible. My guest on the podcast this week is Jon Hull Group Head of Resourcing at Carillion. Carillion have been running diversity and inclusion initiatives that addresses issues with unconscious bias head on and they have had some seriously impressive results. In the interview we discuss: • How neuroscience helped Carillion make sense of their problem • Why bottom up is better than top down • Diversity and Inclusion as innovation • Unconscious bias in recruitment marketing and employer branding • How HR started to think differently about themselves Jon also talks through the results Carillion have seen from these initiatives and gives his advice to employers who are looking at how to deal with similar issues. This week’s podcast is kindly supported by Lever, where ATS meets CRM Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

We live in interesting times. Technology is evolving constantly around us and unsurprisingly everyone’s attention is often focused on what will be the next disruptive game changer for the recruitment industry. What we don’t pay enough attention to though is the experiences and frustrations of candidate who have to try and stand out in a noisy world using the tools that are completely outmoded in other aspects of life but jealously held onto by the recruitment industry. A shiny new CRM or a brilliant assessment algorithm may make recruiters’ lives easier but they don’t really make the experience of recruitment very different for the candidate when everything still hangs round them having to use a word document CV or static LinkedIn profile to get the recruiter’s attention in the first place. The situation is untenable in the long term and it shouldn’t come as a shock that eventually the jobseekers were going to take things into their own hands. My guest on this week’s episode is Esther Crawford creator of a “Resumebot” which took her from frustrated jobseeker to funded entrepreneur. I want you to imagine a world where artificially intelligent chatbots match candidates and recruiters in a completely authentic and bespoke way. In the interview you will hear Esther’s story and find out how she might have taken us on the first step of the journey to a new way of recruiting This week’s podcast is kindly supported by Lever, where ATS meets CRM Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Ep 58: How To Nurture Passive Talent One of the biggest issues I’m seeing Resourcing leaders face this year is the challenge of introducing digital marketing methodologies and behaviours into their strategies. There are some great tech tools out there if they are not utilized in the right way then failure is assured, especially when working with passive talent. There are a number of organizations who are adapting brilliantly to the new recruiting reality and using digital marketing tools extremely effectively to help them achieve their resourcing objectives. One such company is Salesforce and my guest this week is Jennifer Johnston who is their Head of Global Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing. In the interview we discuss: • The challenges of recruiting 7000 people a year in the toughest geographies and talent segments • The importance of reputation and how to actively manage it • How to qualify talent pipelines to avoid wasting people’s time • Nurturing passive candidates using pre-tested, optimized content • Using data to quantify addressable markets of talent Jennifer also shares her strategy for educating line managers to improve the candidate experience and gives us an insight into her vision for the future of recruitment marketing. This podcast is kindly supported by Lever, where ATS meets CRM Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

We live in an age of digital noise and distraction. How can you be sure you are getting the attention necessary to persuade the right people to join your company? Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing a number of presentations and webinars on the concept of “Talent Attention” as I’m finding it is becoming more and more of an issue for employers all over the world. This week’s episode is a recording of a webinar I did last week and in the presentation I talk about: • The Talent Attention problem and why it is getting worse • Why it is easy to blame the tools but actually we need to think about Talent Acquisition in a different way • A metaphor to illustrate what recruiters often get wrong when attempting to get the attention of potential hires • The complexity problem • A simple model that can help you radically improve your strategy and ensure you get the attention of the right talent I hope you enjoy this departure from the normal podcast style, next week’s episode will revert back to the normal interview format. Please follow this link to contact me Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Using Employee generated content for employer brand communication is a topic we’ve covered a couple of times on the podcast now. In this episode I want to take things to the next level and talk about using employees as brand ambassadors to strategically distribute and amplify brand content as a way of reaching targeted networks of talent. I’ve always considered this to be the key to social recruiting success and my guest this week, Craig Fisher the Head of Employer Branding at CA Technologies, is certainly someone who shares this view. I’ve known Craig for a long time now and he has always been a practitioner who operates at the cutting edge of social media, experimenting with different tools and techniques to get tangible recruiting results. In the interview we discuss: • Why EVP should be “inside out” with the employees themselves communicating and carrying the brand • Using employee advocacy platform technologies • The 5-1 “give to ask” ratio and why it is vital to success • How CA Technologies identified 80 internal brand champions and the results they have seen after the first five months of the advocacy program. • The best tools for curating relevant job seeker content Craig also gives some great practical advice on how to start a employee advocacy program and share his thoughts on emerging recruiting technologies Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In my work as a consultant, I’m constantly seeing examples of employers whose recruitment marketing and employer brand activity is ineffectual because they are lacking content from their employees that illustrates what working for them is really like. Generating, managing and optimizing this kind of content is hard and can potentially take up huge amounts of resource. Unsurprisingly then we are now seeing a growing number technology companies providing products and services to help employer brand managers in this area. My guest on this episode of the podcast is Phil Strazzulla the Founder and CEO of LifeGuides, a company that is helping employers capture and tell their employees stories. In the interview we discuss: • The advantages of using “Employee Authored Content” • Some of the reasons employers struggle in this area • What makes great employee content and the vital importance of authenticity • The problem with “Frankenstein” job descriptions • How data insights can help Phil also gives us examples of companies who are doing this well and offers his advice on how to get started. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Predicting the future of work is not an exact science, however one prediction that most people seem to agree with is that there will be a significant rise in freelance and contract working. This trend is already here; recent years have seen both a significant rise in the contingent workforce and the advert of talent marketplaces shaping the “gig economy”. My guest this week is Connor Heaney, Managing Director of CXC Corporate Services. I first met Connor last year when I spoke at CXC’s future of work summit in Dublin. Since then Connor has been running future of work think tanks all over the world and has some important perspectives on how companies should be preparing themselves for the future of work. In the interview with discuss: • The positives and negatives of the rise of the gig economy • The lack of government readiness to understand the changes and give the new workforce the support they need • Predicted growth rates for the contingent workforce and its implications for traditional companies • How ready companies are for the legal and tax implications of larger contingent workforces • The evolution in Employer Branding that is needed make sure companies are attracting the right contingent talent. • Recruiters versus algorithms Connor also talks the most interesting technology innovations he is seeing in the space and gives us his view on the future Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

People Analytics is one of the hottest topics there is in HR at the moment. A data revolution is starting to make companies radically rethink their approaches to attracting, retaining and developing talent. Technology is transforming the kind of qualitative research that underpins employer branding and employee engagement strategies, providing the ability to generate instant insights that would have previously taken months of work to produce. My guest this week is Andrew Marritt from Organization View. Andrew is a pioneer in the field of text analytics for HR and has some fascinating insights into the potential for data in the talent space. • In the interview we discuss: • The relevance of Big Data for HR • The power of using technology to bring meaning to the free text data found in performance reviews and employee surveys on a massive scale • How free text analytics can help to develop subtle differences in employer brand messaging to give maximum appeal across multiple target audiences • The potential for real time analysis of job applications to generate automated smart follow up questions, particularly in the graduate recruitment space Andrew also share his thoughts on the application of text analytics to email and workplace collaborations systems to spot conversational trends within organizations Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes