TALiNT International May 2022

May 2022

Building bridges: The best in TA tech

D&I and employer brand: What role does marketing play?

Riding the bull:

The staffing industry as a premium professional service

THE TRANSFORMERS TIARA TALENT TECH STAR AWARD FINALISTS: TECH AND THE HUMAN TOUCH

TALiNT International May 2022

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LEADER

FROM THE EDITOR At TALiNT Partners, we’re in the business of trends. Not Instagram-worthy, social media trends mind, but total talent ecosystem trends, and I’ve noticed one trend that pops up every now again. One of my esteemed colleagues, a more experienced (read ‘older’) member of the workforce, like myself, posted a news article on her LinkedIn feed about ageism in the workplace. Now I’m not one for labels (only New Balance) but this struck a chord with me too. I’m nearly in ‘that’ age bracket but I’m far from being whatever people think old people are in the workplace.

About 10 years ago, I attempted a return to the workforce after taking five years off to be with my young children and I was told back then that I lacked the ‘new skills and attributes’ that the younger, up and coming kids brought to the table.

I remember thinking: “How though? They’ll never know what they don’t know,” and what soft skills do they have in their early 20s that a woman in her late 30s have? Soft skills like: agility, resilience, EQ, humility?

Based on the response to my colleague’s

About TALiNT Partners TALiNT Partners brings together a global network of leading employers and solution providers to make better talent and technology decisions by providing intelligence, insight and peer-to-peer networking that drives quality, innovation and improves inclusion across the talent ecosystem.

LinkedIn post, I am thrilled that employers and recruiters are taking note of the value that the older workforce can bring to a business. I believe that enticing the over50s back into the workforce (if they’re not already in it) will most certainly contribute to solving the skills shortage crisis.

The amalgamation of people and technology continues as we announce the finalists of this year’s TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards. Refining and improving hiring strategies through the use of technology, while essential, should never detract from the importance the human touch in the recruitment process. We’re in the business of people after all and while frictionless recruitment is essential for buisnesses to grow, human touch points remain all-important.

Enjoy the upcoming Queen’s Jubilee weekend. The extra Bank Holiday honouring Her Majesty’s exceptional service to the country is the perfect excuse to shut off those laptops, turn off workrelated notifications and enjoy the wonderful British summer – that this solar powered South African is still waiting for.

Published by Talent Intelligence Partners Ltd Casa Court Great George Street Godalming GU71DX www.talintpartners.com Editorial, news and features: debbie@talintpartners.com Advertising and sponsorship: andy@talintpartners.com Design: annabelle@talintpartners.com TALiNT International May 2022

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The Transformers

Contents 06 10

TALiNT Scene

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Riding the bull

Industry leaders meet for debate and wine

News analysis

12. UK businesses lack focus on diversity 14. Age old problem? It shouldn’t be!

Staffing and Talent Solutions Leaders: M&A

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Building bridges: The best TA tech

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Can’t be what you can’t see

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The Transformers

Geraint Rowe

Sohail Ahmad

Andrew Saul

Adam Dale

Olivia Sinfield

Ronny Grosman

Jo Major

DJ Marker

Rachael Moss

Helena Sullivan

Gambit Corporate Finance

Osborne Clarke

Azlan Advisory

CRO of SourceBreaker

Talent Solutions power list

Staffing and Talent Solutions leaders lunch: Employer Brand and DE&I

Osborne Clarke

Blackwood Capital

The TIARA Talent Tech Star Award finalists

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Tech drop

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TALiNT TALK

Diversity in Recruitment

Trinnovo Group

The TALiNT Partners Benchmark Report 2021

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Trinnovo Group

40 Tech drop

Riding the bull

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Volcanic

TALiNT Partners’ events calendar

Employee advocacy – when does engagement become a moan fest?

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Contributors

• • • • • • •

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TALiNT Scene TALiNT Partners travelled to the far corners of UK&I to host in-person conferences, dinners and lunches to facilitate great debate, share insights and for delegates to have meaningful conversations with industry peers around the successes and challenges in the total talent ecosystem.

THE TALINT PARTNERS IRELAND SUMMIT With a room full of talent acquisition experts from across the recruitment ecosystem gathered in the Gibson Hotel, the Ireland Summit was a day that reflected the strategic importance and evolving role of Talent Acquisition (TA) in Ireland.

Stephanie Brady, Head of Talent for Retail inMotion spoke of the challenges in finding and retaining recruiters and enabling them to achieve connection and fulfilment in their role. These are realities faced by in-house TA leaders, talent solutions providers, and recruitment agencies alike.

Marie Power, Director of Talent for CarTrawler shared with passion the importance of purpose for employees and candidates in their career decisions.

The panels were bursting with leaders from across the talent ecosystem! Our panelists Robert Mac Giolla Phadraig, Lorna Conn, Victoria Fernandez, Clair Bush, Geraldine King Donal O’Donoghue, Pauline Dupont and Sian Jones, all offered their insight and expert opinions on some of the big topics on everyone’s agenda: How organisations are responding to the skill shortages, how 6

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early talent and improvement in diverse hiring could open new talent pipelines, and much more.

The group discussions were hosted and led by thought leaders from Adway, iCIMs, JobTeaser and Sova Assessment, offering their experience across the whole recruitment lifecycle, from attraction to assessment to candidate experience and internal mobility.

What was the big takeaway?

It is clear that employment relationships have moved to an individual level, more tailored to the needs of each employee than we have ever seen at scale. How will this change the role of talent acquisition professionals and how then do we all balance human and tech interventions to connect in a way that meets the need for connectivity and purpose?

Dublin

CREATIVE TALENT ACQUISITION IS ALIVE AND WELL IN SCOTLAND!

TALiNT Partners and Omni RMS hosted a dinner at the delightful Contini restaurant in Edinburgh for senior HR and TA Leaders. There was great debate along with many laughs.

Needless to say, the recruitment landscape is as challenging in Scotland as anywhere else right now, but the energy and creative thinking in the room was indicative of how TA teams across the country are looking at new ways to meet the demands of their organisations.

smart use of technology. Above all the focus on a fast, person-centred candidate journey in the recruitment process and then a mutual, shared investment in keeping an employee’s skills as relevant were at the top of the list.

These strategies are increasing partnerships between TA, L&D, and line management.

Slinging problems over the fence was never the answer, but a more collaborative approach is emerging in a post-pandemic employment market, which could potentially change these internal partnerships for good. That is an encouraging prospect.

In this room full of experience and lateral thinking the discussion was of improving early talent programmes, upskilling and re-purposing of existing resources and

Edinburgh

Louise Shaw

Director Resource Transformation at Omni RMS TALiNT International May 2022

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TALiNT Scene 12

12 May

We went back to the lovely Beaumont Hotel in London to discuss DE&I and marketing strategies for staffing firms.

The mood in the lavish dining room matched the glorious sunshine and blue skies outside. Presentations from companies Trinnovo Group, SThree and Volcanic were enlightening. In the world of DE&I it’s important to remember that you can’t be what you can’t see.

Read the full article on page 26.

27 April

The art gallery that is the Haymarket Hotel off Piccadilly Circus was the venue of choice for the TALiNT Partners membership lunch and learn about M&A. How can the staffing industry make the most of a recruitment boom that has taken everyone by surprise, to not only grow profitably but as a premium professional service?

Read the full article on page 16.

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NEWS ANALYSIS

Job vacancies outnumber the unemployed For the first time in recorded history, the number of jobs available online outnumbered the number of people who are unemployed in Britain. According to the Labour Force Survey released by the ONS in May, it’s estimated that for the period of January to March 2022 there was another decrease in the unemployment rate as well. These figures speak to the severity of the skills shortage crisis and certainly makes for an even tougher market for talent acquisition and talent solutions teams to operate in.

Even though the market is contracting, the employment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points on the quarter to 75.7%, however this is still below pre-pandemic levels. Recent news reports have stated that despite aggressive recruiting in the months post-pandemic, businesses are still battling to fill vacancies. According to ManpowerGroup’s latest Employment Outlook survey, the UK’s employment outlook has tripled in the last 12 months with Q3 reaching a new high of +35%. This is a 22%-point increase from the third quarter of 2021.

ONS figures showed the increase in the employment rate was driven by the movement of people aged 16 to 64 years from unemployment to employment.

However, there was also a record-high movement of people from economic inactivity into employment with total job-to-job moves also increasing to a record high of 994,000, driven by resignations rather than dismissals, during 10

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the January to March 2022 period – the Great Resignation continues…

The estimated number of payrolled employees for April 2022 shows a monthly increase, up 121,000 on the revised March 2022, to a record 29.5 million.

The unemployment rate for January to March 2022 decreased by 0.3 percentage points on the quarter to 3.7% and for the first time since records began, there are fewer unemployed people than job vacancies.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY The economic inactivity rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 21.4% in January to March 2022 and this recent inactivity is believed to be driven by those aged 50 to 64 years.

The number of job vacancies in February to April 2022 rose to a new record of 1,295,000.

However, the rate of growth in vacancies continued to slow down.

Top skills in the workplace are…

A new study on skills in the workplace, commissioned by LMS provider Digits, has revealed the most important skills that workers expect from their managers. Of the 2,048 working-age adults polled, 51% of men and 45% of women agreed that leadership skills were the most important skills for managers.

Next on the list was verbal communication and teamwork, at 35%, followed by empathy at 30% and problem-solving at 29%. Written communication was at the bottom of the list at only 8%.

Just 10% of the respondents did not have any specific skill requirements for a manager.

Ranked by popularity, the most important skills needed by managers are: • • • • • • • • •

Leadership skills (48%) Verbal communication skills (35%) Teamwork skills (35%) Empathy (30%) Problem-solving skills (29%) A strong work ethic (21%) Good time management (18%) Conflict resolution (15%) Written communication skills (8%)

Leadership skills include a variety of skills, hard and soft, and the term can mean different things to different people.

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NEWS ANALYSIS

UK businesses lack focus on diversity In research conducted by SD Worx, it was revealed that there is a lack of focus on progressing diversity in the workplace. In the study it was found that while 68% of UK companies are committed to removing unconscious bias in the recruitment process, many have failed to implement a reporting system to track progress on meeting ED&I objectives.

The survey showed that only 26% of UK companies evaluate managerial commitment to achieving DE&I-related objectives. A further 32% admitted having no systems allowing employees to report discrimination.

The UK ranked third in its commitment to removing unconscious bias at 68% when it comes to ranking. Ireland ranked first at 74%, with Belgium coming in second, at 69%.

As far as rankings for equal access to training, the UK is slightly lower than other countries, with 64% of companies investing in equal access to training and development. Ireland (72%), Belgium (71%), and Poland (69%) topped the list.

While 64% of UK companies include transparency about ED&I goals and actions to attract a diverse workforce in their mission statement and corporate values, only 60% of the UK companies surveyed said that they promote ED&I in job advertisements, social media, and their websites.

The survey also revealed that countries vary in their level of focus concerning educating and involving managers in their ED&I policies.

For example, in the UK, 60% of companies stated that they actively involve their managers in ED&I policies, and 60% provide internal training on the topic.

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26+74 32+68 64+36 26%

Number of UK companies evaluating management commitment to DE&I

32%

Number of UK companies admitting to having no discrimination reporting systems

64%

Number of UK companies transparent about ED&I goals

Hiring delays hamper business performance According to 58% of HR managers, delays in hiring are negatively affecting business performance.

In Talent Work’s survey of 400 HR leaders, it was found that recruitment is taking double the time to hire talent when compared to 2019.

Twenty-one percent of respondents agree that it is taking three times as long. Slow hiring processes coupled with the shortage of skills has created the perfect storm.

Employers who take too long to hire talent as inevitably losing said talent and job roles are staying open for longer.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents agree that the delays are due to difficulties in finding quality candidates.

When looking at 2022 priorities, employer branding was noted as the key priority for HR in 2022. Thirty-one percent plan to relaunch or develop their employer brand,

while a further 20% have already done this. Only 12% of respondents said they didn’t have time to focus on their employer brand.

Other priorities were employee retention at 21% and changing processes to allow speedy hire at 20%.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents believed that brand awareness impacts their hiring ability, and 42% don’t believe they have a strong awareness as an employer or don’t measure their brand awareness.

In a candidate-driven market, the importance of the employer brand has been brought into sharp focus. Candidates want to work for companies that align with their personal values. In order to attract solid talent, employers need to ensure that their brand is defined, noticed and that they ‘walk the walk’.

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NEWS ANALYSIS

Age old problem?

It shouldn’t be!

A recent article by Andrea London, partner at Winckworth Sherwood, a full-service law firm, has highlighted concern that the new world of remote working is resulting in increasing polarisation of the labour market in the UK and an increase in the “generational skills gap” and whether older workers can keep up with technical advances. On the other side of that coin, remote working is surely accelerating a slow growth of EQ and soft skills in younger generations as they sit at home, working alone and don’t interact with older, more experienced peers…

She goes on to mention that even if people over the age of 55 don’t have the “skills of the future”, they do have valuable wisdom, experience, skills, and attributes that took years to develop and should not be ignored. These benefits influence all in the workplace, and she warns that companies may not realise the value of an age-diverse workplace until it is too late.

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London warned of the likelihood of an increasing number of unfair dismissal incidents, such as the recent Williams -v- Lyons Holiday Parks [2022] case, where Mrs. Williams, a 60-year-old worker, was dismissed because she wasn’t receiving enough “likes” on social media.

According to London, a possible leveller is “proximity bias” – where those we see more often are looked upon more favourably. For example, in a hybrid working model, those in the office, such as more mature staff members, may be more likely to be presented with tasks as opposed to those working remotely.

Unfortunately, as businesses adapt, proximity bias may disappear, and the benefits of this may be short-lived.

The older workforce is an untapped talent resource and at a time when employers are strapped for experienced professionals, employers should look to the over 55s to plug skills gaps in their businesses.

8 seconds. That’s all you’ve got.

Can you attract the best?

It’s vital to make every word count when hiring the talent to shape the future of your business.

You have just 8 seconds to sell your story and inspire the most diverse, talented job seekers.

And become the No 1 destination for their job applications.

The future of resourcing. It’s all about agility.

The technology needed to find the best people has changed.

“The Global economy has been significantly impacted over the last year and this has profound effects on how we find and hire the right people to survive and thrive in the future. Larger numbers looking for work, smaller resourcing teams, a turbulent economy and a major shift to virtual collaboration have changed the employment market beyond all recognition.

To be successful requires a new set of tools and a fresh approach to resourcing.”

Andy Randall, CEO of eArcu.

It might seem that, right now, finding people is easy.

• Are they the right people?

PREBOARDING

• Are they invested in your organisation?

GOOGLE & JOB BOARDS

• Will they make a difference?

OFFERS, CONTRACTS & eSIGNATURES

• Or even stick around?

CAREERS SITES & SPECIALIST PORTALS

The winners will be the agile teams who adopt the smartest technology to engage with all kinds of VIDEO & VIRTUAL INTERVIEWS

candidate communities.

eArcu is the market leading Talent

YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR CANDIDATE CARE

Acquisition Suite, powering some of the World’s most admired employers’ recruitment strategies. You get the

SJTs ASSESSMENTS & TESTS CRM, EVENTS & TALENT POOLS

reassurance of a trusted market leader, and the excitement of award winning innovation – all in one organic package.

CHATBOTS & LIVE CHAT

APPLICATION FORMS

JOB ADVERTS

Is it time to upgrade your Resourcing Technology?

Find out about our more-for-less offer, visit www.earcu.com TALiNT International May 2022 15

STAFFING AND TALENT SOLUTIONS LEADERS: M&A

Riding the bull

Alex Evans

MD, TALiNT Partners

Size and specialism are still the biggest drivers of premium and value for staffing companies, and buyers are willing to pay higher multiples for niche businesses in markets with strong fundamentals.”

Geraint Rowe, Partner, Gambit Corporate Finance

How can the staffing industry make the most of a recruitment boom that has taken everyone by surprise, to not only grow profitably but as a premium professional service?

investors and UK corporates having £100 billion of cash to deploy. Private equity interest in staffing has increased, he said, particularly in businesses that have shown resilience through Covid and successfully pivoted, diversified, or transformed with technology.

t’s been a record year for staffing M&A, with 92 deals in 2021, but how long will the boom last, and why? How can recruiters get the best ROI on tech and talent? As recruiters look to build in greater resilience to weather the next recession, what are the risks and rewards of new models to achieve more profitable growth?

“The macro-economic clouds in the near term are likely to have a more material impact on big ticket M&A in contrast to the middle market. The strategic M&A drivers remain and the record levels of capital raised need to be invested”, said Sohail.

Last month, TALiNT Partners helped 30 staffing and talent solutions leaders from its membership network to find answers to these and other questions at its always popular M&A in half a day event – this year supported by industry leading advisers and experts from Osborne Clarke, Gambit Corporate Finance, Blackwood Capital, Giant Group and SourceBreaker.

Opening the event with his snapshot of the recruitment M&A landscape, Sohail Ahmad, Managing Director of Azlan Advisory, said 2021 had been a bumper year for deals with pent up demand from 16

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DON’T OVER-DIVERSIFY

Drilling further into deal characteristics and valuation drivers, Geraint Rowe, Partner at Gambit Corporate Finance, warned that investors were starting to push back on over-diversification. “Size and specialism are still the biggest drivers of premium and value for staffing companies, and buyers are willing to pay higher multiples for niche businesses in markets with strong fundamentals,” he explained, but added that US acquirers are used to seeing higher recruitment margins in the US so looking for greater growth potential.

Geraint also predicted the anticipated rise in Capital Gains Tax would be a driver for

PE is attracting more tech talent into staffing CEO and senior exec roles, bringing with them management capability and knowledge of how to use technology to scale. Just look at the transformation of Harvey Nash.”

Ronny Grosman, Managing Partner, Blackwood Capital

M&A to optimise current tax rates. “The Chancellor has to recoup what he spent on furlough from somewhere and CGT is more palatable than further taxation on the rest of the working population, so this will create a sense of urgency to maximise value under the existing regime.”

Andrew Saul, Partner at Osborne Clarke, predicted the ongoing digitisation of recruitment, a focus on balancing automation with the human touch, and consolidation in talent tech with the proliferation of solutions addressing so many different parts of the recruitment process.

Adam Dale, CRO of SourceBreaker, explained how automation was enabling ‘friction-less recruitment’ for clients and consultants. “This not only increases revenue per head but improves retention as staffing talent sees the quality of tech stack as a differentiator,” he said.

Commenting on new areas of growth, Adam predicted better use of data to track candidates and match them to other available roles. He also said talent tech is being used more and more to identify the best performers, not just the top billers, internally.

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STAFFING AND TALENT SOLUTIONS LEADERS: M&A

TALENT RISK

With talent retention and employee risk an important factor in valuation, Olivia Sinfield, Partner at Osborne Clarke, recommended that recruiters review contracts to account for changes in post pandemic workforce trends.

“There is a much higher risk of key people being poached in such a competitive talent market so it’s important to review and refresh contracts for restrictive covenants, data protection, intellectual property and to establish ownership over LinkedIn contacts for example,” she explained.

“Other risk mitigation options to consider are future proofing non-compete provisions, longer notice periods, and strengthening forfeiture provisions in commission schemes.” livia listed some of the most effective incentives to keep people loyal and engaged, ranging from flexible hours and wellbeing packages to alternative ownership models.

In September last year, SF Recruitment announced an employee ownership scheme. Its CEO, Saira Demmer, explained that it tapped into an entrepreneurial spirit that not only increased revenue per head but improved collaboration, inclusion and retention. “We have brought attrition down to 6%,” she said. “A key lesson was the language we used to move to an employeeowned business; so people have autonomy, but everyone feels a sense of ownership and accountability as well.”

The final panel on new models of profitable growth kicked off with insights from Daniel Haslam, Group Sales Director of Giant Group, who highlighted the commercial advantages of offering new RPO and MSP services for staffing firms.

There is a much higher risk of key people being poached in such a competitive talent market so it’s important to review and refresh contracts for restrictive covenants, data protection, IP and to establish ownership over LinkedIn contacts for example.”

Olivia Sinfield, Partner, Osborne Clarke

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REPEAT REVENUE

“MSP clients tend to be stickier, with repeatable revenue, and technology is enabling more opportunities to scale beyond traditional managed service provider models,” Daniel explained. “With the established players tending to focus on the bigger, long-term partnerships, we have seen challengers and disruptors going for smaller, more short term 20 to 200 contractor projects. Staffing firms can acquire tech solutions, build their own, or partner with a specialist for a lower cost, lower risk option. The winners are differentiating with candidate experience and cyber security to protect contractors.” rain & Deploy has grown in popularity to address talent shortages. Frances Lewis, Consultant at Osborne Clarke, observed that it was a differentiator for PE investors and has enhanced valuations.

However, Frances also highlighted some due diligence risks to mitigate in order to maximise equity value further down the line.

“The status of the individual during training is an important one; are they an employee or not? If the training stage is linked to post-training employment, then National Minimum Wage risk needs to be considered.

This has been a material due diligence issue in recent deals,” she explained. “Recovery of training costs has created some bad publicity and it may be better reputationally to write them off in cases where trainees choose to leave. Either way, you must be well-funded enough to deliver this solution but also be aware that there are restrictions on loans to those not designated as employees – so it’s important to seek legal advice.”

Ronny Grosman, Managing Partner of Blackwood Capital, rounded off the event with his M&A and market predictions. Asked what the biggest driver of growth will be over the next 6 months, Ronny said it would be international expansion, with the US offering the highest margin business for specialist providers.

Ronny also predicted growing PE interest in tech-enabled, diversified staffing firms but added that it is transforming the sector.

“Private equity is helping to improve margins as they help recruiters to position as professional service providers,” he observed.

“PE is attracting more tech talent into staffing CEO and senior exec roles, bringing with them management capability and knowledge of how to use technology to scale. Just look at the transformation of Harvey Nash.”

All of the speakers agreed that recession is coming, but recruiters can build resilience and enhance equity value now with the right investment in tech, talent and new services.

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TALENT SOLUTIONS POWER LIST

Building bridges: The best TA tech The pace of change in the talent acquisition (TA) tech market accelerated from fast to furious during the global pandemic, with an ever-growing number of technology companies providing more wideranging and creative solutions for attracting and hiring talent in a virtual process, across a global market.

Debra Sparshott Research and Insights Director

The simpler, smarter and faster use of technology underpins Resource Solutions’ ability to meet and exceed our clients’ needs.

We maintain a partner network of providers who are selected for their ability to make a truly positive impact on the recruitment experience.

This is continually reviewed to ensure it remains cutting edge and enables our mission to empower people and organisations to fulfil their unique potential.”

Daniel Masters, Head of Product and Solutions, Resource Solutions

he impact on talent solutions providers was profound, creating opportunities to be transformational, both in terms of client service provision, and fulfilment of their own recruitment needs, against a backdrop of an unprecedented resurgence of global hiring demand.

Understanding the implications of these factors is without doubt, one of the most important areas for the Talent Solutions Power List (TSPL) and this paper sets out the key areas where the top performing talent solutions performers really stand out.

The TSPL has three key objectives: • To enable employers who are considering or changing a recruitment outsourcing provider to 20

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make an informed decision based on their own specific needs.

• To help recruitment outsourcing providers to clearly demonstrate their expertise in relevant areas based on an independent, rigorous evaluation.

• To provide confidential feedback to providers on ways in which they can finely tune the services they offer to respond effectively to customer needs and market trends.

The TSPL examined how the adaptation of the recruitment outsourcing industry, in response to new market conditions, has altered the scope of services and the capability of providers in both the assessment and deployment of effective TA tech for their clients.

iven the factors outlined above, it is perhaps no surprise that one of the key findings illustrates just how much time and effort is required to keep up with the evolution of recruitment tools and technology, and how the top performing talent solution providers are sharing the load by encouraging tech curiosity, as part of their organisational mindset, across their entire workforce.

The TSPL has identified five distinct factors, which underpin highly effective deployment of technology in recruitment delivery: CONSISTENT FOCUS

In the context of the recruitment lifecycle, selecting the right technology impacts the quality of hire, the experience of everyone involved in the process and the value of data captured. The most effective providers are harnessing the combined visibility of sales, innovation, IT, project, and operational teams to create a collaborative, constant stream of tech development insight. A common mistake is to leave out the client-facing teams, who not only have the clearest view of existing plans and challenges within their accounts, but also the greatest opportunity to discuss

innovation with key stakeholders.

This can create a two-tier tech service with new client tech solutions outshining those of existing accounts. Giving client-facing teams access to digital trends and a consistent voice in tech discovery can bring a better perspective and increase the connection between innovation and actual client challenges.

APPLICATION AND OUTPUT

Ability to assess technology for impact, rather than functionality, is central to smart decision-making. This starts with understanding and optimising use of the technology already in place; only then can an accurate needs analysis be done.

High performing solutions providers can confidently assess tech output across the entire recruitment lifecycle, to understand how a tool would improve process, user experience and business intelligence. Talent solutions providers are generally good at assessing and selecting the right TA tech for core sourcing and screening activities however, there was less capability in assessing tools for supply chain management and support of internal mobility, particularly when the core model is direct external hiring.

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TALENT SOLUTIONS POWER LIST

Given the increasing importance of, and focus on internal talent, those providers with services to meet this need are wellplaced to harness the current demand and take an early lead. In tech evaluation the priority is to look beyond clever functionality and focus on the problem being solved.

ACCESS TO EXPERTISE

Effective use of technology suppliers to understand the evolution of their specific market is a differentiator when it comes to outstanding tech deployment. Leveraging external expertise expands internal capability for talent solutions providers, reducing the risk of falling behind the market in solution development, or perception of current service maturity.

Providers who foster strong tech partnerships are benefiting from borrowed speed, agility, and risk management, which can not always be achieved in a “build rather than buy” tech strategy.

UNDERSTANDING ROI

Ability to assess the balance between cost and benefit in tech procurement is an important differentiator. Whilst most are confident in assessing functionality, user experience and platform stability, accurate estimates of cost against efficiency opportunity are more difficult. The cost of no change is not always clear or considered, creating a false comparison in analysis of impact.

Those with clear visibility of their cost of service to inform their tech assessment process stand to realise better ROI, (or better clarity of the numbers at least). Top performing providers have a high level of cross-functional collaboration in tech budgetary discussions, with involvement across operations, business development and back-office functions, ensuring a broad perspective of both cost and benefit.

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The best results are being achieved through a shift in attitude.

AVOIDING IMPLEMENTATION PITFALLS

Technology implementation is central to talent solutions deployment and with experience comes confidence. The integration of new technology with existing systems remains an area of challenge, particularly where a tech stack has expanded reactively rather than through planning. Effective realisation of benefit cases varies and, given the requirement of transparency and collaboration for effective analysis, depends as much on the partnership between client and provider as the capability of the latter.

The top performers all prioritise review and feedback in their technology

deployment process; capturing lessons learned as part of an ongoing pursuit of continuous improvement.

The growth in the number and complexity of tech solutions on the market shows no sign of slowing down and as they play an ever more central role in all categories of recruitment, the cost of selecting the wrong tech solution is strategically damaging to hiring capability, user experience and brand reputation. The best results are being achieved through a shift in attitude, at an organisational level, to embrace continuous tech curiosity and ontribution, to seek the support of experts and to centre decisions on change impact and overall benefit to service quality.

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TALENT SOLUTIONS POWER LIST

LEADERS IN DEPLOYMENT OF TECHNOLOGY

Tech to enhance an Insurance Business Graduate Scheme Lorien has upported their long-term client, a leading insurance business, by implementing a variety of engaging tech platforms to enhance candidate experience, maximise efficiency for both account teams and hiring managers, while maintaining a human touch throughout.

Using Milkround, to distribute adverts onto other job sites and university careers pages ensures wide reach to the graduate audience. Applicants receive an automatic link to a chatbot in RoboRecruiter, which pre-screens candidates against set criteria, increasing the efficiency of the hiring process for large volumes of applicants, automatically progressing or rejecting candidates on results. Applicants passing a telephone pre-screen interview are sent a link to Arctic Shores, for gamified assessment of ‘soft skills’ and cultural alignment, configured to reflect internal and external changes. Finally, shortlisted candidates take part in a live video interview in Hinterview which effectively increases candidate engagement and buy-in from hiring managers who can review recorded interviews at a time to suit them.

Client results: Wide attraction to relevant audience, efficient pre-screening of high application volumes, engaging and relevant assessment, agile video interviewing for candidates and managers.

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INCREASING QUALITY OF SERVICE BY REPURPOSING TECH

Freshdesk at a global investment bank Resource Solutions introduced Freshdesk for a US client to test the effectiveness of automatic workload distribution in their coordination delivery. Using deep process understanding and exploration of gaps in the tech stack, they developed a completely new use case for this technology in recruitment – it was the first of its kind for Freshdesk.

The Freshdesk deployment enhanced rather than replaced the team; improving the candidate and hiring manager experience through increased productivity, better workload prioritisation and faster query resolution.

Success metrics include: • 100% automatic workload automation and 100% allocation accuracy • 68 hours (1.7-week FTE) saved during the first two (2) months with zero hours spent on manual tracking due to Freshdesk analytics • 100% reduction in requests for missing information • Real-time reporting and automatic reminders/escalations provided an improved service, faster, reaching 99% KPI fulfilment, and increased candidate and hiring manager satisfaction rates.

A process that's fair by design Fairness by design is at the heart of what we do.

There’s a perfect role for every person, and creating opportunity means assessing for potential, not track record. Sova’s commitment to intelligent, ethically applied AI helps you to consistently make fair decisions that support more diverse hiring and progression.

Find out more at sovaassessment.com

TALiNT International May 2022

25

Staffing and Talent Solutions leaders lunch: Employer Brand and DE&I

Alex Evans

MD, TALiNT Partners

Can’t be what you can’t see Who ‘owns’ employer brand and how should HR and Marketing collaborate on DE&I for clients and talent? n Thursday 12th May, TALiNT Partners and Volcanic co-hosted a Lunch & Learn for 30 staffing and RPO marketing leaders on the timely topic of the role of DE&I in employer brand for recruiters.

With the attraction and retention of their own talent still a top priority for recruiters, a panel of thought leaders from awardwinning staffing and talent tech firms shared insights on how to build an inclusive employer brand, be a better DE&I partner, and create the widest appeal from your virtual shopfront.

Alex Evans, MD of TALiNT Partners, set the scene.

“Employers recognise the value that staffing and talent solutions firms bring in market insight, candidate knowledge, sector 26

TALiNT International May 2022

specialism and understanding where technology can have a real impact but some are going a step further to become inclusion partners,” he explained. “TIARA award winners like Goodman Masson, BRUIN Financial and Trinnovo Group have shown how their commitment to DE&I has enabled them to not only attract their own talent but help clients to be more inclusive and retain theirs.”

But he urged the sector to do more to create access to more diverse pools of talent,

particularly as employers are now more open to remote and flexible working options.

“As Steve Ingham, CEO of Page Group, said at our World Leaders in Recruitment Summit last year, disability is an important part of the diversity debate but it’s still a largely ignored workforce.

Recruiters can lead the way on the wide spectrum of diversity that employers should be tapping into.”

This point about intersectionality is an important part of the inclusive DE&I strategy designed by SThree’s

Global Head of DEI & People Engagement, Karima Green.

She shared some of the tactics that won the firm a European Diversity Award for Best Company last year.

“You can’t be what you can’t see,” Karima explained.

“Employee voice is an essential part of the strategy, but it must be authentic and consistent.

Use change champions like DEI networks to enhance the messaging and positively impact brand reputation internally and externally. Our slogan is ‘Everyone is welcome at SThree’. We provide communication toolkits, social media guidelines and frameworks to ensure its consistent. Create resources that are built on feedback and recommendations from colleagues and give your people a platform to tell their stories through webinars or Employee Spotlights.”

PURPOSE LED

Trinnovo Group cites its visible commitment to purpose as key factors in attracting and retaining the best mix of talent. TIARA judges certainly highlighted the positive commercial impact of its ESG and DE&I initiatives on clients, candidates and consultants in voting Trinnovo Group winner of the Best Recruitment

Whilst Goodman Masson won the TIARA DE&I Award in 2021 for setting out its strategic aim ‘to become the first recruitment company to help businesses retain their people’, Trinnovo hopes to give them a run for their money with their mission this year.

“Our vision is to be the fastest, organically growing and most impactful recruitment business on the planet and our mission is to build diversity, create inclusion and encourage workplace innovation,” DJ explained, adding that it’s social enterprise, Ex-Military Careers, not only brought its purpose to life but also helped to build more diverse candidate pipelines.

Employee voice is an essential part of the strategy, but it must be authentic and consistent.

Company to Work For (£20m to £50m) two years running.

Trinnovo’s Group Marketing Director, Helena Sullivan, and CPO, DJ Marker, explained how they had collaborated on DE&I to support its growth as an employer and recruitment partner.

“Impact metrics are a crucial part of our five-year strategy as we can hold ourselves accountable to the goals we have set for ourselves around partnerships, organic growth, thought leadership, customer engagement and diversity,” added Helena. She explained that a vital measure of success will be recognition from employees and clients that both external placements and their internal workforce have a higher proportion of women, minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ and the veteran community.

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27

Staffing and Talent Solutions leaders lunch: Employer Brand and DE&I

SITE FOR ALL EYES

So, making yourself accountable to meaningful metrics and maximising employee voice are two key components of a successful DE&I-driven employer brand strategy; but how do you present this in the right way through your website, and what are the most common mistakes made by recruiters?

Rachael Moss, Access Group’s Head of Marketing, and Jo Major, Founder of Diversity in Recruitment, presented some tactics for making virtual shopfronts more inclusive and accessible.

“Have you ever viewed your website as a candidate, tested it with a diverse group of candidates, or tried to navigate it with your eyes closed?” asked Rachael Moss, who explained that Volcanic’s development team had tested a range of formats and colour schemes for those with visual impairments. “Recruiters need to design for everyone, create user-friendly forms and write meaningful ‘alt

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text’, where you describe the image for those with visual impairments.”

Rachael also urged recruiters to add Recite Me to their toolbar, which enables dyslexic and visually-impaired visitors to adapt sites to fit their preferences in terms of font, size and colour contrast.

“Not everyone experiences their job search or the workplace in the same way we do, especially those who are underrepresented or marginalised,” said Rachael.

“If we want to create a more inclusive website and attract more diverse talent, we must understand how candidates think and feel.”

Jo Major highlighted four candidate questions to consider when designing for inclusion: Am I expected here? Am I going to be respected here? Can I be myself here? Will I be successful here?

“To create the right impression with your website, use authentic representative

imagery, present a visible commitment to DE&I, use relatable consultant profiles with copy that connects and always be mindful of process equity,” Jo explained, adding that it’s also an opportunity to think about the culture champions you should be using. “Don’t be tokenistic and look beyond your top billers to those who have progressed in their careers because they have been supported and helped others to succeed. That portrays an inclusive culture.”

Marketing leaders from market leaders including Page Group, Gattaca, ManpowerGroup, Venquis, Pertemps and Now Careers were all asked to think about who their cultural champions and success stories were and if they were truly inclusive.

This is an important question if the recruitment industry wants to attract more people from other sectors to improve its perception as a professional service.

Upcoming events 2022 Jun Event Name

Date

Audience

Location

Future of Tech Dinner & Debate with Mercury

08.06.22

Staffing and talent solutions leaders

The Beaumont Hotel, London

Attracting, Hiring and Growing Talent with Aon Assessment

09.06.22

In-house talent leaders

Virtual

Strategic outputs for the role of TA with PeopleScout

16.06.22

In-house talent leaders

The Beaumont Hotel, London

Tech Leader Lunch & Learn with Mercury

21.06.22

Staffing and talent solutions leaders

The Beaumont Hotel, London

The Emerging Talent Summit

23.06.22

In-house talent leaders

The King’s Fund, London

Talent Solutions Leaders Lunch with Cornerstone

24.06.22

Talent solutions talent leaders

Sea Containers, London

How to attract & retain a happy workforce with Indeed

28.06.22

In-house talent leaders

Andaz Hotel, London

TA Challenges Dinner & Debate with Omni RMS

30.06.22

In-house talent leaders

The Ivy, Birmingham

Jul Event Name

Date

Audience

Location

TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards

01.07.22

HR Tech leaders

The RIBA, London

Hiring for skills with Eightfold.ai

07.07.22

In-house talent leaders

Aquavit, London

Lunch & Learn: New drivers of profitable growth with MyDigital & iCIMS

07.07.22

Staffing and talent solutions leaders

Haymarket Hotel, London

TA Challenges Dinner & Debate with Giant Group

13.07.22

In-house talent leaders

London

VISIT TALINTPARTNERS.COM/EVENTS TO REGISTER TALiNT International May 2022

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TALiNT International February 2022

1

THE TRANSFORMERS

The TIARA Talent Tech Star Award finalists

30

TALiNT International May 2022

TALiNT International May 2022

31

TIARA 2022 TALENT TECH STAR AWARDS

Which of this year’s 47 finalists will be crowned as a TIARA Talent Tech Star Award winner and who will emerge as the Champion of Champions?

The champions of change shortlisted this year have all demonstrated lasting impact on the employers and recruiters they have helped to digitally transform and deliver more with less over the last 12 months.

“The 47 finalists shortlisted in 13 TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards categories this year represent the sector’s highest potential start-ups, fastest growing scale-ups and top performing talent tech giants - collectively employing 17,620 people and generating total sales of £1,751,752,677 in 2021,” said Alex Evans, Managing Director of TALiNT Partners. “As the world has adjusted to new ways of working, both recruiters and employers have adapted to talent shortages across all sectors, which has accelerated the adoption of HR & Recruitment technology and digital transformation.”

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“The TIARAs are distinguished by the rigour of its judging process and the quality of its judging panel,” he added. “A wide range of Talent Tech solutions have been assessed through five key metrics – employee excellence; innovation; client service; business growth; and purpose – to recognise those enabling the evolution of the talent ecosystem.”

Finalist entries have now gone through to the next stage of judging to be scored by an independent panel of expert judges drawn from HR, Recruitment, Investment and Procurement to identify the winners in each award category. Senior industry figures from organisations including LinkedIn, ManpowerGroup, and NatWest Group will also convene to debate and choose the overall Champion of Champions.

14

AWARDS INCLUDING CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

47

17

JUDGES ON THIS YEAR’S PANEL

FINALIST COMPANIES SHORTLISTED

17,620

PEOPLE EMPLOYED

BY SHORTLIST

£1,751,752,677 TOTAL SALES OF FINALISTS IN 2021

TALiNT International May 2022

33

TIARA 2022 TALENT TECH STAR AWARDS

“Last year’s winners championed transformation in different parts of the talent ecosystem and showed the impact of technology on everything from candidate experience to onboarding and workforce management to productivity and inclusion,” said Ken Brotherston, CEO of TALiNT Partners. “Our TIARA judges are looking for innovation with impact, visionary leadership and customer-centric solutions delivered by purpose-led cultures.”

“As the world working, both adapted to tal which has accelerated the adoption of H digital transformation.”

Alex Evans, Managing Director, TALiNT Partners

For the last two years, the Champion of Champions Award has highlighted the solution that judges saw as the most timely and relevant to the biggest challenge or opportunity in the talent ecosystem.

In 2020, Clear Review was voted overall winner for a solution that supported professional development and wellbeing for an increasingly remote workforce.

Judges said that: “By successfully applying performance data to enable continual professional development whilst improving well-being … it is solving a fundamental problem for employers around engagement, productivity and identifying transferable skills.”

In 2021, Odro triumphed as Champion of Champions for the success of its business and leadership as much as its impact on candidate experience and the recruitment process. “It was a great year for Odro, with big client wins including Hays and a £5m growth investment from BGF,” said Alex Evans. “A deserved winner of both the Customer Service and Leader of the Year awards, Odro showed how recruiters can scale the human touch with video technology to keep candidates engaged.”

Chris Mooney, Partner at Marriott Harrison and sponsor of the Candidate Experience Solution of the Year, commended the innovation and impact of solutions like Odro which not only help recruitment consultants to automate communication throughout the process but personalise it as well.

Lockdowns, talent shortages and shifts to new ways of working have created leadership challenges for HR 34

TALiNT International May 2022

“Work Tech businesses launched in the la but even reaching unicorn status – and it shortlist for the TIARA Talent Tech Star A Georgios Markakis, Managing Partner, Venero Capital Advisors

has adjusted to new ways of h recruiters and employers have lent shortages across all sectors, HR & Recruitment technology and

s

ast 5 years are not only achieving scale t’s great to see this reflected in the Awards.”

and Recruitment tech providers to maximise opportunities and minimise new threats.

“Optima Corporate Finance is delighted to sponsor the Talent Tech Leader of the Year Award,” said Optima founder Philip Ellis. “More than ever last year, strong leadership was required as businesses had to combine the implementation of their vision with the challenges of lockdown,” said Philip. “All of this year’s finalists have demonstrated strong leadership in adapting, transforming and driving growth.”

New campaign partners for 2022 include executive incentives specialist Pearl Meyer, sponsor of the Best Talent Tech Company to Work For. This award was won by Firefish in 2021 and its founder, Wendy Dougall, has been shortlisted as Leader of the Year in 2022.

The headline partner for the TIARA 2022 Talent Tech Star Awards is Venero Capital Advisors – an international corporate finance advisory firm focusing exclusively on HR Tech and the Future of Work.

“Work Tech businesses launched in the last five years are not only achieving scale but even reaching unicorn status – and it’s great to see this reflected in the shortlist for the TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards,” said Georgios Markakis, Managing Partner of Venero Capital Advisors which is also sponsoring this year’s Champion of Champions Award. “I’m excited to see who triumphs – particularly in the Workforce Solution, Scale-Up and Leader of the Year categories - and debating this year’s Champion of Champions with a great panel of judges.”

All 14 winners will be announced at a Gala Lunch for 200 guests at the Royal Institution of British Architects (RIBA) on Friday 1st July, where founders, CEOs and senior executives from the 47 shortlisted companies will be able to celebrate their success with their teams and peers as well as network with investors, advisers and buyers from the judging panel.

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35

TIARA 2022 TALENT TECH STAR AWARDS

All those shortlisted for the 2022 TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards have demonstrated excellence, innovation and growth.

Meet the finalists

3R • •

The Contractor Solution of the Year The Talent Tech Customer Service Award

Advanced Clear Review • The Learning Solution of the Year

Connectr

• The DE&I Solution of the Year • The Marriott Harrison Candidate Experience • The Onboarding Solution of the Year (in partnership with Thales)

Eightfold AI

• The Pearl Meyer Talent Tech Best Company to Work For • The Optima Talent Tech Leader of the Year - Ashutosh Garg

Crooton

• The Recruitment Marketing Solution of the Year

Eli Onboarding

Diversely

EVA.ai

Bright Network

• The Workforce Solution of the Year • The Learning Solution of the Year

• The DE&I Solution of the Year

Ceridian

• The Compliance Solution of the Year 36

TALiNT International May 2022

Expertlead

• The Talent Tech Scale Up Award

• The Onboarding Solution of the Year

• The Talent Tech Innovation Award

FintechOS

• The Onboarding Solution of the Year

Hinterview

Firefish Software

• The Pearl Meyer Talent Tech Best Company to Work For • The Optima Talent Tech Leader of the Year - Wendy McDougall

Get-Optimal

• The DE&I Solution of the Year

• The Marriott Harrison Candidate Experience Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Innovation Award • The Pearl Meyer Talent Tech Best Company to Work For

HireVue

• The DE&I Solution of the Year

Glider AI

• The Talent Tech Innovation Award

Giant screening

• The Onboarding Solution of the Year

Hoxo Media

• The Recruitment Marketing Solution of the Year • The Optima Talent Tech Leader of the Year - Sean Anderson

iCIMS

• The Workforce Solution of the Year

idibu

• The Talent Tech Customer Service Award

inploi

• The Recruitment Marketing Solution of the Year • The Marriott Harrison Candidate Experience Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Scale Up Award

itris

• The Talent Tech Customer Service Award TALiNT International May 2022

37

TIARA 2022 TALENT TECH STAR AWARDS

Kyloe Partners

• The Talent Tech Innovation Award

Paiger

• The Recruitment Marketing Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Scale Up Award

• The DE&I Solution of the Year

RoleMapper

Mercury

• The Talent Tech Innovation Award • The Optima Talent Tech Leader of the Year - Chris Kendrick

Recruitment Smart Technologies

• The DE&I Solution of the Year

People Group Services

• The Contractor Solution of the Year

SonicJobs

• The Talent Tech Scale Up Award

Pixid My Digital

• The Compliance Solution of the Year • The Contractor Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Innovation Award

• The Contractor Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Customer Service Award

Qdos Contractor

• The Compliance Solution of the Year

Odro

• The Recruitment Marketing Solution of the Year • The Marriott Harrison Candidate Experience Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Customer Service Award

Our Tandem

• The Learning Solution of the Year 38

TALiNT International May 2022

Recruitment Juice

• The Learning Solution of the Year

Recruitment Mentors

• The Learning Solution of the Year

Sonovate

• The Contractor Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Scale Up Award

Talmix

• The Workforce Solution of the Year

Suits Me SourceBreaker

• The Talent Tech Customer Service Award • The Pearl Meyer Talent Tech Best Company to Work For

Talos360

• The Workforce Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Scale Up Award • The Optima Talent Tech Leader of the Year - Janette Martin

Wave

• The Talent Tech Innovation Award

Talisman

• The Recruitment Marketing Solution of the Year

• The Contractor Solution of the Year • The Pearl Meyer Talent Tech Best Company to Work For

Worksome

• The Compliance Solution of the Year

Sova Assessment

• The Workforce Solution of the Year • The Marriott Harrison Candidate Experience Solution of the Year • The Talent Tech Innovation Award

Ubeya

• The Workforce Solution of the Year • The Marriott Harrison Candidate Experience Solution of the Year

TALiNT International May 2022

39

THE TALINT PARTNERS BENCHMARK REPORT 2021

Tech drop The Benchmark Report is an independent, rigorous and confidential tool which offers challenging and thought-provoking questions for TA and HR Leaders to explore why they do what they do in talent acquisition, and where they might improve in terms of process, tools, people and strategic planning.

TALiNT Partners reached out to Talent Acquisition and HR Leaders in over 200 single and multi-national employers, guiding them through a review of their processes, technology and approach in meeting the people needs of their organisations. Against the backdrop of another year or disruption from the global pandemic, TALiNT Partners is proud to recognise the fantastic results being achieved across all market sectors by talented, dedicated and creative in-house recruitment leaders and their teams in navigation of a complex candidate market and rapidly changing organisational demands. The challenges flagged in this report are intended to raise a well-informed, alternative viewpoint to highlight new opportunities 40

TALiNT International May 2022

and open extended scope to go further in meeting the talent transformation with impact and insight.

In this issue, we will explore the results of the deployment of systems and tech analysis section of the report. The pandemic has changed the way we work and the complete shift towards a flexible/ hybrid way of work has meant that employers have had to quickly digitally transform since the pandemic has transformed the landscape in terms of flexible working arrangements for both management and non-management roles.

Employers have had to re-evaluate the way they work in order to not only attract talent in a talent-scarce market, but also to retain the valuable they already have.

1. IMPACT TAKES PRIORITY

this as low, the other as high. Could this gap have been created by a more remote service from in-house talent acquisition teams?

The ability of technology to enable better sourcing and hiring resonates through this year’s entries. There is increased focus on direct impact when it comes to both defining need for, and evaluating the value of new tools and systems.

The rapid deployment of new technology in the last 18 months seems to have had a positive impact on the ability of TA teams to assess new technology, with two thirds of participants expressing high confidence in accurately assessing tools for sourcing and screening through to onboarding.

Awareness of how tech supports resourcing plans increased with high ratings rising from 31% to 51% against a static low score and a fall in moderate scores, suggesting that the improvement is from good to excellent.

The notable exception was for internal mobility, where a third rated their ability as low, 17% listed it as not applicable for technology assessment, and the remainder giving moderate scores.

There were no high ratings, which indicates a challenge, at a time when internal mobility and upskilling are high priority for many.

This was even clearer in the awareness of the potential of technology to improve recruitment, with high ratings nearly doubling from 44% to 83%.

Something has shifted in understanding of technology impact across the wider business; results for stakeholder buy in, reported one half of participants rating

Something has shifted in understanding of technology impact across the wider business... one half rating this as low, the other as high.”

TECHNOLOGY PLANNING A. Awareness of the degree to which current technology supports current resourcing plans B. Awareness of how current technology could better support resourcing strategy C. Having a clear needs analysis and plan of new technology needs to support future resourcing D. Buy in from other stakeholders required to enable effective implementation of new 0%

20% Low

40% Moderate

60%

80%

100%

High TALiNT International May 2022

41

THE TALINT PARTNERS BENCHMARK REPORT 2021

2. CHANGING NEEDS FOR SUPPLIER SUPPORT As part of a wider appetite to keep up with TA technology developments, Benchmark participants disclosed increased dialogue with suppliers as an important source of

information with low ratings falling from 31% to 17% and high scores rising to 50%.

Engagement of specialist consultants is also significantly up, with low ratings at 0 and an increase of high ratings from 31% to 50%, as employers struggle to find the skills they need in the current candidate market.

RATE HOW EFFECTIVELY YOU LEVERAGE THE EXPERTISE OF YOUR TECHNOLOGY SUPPLIERS: A. Identifying technology needs

B. Implementing technology change

C. Post implementation review/ business case realisation D. Training and supporting your team in getting best use from the technology 20%

0% Low

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Moderate

40%

60% High

N/A

80%

100%

investment after an explosion in 2020 in response to the move to remote working.

Talent leaders have reduced reliance on tech supplier expertise, in 2021, for guidance on defining technology needs, with a 17% rise in low ratings and a fall in both moderate and high ratings.

The only tech supplier usage to increase this year was in training and support, which saw an increase from 27% to 33%. This could relate to either better use of the tools already implemented or staff churn in operational roles.

Seeking support on change implementation and case realisation also fell, which may be indicative of a halt in technology

RATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TA TEAM IN MAINTAINING AWARENESS OF LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN TA TECHNOLOGY: A. Attendance at HR & recruitment technology conferences and expos B. Dialogue with suppliers C. Engagement of specialist consultants/ suppliers D. Engagement with internal resources e.g other business functions, business units, etc 20%

0% Low

Moderate

40%

60% High

80%

100%

N/A

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THE TALINT PARTNERS BENCHMARK REPORT 2021

3. TA IS DRIVING ITS OWN TECH TRANSFORMATION

When it comes to both budgeting for and implementing new technology, the results indicate that TA teams are making their own decisions, in collaboration with their HR colleagues, but very much behind the wheel.

TA influence over budgetary decisions was rated as already of high importance by 83% of participants, up from 53% last year but 100% felt that TA influence should be of high importance. The value of HR input was also up substantially from 33% to 83%, although only 67% (increased from 40% in 2020) felt HR input should be a priority.

The ratings for actual input were higher in 2021 across all departments, which makes sense considering the level of TA tech investment, seen in the last 18 months, for many organisations, to speed and streamline the application journey and improve the candidate experience in order to compete for talent.

RATE YOUR OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS OF SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY: 80%

60%

40%

20%

0% Low 2021 44

TALiNT International May 2022

Moderate 2021

High

User engagement is also reported to have grown with high ratings rising from 27% to 67%. This reflects well on the prioritisation of impact.

The results show increased confidence in the effectiveness of systems and technology with no low ratings and an increase of 20% in high ratings.

RANK THE VALUE OF THE INPUT INTO WHO DETERMINES THE BUDGET FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY: A. TA

B. HR

C. Finance

D. Procurement

E. Board/CEO

F. IT

0%

20% Low

Moderate

40% High

60%

80%

100%

N/A

RANK THE WEIGHTING OF WHO YOU THINK SHOULD DETERMINE THE BUDGET FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY: A. TA B. HR C. Finance

D. Procurement E. Board/CEO

F. IT 0%

20% Low

Moderate

40% High

60%

80%

100%

N/A TALiNT International May 2022

45

TALINT TALK

Employee advocacy – when does engagement become a moan fest? …The answer may just cost you your job!

Ken Brotherston CEO, TALiNT Partners

he growth of employee advocacy over the last few years is generally something to be welcomed, commended and encouraged. At one end of the spectrum is the need for clear whistleblowing protocols to allow wrongdoing and harmful behaviour to be quickly identified. Likewise, employee surveys and regular feedback mechanisms have been around for decades now and are generally seen as a good thing (although only if said feedback is actually acted upon).

In recent years another generally positive development is the growth of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) which facilitate groups of employees with common characteristics or shared life experiences – ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith, and working parents being the most common – who can support each other and help their employers understand their specific 46

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issues better to then take action to create more inclusive workplaces. So far, it’s a win-win and all pretty uncontroversial.

Recently however, employee advocacy has developed a much more strident tone with the lines between legitimate concern and outright preference (often with a political or social justice slant) becoming both blurred and jumbled with perhaps the accusation of ‘toxic work environment’ being the most common. The power of such an accusation is that it is both difficult to define and difficult to defend. And before anyone thinks this a purely US import, let’s take the example of BrewDog. Based in that hotbed of corporate activism, Ellon, Scotland (no, me neither) it was accused by over 100 ex-employees of a range of offences from the egregious to the mildly annoying, many of which will be familiar to anyone who has ever worked in

a fast-growing business. The ‘promises to do better’ duly followed. ast forward to post pandemic working practices with Apple announcing a pilot programme for flexible working of three days a week in the office – something that would have been considered truly radical in early 2020 only to be told by a group of employees: “But in reality, it [the pilot programme] does not recognise flexible work and is only driven by fear. Fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy, fear of losing control.”

Oh dear.

In a world of chronic talent shortages, the employees have won the war for talent, haven’t they?

Well perhaps not. With tech hiring screeching to a halt in the US and the likelihood of a recession in Europe, the boot may be back on the other foot before too long.

Netflix’s recent memo to staff about ‘if you don’t like our content, then maybe work somewhere else’ looks like a pretty clear stance.

It does seem as if too many employees these days expect their employers to reflect not just their own values but their preferences – ultimately an impossible task for any employer. Understanding the difference between positive engagement about legitimate concerns and immature and selfish expectations is a lesson most of us learn as our careers evolve. For those that don’t, the writing isn’t so much on the wall as on your screen.

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Connecting the talent ecosystem: We bring together a global network of leading employers and solution providers to make better talent and technology decisions.