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Christopher J. Dwyer

“Perceptive Hiring” is the Future of Work

The world of talent will never be the same. Entering Year Three of a pandemic that has transformed the way we all think about both business and our personal lives, the average enterprise cannot leverage what are now archaic means of hiring to find the necessary skillsets and expertise to thrive in an increasingly globalized corporate arena.

The Great Resignation continues unabated. The Talent Revolution is at hand, with workers across the world becoming more aware of their desire for flexibility, empathy, and purpose. Although unemployment is at a near-53-year low, businesses are finding it harder than ever to fill both tactical and strategic roles.

The hard truth we face as business leaders is this: it doesn’t matter how much we increase compensation or how many additional perks are bult into job offers. Workers today need more than “smart hiring” strategies for reachout, engagement, and negotiations. Those attributes that were mentioned above (flexibility, empathy, and purpose) are not going to be streamlined within what we call smart hiring.

We need more…so much more.

Enterprises today are flush with data and information. This is a critical, “table stakes” aspect of the new world of work, as the ability to harness powerful data from VMS, ATS, CRM, HRIS, direct sourcing, and other platform sources enable hiring managers and other business leaders with “smarter” talent engagement and talent acquisition capabilities. Advanced technology today provides executives with the necessary intelligence to understand who the best candidate may be for a particular role and project (by analyzing work history, expertise, skillsets, certifications, etc.), augmenting with additional data (such as diversity information) to present an ideal professional that should be hired.

In essence, this has always been a goal of “total talent management,” in which the very realm of total talent intelligence (gleaned from both contingent and FTE workforce management systems) assists hiring managers to make quicker decisions based on the knowledge of the company’s overall talent pool.

The above aspects (total talent, diversity, skillsets, expertise, etc.) are all complementary pieces to the new era of workforce engagement. Businesses frankly cannot survive in a truly disruptive labor market without these modes of talent intelligence, given that staffing shortages have become an unfortunate norm.

However, back to the point above about “needing more”: if we think about how far we’ve come in regards to splicing data into talent engagement, how innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning have come, and just how advanced our workforce management software systems are, it’s pretty incredible to think that we don’t have to spend days analyzing resumes and pontificating about the qualities of dozens of candidates for a single job. All of that work has been automated and augmented (the Future of Work, right?). If we could just take that a step further, take those processes and embed even more data and insights…what would happen?

We’d transform “smart hiring” into “perceptive hiring,” in which more than just workforce history, skillsets, and expertise factor into a candidate being matched to a job or position. There are so many factors that play into the human elements of today’s business professionals, including their soft skills, workplace preferences, culture, and other elements of candidates as people and not just profiles on a screen.

How can we ensure that 1) the candidate will adapt and/or evolve to the enterprise’s culture, or, 2) that the business is a great cultural fit for the candidate? It’s not a one-way street anymore; we’re in the middle of a Talent Revolution that has resulted in workers becoming the gatekeepers to their own professional futures. We’d perceive more from the candidates and their personas beyond the traditional measures of hiring. We need to continue thinking about the best possible ways to find and retain key talent, especially in the face of The Great Resignation, however, we should also want our workforce to be a product of, well, more.

Four-plus million people have been voluntarily leaving their jobs since October of last year…and it’s not just a compensation issue. Workers are humans, and humans can suffer from burnout, anxiety, and a lack of engagement with positions that don’t satisfy a larger purpose. The pandemic and its fallout changed many of us, changed the way we think, operate, and, most importantly, speculate about the future. Candidates want more than a well-paying gig…they want work with a purpose that satisfies something deeper.

If we could leverage AI, next-gen analytics, and new innovations to spark a deeper perception of candidates, we would have the ability to solve talent retention issues and ensure that the workforce was tethered to a workplace culture (as well as the work itself) that met these necessities. This profound perception of candidates, linked to the smart hiring strategies and technology we have today, will become a way to develop and foster a strong, engaged workforce in the face of evolving times.

In essence, perceptive hiring is not “this worker is the ideal fit for this role,” but rather “this person is the ideal fit for this role.”

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FOWX Notes: May 20 Edition

Some picked-up pieces, news, and insights from across the evolving world of talent and work:

  • PRO Unlimited announced the appointment of Dr. Christy Dempsey to its board of directors, which is a formidable addition to the solution’s already-robust level of expertise and experience. Dr. Dempsey will no doubt help to influence PRO’s presence in the healthcare industry, where it has seen much success with its RightSourcing offering. As the healthcare vertical continues to see a stratospheric rise in the utilization of extended talent, this appointment will surely augment PRO’s approach to optimizing contingent workforce management operations within this industry.
  • Industry veteran Kevin Leete, formerly of Atrium, joined direct sourcing platform WorkLLama last week, as did former SAP Fieldglass, The Mom Project, and WillHire executive Kevin Poll. The innovative direct sourcing provider, which has become an industry leader over the past couple of years due to its unique solution set, welcomes two major workforce and staffing industry luminaries to its executive team.
  • Direct sourcing giant LiveHire announced a partnership with Viventis Search Asia. The partnership will help to advance LiveHire’s technology in the APAC region by enabling Viventis (a career consulting and human capital solution) to build and develop a truly agile and seamless ecosystem of candidates, fueled by LiveHire’s wide range of direct sourcing, recruitment, and candidate experience functionality.
  • Although initial unemployment claims increased 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 218,000 for the week ended May 14, the rate is still at its lowest over past 52 years. The Future of Work Exchange expects this number to remain steady, given that the United States business market has increased payroll by 400,000 jobs for 12 straight months. As The Great Resignation continues its impact, there will be, however, some “settling” of the labor market as displaced workers find new homes and career trajectories.
  • Randstad Sourceright introduced its innovative Services Procurement 360 solution, which is led by the company’s Global Head of Services Procurement, Paul Vincent. The new solution “reimagines” services procurement and SOW management by leveraging flexible solutions, AI-fueled intelligence, and a dynamic framework of offerings and tools.
  • Accenture’s global managing director of applied intelligence, Salema Rice, joined Opptly’s board of directors. MSP leader GRI’s former , Rice will certainly bring her vast expertise and knowledge and apply to the direct sourcing platform’s intelligence-led technology offerings.

Also, just a quick reminder that registration is open for the Future of Work Exchange‘s inaugural live event, “FOWX Live,” on June 14 in Boston. Click here or on the image below to register.

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The Ultimate Value of Direct Sourcing

Successful direct sourcing programs have made a large impact on the quality of the overall workforce by achieving better alignment between an organization’s needs and the best available talent than alternate recruiting methods. However, the competitive advantage in talent recruitment that the early adopters of direct sourcing have gained will begin to yield as more new programs are launched each year.

The 55% of businesses that are currently running some form of direct sourcing programs today are utilizing talent pools and talent communities as a viable means of building talent pipelines, reducing talent acquisition costs, ensuring strong skillsets and expertise, and structuring a truly dynamic workforce. Direct sourcing enables a business to act as its own recruitment firm and leverage the power of its brand to attract desired workers to its centralized talent pool. The process also helps enterprises engage candidates directly, increasing the chance of building stronger, longer-lasting relationships with top-tier talent.

While the pandemic has turned job interviews into a more and, sometimes fully-, virtual process, the human elements of conversation, bonding, and interpersonal connection are not completely lost. Direct sourcing bypasses intermediaries and allows the candidates to develop direct connections (hence, “direct” sourcing) with hiring decision-makers. Candidates that are not hired initially can, nonetheless, become candidates for other positions in the future. By eliminating the agency or middleman, enterprises are better able to tap into a developed bench of previously engaged talent and cut lengthy time-to-fill rates. The same holds true for other candidates that have been vetted in some form and are “known” by the hiring team (i.e., “silver medalists,” retirees, past contingent workers or freelancers, etc.), or were targeted for curation based on their current job experience.

Beyond the candidate relationships, direct sourcing allows a business to leverage (and manage) its culture and brand to attract recruits that are easily engaged for future projects and initiatives. Hearing long-employed (and loyal) HR and business professionals discuss the traits and culture of their organization is a more significant and credible way to learn about a potential employer than through the words of a recruiter with a commission on the line. The informal testimonials of the internal hiring teams can effectively build engagement and ultimately, worker loyalty.

While the talent curation part of direct sourcing typically takes time to develop, most organizations possess an innate ability to identify strong cultural fits and highly-desirable skillsets. Additionally, the ability of internal recruiters, HR, and hiring managers to collaborate and tailor job searches to a unique team, manager, project, or location is unmatched when dealing with outside recruiters. The level of nuance can be akin to the difference between a surgeon and a butcher. The ability to increase recruiting precision can be particularly valuable when businesses are managing specific diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

One other notable attribute of direct sourcing is that it avoids the heavy price of fully-loaded talent acquisition costs charged by outside firms. While successful direct sourcing programs reduce talent acquisition friction and costs in the short-term, as businesses continue to devote resources to it, they will find these programs can also transform how work is done. And, in a world that has become more digitized (especially in the HR and talent arenas), direct sourcing is fast becoming table stakes for businesses that are actively pursuing workforce agility.

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FOWX Live: What to Expect On June 14 in Boston

The countdown is on! Ardent Partners is excited to host its inaugural Future of Work Exchange live conference, FOWX Live: An Executive Roundtable Event, to be held in Boston at the historic Harvard Club. The event, which runs from 9:30am until 1:30pm, will be jam-packed with insights, networking, and real-world case studies regarding the new world of work and talent.

What does the “Roundtable” in your event name mean?

Glad you asked! Conferences can sometimes be overwhelming from an information perspective. Too many keynote speakers, too many breakout sessions, and not enough time to converse with fellow attendees. The “Roundtables” at FOWX Live will follow an engaging pattern: each table will revolve around a particular Future of Work topic (such as remote work, the extended workforce, etc.) and discussions around that topic will be facilitated between attendees.

It’s a refreshing change in the way major business conferences spark activity!

Can you tell me a bit about the speaker lineup?

Of course we can. In addition to this site’s creators (Christopher J. Dwyer and Andrew Bartolini), we’re thrilled to welcome industry luminary John Healy for our keynote address. Sage Therapeutics’ Jessica Wall and JLL’s Caitlin Klezmer are just two of our HR and talent acquisition executives that will share their unique, real-world stories with the audience. We will soon announce additional speakers, as well as a very special guest for FOWX Live’s lunch hour. Representatives from our esteemed sponsors, including Utmost, WorkLLama, and Atrium, will all appear as part of our exciting event lineup.

What about the venue?

The historic Harvard Club, in Boston’s Back Bay, is routinely honored as one of the top places in Boston to hold an event. FOWX Live will be held in the Club’s elegant Massachusetts Room, which is adorned with masterpiece artwork of Revolutionary War heroes, is the ideal spot for an event like this. FOWX Live will also feature a complimentary lunch (a fantastic one, at that!) that will cap off an amazing day of insights and engaging presentations and roundtables.

What is the central theme of FOWX Live?

FOWX Live is a culmination of the Future of Work Exchange‘s first full year as the industry’s preeminent destination for procurement, HR, talent acquisition, and other business leaders seeking to keep up with the latest trends in the transformative world of work and talent. We fully expect to carry over many of those trends within the FOWX Live agenda, particularly how executive leaders can better manage their distributed staff and how to enhance the way they find, engage, source, and manage extended talent.

Why should I attend?

The world of work looks markedly different than it did a couple of years ago. Talent acquisition has changed. The contingent workforce is transforming the way businesses get work done. Technology and innovation are abound and actively altering all facets of enterprise operations. More workers than ever before are working remotely. FOWX Live is the event that will give you the insights you need to thrive in this exciting new era of business. Learn some new tactics from those that are in similar roles and network with your colleagues in beautiful venue (with an amazing lunch!). Register here or click on the image below. Looking forward to seeing you in Boston on June 14!

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Flexibility Is a Catalyst for the Next Great Iteration of the Workplace

There’s enough discussion around the technological component of the Future of Work movement: artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, digital staffing, etc. While “innovation” in and of itself is one of the three major foundational legs of the Future of Work (the other two being “the evolution of talent” and “the transformation of business thinking”), there’s so much more to the very notion of work optimization than just automation and new technology.

As we’ve learned over the past two-plus years, the workplace itself has become a living, breathing entity that has the power to determine the overall productivity of a business, and, more importantly, how emotionally tethered the workforce is to the greater organization. For the record, it’s not just a matter if or when a business offers remote or hybrid work options, but rather how deeply rooted flexibility truly is within all facets of how work is done and how the workforce is ultimately managed.

Now would be the best time to bring up the annoying factor in every business-related conversation: “The Great Resignation” continues unabated, sparked by a veritable “Talent Revolution” that has restructured the way workers perceive their jobs, roles, and career paths. The very concept of flexibility is not just a “perk” for talent; it’s become a determining factor in whether or not a professional chooses to remain with an enterprise or search for greener pastures.

From here, flexibility is catalyst for the next great iteration of the workplace. There are undeniable roots from the larger idea of flexibility, including empathy-led leadership (more flexibility in how leaders lead), leveraging new models to get work done (distributed teams, new functional collaboration, etc.), more humanity within the fabric of the workplace, and, of course, more malleability in where workers work (remote work, hybrid workplace, etc.).

And, when we bring up this idea of “flexibility,” it doesn’t just translate into specific aspects of the workplace, but rather all of them. That’s right: the next iteration of the workplace centers on how work is done rather than on archaic principles of control and authority, including:

  • Promoting an inclusive workplace that welcomes and values all voices, no matter their differences, disabilities, etc.
  • Relying on empathy-led and conscious leadership that takes into account worker emotions and perceptions.
  • Offering various outlets of paid leave (maternity, paternity, wellness, etc.).
  • Embracing flexible work models, including fresh takes on shift-based work, four-day work-weeks, collaborative-led schedules, etc.
  • Supporting remote and hybrid work options (including offering proper hardware, software, leadership support, etc.).
  • Augmenting these remote and hybrid models with digital workspaces.
  • Measuring both employee engagement and productivity, and;
  • Detailing flexible work options within new job requisitions (to attract talent).

Interested in learning more about the critical role of flexibility in today’s transformative world of work? Join the Future of Work Exchange at its inaugural in-person, roundtable-styled conference on June 14 in Boston:

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The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, Episode 616: A Conversation with Steve Dern, EVP of Talent Solutions at Evaluent

This week’s Future of Work Exchange Podcast, sponsored by Beeline, features a conversation with Steve Dern, EVP of Talent Solutions at Evaluent. Steve and I discuss the growth of the extended workforce, why the mid-market requires more flexible workforce management solutions, and the future of the labor market.

Tune into Episode 616 of The Future of Work Exchange Podcast below, or subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio.

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Why Tech is the Crux of Direct Sourcing 2.0

Direct sourcing has dominated discussions around talent, work, and staffing for the past few years because, when executed well, it can deliver incredible value to the greater organization through hard benefits (such as cost savings and a quicker average time-to-fill rate) and soft benefits (greater talent quality, better engagement with highly-skilled candidate, etc.). And, as the overall HR market evolves in the wake of rising worker resignations, smart businesses will prioritize the need for deeper assessment and validation of skillsets and place a greater emphasis on the candidate and hiring manager experience.

The starting point for most will be to build on their existing direct sourcing capabilities and work to develop a true Direct Sourcing 2.0 program…which, of course, is only achievable through the convergence of strategic and automated competencies.

The path to Direct Sourcing 2.0 is paved with technology. While elements such as talent curation, talent pool development, talent pool segmentation, and recruitment stream integration are core to any direct sourcing program, HR leaders and their teams must incorporate digitization and advanced direct sourcing competencies to get to the next level of performance. Achieving Direct Sourcing 2.0 requires advanced capabilities to be coupled with digital recruitment functionality in order to boost talent quality, enhance candidate intelligence, and develop repeatable and scalable methods for reengaging talent to build a truly agile workforce.

While predictive analytics are not commonplace today, soon, a majority of enterprises will look to scenario-building as a way to enhance overall talent intelligence. Predictive analytics, in this realm, will augment the organization’s overall knowledge of its in-house skills as well as the expertise available externally (across all talent communities, including talent pools).

This level of intelligence will spark new and targeted initiatives to find better-aligned candidates with stronger talent engagement efforts and push business leaders to better understand who the strongest candidates are for future roles, positions, and projects.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of businesses plan to link the candidate experience with hiring manager experience. As discussed in the Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange Direct Sourcing 2.0 research study, transforming talent acquisition into a consumer-like journey is just one side of the Direct Sourcing 2.0 coin. The other side focuses on the hiring manager experience, which should be seamless in order to streamline the means of finding, engaging, and sourcing talent for a full spectrum of open roles and positions.

While only a third (33%) of businesses have automated candidate experience capabilities in their direct sourcing programs today, 50% more plan to do so within two years. Personalization and sharing more specific details regarding a project/role match, when automated, are repeatable and scalable to ensure that all candidates have a more positive and compelling experience when recruited.

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Did March Break “Great Resignation” Records? It Sure Did.

Remember long ago, when we all thought “The Great Resignation” would start to loosen up as we headed towards spring? And remember when a certain Future of Work site called it “The Greatest Resignation” because four-plus million professionals were quitting every month since October of last year? AND, remember when that same site spoke of a “Great Resettling” as these workers began to find a foundation that suited their personal and professional desires?

Of course, we remember. It was just two weeks ago.

The March numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics hit last week, and with them, something that collectively made us shake our heads. Over 4.5 million individuals voluntarily left their jobs in March, which is a record thus far since this data was first collected decades ago. (March 2022 to November 2021: “Hold my beer.”)

I said just a couple of weeks ago that there were two pathways for this “Big Quit”: either the numbers would reflect a settling of workers into roles that better suited their desires for flexibility, purpose, etc., or, we’d still be operating in “Great Resignation” mode, continuing to wonder when the tide would finally turn.

The Future of Work Exchange will always remain bullish about “The Great Resettling,” as it reflects exactly how voluntarily-displaced workers will find their calling when the dust figuratively settles…the monkey wrench in that concept, however, is just when the record page of resignations will end. The common refrain, that workers still crave more flexibility, empathy, and purpose, will not change. It doesn’t matter if we’re in the throes of a disruptive COVID surge or in a very awkward period (like we are right now): the collective trauma, experiences, and perspectives going into Year Three of the pandemic will continually translate into workers wanting more and wanting better.

Does that mean a bulk of these workers will join the extended workforce ranks? Absolutely. Does this mean that more and more professionals will become entrepreneurs in a market that, for many tech industries, has become incredibly hot? Yes, of course. Does this mean that those businesses on the backside of those resignations should execute on some self-reflection? 100%, yes.

There’s no one-shot answer to why “The Great Resignation” has become “The Greatest Resignation.” And there’s no firm, calculated timeframe on when we’ll see labor market completely enter a “Great Resettling” phase. All of this means one thing: the changes to 1) the way we work and 2) the workforce itself have become permanent. We’re not going to continue experiencing millions and millions of resignations every month. There’ll be a point in time, which I’m imagining is “soon,” in which those resignations begin to slow…and with it, a newly-resettled workforce that may have finally grasped the flexibility, empathy, purpose, compensation, etc. that they’ve been looking for for so very long.

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Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange Announce “FOWX LIVE,” An Executive Roundtable Event

It’s clear that the world of work and talent has changed. Many facets of modern business have been transformed, from talent acquisition and talent engagement to workplace culture and workplace structure. For today’s business leaders, navigating these revolutionary times requires a Future of Work-first focus on work optimization, enhancement of core workforce management strategies, and major, flexibility-led shifts in how executives think about their talent, their operations, and their workplace.

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange are excited to announce its inaugural Future of Work event, “FOWX LIVE,” a half-day executive roundtable conference that will bring together business leaders at the historic Harvard Club in Boston, MA on June 14.

The event will include both presentations by industry luminaries and executive roundtable discussions for networking and the sharing of best practices between attendees (as well as an elegant lunch to cap off a whirlwind day!).

Registration is complimentary for procurement, HR, and talent acquisition executives. Sponsored by Utmost, WorkLLama, and Atrium, this event will highlight the major issues driving the Future of Work movement, including:

  • The necessary strategies for managing a remote and distributed workforce.
  • The approaches for navigating a volatile labor market.
  • The Best-in-Class strategies for implementing new technology and innovative tools to enhance how work is done.
  • The ideal pathways to more effective business leadership, and;
  • What the future holds for the world of work and talent.

Register today for FOWX LIVE (June 14; registration begins at 9am ET)!

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Talent Quality-Led Recruiting and the Future of Work

“Talent quality” can be a nebulous concept. Staffing organizations often have to balance the many innerworkings of such an idea, delicately balancing the intricacies of what they believe “talent quality” to be. In a business world that has been dramatically transformed by a pandemic, changes in how businesses operate, and, of course, the impact of Future of Work accelerants, today’s enterprises, staffing agencies, and other key groups must be focused on broadening the definitions around talent quality and put those at the heart of any extended workforce management program.

The Future of Work Exchange is excited to partner with Glider.ai for an exclusive Q&A event tomorrow (May 5) at 11am ET. Ben Walker, a longtime thought leader and expert in the workforce solutions industry, will join me to discuss:

  • The impact of talent quality-led recruiting and how these strategies should be developed and executed.
  • How artificial intelligence can be a gamechanger in regards to eradicating talent fraud and improving overall candidate quality.
  • The priorities of today’s extended workforce programs, and;
  • The key KPIs and performance metrics that are required to gauge the impact of talent quality programs.

Click here or on the image below to register for tomorrow’s event. Looking forward to seeing you there!

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