Christopher J. Dwyer, Author at The Future of Work Exchange

Navigating Services Procurement in a Future of Work-First World

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/22/2022

I recently had the pleasure of moderating an edition of Randstad Sourceright’s Talent Navigator series to discuss the reimagining of services procurement. RSR’s Global Head of Services Procurement, Paul Vincent, Deployed’s co-founder and COO, Kayleigh Kuptz, and Senior Director at Visa, Sarah-Jayne (SJ) Aldridge, joined me to discuss how a business-first and Future of Work-focused services procurement and SOW management program is required to drive true ROI, not just cost savings, from these initiatives.

Direct Sourcing 2.0 and the Hiring Manager Experience

Direct Sourcing Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/20/2022

Beyond deeper and more meaningful 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.

Given the current challenges to find and retain top talent, leading HR organizations are investing in ways to improve the “candidate experience” (similar to the “customer experience”), where every aspect is designed to be positive, engaging, and beneficial to the recruit.

In a market where the candidate holds more power than ever before, compensation and benefits, employment perks, AND the employer’s credentials (i.e., brand, culture, vision, values, etc.) can play a major role in attracting a qualified candidates. This will continue to be true as an increasing number of candidates are incorporating their personal views on an organization’s culture and brand into their decision-making.

While the candidate experience is critical, the hiring manager experience should also be considered. Hiring managers are often on the front lines of the war for talent and must account for:

The specific needs of each role, position, and project.
The intricate requirements of a multifaceted talent acquisition strategy that balances direct hire, job boards, talent marketplaces, staffing suppliers, etc.
The necessary data and intelligence to make faster, more educated talent and hiring decisions.
The proper balance between the human touch, automation, and third-party services, etc. that can be used to find, engage, and source high-quality talent.

Traditional recruitment is not typically seen as scalable due to the manual work often associated with it, while direct sourcing relies heavily on hiring teams to drive activity, scalability, and value. Just as HR leaders are realizing that candidates should be treated like customers, hiring managers also need an experience that is seamless and boundaryless.

Business and HR leaders must also arm their hiring managers with the necessary resources, technologies, and capabilities to effectively tap into different talent pools without the worry of internal barriers or archaic inertia. To achieve this, digitization of key direct sourcing processes is vital.

Why Are We So Focused on the Future of Work?

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/19/2022

Forget for a minute that the Future of Work Exchange exists. Forget, just for the next several minutes, that you might be a regular reader of content related to the Future of Work movement. Let’s step back for a minute and answer a question: why are we so focused on the Future of Work?

The “future” means the months and years ahead, right? So, why do we insist that the Future of Work is so critical right now? Futurists often regularly discuss what is up ahead and which trends may affect business operations given the current trajectory of the economy, the labor market, global issues, etc.

The major difference between discussing the “typical” future and conversing about the Future of Work is this: the world of work and talent is in a current state of perpetual transformation. Predicting who will win the next Super Bowl comes down to analytics, the prevalence of injuries, and a handful of outliers (such as above-average seasons from under-the-radar players). We can typically narrow down the winners to several teams (but, unfortunately, never come quite as close as predicting the winner, or else there would be many, many more millionaire football fans).

Predicting what will happen next in a business world that has been through incredible change over a two-plus year period? Not so easy.

The coronavirus itself is a gigantic outlier. New variants emerge regularly and will cause disruption no matter how global governments respond. Business leaders cannot anticipate how the labor market will continue to change given the continued ramifications of the Talent Revolution (aka The Great Resignation).

We’re so focused, right now, on the Future of Work because our “future” isn’t months or years away…it could be tomorrow or next week. We, as both people and professionals, have never before experienced such disruption, change, and transformation as we have over the past 25+ months.

Remember when we were talking about “returning to normal” way back in the summer of 2020? Do you remember when, towards the end of that tumultuous year, when executives began clamoring for workers to return to the office? Remember when the arrival of the Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J vaccines all gave us collective hope that 2021 would be the last year we’d have to contend with shifting goals for the pandemic?

We are collectively focused on our future state of work because there is so much at stake. We, as business leaders and business professionals, must work everyday to ensure that our enterprises are prepared for what happens next. Whether it’s an unforeseen event that will continue to affect the labor market, or economic progression that enables businesses to take more risks, or even a great next step towards “victory” against a seemingly-never-ending pandemic, executives and their workforce know their future is tomorrow.

The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, Episode 615: A Conversation with Michael Brooks, CEO and Founder of goLance

Podcast by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/14/2022

This week’s Future of Work Exchange Podcast, sponsored by PRO Unlimited, features a conversation with Michael Brooks, CEO and founder of goLance. Michael and I discuss how remote and hybrid work can break down talent acquisition barriers, why the hybrid workplace is here to stay, and much more.

Tune into Episode 615 of The Future of Work Exchange Podcast below, or subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio.

A Conversation with Colleen Tiner, SVP of Product Strategy at Beeline

Solution Providers by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/13/2022

Beeline has long been a pioneer in the world of workforce management technology. The solution and its offerings have evolved to fit the dynamic needs of the global workforce and the enterprises that leverage the platform to find, engage, source, and manage the growing extended workforce. I had the opportunity to chat with Beeline’s Colleen Tiner, a visionary executive specializing in human capital management technology. She leads Beeline’s business, product, and partnership strategy functions to identify, assess, and drive collaborative development of new solutions that create value for every Beeline customer.

Christopher J. Dwyer: You’ve experienced first-hand how the past two years have played out for businesses regarding their workforce, talent, operations, etc. What has surprised you the most as you look back?

Colleen Tiner: The speed at which companies adapted to change successfully has been remarkable. Some companies, like those in logistics and technology, were faced with unprecedented demands for talent at unprecedented speed. We saw great resilience within our clients because they maximized technology, leveraged their mature supply channels, and implemented new innovative strategies like direct sourcing. The past two years, while a difficult time for many, has also been a catalyst for innovation and business transformation.

The imbalance of demand and supply for skills combined with wage inflation has also been a catalyst for significant bill rate increases. In IT, throughout 2021 we saw supplier bill rates increasing steadily about 2.5% to 3% over the prior year. In light industrial, we saw rates increase by double digits between 11% and 13% over the prior year. This really shines a light on how the processes of building rate card models is outdated. Many clients are examining how to shift to dynamic rate negotiations based on market trends, which makes real-time market rate analytics for bill and pay rates more important than ever.

CJD: We’ve seen so many accelerants over the past two years, from remote and hybrid work to the focus on talent quality. What does this say about the current “state of work”?

CT: Talent acquisition teams, procurement, and their business stakeholders are looking to technology to enable them to “do more with less.” We have not seen this let up. In this new state of work, finding quality talent, bringing them into the organization, and getting them engaged and productive as quickly as possible is the top priority. If you can’t support your business strategy with the talent you need, cost savings is moot. This is giving way to creativity in upskilling and cross-skilling, and to relaxing previously exclusionary requirements like specific degrees and certifications. I see a real “talent-first” approach to contingent workforce programs – of course compliance and cost control are still relevant, but they aren’t the only purpose. HR and procurement leaders have become strategic business partners to their stakeholders.

CJD: A year ago, Beeline introduced its Extended Workforce Management platform; how does it differ from the VMS functionality that the solution is known for?

CT: A typical VMS centers on the requisition, automating workflow and enforcing policy rather than fulfilling the skill needs of the business. Conversely, the extended workforce platform centers on talent and on enabling suppliers, clients, and MSPs to facilitate fulfilling talent needs through a myriad of processes, types of engagements and worker classifications given the skills needs of the business. So, while it does address all the necessary workflows and policy needs, the emphasis is on optimizing the contingent workforce as a strategic asset to the business. That includes providing access to more talent, redeploying proven talent, recommending where to find talent, engaging that talent, and measuring the impact of that talent, including on your DE&I strategies.

We’ve all seen this shift from process automation to talent-centered strategies coming for some time – and we had been evolving to be ready for that shift since 2018. I believe the acceleration of talent scarcity and workforce flexibility needs as an outcome of the pandemic, as well as greater focus on extended workforce diversity, made talent-centered strategies for extended workforce management a reality much sooner than anyone anticipated. The future of work is now.

Beeline’s Extended Workforce Platform solves the complexities of managing the entire extended workforce today, including both assignment-based and shift-based labor, and contemplates the needs of the future by incorporating latest innovation and premier partner products.

From a technology perspective, the platform drives greater ROI through exceptional end user experiences that decrease training time by up to 50% and by enabling efficiency so customers and providers can rapidly scale to contingent workforce demand. For example, one of the platform’s AI-powered features includes the CV/Resume Visualizer, which can make resume screening ten times faster and more accurate by analyzing, comprehending, and highlighting key decision criteria instantly.

CJD: I remember you and I having some wonderful discussions at Beeline’s user conferences over the years. One thing that has always been abundantly clear to me is your passion for the technology side of the industry.

CT: I love the technology side of the industry because technology is the great enabler. When we can use technology to better connect our clients, supplier and MSP partners to talent, everyone wins. You will hear us talk about our vision and mission: every person, given the right opportunity, is capable of greatness. Every business, given the right talent, is capable of superior outcomes. Our trusted platform connects businesses to the remarkable talent within the global extended workforce. Beeline lives this vision and mission. And this is why I’ve been in this industry and with Beeline for more than 17 years.

CJD: Direct sourcing has become one of the hottest topics in our industry. Where do you see this program, and, by extension, the technology, going in the months ahead?

CT: Direct sourcing is in an exciting growth stage fueled by the demand for skills and the technology that enables directly engaging extended workers. Direct sourcing enables you to supplement your trusted supplier lists with a direct channel to talent attracted to your brand. We’ve seen clients in pharma, banking, and high-tech realize tremendous success using a technology-enabled direct sourcing strategy. Probably the most notable benefit has been significant time savings, reducing time to fill by about 7 days.

What I see next is an opportunity to enable clients’ trusted suppliers with the technology and advantages that have enabled direct sourcing success. This gives them an easier way to interact with their worker populations, ultimately allowing them to bring in more of the right talent quickly. We can help them cut time and cost out of the process and everyone wins.

CJD: If there’s one big thing we’re not thinking of right now regarding the Future of Work, what is it?

CT: We need to dig deeper on the talent scarcity assertion. Is it really that talent and skills are scarce – or are the skills and talent there and we are just not opening our minds and processes to meet them where they are? Are the strategies being used to find, attract, and evaluate talent outdated? Do you treat your connections and channels to talent as “lead sources” or do you treat them as one-and-done processes? When you have 50 candidates for any position, do you choose one and let the others fall back to the competition or do you explore connections to other needs? Are the processes we use for communicating opportunities, interviewing, and engaging talent making companies clients of choice? Are your requirements for skills speaking the same language as the talent you are seeking or are you alienating great talent by having outdated requirements?

Connect with Colleen on LinkedIn and visit www.beeline.com for more information on Beeline’s solutions.

Are We Finally Ready to Take On Total Talent Management?

Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/12/2022

Over a decade ago, I developed one of the staffing and HR industry’s first full-scale research studies on total talent management (TTM), the programmatic concept that entails blending HR, procurement, and talent acquisition competencies under a single umbrella to find, source, engage, and manage both FTE and non-employee talent. Total talent management, by definition, requires this functional convergence on top of integrations between core workforce management systems and solutions, like VMS, ATS, RPO, and HRIS.

While total talent management has long sounded ideal on paper, its adoption has never really taken off in the 10+ years I’ve been writing and researching the program and its innerworkings. In any given year from 2012 up until late 2021, less than 15% of organizations had some semblance of total talent-like capabilities, which include consistent procurement and HR/talent acquisition collaboration, some integrations between HR and workforce systems, and converged talent intelligence (a miniscule percentage, perhaps less than 2%, have a fully-fledged program that has been in place for multiple years).

The typical knock on total talent management is that the two sides of the talent coin (FTEs and non-employees) represent two very different sets of guidelines and strategies. A standard criticism is that an organization would never apply core human capital approaches such as learning management and succession planning to its contingent workforce, nor would they cross any lines that would violate federal and regulatory policies concerning relationships with independent contractors and freelance talent.

At this point, nearly a third of the way through 2022, shouldn’t we be ready to take on total talent management given the vast transformations across the world of talent and work?

Last year, the Future of Work Exchange highlighted how total talent intelligence was an excellent “gateway” into the realm of total talent management:

“Thinking about integrations, cross-functional coordination, blending core HR and contingent workforce management competencies, etc. can be maddening, for sure. This is why, especially in today’s strange business world, enterprises should consider taking a much more streamlined path and prioritize total talent intelligence as an initial cornerstone for what could blossom into full-blown total talent management in the months and years to come. In essence, total talent intelligence gleans valuable worker-based insights from both FTEs and non-employees by harnessing collective data from Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Vendor Management Systems (VMS), time and attendance solutions, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), Freelancer Management System (FMS), and similar platforms to gain the deepest possible view into an organization’s total talent pool.”

If total talent intelligence remained a viable “first step” into total talent management given the transformation of work and talent, shouldn’t the next logical step entail working closer to developing a true TTM program? Consider that:

Talent retainment and talent attraction have become top-of-mind issues in a Great Resignation-fueled, Talent Revolution-led labor market. Workers, no matter if they are searching for a full-time or freelance gig, are after purposeful and meaningful work in a workplace culture that is inclusive and flexible. Total talent management in 2022 can be an effective means of ensuring that all workers, no matter the type, are attracted to the organization and want to stay once they are there. The convergence of HR and talent acquisition principles, combined with the power of procurement-led contingent workforce management, can ensure that consistent tactics are utilized in talent engagement efforts to put culture, brand, and similar attributes at the forefront.
The commodity-driven days of extended workforce management are over. Procurement will always have a sustainable role in managing the extended workforce, however, the era of “commodity-led” measures has passed us by, replaced by a visionary approach that values skillsets and expertise over costs and budgets.
A remote and distributed workforce requires more structure. In the early days of the pandemic, executive leaders found themselves unable to effectively track their total workforce in the wake of a “remote overnight” switch. Although the rigor behind workforce management has vastly improved since then, the vast majority of enterprises are still offering flexible workforce options for their staff and require more enhanced means of understanding where workers are, what they are working on, and how to address skills gaps if a business location requires a new infusion of talent.
The focus on workplace culture permeates into the world of extended workforce management. While we know that there’s a barrier we cannot cross in regards to treating non-employees like FTEs, there is an arena in which the same cultural benefits of a positive and engaging workplace for traditional employees is just as attractive to freelance, independent, and extended talent. Aspects such as enterprise-wide communication, transparency into operations and projects, and “flexibility for all” can go a long way into ensuring that extended talent is not only attracted to the enterprise but will also want to be a part of that organization’s community even after their engagements end.

Total talent management has long been a concept that bordered on the theoretical. In years past, there was an industry-wide acceptance that the many intricacies of the program could not effectively work together; however, in the past two years, the world of work and talent has been transformed. Total talent management should be considered a viable and powerful way to merge the contingent workforce, HR, and talent acquisition competencies, capabilities, and technologies required to attract and retain talent, as well as manage that talent effectively on a global and remote scale.

The Extended Workforce and the Future of Work: A Conversation with Jason Posel, Founder and CEO of GreenLight

Solution Providers by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/11/2022

“Transformation” has become a common theme in the world of talent and work. Businesses are grappling with how to effectively manage a consistently-shifting labor market that has become volatile in the wake of The Great Resignation. A major by-product of the ongoing “Talent Revolution” is that more and more talented professionals are choosing a more flexible career path; with this influx of new extended talent, businesses must balance critical attributes such as contractor compliance, adherence to federal and regulatory and labor laws, and, of course, talent visibility.

I had the opportunity to chat with Jason Posel, CEO and founder of GreenLight, a leading technology platform focused on workforce management, global freelancer payments, worker classification, and regulatory compliance, about the Future of Work, the extended workforce, and more:

Christopher J. Dwyer: Jason, it’s great to chat with you. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Jason Posel: I’m originally from London, but have spent the majority of my career in the United States – split between Palo Alto and Miami. I’m what they call an industry veteran within the staffing industry. I led a company that did what we do at GreenLight with legacy technology for big names and managed over one billion dollars in spend for them.

CJD: You’ve been in the workforce management technology space for a number of years. If anything, the past two years have brought about incredibly change in the world of talent and work. From your vantage point, what has been the biggest transformation?

JP: I think one of the biggest changes is the worker’s mindset. They want to be independent. In most cases, that’s not possible; labor laws make things complicated and there simply isn’t the infrastructure to make operating as an independent contractor easy. No one who decides to take control of their own careers wants to have to deal with taxes, benefits, invoicing, timekeeping, insurance, etc. That’s why we are focused on fixing this infrastructure gap: by connecting onboarding and risk management with the tools and benefits that people need to be independent.

CJD: The extended workforce is drawing ever closer to encompassing half of all global talent within the enterprise realm. As GreenLight focuses so much on compliance and visibility, what’s the best pathway forward for businesses that want to tap into this growing, agile workforce?

JP: They need to make sure they offer a great experience to their extended workforce – as close as it could get to being an employee. Great HR support, great benefits. You want your extended workforce to be flexible, but you still need to make an attractive offer to make sure they don’t leave before you capture the ROIs of onboarding them. The post-hire experience for contractors is so laggard, especially compared to the innovation focused on finding talent. It shouldn’t be…and we are changing that.

CJD: One of the most impressive attributes of the GreenLight platform is its dynamic slew of functionality that is tailored for the modern workforce.

JP: Yes – the people that take advantage of the extended workforce that goes through GreenLight are educated buyers. Unlike SMEs or startups, they care a lot about risk and work with us to make sure they get exactly what they need. GreenLight’s value proposition goes beyond paying payroll with one click; our platform needs to be ready to accommodate the needs of each of our clients. We’ve been an incredibly intuitive platform with a huge focus on the user experience. We built features specific to managing the unique needs of the contingent workforce, and we made it all accessible through APIs, so we can easily integrate with any type of talent matching technology – direct sourcing, VMS, ATS, and marketplaces. We also offer AI-powered worker classification, integrations with partners like Checkr for background checks, and Berxi for business insurance.

CJD: I’d like to chat a bit about the evolution of talent and how so many more organizations are leveraging talent marketplaces, digital staffing, and human cloud offerings. How does GreenLight provide its users with real-time visibility into these talent sources?

JP: Large enterprises don’t want to have to use another platform, so we bridge the technology gap by integrating with the tools companies already use to source talent. The data that our clients need is then easily accessible either through our UI or via API.

CJD: It’s obvious by now that the average enterprise has experienced a very sharp uptick in the utilization of global, remote freelancers. How does this affect the impact of global payments technology?

JP: This uptick you mention has made apparent the need for new infrastructure that allows companies like us to send and receive payments in a seamless way, with great reporting tools, and with APIs.

CJD: What’s a Future of Work prediction you have for the second half of 2022?

JP: Lots of niche talent marketplaces that focus on one single job function will be born. Those who land big clients that care about risk will need to use platforms like GreenLight to grow. We’ve met platforms that believe they don’t need to care about everything that happens after the job match-makings they facilitate, but come back after a few months to us when they are ready to scale.

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn and visit www.greenlight.ai for more information about GreenLight and its technology.

FOWX Notes: April 8 Edition

General Insights by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/08/2022

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

Filtered and LiveHire announced a strategic partnership founded on their complementary platforms. The unique partnership will harness the power of Filtered’s unique AI-fueled assessment, validation, and workforce management tools with LiveHire’s direct sourcing technology. This union is a representation of the “Direct Sourcing 2.0” concept driven by next-generation automation and deeper direct sourcing technology to provide enterprises with a repeatable, scalable, and flexible means of developing talent communities and tapping into on-demand talent.
Massachusetts’ new Future of Work Commission report highlights the impact of change on the greater workforce. The 17-member Future of Work Commission group may reside in Massachusetts, however, its work in building this new report shows that work-led transformations, such as automation, new technology, and pandemic-fueled Future of Work accelerants like remote and hybrid work, are going to permanently shift how businesses operate in the months and years ahead. The Commission’s report digs deeper into the criticality of affordable and accessible daycare, and, the benefits of reskilling and upskilling workers in specific industries.
New unemployment claims totaled 166,000 last week, the lowest recorded level since 1968. The lowest new claims figure in nearly 55 years is an optimistic signal for a volatile labor market that is still battling the The Great Resignation and a Talent Revolution. Although most industries are starting to settle into a new business arena as the pandemic moves into a new phase, there are still hundreds of thousands of open positions in the hospitality, retail, leisure, professional services, and manufacturing sectors, which could cause continued staffing issues in the immediate months ahead.
Workforce solutions platform Remote raised $300 million as the market remains hot for HR and workforce tech. The latest funding round puts the company valuation at nearly $3 billion. Remote, along with platforms such as Deel, Payfit, and Personio, are revolutionizing how businesses manage payrolling, benefits administration, and other tasks that have become more difficult as enterprises shift to a more remote- or hybrid-based workplace infrastructure. These solutions enable core HR and payrolling processes for businesses that rely on the extended workforce and workers in various areas around the globe in which they don’t have existing operations.

If You Don’t Have a Chief People Officer, Now Is The Time to Hire One

Business Leadership HR by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/07/2022

The “Chief People Officer” isn’t exactly a new type of leadership position, but it doesn’t necessarily have the same history as the Chief Finance Officer or Chief Procurement Officer. At the end of the day, however, this “newer” role may be the most critical for enterprises as we exit and “enter” an intricate period in business history.

Many organizations believe that the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Chief People Officer are essentially the same role; while some businesses’ job descriptions of these positions may be one in the same, we are beginning a phase in corporate America that requires more than HR responsibilities in a CPO role…

…which brings us to the topic at hand: if you don’t have a Chief People Officer, you need one.

Let’s review what’s happening in businesses across the country (and the world) right now:

Over the past several months, an average of four million workers have voluntarily left their organizations in a movement called (as we all know by now) “The Great Resignation.”
While the above may seem like it’s linked to compensation, it’s actually a “Talent Revolution” in which professionals desire joy, flexibility, and more purposeful work.
The rate of globalization, combined with an uncertain labor market and pandemic-fueled volatility, means that enterprises need to “future-proof” their operations by harnessing the power of data and artificial intelligence.
There is now, more than ever before, a laser-like focus on just how flexible organizations can be in regard to its workforce, technology, and overall business thinking, and;
Most importantly, it’s an enterprise’s people that will lead them to the next great era of innovation and success.

Executive HR roles are now focused on developing a proper workforce culture while balancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives, on top of extreme staffing shortages that have long been a hallmark of the economic recovery phase during these pandemic times. To throw even more into the equation, particularly how to combat The Greatest Resignation, develop a flexible workplace environment, foster purpose across the staff, and introduce next-generation analytics into the fold, well, it’s clear that there needs to be a role that blends HR-oriented expertise with a progressive series of skillsets that can transform the greater organization from technology, intelligence, and talent-led perspectives. (I’m fully aware that many organizations blend the CHRO and CPO roles into one, and the enterprises that do this effectively converge many of the best capabilities of each position for maximum value.)

The Future of Work in 2022 dictates that enterprises reimagine how they get work done, especially considering the fundamental transformations happening within the realms of talent, technology, and overall business thinking. The Chief People Officer can be a catalyst for “rebooting” the very notions of work, helping the greater organization foster a dynamic culture of inclusivity and flexibility while preparing it for the ongoing transformations happening today:

The Chief People Officer role can be the champion of all things related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) by advancing initiatives that may be “stuck” in other functions due to a focus on business operations (and staffing shortages).
Many of today’s CPO roles center around data and intelligence; in a business arena that runs on insights, the Chief People Officer can be incredibly impactful by leveraging predictive analytics, AI, scenario-building, candidate assessment and validation tools, and other progressive analytics platforms to formulate a workforce strategy that is founded on intelligence (a powerful initiative that translates into better alignment between the greater organization’s culture and available candidates).
A Chief People Officer can be a “coach’s coach” for conscious leadership, empathy-led management, and other “human” elements of the next-generation business leader. There’s been so much discussion lately (ahem) regarding the emotional elements of the workforce and how leaders should be in tune with those as it seeks to better manage its staff. As such, the CPO can effectively measure the emotional facets of the enterprise staff, communicate shortcomings and issues to leadership, and develop a plan to ensure human needs are met in the future.
A formidable task, for sure, but the Chief People Officer can be critically valuable in spearheading talent retention efforts. The United States is actively averaging 4+ million resignations since November of last year; if the CPO can tap into what is haunting workers and their ambitions, it can be an invaluable resource for remedying major issues that are causing talent to up and leave the enterprise. The Chief People Officer can be adept at solving employee burnout problems, developing enhanced career development plans, and pinpointing areas of growth
Most importantly, the Chief People Officer of 2022 can be a dynamic executive leader that can influence how work is ultimately done. What is the best pathway ahead during today’s unique pandemic times? What is the best remote or hybrid work structure for the organization? How does the business combat The Great Resignation? What’s the ideal means of investing in the workforce from career development and emotional perspectives? How can the enterprise better leverage data, intelligence, and insights to execute enhanced and educated hiring decisions?

AI, Direct Sourcing, and the Future of Talent

Direct Sourcing by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/06/2022

The path to Direct Sourcing 2.0 is rooted in the idea that data should drive talent-led decision-making. Most next-generation direct sourcing programs leverage AI-driven functionality to enable a more robust picture of available skillsets, improve the matching of available skills with open positions and project requirements, streamline the assessment of candidate skills and expertise, and enhance worker intelligence. The majority of businesses see AI and advanced analytics as a catalyst for Direct Sourcing 2.0 over the next two years, as discovered by Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange.

An employer’s brand can be a catalyst for talent transformation because it can be used to attract talent and maintain an allure as non-FTE workers shift in and out of enterprise projects. Direct Sourcing 2.0 builds on brand concepts and pushes them to a higher level by using AI and analytics on candidate data to improve messaging, increase support for diversity initiatives, and gain a clearer picture of the worker expertise available in the market. Our research shows that:

Nearly 70% of businesses plan to leverage AI-based tools for candidate assessment within two years. Candidate fraud has not grabbed headlines yet, but it is a risk for businesses, particularly those that require specific skills and certifications. With more candidates operating in a remote environment, businesses require better means to ensure that their potential hires actually possess what is represented in their resumes and history. AI-fueled candidate assessment tools support the validation of competencies and skills, helping to ensure that the talent pipeline is filled with candidates who can succeed in their placements.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of enterprises plan to use AI to solve talent retention issues. The labor market over the past two years has been anything but stable and certain: within the span of 12 months, the market has experienced a dramatic increase in, and, the largest tallies ever in history, of worker resignations. There are more open positions in the United States than at any other time this century. HR, talent acquisition, and procurement leaders and their teams need the insights required to more accurately forecast what their workforce will look like in the future, given economic and organizational changes. Predictive retention data, modeled within direct sourcing programs, can augment how and when businesses engage talent pool candidates and what skillsets should be targeted in upcoming recruiting marketing campaigns.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will be boosted with next-level intelligence over the next two years. DE&I remains a critical piece of direct sourcing and talent acquisition overall. In 2022, roughly a quarter of all businesses utilize AI within direct sourcing for DE&I purposes (27% for worker diversity data and 24% for general diversity and inclusion insights). More than half of all enterprises plan to use AI to drive these initiatives over the next 24 months. Businesses that invest in developing AI-led data collection will be able to cast a wider net within the realm of diversity, capturing gender, culture, background, neurodiversity, etc. These insights can provide hiring managers and executives with the intelligence needed to monitor and improve DE&I initiatives.