TALiNT International Europe Issue 2

WORKFORCE PLANNING

A moving target

EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

Working together for a healthy team

CULTURE SHOCK

HIRING FOR CULTURAL FIT

Let’s define culture.

A�rac�ng talent in the current market con�nues to be challenging and employers and recruiters are having to think of innova�ve ways to a�ract and retain scarce talent. I feel like I’ve said this so many �mes before but this challenge remains even though hiring has slowed down.

Upon inves�ga�on into what candidates are looking for, company culture that aligns with their values and beliefs comes out on top (second to salary, according to data from LinkedIn) There is a massive drive towards crea�ng an inclusive and happy company culture right now. But when we went to market to find data and insight that define what a good company culture actually is, we came up empty.

A company culture is so much more than just pre�y and meaningful words like ‘respect’ and

‘kindness’ stuck up on the lunchroom wall. In fact, those are actually nausea�ng. For me, as someone who is not Bri�sh (yet) and a bit of a mixed bag culturally, a workplace culture is perfect when I can just be myself. Sounds easy, but is it really? We spoke to talent experts in our network about what culture means for them in their business and how they cul�vate it. Read our feature on page 15.

By the �me this second issue of our magazine arrives in your inbox, we’ll be well on our way to spring and lighter, longer days. I for one cannot wait for the Great Bri�sh Summer and the outdoor culture that goes along with it.

About TALiNT Partners

TALiNT Partners brings together a global network of leading employers and solu�on providers to make be�er talent and technology decisions by providing intelligence, insight and peer-to-peer networking that drives quality, innova�on and improves inclusion across the talent ecosystem.

Editorial, news and features: debbie@talintpartners.com

Adver�sing and sponsorship: andy@talintpartners.com

Design: annabelle@talintpartners.com

Layout and design: New Media Design Agency www.newmediadesign.co.za

The Oxford English Dic�onary’s defini�on of culture is:

/ˈkʌltʃər/ way of life. [uncountable] the customs and beliefs, art, way of life, and social organisa�on of a par�cular country or group European/Islamic/African/American, etc.

Debbie Walton Editor, TALiNT Partners

Events season is here!

TALiNT Partners’ events season has officially kicked off. We’ve lunched and dined with the industry’s finest while crea�ng the opportunity to network and learn.

26 January

TALiNT Partners and Reed TS hosted a compelling dinner for TA/HR leaders covering the per�nent topics of uncertainty and agility in the current market. Hosted by Debra Sparsho�, TALiNT Partners Director of

Research and Insights, the dinner was the first of many for 2023. Make sure to take note of upcoming events from our events calendar on page 29. To be a part of these invite-only events, please do get in touch with danny@talintparnters.com

Beaumont Hotel, London

Tech Lunch and Learn

Employers are looking to their vendor partners for more help with workforce and demand planning, re-skilling and up-skilling, TA op� misa� on, employer brand/EVP and tech advisory services.

‘How are tech leaders in recruitment ge�ng a higher/quicker return on their tech stacks and transforma�on strategies?’

‘Simplifica�on not over-complica�on - be cloud smart, improve the basics and differen�ate with candidate experience.’

‘Ignore the 5% who will always resist change - champion your super-users and op�mise your LMS to train the rest.’

9 February

Marylebone Hotel, London

‘Improve percep�on of value - how does your tech story enhance your pitch as a talent solu�on or professional service provider?’

‘Look for the neglected orphans - which abandoned projects, data sets or tools can deliver quick savings?’

‘Think like a CTO but talk like a CFO to build the business case - and call out vanity projects early!’

Those were just some of the insights to come out of TALiNT Partners’ first Tech Lunch and Learn for 2023.

Contact tessa@talintpartners.com if you’d like to join one of our exclusive, invite-only lunches this year.

UK narrowly avoids recession again

According to the ONS latest labour market report, the UK employment rate was es�mated at 75.6% in October to December 2022. That equates to an increase in employment of 0.2%. The increase in employment over the latest three-month period is said to have been driven by part-�me workers.

The report has revealed that the number of payrolled employees for January 2023 has also increased. It’s up 102,000 on the revised December 2022 figures, to 30 million.

The unemployment rate for October to December 2022 has, however, increased by 0.1% on the quarter, to 3.7%. This figure is driven by people aged 16 to 24 years. Those unemployed for over six, and up to 12, months also increased, while those unemployed for over 12 months decreased in the recent period.

Talk of a recession has dominated the news, but the latest figures show that the economic inac�vity rate decreased by 0.3% on the quarter, to 21.4% in October to December 2022.

In November 2022 to January 2023, the es�mated number of vacancies fell by 76,000 on the quarter to 1,134,000, the seventh consecu�ve quarterly fall since May to July 2022. The fall in the number of vacancies reflects uncertainty across industries, as survey respondents con�nue to cite economic pressures as a factor in holding back on recruitment.

Growth in average total pay (including bonuses) was 5.9% and growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 6.7% among employees in October to December 2022. For regular pay, this is the strongest growth rate seen outside of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic period. Average regular pay growth for the private sector was 7.3% in October to December 2022, and 4.2% for the public sector; outside of the height of the coronavirus pandemic period, this is the largest growth rate seen for the private sector.

In real terms (adjusted for infla�on), growth in total and regular pay fell on the year in October to December 2022, by 3.1% for total pay and by 2.5 for regular pay. This is smaller than the record fall in real total pay seen in February to April 2009 (4.5%), but remains among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001.

The report has revealed that the number of payrolled employees for January 2023 has also increased.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indefinitely shelved childcare reform plans. The overhaul of the UK’s childcare system was ini�ally proposed by Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss.

The overhaul included plans to scrap mandatory staff-child ra�os and increase free childcare support by 20 hours a week. Instead, Sunak is preparing his own reform plans on a far smaller scale, which are expected to take months to arrive.

Sunak’s announcement comes at a �me when food prices are the highest on record, and parents have unprecedented childcare fees to contend with; the annual fee for full-�me care for a two-year-old increased by 171% from 2000 to 2021.

Businesses respond to Rishi Sunak’s childcare reform u-turn Free Child Care Support

In response, the Confedera�on of Bri�sh Industry highlighted the difficul�es facing working parents across the country, announcing that £9bn of investment is required to improve the childcare system.

Businesses should focus on improving workplace fluidity by promo�ng flexibility and gran�ng autonomy to support employees emo�onally and financially through rising childcare costs. This seems an essen�al way of working that should be offered by employers in order to a�ract and retain the talent that is so scarce in the market right now.

Businesses should focus on improving workplace fluidity.

Discrimina�on worsens a�er hiring

Remote surveyed 1,250 hiring managers and business owners across the UK, US, Canada, Germany and France to learn more about diversity and inclusion in the hiring process in 2022.

According to the research, 49% of job hunters have experienced discrimina�on during the hiring process for a new job. A further 52% said they had witnessed this sort of discrimina�on.

The survey looked at the percentage of employees who have experienced discrimina�on in the hiring process across the US, France, the UK, Germany and Canada:

Across all countries surveyed, the research revealed that discrimina�on occurs more against male applicants (52%) than female applicants (44%).

Young people (18-24) are the most vulnerable to, or observant of, workplace discrimina�on. Two-thirds (69.23%) of applicants in this age group have experienced discrimina�on in the hiring process.

The inves�ga�on also found that discrimina�on becomes more prevalent a�er the hiring process. Fi�y-five percent of employees said they had experienced workplace discrimina�on, and 59% said they had witnessed it.

Inclusive hiring prac�ces are essen�al to the success of any organisa�on and influence their ability to a�ract and retain top talent, build a posi�ve work environment, foster a rich company culture, improve produc�vity, and increase crea�vity and innova�on.

By priori�sing diversity and inclusion, organisa�ons ensure they can take advantage of the workforce’s full poten�al and build a more inclusive environment.

On the other hand, without these prac�ces, organisa�ons risk missing out on sources of innova�on and crea�vity.

Thirty-six percent of UK employers and hiring managers said that managing inequitable inclusion (the concept that diversity means different things to different people) is the biggest challenge.

Following this, 35% said that communica�on issues rela�ng to language barriers, slang, colloquialisms, and cultural misunderstandings are challenging.

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Workforce planning is a moving target

On 26th January, TALiNT Partners hosted a TA leaders dinner in London, in partnership with Reed Talent Solu�ons, to explore the challenges of workforce planning in an uncertain 2023.

The discussion opened with a review of the hiring market at the beginning of the year with vacancy volumes falling - but s�ll being historically high - and redundancies returning to pre-pandemic levels.

The picture is not as bleak as headlines suggest. Recent reports show an encouraging focus on horizon scanning, looking ahead to mediumand long-term skill requirements, o�en championed by talent acquisi�on, but resisted by hiring managers under pressure from business as usual. This is a posi�ve shi�.

Despite a wider resurgence of total talent management, and the inclusion of both permanent and con�ngent resources in workforce planning, enabling a rapid response to changing skill and economic organisa�onal demands, organisa�ons in the room were priori�sing permanent hiring this year. There were three key drivers for this: concern that candidates with the required skills would be deterred from applying for a temporary opportunity; the need to increase internal capability and an�cipated difficulty in being able to replace specific skillsets should they

leave; the absence of centralised ownership and visibility in the hiring and management of the con�ngent workforce.

Whilst necessary for flexibility, total talent management increases difficulty in maintaining TA control of the overall demand plan; TA leaders at the dinner did not have ownership of the contract labour process. As with many organisa�ons, contract labour is procured directly by business leadership, resul�ng in no central view of the total workforce plan. Crucially, the decision tree around what is permanent, and what is con�ngent, is unclear and route to market decisions o�en sit with the business leadership, with limited or no involvement from the TA team.

Demand planning in an uncertain economic climate is hard and not static; hiring is more likely to be about getting the most from the budget available than starting with the ideal hiring needed by the organisation. The exclusion of TA leaders from plan-defining conversations is a source of frustration for those accountable for talent delivery. It is

also a miss in terms of leveraging the knowledge and experience of those employed as experts in recruitment.

It was clear that employers are s�ll invested in hiring and par�cularly youth employment, mirroring many current reports across the UK, EMEA and the US, but with the speed of churn accelera�ng, hiring for reten�on will be central to sustainable demand planning. A focus on enabling internal mobility and career pathways will be central to effec�ve demand planning in 2023, moving away from like-for-like replacements and crea�ng space for individual aspira�on. Thinking in terms of employment lifespan opened up important considera�on on how to engage with the 50+ age group, through both reskilling and expanded development opportuni�es. Many recognised that early talent have been the primary target for candidate a�rac�on, by-passing the large pool of talent looking to re-engage with the workplace, perhaps in a new direc�on.

TALiNT Partners TA leader events are designed to deliver the most up to date view of the talent market to our members and guests, and to facilitate discussion that is both challenging and thought-provoking. The feedback from the evening was ’interes�ng’ ‘wonderful’ ‘insigh�ul’ conversa�on.

For more details of our TA leaders programme visit. h�ps://talintpartners.com/events.

Culture shock

Cultural fit is defined as a synergy between the values, ethics and standards of acceptable behaviour between an employer and their employee (or potential new hire). This definition is then fraught with holes. What are the values, ethics and standards of acceptable behaviour of an organisation? Can they be articulated by employees, management or even the executive board? What do these attributes look like in company policies, processes and working practices? How do they shape people management, employee development and reward?

Debra Sparshott Head of Insight and Research

IS HIRING FOR CULTURAL FIT SOMETHING TO STRIVE FOR?

Considering the increasing overlap of sought-after talent across different market segments, the competition for specific skills will only increase. Finding a way to confidently select candidates with adjacent skills and the ability to develop into a role is imperative to any demand plan, if business critical vacancies are to be filled. Is that about cultural matching, or rather an assessment of aptitude and attitude?

Hiring for cultural fit: what does cultural fit really mean? The truth varies widely making it a risky criterion against which to make hiring decisions.

Doing everything possible to remove potential barriers to application depends heavily on culture, with respect, tolerance and inclusivity being high on the list of essentials. Cultural fit is misplaced here too as it would include someone who blends well with a negative working environment, realising the risk of a poor line manager hiring someone just like themselves.

ALL WELCOME…BUT ARE SOME MORE WELCOME THAN OTHERS?

The fly in the ointment is bias. As individuals, most of us think we fit in with company culture, therefore if you are like me, you will fit too. Without addressing internal challenges first, a strategy of hiring for cultural fit can reduce diversity, sustain toxic behaviours, same-thinking and increased attrition – particularly early attrition.

Cultural alignment is integral to being an employer of choice across the candidate market of all age groups, but most vocalised by Gen Z applicants are looking for organisations that reflect their values and cultural profile. An article this month by ‘The Core Focus’ on LinkedIn listed the most important employer qualities sought by candidates and nine out of 10 things listed

were cultural, including respect, trust, transparency, support and a clear sense of purpose. An article published by the Institute of Student Employers in January 2023 confirms that young talent is ‘looking for a good work culture, with values aligned closely to their own.’ Organisational culture does matter. But what does that mean?

As part of an effective internal and external Employer Value Proposition (EVP) a positive portrayal of culture is a differentiator in a competitive talent landscape. Going beyond Glassdoor reviews, employees and potential hires want to know what an organisation represents, what values it believes in, how environmentally responsible it is and whether it prioritises its people. It is a tall order. Organisations are being judged by information in the public domain; beyond the company website, it is news and annual reports, blogs, and marketing.

Attempts to create the external perception without creating the internal reality only increase brand damage and resulting attrition. Even with a great application experience and welcoming induction, cultural reality will emerge rapidly once work begins.

The external perception without creating the internal reality only increases brand damage and resulting attrition.

For those who recognise the importance of cultural identity as central to growth, and have invested in shaping and delivering a positive culture, the rewards in talent acquisition are substantial. Not only will they attract a more diverse range of skilled applicants, but they are less likely to lose the employees they already have. Only then is an organisation in a place to assess whether a potential candidate is aligned with the culture they have built. In fact, it then becomes essential to ensure that the attitudes, behaviour and values of new hires support and, ideally, enhance the working environment that has been built with such care.

Recognising and welcoming difference ensures cultural expansion and an internal evolution that mirrors external shifts in society. Apply this to protecting the environment, mental health awareness, gender equality; the parallels are clear. But difference can give rise to fear. This may sound dramatic, but there is emotional safety in the same – even if we know it is bad. Facing something we don’t understand can challenge the way in which managers manage and interact with their team, how work is done and perceptions or what sustains team cohesion. New means change and effort to find new ways; great for some, but difficult for others. Managers are human. Training and support are fundamental to building, sustaining and evolving organisational culture.

The most effective strategy to hire for ‘cultural add’ is management enablement. Training managers to work with difference, give recognition for all contributions, and build an environment of safety and inclusion, takes positive culture from aspirational to operational reality. Being given the tools to nurture and encourage those attributes that reflect cultural values and behaviours brings confidence and the skills necessary to build a great working environment and a team in which everyone knows their individual worth. Now the hiring manager has a great story to tell potential candidates, and one that will match the lived experience of a new joiner on day one.

They attract a more diverse range of skilled applicants, but they are less likely to lose the employees they already have.

Does all this mean that hiring ‘the same’ should be avoided? Truth is that we are all different. Seeing someone as the same is merely a by-product of our natural instinct to find a connection. When we find one trait in common, we unconsciously attach all our other traits to that person, which is likely to be untrue. The solution lies in the questions and assessments used to shape hiring decisions. If hiring for ‘cultural add’ is truly a priority, then measuring a candidate’s synergy with organisational culture requires more than subjective opinion. All the effort to shape the right culture and upskill

management goes out the window if the decision comes down to gut feeling.

One person cannot make a positive working environment, but it only takes one person to disrupt it. Understanding the cultural contribution of an individual, whether opportunity or threat, is critical to sustain an environment in which people love to work.

If you would like to know more about TALiNT Partners tailored research and insights, contact debra@talintpartners.com.

Louise Shaw

Managing

Director, Omni

At Omni and in the context of hiring for ourselves and also the consulting advice we give to organisations about hiring and selection, we don’t see it as ‘hiring for culture’ but more as ‘hiring to enhance culture’. During the pandemic, we really focussed on what the culture of Omni was and what that meant to us in how we attract, select and retain talent. One of the key things we identified was that, although we have strong values that underpin how we want to operate, we are at our best when we do not consider ourselves as a monoculture. Omni is made up of great people who are fantastic at what they do, but different people work in quite different ways, and we want to make sure that we don’t use ‘culture fit’ as an excuse for not hiring someone, just because they are a bit different, if they can bring something to us.

We reached out to our network of talent leaders and asked them what hiring for culture means to them and their organisations.

Simon Clements

Talent Director at Drax

Our senior leadership team recognises the critical importance of culture as a strategic enabler for growth and performance. We view culture as our personality, made up from our purpose (enabling a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Building a future that is positive for the climate, for nature and for people), our vision and strategy, our values and behaviours and our colleague experience. We are working to define our colleague experience framework, to span the key moments of impact across the candidate to colleague to alumni lifecycle (Join, Work, Live, Grow, Move, Leave, Sustain, Re-join), underpinned by our employee value proposition that will authentically communicate what we give our colleagues and expect to get back.

Michael Stull Senior Vice President, Talent Solutions ManpowerGroup UK

We first ensure that our culture is aligned to strategy. Then we hire to the culture that will deliver the ambition. Culture ultimately defines who we are, what we do and how we do it. Understanding the components of culture that support your ambition and methodically hiring against it are key.

How are you? Really?!

Lucy Tulloch Coach

How is your work-life balance? If the balance is heavily shi�ed towards work, there’s a risk of it nega�vely affec�ng both your mental health and your wellbeing. Adjus�ng your workload and your mindset to ensure the essen�al tasks are completed while priori�zing your well-being may feel challenging, but it’s both necessary and achievable.

Developing your emo�onal intelligence (EI) can be extremely beneficial. EI is the ability to understand and manage your emo�ons and those of others to achieve specific goals. This skill is par�cularly valuable for leaders and managers. By u�lizing your EI, you can create a culture of open communica�on, growth, and well-being for everyone on your team.

How good are you at applying EI to yourself? Do you prac�ce what you preach? Encouraging your team to be upbeat and mo�vated can feel like an added pressure. But if you encourage them while modeling self-care behaviors, it will reduce those pressures, help you, and resonate more genuinely with your team.

So, modeling self-care to your teams within the culture of the workplace is important both for your own well-being and for theirs.

IDENTIFYING WORKING PREFERENCES IMPROVES RESULTS AND WELLBEING

Many leaders understand the importance of emo�onal intelligence (EI) and self-care for improving wellbeing, but s�ll feel the need to constantly prove themselves and excel in their jobs. The desire to make an impact at work and advance in their careers is strong. However, this constant drive for perfec�on and recogni�on can ul�mately be detrimental to one’s wellbeing and it’s important to find a balance between work and self-care.

We all have ‘Drivers’ within our behaviors that are both helpful and detrimental. They are:

• Perfec�onism

• People pleasing

• Be strong

• Hurry up

• Try harder

With the scope of talent acquisi�on execu�ves constantly being stretched, adding more stressors to the role, your wellbeing may be nega�vely impacted. Lucy Tulloch, Execu�ve & Team Career Development Coach, explores how you and your teams can work effec�vely together while tending to your career and your wellbeing.

People with a ‘hurry up’ driver enjoy working at pace, achieving a huge amount. But it can also cause impa�ence, anxiety and irritability, and can be stressful for those around you. In my Behavioral Drivers* ques�onnaire, each driver has a ‘Permission Statement’ to counter balance the behavior; the Hurry Up person is given permission to slow down.

Iden�fying your drivers provides clarity through reflec�on on how well, or not, they serve you and your team. That reflec�on and understanding helps you to change your behaviors and influence the outcomes and results you need. These results could be no�ceable in how you are feeling and in how you manage others.

DISCOVERING PERSONALITY TYPES

Understanding your personality type alongside your drivers also benefits your approach to work, how you work with others, and your well-being.

Type A people are usually ambi�ous, prone to mul�tasking, love flying through their task list, and are highly compe��ve. They tend to work long hours to show how capable they are, a trait that could nega�vely impact their well-being. And they can get frustrated with Type Bs!

Whereas Type B people are less compe��ve, more relaxed and even-tempered. They tend to work slowly and methodically, and arguably enjoy the process more than Type As. You can see how these preferences might be challenging.

A detail person’s preference may be on connec�ng people and informa�on, having a natural proclivity for interpre�ng and analyzing data. They love going deep on details and interpre�ng risk, o�en finding themselves in an advisory role. But in stressful situa�ons they are prone to worry and anxiety, especially with any risk. This can lead to analysis paralysis, blocking their workflow.

Conversely, big picture thinkers are vital for new ideas and solu�ons, but they some�mes get so immersed in thinking up new innova�ons that there’s not enough follow through, hindering performance.

All types play crucial roles in business. Knowing this about each other builds respec�ul rela�onships, increases tolerances, aids communica�on, delega�on and decision making, as well as growth, development, engagement … and well-being.

SELF-AWARENESS HELPS YOUR CAREER AND YOUR WELLBEING

Instead of applying a label that may keep us stuck in unhelpful behaviors, I use a psychometric profiling tool to fast-track and improve self-awareness of personality types and behaviors. The goal is to achieve balance which leads to impact and influence. Team profiling also s�mulates powerful conversa�ons, allowing us to explore what you recognize about yourself and others.

Unhelpful behaviors can nega�vely impact colleagues as well as our work-life balance and well-being, leading to fa�gue, overwhelm and poor decision making. So, gaining awareness and adap�ng behaviors help improve both leadership skills and your wellbeing.

But when we’re busily focused on work and deadline pressures, it’s easy to miss the signs that well-being has slipped down the priority list.

Psychometric profiling also explores what sort of working environments you thrive in. This knowledge is par�cularly helpful when there’s a change of role func�on that may push you out of your comfort zone. If something feels difficult or uncomfortable, rather than soldiering on and allowing it to impact your well-being, consider why this is happening. Your answer should help you to find the solu�on and move forward. Look at that experience as an opportunity, not something to be concerned about.

You may also discover that your characteris�cs are not suited to the role you’re in if it has changed over �me. When I help people to explore their career sa�sfac�on, they can recognize that either they or the role has changed.

WELLBEING STRATEGIES

• Produc�vity and Efficiency. Managing your �me is an important part of self-care, helping you to priori�ze your wellbeing. Ensure you’re planning �me for you. This should not be an a�erthought. Be proac�ve, not reac�ve, to your well-being. And ensure your team do the same. Consider boundaries that you might want to put in place.

• Reflect on Purpose, Meaning & Values. When your needs are being met you feel energized and motivated. When they aren’t, it can leave you feeling tired, overwhelmed and unfulfilled. Regularly check in with what your ‘why’ is. Does it

still fit in with your career and life goals? Has anything changed – the job, your values, or you? What do you need to do to bring it back in line? Identify the best way to keep yourself moving forwards, preventing yourself from becoming stuck and frustrated.

• What’s Your Driver? Knowing that can change how you work and the pace that you work at, benefi�ng your mental and physical health.

• The Wheel of Wellbeing.* Because wellbeing is a broad subject, my Wheel of Wellbeing breaks it down into manageable slices –nutri�on, inspira�on, spiritual, support, sleep, posi�ve rela�onships, emo�onal/mental wellbeing, and physical health. Mark your level of sa�sfac�on on each slice. The outer ring is 10 (very sa�sfied) and the inner point is 0 (very dissa�sfied). By grading your sa�sfac�on, you can see where to focus your a�en�on.

The wheel is a useful tool both for your own well-being and for opening difficult conversa�ons with team members. It may indicate that they know the solu�on to their own well-being challenge, helping you to support them in making that a reality. It could be encouraging breaks away from their desk or managing their hours. The wheel is transferable to projects in the workplace, too.

• The Circle of Influence.* This provides an opportunity to notice and explore what you can put your energy into and what you need to let go of, being things you cannot influence. Doing this exercise gives you permission not to hold on to things that you cannot change, helping you to see where you could focus.

Opportunity to no�ce and explore what you can put your energy into and what you need to let go of, being things you cannot influence

• Journaling, or Wild Wri�ng. A brain dump opportunity. Get everything out of your head and onto, either before bed to aid sleep or first thing to help with focus. A recognized CBT (cogni�ve behavioral therapy) prac�ce, many therapists recommend it. Use good old-fashioned paper and pen – studies show this helps your brain to gain clarity.

• Check in With Yourself. Before your day starts, what do you no�ce about your how your head and body feel? Take some deep breaths and do some stretches to get your blood flowing. Use 1 to 10 scales for both head and body, 10 being stressed and overwhelmed, 1 being super relaxed. Consider what you can do to reduce your stress by one point. Priori�ze your go-to stress reducing techniques.

• U�lize Your Organiza�on’s EAP (employee assistance program) and encourage your team to do the same.

• Talk. Whether with a coach or mentor, a manager or a friend, talking about how things are in your role and life is essen�al. Trying to be the strong, silent type can create situa�ons in your mind that, if they remain unresolved, can become overwhelming.

• Exercise. Get back into your favorite sport, go to the gym, or take up Tai Chi or Pilates. Try a brisk, silent walk – no podcasts, music or phone calls!

* To request copies of any of the above materials, email Lucy@lucytullochcoaching.co.uk.

When you’re feeling stuck or frustrated, seek guidance from someone objec�ve, like a coach or mentor.

White serviceglove

Ken Brotherston, CEO at TALiNT Partners, sat down with John Wilson, CEO at WilsonHCG, to talk about its latest acquisi�ons, and interna�onal talent markets. John is an award-winning specialist in workforce planning, talent acquisi�on technology, culture and engagement strategy as well as RPO.

KB: You’ve been busy, John. Congratula�ons on acquiring Personify. This is your third big deal in 12 months.

JW: Yeah, this one’s been interes�ng because we’ve been chasing it for five years. And finally, it’s come through. If you’d told me at the beginning of 2022 that we were going to finalise three acquisi�ons in 12 months, I’m not sure I would’ve believed you.

KB: All the companies are quite different; there’s Personify, Claro Analy�cs and Tracking Talent. How do the three of those �e into WilsonHCG’s strategy and wider view of the market?

JW: Great ques�on. Claro Analy�cs was one that we had been using internally for years and we started seeing ourselves u�lising it much more than we were u�lising LinkedIn. When we were talking to clients, we were able to provide them

with data and insights that were far beyond anything we were ge�ng from any other source, and that was pre-acquisi�on. So once we were able to bring Claro Analy�cs into our pla�orm and really start op�mising it with client input, it’s become an incredibly important tool.

For example, over the last year or two, many companies heavily overpaid for talent and Claro Analy�cs can help you avoid this because of the massive amount of real-�me labour data it collates and its ability to see how people are migra�ng and moving within the workforce.

In the overall business community, the need for talent acquisi�on to get much smarter is there. It has to happen. I think we’re close with Claro Analy�cs data because I know how much it has impacted our clients’ ability to make the right decisions.

John Wilson CEO of WilsonHCG

KB: What are two key things that you think it really helps you help your clients with?

JW: It quickly sees where the talent is and identifies turnover trends. We can find out why people are leaving and where they are going. We have the ability to break that down into teams, too. Identifying those trends before they take hold is critical.

KB: Why was Tracking Talent so attractive to you?

JW: Tracking Talent is an interesting one. We did an analysis on productivity across the globe on all of our people and South Africa was right at the top of that list. If you had asked me before we conducted this study, I don’t know if it would've been on my radar.

Given that, the decision to make Tracking Talent part of our organisation made perfect sense.

KB: You’ve been tracking Personify for five years. Obviously, it’s an interesting sector, but what was it about that business that was particularly interesting to you?

JW: We have never really looked at RPO as something we wanted to acquire because we always felt like we could build it ourselves. There are so very few RPOs out there that are really focused on what I think are the critical things: your people, your clients and doing things to add value, not the BPO aspect of it which I think starts cheapening what an RPO does. Personify had always shared our vision, even though they’re much smaller.

John Wilson CEO of WilsonHCG

We are able to find out why people are leaving and where they are they going. We have the ability to break that down into teams, too.

The healthcare and life sciences world became more and more interesting for us as an acquisition target. And as we got to better understand the cultural connection with Personify, this made it really attractive to us. Also, that sector is very robust and I think very unlikely to be affected by whatever economic turbulence we might have to face for the next year or two. Even with the pandemic at full throttle, those are always growth periods for not just WilsonHCG, but for RPO in general.

KB: So, what is the overarching strategy for your business?

JW: In a lot of ways, it’s to keep doing what we’ve been doing, but listening to the clients and listening to our people is really key. We continue to act small even as we get bigger.

From an M&A standpoint, our strategic outlook is about how to provide better value to our clients.

KB: What is it that that you think your clients most value?

JW: If I look at our client base and every industry that we’re in, we typically have the industry leader and there’s a reason behind that – they value talent.

It’s about offering a white glove service that makes people feel like they’re not an outsourced provider. It’s making them better as a business.

KB: And are you doing more to help clients with internal mobility and their broader skills agenda? Because as you know there is a move away from hiring for experience to hiring for skills. I’d be interested in how you’re responding to that.

JW: For one of our clients, we built an entire internal platform centred around the phrase ‘quit your job, not your company’. So, every time an employee logs into their portal, they actually see two jobs that are available for them internally.

Because of what we experienced in 2021 and some of 2022, organisations were over-hiring in a way that was ineffective. Therefore, internal mobility has become more and more important.

Our talent consulting group is probably 75% focused on internal mobility with our clients right now, which is something I’ve never experienced in my career before.

KB: Are you finding that clients are willing to pay for that because historically RPO used to give it away. Now they’re saying, ‘We want to help you with internal mobility but we need to charge you’. Clients are then saying, 'Well, you’ve given it to me for free for the last five or 10 years...’

How are you overcoming that?

JW: It’s definitely become more data-driven. With Claro Analytics we are able to determine that an organisation is misaligned in its hiring, or, for example, someone is underpaid by $30k. They won’t be happy, but the data tells the story.

It’s about offering a white glove service that makes people feel like they’re not an outsourced provider.

I feel another major trend coming out of this is what people call ‘boomerangs’ or people who come back into the organisation. I’ve always found it odd that when someone leaves, they’re treated as if they’re gone, never to return. But if you’re a salesperson with a client you’ve had for a while, and then suddenly they’re not your client anymore, they’re still considered a prospect. Talent should be treated in the same way. Thinking on this needs to change, in the same way it has with internal mobility.

KB: I’ve always said that if you can’t fix attrition, you’re never going to fix attraction. If in an organisation people are leaving through the back as fast as you’re bringing them in the front door, it’s just not a good existence for anyone.

Some traditional staffing firms entering the RPO market are just looking to do it in the cheapest way possible. How will you deal with that?

JW: More staffing providers are saying they do RPO when they actually don't.

Any time I hear of a bad RPO engagement the first question I ask is, ‘Who did you use?’ because it’s typically a company that you’d expect that to happen with.

KB: Are there any other deals that you might be looking at in 2023 or is this it for now? Are you still open to more?

JW: I hope so. If we see something that is of significant value, we would be very interested.

KB: And what might that look like? What would the characteristics be?

JW: I believe there is opportunity for us to deepen our coverage in parts of South America. While we have resources there, we have an interest to further expand geographic footprint in the region.

KB: Do you worry about some of the AI-led tech firms focused on skills eating your lunch or do you see them more as partners?

JW: Definitely as partners. If you go back to eight years, when everyone said that LinkedIn was going to be the end of recruitment firms, people forget the importance of having skilled people doing skilled jobs.

We’ve heard that AI is going to be the end of the recruiters but no one is talking about that anymore.

KB: I know you were previously looking enthusiastically at China as a market, but do you feel that market has grown cooler?

JW: Our focus in China right now is mostly on Chinese companies and supporting those.

KB: It feels like that’s quite a long-term thing that’s not going to be 12 to 18 months, so to finish, what’s your big prediction?

JW: We have seen more of our clients looking at alternative locations for manufacturing. Mexico wasn’t on the radar five years ago, and I think if we look forward to five years from now, Mexico could yield very high growth.

Staffing providers are saying they do RPO when they actually don't.

Recruitment evolu�on

TALiNT Partners’ global TIARA Awards programme is revered for the quality and rigour of the judging process by its panel of industry leaders and trailblazers. All finalists are given individual feedback on their entries, which truly does set the TIARAs apart from other awards programmes. TI was fortunate enough to sit down with a judge for this year’s TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards, Alex Charraudeau, Senior Manager – Enterprise Sales at LinkedIn, about the remote work peak and the evolu�on of work.

TI: You’ve been a part of the recruitment industry since the start of your career. What major evolu�ons have you seen take place in the last 10 years?

AC: We’ve seen the rise of data-driven recrui�ng, with recruiters becoming increasingly data savvy, and we’ve also seen a shi� in how candidates are sourced - with skills becoming an important factor in the hiring process. We’ve also seen the recruitment sector itself broaden how they hire talent, which has brought a diversity of experience into the industry. For example, one area that’s really advanced is marke�ng. Today, there is a growing group of sophis�cated marketers within recruitment, some with many years of experience in the sector but also from a range of B2B and B2C backgrounds. In addi�on, the number of learning and development professionals in the recruitment industry today is growing. It’s great to see the recruitment sector inves�ng in its people and helping our industry to advance.

TI: We wrote a feature about LinkedIn in the last issue of TALiNT Interna�onal. The pla�orm seems to be becoming more and more like any other social media pla�orm. Do you feel that it’s s�ll being u�lised as the networking/recruitment tool it was meant for?

AC: LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, and content and conversations are geared towards topics related to people’s careers and professional experiences. More than 900 million people across the globe come to LinkedIn to connect, find a job, learn new skills and stay informed. Eight people are hired every minute on LinkedIn, 90 job applications are submitted every second, and 49 million job seekers visit LinkedIn Jobs each week. We’re also increasingly seeing people come to LinkedIn to develop new skills, with more than 100 hours of LinkedIn Learning course content viewed every minute.

Alex Charradeau Senior Manager – Enterprise Sales at LinkedIn

TI: You have intricate knowledge of the recruitment sector, specifically tech since you’ve been with LinkedIn for a decade. What tech advances do you see coming in the next few years?

AC: Technology is ever changing and in the last decade we’ve seen so many new tools and technologies entering the market. That being said, the fundamentals of recruitment haven’t really changed. It is still a business with people at the core. Before we start to look at what technology can do for the industry we need to understand the processes that people are following to drive success within their organisation. Once that groundwork has been done we can start to understand where technology might augment or improve parts of the process.

TI: Is it now more a hybrid social networking tool? A healthy mix of personal and professional posts for example, that yields the same results.

AC: When the pandemic hit, the world of work was turned upside down for many people. As a result, we saw an increase in people coming to LinkedIn for the community and conversa�ons - with people sharing more personal experiences as the line between their work and personal lives increasingly blurred. As the world of work evolves, so do the conversa�ons happening on LinkedIn. Current economic uncertainty is sparking conversa�ons on how to navigate the current climate, recession-proof your career, or recruit in a �ght labour market. We know that our members want to see insigh�ul and prac�cal content – and we’re working hard to make sure that this is the content people see on LinkedIn every day.

When the pandemic hit the world of work was turned upside down for many people.

TI: How does tech enable be�er recruitment without fully removing the essen�al human element?

AC: Technology won’t replace the recruiter, but it will help to make them more effec�ve and efficient. In fact, the part of the role that humans do best - the aspects related to interpersonal rela�onships - will be allocated more �me as technology helps with the more �me-consuming, menial tasks.

TI: We’re seeing a shi� in ways of working again. It seems we’re coming full circle. Fully remote to hybrid to hearing of some companies demanding a full return to the workplace. Is hybrid working here to stay? If not, why?

AC: Our data shows that we have passed ‘peak remote’ – with remote job pos�ngs steadily decreasing in many countries across the globe over the last eight months. However, demand for remote roles does con�nue to outstrip supply, and flexible and hybrid working is s�ll an essen�al part of working life for many employees. The risk for

employers who aren’t prepared to offer flexibility is that they see a�ri�on from their highest performing employees – who are the ones they need most in this climate, and see lower demand from prospec�ve talent.

TI: What tech tool (other than LinkedIn) can you not do without?

AC: Noise canceling headphones! So important at home, in the office and on the commute. Couldn’t do without them.

TI: What do you see happening to hiring demand this year considering a contrac�on in economic growth?

AC: Whilst hiring is slowing across the globe, LinkedIn’s data shows that the UK labour market remains �ght, and companies s�ll need to work hard to a�ract and retain talent. Our data shows there are just two ac�ve applicants for every open role in the UK – and we’re not seeing fierce compe��on for roles, which you some�mes expect during slowdowns and economic uncertainty.

For businesses that are looking to find talent, they s�ll need to work hard to a�ract and retain talent. LinkedIn’s data shows that crea�ng greater workplace flexibility and career development opportuni�es are key drivers of this, in addi�on to compensa�on.

TI: You’re about to embark on your first judging journey at the TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards. What does this mean to you?

AC: Firstly, I want to say that it is a real honour to be invited to be part of this awards programme. Knowing the organisa�ons who

have previously been in the running and the high standards of those who have won, I know the bar is high and I’m looking forward to seeing what has happened this year in the recruitment sector. Thanks for le�ng me be a part of this!

TI: What innova�ons do you think you’ll see come out of the entries this year?

AC: Given all the recent innova�on in genera�ve AI and the accelera�on of Chatbot capabili�es, I’m excited to see what the industry is doing there.

LinkedIn’s data shows that crea�ng greater workplace flexibility

and career development opportuni�es are key drivers.

Employer of choice

FrieslandCampina won the Reed Talent Solu�ons Employer Brand Award at last year’s TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards. The panel of esteemed judges praised FrieslandCampina for clearly demonstra�ng their thought process, engagement and innova�on; the small organisa�on had very big dreams that were realised through the redesign of its employee value proposi�on. TALiNT Interna�onal’s editor, Debbie Walton, cha�ed to Rutger Groenewegen, the Global Senior Learning & Development Expert at FrieslandCampina, about the EVP overhaul that changed its talent a�rac�on strategy.

The Great Resigna�on of the older popula�on

TI: Last year you won the Employer Brand Award at the TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards. Your goal was to completely redesign your EVP. What made you feel that your organisa�on needed an EVP overhaul?

RG: The main reason for an EVP overhaul was that there was a need to understand our company values truly and to use the outcome of our EVP research for our proposi�on to a�ract talent in a consistent manner and to amplify our company culture.

TI: Why is an employer brand so important when it comes to a�rac�ng talent?

RG: Currently, global challenges like COVID-19 and The Great Resigna�on of the older popula�on stepping out of the workforce have created a shi� in power on a global scale, and talent markets became more candidate-driven. This has meant that candidates have more op�ons to choose from, and to become top of mind as an employer of choice, we see the importance of reaching out to our target audiences. Having a strong employer brand is a means to an end to achieve that.

TI: Since the TIARAs a lot has happened. Has the economic downturn affected your hiring plans for 2023?

RG: A lot has happened, and we see that there are the first signs of a cooling labour market. We also no�ce this in our own recruitment demand. It is too early to see what kind of effects this has on us as a company, but we surely follow the dynamics on foot and keep our eyes and ears open on business developments.

TI: How have you measured your success post new EVP?

RG: We measure our success in mul�ple ways. Before we started campaigning we defined KPIs and iden�fied our baseline. A�er launching the EVP and sharing our message in our social media campaigns, we could measure our success and compare the results to that baseline. Next to that we measure our share of voice on key topics on a pla�orm like LinkedIn.

TI: Take us through the process you followed when designing your EVP. RG: We followed a robust process of designing the EVP. Our aim was to do this

stepping out of the workforce has created a shi� in power on a global scale.

thoroughly in order to build upon for the coming years. We conducted internal and external global research with the help of Universum, a research company and specialist in developing EVPs. A�er we received the outcomes of the research the first EVP pillars where dra�ed. We validated the outcomes with employee focus groups. The focus groups represented our workforce. A�er that, we did deep dive sessions in Asia and Europe to finalise our EVP pillars. To bring the EVP to life, we briefed three crea�ve agencies to develop a crea�ve concept. We were very happy that we got a winning concept from the start. Unleash Your Nature was born.

TI: Does the employer brand underpin the EVP? Or is it the other way round?

RG: We believe that the EVP is the anchor in everything we do. This means we use employer branding to bring the EVP to life, and also other touchpoints like learning, rewards and internal programmes. It has become our polar star.

How do we create one message for all to create consistency and to build a strong employer brand?

The main challenge was to get everyone on the same page.

TI: What was one of the biggest challenges you faced during this global implementa�on?

RG: The biggest challenge for us was that we faced a sca�ered landscape. FrieslandCampina has different iconic brands and en��es around the world. How do we create one message for all to create consistency and to build a strong employer brand? The main challenge was to get everyone on the same page. We succeeded while we have a powerful promise everyone can relate to and there is some flexibility in using local brands in combina�on with our main promise. We use a brand matching strategy to achieve that.

TI: Centralising your TA process was paramount to your success. Was it easy to get leadership buy-in when changing processes?

RG: From the start, leadership saw the importance of developing an EVP.

Looking back, one of the success factors was that we created a steering board of leaders where we touched base regularly. In this way we could steer the process in �me and move forward.

TI: What has winning a TIARA meant to you and your team?

RG: Winning the TIARA awards was a great recogni�on for the work we did. Not only for the team but for our global talent acquisi�on community. The award ins�lled pride and confidence that we are moving in the right direc�on.

TI: Will you be entering again this year? If so, why?

RG: No, this year we will pass. If we enter again, we want to bring something new to the table. We are s�ll developing our EVP in other domains, so we hope to bring something new next year.

Candidate experience

In 30 years has that much actually changed?

Ken Brotherston

CEO

As we se�le in to 2023, the shape of the year and what it means for the TA and recrui�ng community begins to reveal itself. Despite the well-publicized lay-offs in the tech sector, hiring is holding up reasonably well. As employers trim their sails to varying degrees depending on how much they overhired in 2021/22, the structural talent shortages remain.

For internal TA leaders and their teams this hopefully offers a li�le respite from the unsustainable demands on their �me over the last 18 months and might even bring a bit more equilibrium, enabling them to think about strategic priori�es rather than having to simply deal with crisis a�er crisis.

One area that has dri�ed down the priority ranking is candidate experience. Our own TA Benchmark report suggested there was an increasing polariza�on between a smaller

number of organiza�ons who were improving and a larger number who were going backwards.

As someone who has been in and around the recruitment world since the ‘80s, it seems that on the simple ques�on of ‘What percentage of unsuccessful candidates got no�fied?’ across the whole spectrum of hiring, the number s�ll seems to be less than 50%.

Why has this not improved? The simple conclusion has to be because not enough companies care enough to do something about it.

For consumer companies the commercial case for improving candidate experience is long proven – the work Virgin Media and TMP did on this is o�en quoted. But here’s the thing, it’s the only example I’ve ever heard. Surely if candidate experience delivers such a

TALiNT Partners

clear payback, we would have examples all over the place. I would be very happy to be proved wrong in this regard.

Of course, none of this is straigh�orward. Even determining what we mean by ‘candidate experience’ is tricky. My own view is that candidates generally aren’t looking for a ‘consumer grade’ experience. They simply want to hear if they didn’t get the job in a �mely way, and if they have progressed some way along your process, then a bit of helpful feedback is only fair and polite.

Technology has both enabled a more streamlined process to be created but it has also created (uninten�onally) a monster like ‘one click apply’, crea�ng literally billions of irrelevant applica�ons, all of which need a response. And it can also inadvertently create a highly impersonal experience; my son once

received an automated rejec�on for a graduate role at 11pm on a Friday evening.

So, will candidate experience improve this year? Some organiza�ons have built robust processes to ensure every candidate gets a response, so it clearly can be done, and as a component of employer brand and a cri�cal element of ensuring employees are onboarded effec�vely, it will con�nue to be important.

It can o�en seem that when it comes to candidate experience, too many employers end up le�ng ‘great’ be the enemy of ‘good’. A decent candidate experience shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve and ul�mately, a good candidate experience should be the first step towards a good employee experience.

We’ll be covering this topic in more detail in next month’s issue of TALiNT Interna�onal, so any views from our readers are welcome.

To be con�nued...

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