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

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

The popularity of moving recruitment in house continues to grow and is now something that is happening across all types of businesses whether they are large corporates, SMEs or high growth start ups. Setting up a in house recruitment function can be a learning experience both for the company and for the recruiters involved as the reality is often much more complex than the theory. My guest this week is Nick Yockney Head of People for Property Partner, a property crowdfunding platform. Nick has set up two new in house recruiting functions since making the transition from agency recruiter to in house recruiter and is very open and honest about his experiences. In the interview we discuss: • The Difficulties for recruiters when moving from agency to in house • The motivations businesses might have for bringing recruitment in house • The importance of understand the rhythm of the business and the value an in house function can add if it does this • The dangers of over-promising • Thinking strategically while realistically assessing the tools you have • Function over fashion in recruitment technologies. Nick also tells us what has surprised him most about moving in house, the tools he finds most useful and his views on the future. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Gartner Research predicts that by 2020 75% of business will be a digital business or preparing to become one. Digital Transformation is the number one priority for many CEOs and I think it is crucial that HR and Recruiting positions themselves to be key drivers in this business revolution. The companies who can attract and retain the right talent at the right time in the right way are going to be the ones who win the raceGovernments tend to have terrible track records when it comes to technology and the UK government is no exception. However in recent years The Government Digital Service has managed to break the mould and make some fantastic progress with the digital transformation of many core UK Government services. My guest this week is Zeshaan Shamsi who is now Head of Talent Acquisition at background check company Onfido. Previous to this he was Head of Recruitment for the Government Digital Service and his experience there is the main focus of our conversation.In the interview we discuss: • The background to the Government Digital Service, how it came about and what it is tasked with doing • The benefits of challenging the status quo and questioning everything especially entrenched recruiting processes • Honest open communication and why it is so important in driving change • The importance of data driven approaches to recruitment • Cool tools and silver bulletsZeshaan also tells us why he can’t predict the future and shares his frank opinions on “celebrity” recruitment gurus!Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Employer Branding continues to be as hot a topic as ever and we’ve covered it from a few angles different angles on previous podcasts. One aspect I’ve been doing a lot of research into this year is how large companies deal with the issue of EVP and employer brand consistency across different countries and different job types. My guest this week is John Wilson the CEO and Founder of RPO WilsonHCG. WilsonHCG have offices all over the world and work with many clients on a global basis.In the interview we discuss: • How companies can make their employer brands globally consistently but also make sure that they resonate locally • Which companies do this well • Dealing with social media in multiple languages • The difference between C-Suite perceptions and EVP reality • The role of employee generated content in employer brand engagement • The global impact of employee review sitesJohn also gives us his thoughts about the future and the commercial implications of a poor employer brandSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

When industry commentators write and speak about talent acquisition, there is a tendency towards generalized truisms that seemingly apply to all employers. The actual truth is much more nuanced and there are distinct differences in the reality of talent acquisition both between industries and between SMEs and large enterprises.My guest for this episode is David Mason. David has worked at a senior level driving talent acquisition innovation at a number of very large corporates in some progressive industry sectors.In the interview we discuss: • Three key things that have changed in Talent Acquisition over the last five years • Which industries are driving innovation and why • The problems large corporates have with embracing new technology • Where Talent Acquisition leaders should focus in order to drive changeDavid also gives us his views on the future and the role he sees being played by “Applied Artificial Intelligence” in recruiting.Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

Sometimes if you want to be innovative you need to challenge the status quo by taking the tried and tested ways of working and turning them on their head. Often you’ll find they are tried and tested for a reason but sometimes subverting the norm will bring results that make everyone think differently.On the show last year I talked to Neil Morrison the Group HRD of Penguin Random House about an experimental entry level recruitment programme his team were running know as The Scheme. One year on The Scheme has been so successful Penguin Random House are running it again and I was keen to catch up with Neil to find out what they had learned.In the interview we discuss: • What it is like to run a recruitment process with no CVs or insight into the background of the candidates • Why Penguin Random House have now dropped the requirement to have a degree from all of their roles • Things they learned from the Scheme last year and what they are doing differently in 2016 • How they are using Snap Chat as a platform to promote this year’s programme.Neil also gives us his thoughts on the future of graduate recruitment and some advice for any employers thinking of having their own version of The Scheme.Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

This week sees the return of one most popular guests I’ve had in the 47 episode history of The Recruiting Future Podcast.Matt Buckland joined me for Episode 11 of the show last year when he was working for Forward Partners and shared his thoughts recruiting tech talent. It’s almost a year on and Matt is now Head of Talent and Fashion Tech company Lyst. He also recently appeared as the resident recruitment expert on “Who’s The Boss” the BBC TV series which experimented with the concept of “collaborative hiring” In the interview we discuss: • The likely future of recruitment • The advantages and pitfalls of collaborative hiring • Why recruitment technology can be a bad thing • Snapchat and its relevance to recruiting • The role of LinkedIn and Job Boards • Recruiters v MarketeersMatt also shares what he considers to be the most important skills a good in house recruiter needs and tells us about the book he is currently reading….Links to things we talk about:Matt’s previous podcast interviewBBC2’s Here Comes the BossThe Lyst recruiting analytics podcast episode Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Data Analytics is something that has been growing in importance within Talent Acquisition for the last few years. Most companies are just starting out on their journey with data but there are some who are now sophisticated enough to benefit from a more predictive and data-driven talent acquisition mindset.One of these pioneers in this area is Cisco and my guest this week is Ian Bailie their Global Head of Talent Acquisition Operations.In the interview we discuss: • How Cisco and built and scaled an in house talent trends division • The key performance metrics they measure and how this is evolving • What they have learnt from the data and what has surprised them • The move towards to predictive analytics and how Talent Acquisition is able to influence higher level decisions in the wider businessIan also talks about the plans for the future and gives his tips on how to get started with talent analyticsThanks to HR Tech World for helping to organize the interviewSubscribe to this podcast on iTunes

Based on what I see during my work as a consultant it is fair to say that most employers are still struggling to use social media effectively for recruiting. Even the concept of using it as a key platform for Employer Branding and Employee Engagement seems like an impossible dream to many. However as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn embed themselves further into everyone’s lives all companies will have to think differently about the methods they use to attract, recruit and retain talent.My guest this week is someone who is a genuine pioneer round social engagement in the talent space. Chris Ebbeler is Director of Workplace Community for Chili’s, a company who are embracing social media in a way that is just brilliant.In the interview we discuss: • How Chris got both his job and buy in from his leadership team to do what he does • How Chili’s have used social media to shift deeply held brand perceptions and are now considered a great place to work • Why their employees are at the heart of what they do on social and the great ways they have driven authentic user generated content from their global work force of 80,000 people • A completely different way of thinking about the role of corporate Careers Sites • The importance of Instagram in their social strategyChris also talks about the way they measure results, the importance of a selfie with the COO and how he sees their approach to social media developing over the next 18 monthsSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

When it comes to innovation in recruitment marketing and the candidate experience it is very important to never believe the hype. Once you cut through the buzzwords and considerable self-interest promoting spin it becomes clear that driving change and embracing new technologies is something a lot employers find very difficult.My research has shown me that one of keys to success when it comes to innovation lies in experimentation, testing and iteration. My guest for this episode of the podcast is someone who successful uses this approach to drive change. Heather Tinguely is Senior Program Manager of Innovation Incubation and Candidate Experience at Microsoft.In the interview we discuss: • How beta testing ideas can engage stakeholders and win budgets • Why the candidate experience is so important to Microsoft • Innovations for the “day of interview” • The evolution of the careers site and the relationship between content and candidate experience • The critical importance of being mobile first to avoid the big problem with responsive design • Personalisation based on candidate profilesHeather also tells us what she has her eye on in terms of future trends and technologiesSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Digital Transformation is a key issue that all businesses will need to address in the next few years. It is likely to have a fundamental effect on HR and Recruiting and I really surprised that there are still such low levels of awareness round the concept among HR and Recruiting professionals.My guest for this episode is Douglas Shirlaw Chief Digital Officer of The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities or (COSLA). Douglas has many years of front line experience in digital transformation and leads COSLA’s initiatives to digitise public sector recruitment in Scotland.COSLA’s award winning jobs platform myjobscotland is hugely successful and continues to develop to keep pace with evolving technologies and increasing user expectations. • In the interview we discuss: • The challenges involved in developing myjobscotland • The implications of having over 50% of the site’s audience accessing from mobiles and tablets • The rise and importance of “customer experience first” thinking • The ongoing clash between user expectations and current recruitment process realities • The benefits of digital transformation and a workable model to implement itDouglas also talks about changing attitudes to privacy and gives us his vision for the future of recruitment platformsSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

We live in changing times and change is certainly being felt in the recruitment industry at the moment. Technology is changing, communication is changing, candidate expectations are changing and for many employers the talent landscape is growing ever more competitive. Strategically driving the systems and organisational change needed to keep up is big challenge for in house recruitment leaders.My guest this week is Barry Flack . Barry has worked in senior HR and recruiting leadership positions within a number of fast changing industries.In the interview we discuss: • How organisations need to get on the front foot with their recruiting strategies and stop being reactive • The reason why many employers are stuck with legacy “record keeping” recruitment technology. • The importance of embracing technology that improves user experience, candidate experience and enables proactive sourcing • Ways in which recruitment leaders can drive the strategic change needed within their organisations.Barry also gives us his view on the key trends to watch in the futureSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes Find out more about Matt Alder

Matt Alder talks to Kevin Wheeler Speculating about the future of work is a very popular past time at the moment. This should be no surprise considering the disruptive times we are living through. However I find it very frustrating that there is a distinct lack of sensible debate and discussion about the actual implications of these changes.My guest this week is Kevin Wheeler. Kevin is a Silicon Valley based futurist with a global outlook who specializes in the future of work and talent. We were both contributors to the same book on the Future of Business last year and I have a lot of respect for Kevin’s work and views.In the interview we discuss what the future of work is likely to look like in the short, medium and long term. Topics we cover include: • The debate round the rise of the contingent workforce • The growth of generalists • Jobs we currently take for granted which will disappear or shrink in volume with the growth of automation. • The future role of humans at work • The importance of creativity in the future workforce Kevin also shares his opinion on the future of HR and identifies what he sees as the most importantly technology trend for the future of recruitment.Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes

The mantra that in house recruiters need to behave more like marketeers is an often-repeated one. Like many recruitment truism it is easy to say but more difficult to justify and even more difficult to describe how it should actually work.My guest this week is Ted Elliott CEO of Jobscience. Ted has spend the last 16 years building tools that help recruiters adopt key disciplines from sales and marketing to help them operate in competitive talent marketsIn the interview we discuss: • The concept of Blue Ocean strategy • Increasing competition in global talent markets • The importance of micro marketing instead of mass marketing • Why just in time recruiting is vital in meeting hiring manager expectations • Why corporate recruiters have an impossible task in 2016 and need to think differently.Ted also and highlights the employers he feels are successfully implementing sales and marketing best practices for recruiting and explains why Jobscience is built on the Salesforce platform. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

For the podcast this year I’m committed to searching far and wide for the most interesting stories and ideas in recruiting and HR. Change is now a constant in our world and the people who are prepared to strike out from the norm and experiment are the ones driving innovation. My guest this week is a brilliant example of what is possible when you think about things differently.Larry Hernandez is currently a Talent Scout for ThoughtWorks having formerly worked for both Rackspace and Zappos. By working while driving round America in an “RV” he is bringing a whole new meaning to mobile recruiting.In the interview we discuss: • Why Larry choose his unique approach to work life balance • What it is like to source and recruit on the road • How his alternative lifestyle is helping build connections with candidates • His experiences of working in the unique culture at Zappos where his team were the beta test for the much talked about move to holocracy.Larry also talks about recruiting innovation and his predictions for where things are going (including him and his RV!) in 2016Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes Work with Matt Alder

Matt Alder talks to Brad Cook of Informatica One of the most common themes I hear in conversations with in house recruiters is their frustration at the failings of their recruitment technology. A decade and a half on from the online recruitment revolution many employers are finding that their technology is holding them back rather than being the enabler it should be.My guest this week is Brad Cook, Global VP of Talent Acquisition for Informatica. Over the last five years Informatica have harnessed their CRM and ATS to win the battle against the global skill shortages in the talent markets where they operate proving that recruitment technology can be used strategically rather than just reactively. In the interview we discuss: • Brad’s philosophy of capturing data once and using it many times • Why you need an SEO mindset to attract active candidates • The importance of analytics • How Informatica have reduced friction in their apply process to capture data from 45k applicants a year • Why candidate experience is critical • The one piece of data you must collect from each prospect • The current revolution in the ATS market that is driving a move away from legacy vendorsBrad also empathises the importance of humans at all stages of the recruitment process and makes it very clear that recruitment is not just a science it is also an art.Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder speaks to John Vlastelica from Recruiting Toolbox One of the most critical success factors for any in house recruitment team is the quality of relationship they have with their hiring managers. Despite being a key issue for pretty much every employer it is not something that gets written or spoken about in public very often.I’m delighted to have John Vlastelica from Recruiting Toolbox as my guest for this episode. Before founding Recruiting Toolbox John was Director of Recruiting at Amazon and Head of Global Recruiting at Expedia. He is passionate about helping recruiters to improve hiring manager engagement and now trains in house recruiting teams all over the world.In the interview we discuss: • Why hiring manager engagement is the secret sauce to recruiting success • How to influence hiring managers by speaking their language and pressing the pain button • The two most important things hiring managers care about • Common mistakes recruiters make when trying to influence hiring managers • The one key factor that drives the improvement of the candidate experienceJohn also share his thoughts on the differences in recruiting behaviour across different industries as well as the changes and innovations we can expect to see during 2016.Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Dave Drury I’ve recently returned from HR Tech Fest in Sydney and while I was in Australia I was planning on interviewing my good friend Dave Drury, a thought leader in Experience Design for HR. However Dave had other ideas and when I got to his office he decided that he wanted to interview me instead!Our conversation covers a lot of ground and some of the topics we discuss include: • The three revolutions we have seen during our careers in recruitment • The talent centric future of the industry • Key trends for the next five years • The biggest problem with HR TechnologiesI also talk about what I’ve learned from doing the podcast this year, who my favourite guests have been and give some hints about some exciting developments in 2016Link to the Tech Recruiting Whitepaper I mention in the interviewSubscribe to the podcast in iTunes

Matt Alder talks to Iain Wills from Powermeeter Back in 2013 I researched and wrote a market report on video interviewing and I’ve been tracking the space every since. This year I’ve noticed video interviewing get some significant traction in a number of recruitment markets and I was keen to get an update from the front line.My guest this week is Iain Wills the MD of Powermeeter, an emerging provider of video interviewing products.In the interview we discuss: • Where video interviewing is currently fitting into the recruitment process • How the candidates are reacting • The market fit for video interviewing • Video interview as a potential solution to the technology problems in mobile recruitment • Video in recruitment at a more general levelIain also tells us about the most unexpected thing he has learned about video interviewing since joining Powermeeter and gives us his thoughts on the future of the spaceSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

Matt Alder talks to William Uranga from GoDaddy Over the last few weeks I’ve been deep in research mode looking in detail at how the best in house recruiters are finding tech talent in increasingly competitive marketplaces. The most competitive market of all for tech talent is Silicon Valley and it is always interesting to get an insight into the strategies its most successful tech business are using to keep ahead of the pack.My guest this week is William Uranga, Director of Technical and Corporate Recruiting at GoDaddy.In the interview we discuss: • Why Employer Brand should be every recruiting team’s secret weapon • The collaboration and creativity required to craft the compelling stories the recruiting team use to engage with top talent • What specifically motivates people to join GoDaddy • How his team use technology as a force multiplier and the tools that are working for them.William also gives us his future vision and discusses the pivotal role their employees social media presence is playing in GoDaddy’s success Links from this episode: How To Rech Tech Talent Whitepaper Papirfly Website Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Matt Bradburn Talent Acquisition Manager at Lyst Talk of analytics and data has been everywhere this year with their importance empathised by numerous, blogs, whitepapers and conference presentations. Very often though getting started with analytics can be difficult and with a seemingly endless array of technologies on the market many Talent Acquisition professionals are confused about how to get started.My guest this week is Matt Bradburn, Talent Acquisition Manager at Lyst where he has spent the last few months implementing recruiting analytics.In the interview we discuss: • How data can’t predict the future but can help you to make incremental gains by understanding what has happened in the past • Why you should ignore some of generic advice on analytics and focus on what is useful for you • How Lyst have used metrics to reduce interviewing time while simultaneously raising quality • How his team measured the engagement of their sourcing outreach and now achieve a 60% response rate from the messages they send • Why you don’t necessarily need complex technology to be successful with analyticsMatt also gives us his views on the future and talks about the one metric which he would love to able to measure.You can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

This week I’ve been at HR Tech World in Paris, where over 3000 HR and Recruiting professionals in European came together to listen to their peers, industry thought leaders and a line up of key note speakers which included Sir Richard Branson.In this episode you’ll hear from some of the attendees in addition to two interviews round the topic of digital transformation.Lisa Nelson is the Global VP of HR for Match.com and tells us how HR changed its focus to align with the technical transformation that was taking place in the business and talks about a surprising outcome from their Social Recruiting activity.Jane McConnell is an analyst and advisor on Digital Workplace strategies and she talks about the role HR needs to play in digital transformation.You’ll also hear Johnny Campbell, Bill Boorman and Chris Hoyt give their thoughts on the eventSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Jennifer Boulanger Head of Global Recruitment at Booking.comIt has become very clear from the research I’ve been doing this year that Talent Acquisition is developing in complexity at the fastest pace we have ever experienced. To be truly successful at recruiting in today’s agile business environment employers needs the right mix of expertise, technology, process and data.My guest this week is Jennifer Boulanger who is Head of Global Recruitment at Booking.com. In the interview we discuss: • The challenges Booking.com have faced recruiting 5000 people in the past year • Global mobility in tech hiring and the tools and techniques that make it successful • Applying marketing thinking to Employer Branding • The journey Booking.com is taking towards data driven Talent AcquisitionJennifer also discusses the technology Booking.com use to manage recruiting and provide a great candidate experience and shares her thoughts on technology trends for the futureSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Doug Shaw from What Goes AroundThe importance of creativity in business is well documented, particularly when it comes to transformation and innovation. However what has become clear during my on-going research into recruiting innovation is that many companies struggle to think creatively.My guest for this episode is Doug Shaw, an HR consultant with a particular focus on creativity and collaboration.In the interview we discuss: • Why you don’t have to be a creative business to think creatively • Why creatively should be a coactive exercise rather than a coercive one • The business outputs that creativity collaboration can driveDoug also describes how companies can literally sketch their future into existence and give us his three key principles which can help companies to be more creativeSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Jason Seiden from Brand AmperSome of the most popular podcast episodes so far have been the ones that cover employer branding. We discussed how to measure the impact of employer brands as well as innovative ways of communicating them. Up to this point though we’ve not looked at the work involved in building them and the way in which some the traditional methods of employer brand research are being challenged by new approaches.My guest for this episode is Jason Seiden who is challenging established thinking about employer brand development via his company Brand Amper.In the interview we discuss: • Why traditional employer brand research takes too long • Turning employees stories into employer brand equity • The power of Social Proof in recruiting • Thinking about employer brand the same way as product placement • Why companies who are afraid of giving their employers a voice will failJason also talks about the fundamental changes happening in the way people in organizations relate to each other and the importance of company culture in this context.Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Gareth Jones from ChemistryA few episodes back I spoke to Matthew Jeffery about an innovative global graduate recruitment campaign SAP had been running. On this week’s episode I dig a bit deeper into the story behind its success by talking to Gareth Jones from Chemistry who were the company who designed the recruitment process.We also talk about technology and assessment in general covering a number of areas including: • The biggest mistake most companies make when they are recruiting • Using personal data to predict future performance • The current and future role of algorithms in assessmentGareth also shares his thoughts on the future of work and some of the emerging technology he is seeing in the assessment space. Subcribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Guido Niewkamp from SocialReferral The concept of super charging employee referral schemes by plugging them into employee social networks has been hyped as the next big thing in recruitment for at least the last five years.It now seems that the tools and approaches that power this concept have matured and are bringing huge benefits to the early adopting employers who bought into them. Social referrals are now hitting the mainstream and in this week’s episode I talk to Guido Niewkamp the co-founder of SocialReferral to discuss what is working and why.In the interview we discuss: • How employees become brand ambassadors • Why 50% of employees won’t refer and how employers can motivate the other 50% to do it • Success stories including a retailer who recruited 200 people in a month from their social referral schemeGuido also gives his take on the future of the referral space and we discuss why referral schemes will need to be more about employer branding stories and less about just sharing jobs.Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Ina Bourmer of Goodgame StudiosTech Recruiting is a hot topic at the moment for a vast majority of employers. I’ve been doing a lot of research recently into the similarities of the challenges in this area in different markets and geographies and very consistent themes are coming through.My guest for this episode is Ina Bourmer Head of HR and Talent Acquisition for Goodgame Studios in Germany. Goodgame Studios is currently the fastest growing employer in Europe in the games sector and they are recruiting talent from 21 countries into their Hamburg HQ with a 100% direct sourcing model.In the interview we discuss: • The techniques they use to get a 60% response rate and 40% interest rate from their proactive sourcing • How their onboarding team start working with candidates at first interview stage to help with the persuasion process • The benefits of candidate experience SLAsIna also talks about the importance of People Analytics and what she is looking forward to at HR Tech World Congress in October Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Ken Ward of Winter Court ConsultingThere is a huge amount on content published on a weekly basis detailing tools and techniques that can help employers recruit software engineers and other digital professionals. It can be very difficult to separate what is sound advice from all the click bait and product spin.My guest for this episode is Ken Ward from Winter Court Consulting. Ken has two decades worth of practical experience in tech recruitment and is keen to bust a number of popular tech recruitment myths and truisms. In the interview we discuss: • Key motivations that make tech professionals move jobs • How to design a recruitment process that works • The often-disputed role of LinkedIn, Email and Job Boards in tech recruitment • The “Cult of The Engineer” • Why most new recruiting products designed to help with tech recruitment are focusing on the wrong thingKen also gives a number of practical tips for all employers who are recruiting in this areaSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Melanie Hayes Head of Organisational Development at Compass Over the last few years an increasing number of employers have been developing apprenticeship programmes to address long term skill shortages in their industries. One company who are doing this very successfully are Compass who have offered over 3000 Apprenticeships in the last five years and have achieved a Grade 2 Ofsted rating for their programme.My guest for this episode is Melanie Hayes Head of Organisational development at Compass and it was very interesting to hear more about the programme and the value it brings to her organisation.In the interview we discuss: • Why Compass have an apprentice strategy • The different types of value it brings to the business • How apprentices are recruited • Differing candidate expectations • The number one reason why every employer should invest in apprenticeshipsMel also talks about the changing landscape in experience hire recruitment and shares her thoughts on the futureSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Kevin Hough Head of Resourcing at LV=Responding to changing markets by evolving new approaches to talent attraction is a big challenge for many large employers. Over the last few years I’ve been very impressed with a number of the employer branding and recruitment marketing initiatives I’ve seen coming out of financial services company LV=.It was great to get to talk to LV=’s Head of Resourcing Kevin Hough and get the inside track on some of their successful initiatives, as well as his thoughts on social media, data and employer branding.Topics we discuss include: How LV= has used community engagement to implement a successful social recruiting strategy. The importance of brand ambassadors and how they can come from surprising sources The power of learning via mistakes and challenges The economics of the candidate experience Kevin also talks about why an EVP can be like owning a bidet and how LV= found out they were sponsoring the wrong station!Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this interview Matt Alder speaks to Stephane Kasriel CEO of Upwork.A recent report published by McKinsey indicates that the digital talent marketplaces driving the “gig economy” could play a significant role in increasing global GDP by $2.7 Trillion by 2025. Upwork is currently the biggest talent marketplace place in the world and I was delighted to get the chance to speak to Stephane Kasriel their CEO for this week’s podcast.The topics we discuss include: • The merger of Elance and oDesk that created Upwork • How a talent marketplace actually works • The huge diversity of skills represented on the platform • Remote working and dynamic corporate talent pooling • Solving the global digital skills crisis • What the future of work will look likeStephane also talks about Upwork’s experience of having an employee base that is 70% freelance and distributed across the worldLinks from this episode:The Future of Work, published by Faster Future Publishing McKinsey Report: Connecting Talent With Opportunity In The Digital Age Subscibe to this podcast in iTunes