Category: Talent Acquisition Strategy

Kent County Council: A Social Media Campaign Promoting a Career in Care

Posted on by edyson
Kent County Council: A Social Media Campaign Promoting a Career in Care

Social Media Recruitment Campaign

Kent County Council: A Social Media Campaign Promoting a Career in Care

PeopleScout developed a social media campaign for Kent County Council (KCC) to attract more home social care and healthcare workers.

51,000 impressions
1,000 click-throughs
75,000 views on YouTube in just 2 weeks

Support workers make a genuine difference to real lives, yet Kent County Council (KCC) was finding it hard to attract the right people to fill these vacancies. They approached PeopleScout to develop a campaign to reach an audience that may not realize they had the skills and attributes to become care workers and show them they could have a meaningful career, just by “being you.”

Scope & Scale

Kent County Council, along with over 1,400 partner organizations, are committed to providing essential care and support, working with some of the most vulnerable members of the community. Their need to recruit was based on the requirement to alleviate pressure on nursing homes and hospitals by providing care in the clients’ own homes, therefore freeing up valuable beds elsewhere.

It was also important to demonstrate to the wider Kent population that KCC was taking positive and supportive action in what was a high profile and often criticized area for all local authorities.

Situation

With job openings that aren’t clearly defined by specific skills or experience, it’s often challenging to convince potential recruits that a role is right for them. With “unskilled” (in terms of qualifications) positions such as these, the lure of other opportunities, including retail, is often more appealing and the lack of visibility or explanation of support roles, alongside a misunderstanding of what is entailed, compounds this issue. In addition to this, there was a lack of clarity about the genuine career potential that these jobs could offer potential candidates. KCC aimed to raise the profile of the work they do in an area that is both sensitive and one that touches most people at some stage in their lives.

Solution

To fully understand why existing support workers do what they do, we ran a focus group to investigate the motivators and to hear real-life stories. Our creative team then set to work to produce a personal and appropriate creative identity; one that would put empathy and natural caring skills needed for these roles at the very heart of the campaign. We concluded the best way to communicate this was through video, showing everyday situations where people made a difference, doing everyday things and how this translated into a care workers’ job.

This was driven by the central campaign message of, “You’d be surprised how qualified you are to be a support worker – just by being you.” With a small promotion budget and to ensure that the power of the video’s visuals were maximized, we used social media to push the video out to the target audience using geographic and behavioral targeting methods.

Results

The social media campaign ran for just over two weeks and in that time delivered over 51,000 impressions, converting to over 1,000 click-throughs – an impressive rate of 2.1%. Equally impressive, YouTube delivered almost 172,000 impressions and over 75,000 views.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Kent County Council
  • INDUSTRY
    Government & Public Sector
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Talent Advisory
  • ABOUT KCC
    Kent County Council is a county council that governs the county of Kent in England including 1.6 million residents. Amongst its many services, the council provides health and social care for adults and children.
Let’s Connect

Sainsbury’s: Getting More Vans on the Road

Posted on by edyson
Sainsbury's: Getting More Vans on the Road

Recruitment Media Campaign

Sainsbury’s: Getting More Vans on the Road

Grocery retailer Sainsbury’s turned to PeopleScout to hire drivers to support their growing online business.

6,200 annual hires
5 weeks to fill most roles
analytics informed approach resulted in reduced marketing spend
analytics informed approach resulted in reduced marketing spend

With online grocery shopping becoming increasingly popular, Sainsbury’s looked to PeopleScout to maximize the number of delivery slots that they could offer to customers. In a saturated marketplace, it wasn’t enough just to target existing drivers, we also needed to find those with transferable skills and encourage them to apply. The resulting strategy enabled Sainsbury’s to go to market with a number of highly targeted and locations-specific attraction campaigns.

Situation

Before engaging with PeopleScout, the client struggled to meet its hiring goals. Approximately two-thirds of candidates dropped out of the hiring process between the first two steps of the screening process. Many candidates couldn’t complete screening during traditional recruiting hours.  

In response to these challenges, PeopleScout provides a highly scalable delivery team to meet the client’s fluctuating hiring needs and address regional and cultural preferences during the screening process. PeopleScout’s centralized recruitment support ensures compliance and streamlines the process through innovative technology solutions. Positions in scope include 6,200 annual hires for warehouse and truck driver positions.

Sainsbury’s business strategy is to respond to the changing needs of their customers, enabling them to shop whenever and wherever they want. Seven days a week, Sainsbury’s delivers fresh food, groceries, general merchandise and clothing from suppliers around the world, via 33 distribution centers, to their store and online customers, meeting their requirements for flexible, convenient shopping.

Drivers are a vital part of this strategy, ensuring that Sainsbury’s can make deliveries to millions of customers at a time that suits them.

The online grocery department is a fast-growing business for Sainsbury’s. When we started this project, one in five employees worked in the department, but with changing consumer habits, this was soon to become one in three.

Despite being one of the company’s largest employee populations, it experienced high turnover in line with the challenging driver recruitment market. Some locations, for example, inner-city areas and affluent suburban locations, found it particularly hard to recruit.

The level of attrition made it hard for the department to grow, and driver availability became the limiting factor when it came to processing orders. It was vital for the business to hire more drivers immediately, but also have a robust strategy for the future too.

Solution

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Marketing Intelligence & Market Analysis
  • Persona Development
  • Process Design
  • Creative Development
  • Integrated Media Campaign

AT A GLANCE

  • COMPANY
    Sainsbury’s
  • INDUSTRY
    Retail
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    6,200 annual hires for warehouse and truck driver positions
  • LOCATIONS
    33 distribution centers
  • ABOUT SAINSBURY’S
    Sainsbury’s is a British supermarket and the second largest grocery chain in the United Kingdom. Since opening their first store in 1869, Sainsbury’s in focused on providing great value food and convenient shopping, whether in-store or online—as well as through their other brands Argos, Habitat, Tu, Nectar and Sainsbury’s Bank.
Contact Sales

Our first step was to leverage interviews and focus groups to understand the recruitment proposition for drivers at Sainsbury’s.

In addition to interviews, we utilized market mapping techniques to understand the labor force, reporting on salary benchmarks, competitor activity, and the socio-demographics of hard-to-fill locations.

Using the data collected from interviews and focus groups, we developed distinct driver personas, each with its own messaging framework and channel strategy. We used these to develop highly targeted comms for each group, responding to their motivations and behaviors.

Secondary messaging included: flexible shifts where we knew there was a high student population and non-monetary benefits such as child-care vouchers in areas that had a high density of families.

Results

The campaign was so successful that the majority of roles were filled within the first five weeks of the 12-week campaign, meaning that Sainsbury’s could cut back on their marketing spend. More impressively, seven locations needed to pause their recruitment due to high application numbers including two of the locations that were identified as hard-to-fill areas.

After speaking to hiring managers, existing employees, and those working for competitor organizations, we found that the majority of people eligible to be a Sainsbury’s delivery driver didn’t realize that they already had the skills to do the job. In fact, the role required skills like good customer service, time management, and self-motivation which we found to crossover with a number of different sectors.

This led us to design a creative route that focused on the core messaging of “All you need is a license” and “Where will your license take you?” educating the audience around the training and development new joiners received. This sat in contrast to another creative route which we used in locations that had high competitor activity. There we led with the messaging around the fact that Sainsbury’s offered guaranteed hours where other organizations did not.

Before the campaign, Sainsbury’s was engaging with candidates across multiple channels with different communications, which meant they ended up talking to the same audience in different ways, about different things. By taking this insight-driven segmented approach, Sainsbury’s could instead talk confidently about the things that mattered to candidates, using the channels that they were most likely to respond to.

“The success of the campaign so far has been unprecedented and as such after five weeks we are already in a place where most of our stores in the trial have filled all driver hours required. In total, we have received over 2,000 applications. We’ve extended 131 offers, and 106 have been accepted so far.”

Client Testimonial

COVID-19 Series: Hiring Solutions for Healthcare Providers

Posted on by nfuqua

As organizations around the globe confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, even the most seasoned talent leaders find themselves in uncharted territory. We’re creating a series with our experts here at PeopleScout about the issues that are most pressing during this uncertain time.

We are focused on the safety of our employees and clients, friends, families and loved ones. However, it is important for many organizations to keep their talent acquisition functions moving – whether to provide essential services or to serve our communities by providing jobs. Many organizations are also now adapting to a newly virtual workforce.

In that spirit, this podcast shares insights from PeopleScout Global Leader of Solutions Design, Krista Sullivan de Torres about hiring solutions for healthcare providers.

Krista is a seasoned professional with more than a decade of human resources and talent acquisition experience. While Krista’s professional experience spans many industries, she has a passion for and deep expertise in healthcare. Her experience includes launching RPO programs for healthcare startup organizations, managing RPO operations for managed care, population health, behavioral health, and healthcare system clients. Krista’s specialties include global talent acquisition team design, talent acquisition operations, analytics and reporting, recruiting, sourcing and retention. Krista holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Talking Talent: Stretch Your HR Thinking

Posted on by nfuqua

David Fairhurst is well known as an innovative HR leader and entertaining speaker. He was formerly Global Chief People Officer for McDonald’s, one of the largest employers in the world, with 2 million employees covering over 120 countries. He has held HR leadership positions at many of the top global organizations including Heinz, GSK and Tesco.  David is the founder of Orgshakers, helping businesses shape their organizations to achieve short-term performance as well as long-term organizational health.

In this podcast, David speaks with Robert Peasnell, Deputy Managing Director of PeopleScout UK about the future of HR and how you can stretch your thinking to create successful HR strategies.

Listen to find out:

  • How to navigate change and create organizational readiness.
  • The importance of being brave in employer brand and EVP innovation
  • Understanding the cultural context of HR in other countries
  • How HR messaging can change organizational behavior
  • The need to use tech to disrupt the market and win the best talent
  • How to make an impact in communities
  • The likely fundamental shifts after lockdown

Hiring Solutions for Essential Employers with Jessie McGowan

Posted on by jpatel

As organizations around the globe confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, even the most seasoned talent leaders find themselves in uncharted territory. We’re creating a mini-series with our experts here at PeopleScout about the issues that are most pressing during this uncertain time. 

This profile shares insights from PeopleScout Leader of Business Development in North America, Jessie McGowan. Jessie spends the majority of her time sharing our solution offerings with prospective clients, where she calls upon her years of experience leading a diverse portfolio of RPO client partners. 

Jessie shared her insights about hiring solutions for essential employers from her home in Charleston. 

A lot of people are feeling overwhelmed right now. What are you hearing from talent acquisition and HR leaders? In what ways and industries do those teams need support right now? 

There is a lot going on in all industries as we react to what’s happening in the world today with COVID-19. Mission critical industries like grocery, healthcare, logistics and other supply chain roles that hire drivers or selectors, manufacturing — specifically medical device — are seeing tremendous increases in their needs to find and hire qualified talent. And, unless they’re working with an RPO provider like PeopleScout that’s built to flex, they’re not going to have the adequate talent acquisition staff to meet the demands of the business.   

What are some easy ways essential employers can find that support? 

PeopleScout has a few offerings. One is Recruiter On-Demand (ROD) — where we provide a qualified recruiter to work as an extension of an organization’s team on an hourly basis. ROD can also be leveraged as a project approach, where an organization can have a provider support a certain function of their hiring process or a certain number of hires for a period of time. For instance, if you received 500,000 applications last week, how are you going to get through them? Unless you’ve already built a highly efficient automated process, a partner like PeopleScout can help improve that process for organizations. 

What do these solutions look like in practice? How are they implemented? 

Recruiter On-Demand can be deployed within about 24 hours. We have qualified recruiters with a wide range of domain experience like frontline or retail hiring, healthcare, manufacturing, drivers and IT. First, we assign the right fit recruiter and quote an hourly rate. Then, the organization provides our recruiter access to their applicant tracking system or system of record and an email address so that PeopleScout can become invisible to the candidate throughout the process.  

Our Recruiter On-Demand solution is simple and straight forward, and we work hard to keep it moving and efficient. Once we’ve landed on the business terms, we assign an engagement leader who will schedule what we call a “kickoff” with the client to document the process and discuss expectations. We’ve been doing this a long time, so we’ve built the process with the intention of keeping it really easy for talent acquisition leaders, and we’re able to launch it very quickly in a seamless manner. 

How do we use the solution in a way that keeps everyone, including employees and candidates, safe? 

That’s a great and timely question. Most of our recruiters worked from home even before the COVID-19 outbreak, so virtual work is part of the PeopleScout DNA. As a matter of fact, some of our most complex, high volume recruiting solutions are 98% virtual, where a very small subset of team members might sit together in a delivery center in Chicago, Charlotte or Toronto, for example.  

At PeopleScout, we have a lot of experience in building world-class virtual solutions that are designed to provide an exceptional candidate experience and deliver efficiency. We are able to advise talent leaders on utilization of digital interviewing tools such as texting or prerecorded voice or video. We also have our own proprietary tool, Affinix™ talent technology or we can advise a leader on what might be best for them and available in the market. We’re flexible and focused on getting talent acquisition leaders what they need to be able to deliver to their business and stakeholders, and we have a lot of experience, especially building a no-contact, virtual solution. We can source, qualify, schedule talent, offer positions, and even onboard new hires all virtually, over the phone or by utilizing technology. 

Can you talk a bit more about what a virtual solution looks like in practice? 

Our virtual interview management solution is designed to complement your existing hiring process and it can be set up in a matter of days. It would include process steps such as: 

  • Phone screening: includes on-demand and live options 
  • Video interviewing: includes on-demand and live options 
  • Scheduling tools: enables candidates to self-schedule available interview slots or be scheduled via recruiters’ assistance  
  • Results-based automated interview progression: allows you to define the criteria that determines whether to automatically advance candidates 
  • Feedback-driven advancement: creates settings based on recruiter rating and scoring criteria 

Interview notifications and updates can be pushed out to the candidate, so they understand at any given moment where they are in the interview process. And, hiring leaders can also see the progression of a candidate throughout the process. So, while at PeopleScout we’ve been supporting an essentially 100% virtual recruitment process for years now, we can appreciate that this is a new approach for many essential employers, and we can walk them through what to consider as they implement a virtual hiring solution. 

A lot of us are feeling a lot of stress and anxiety right now. What recommendations do you have for someone who is leading a talent acquisition team that feels like they’re in crisis? 

Sometimes it’s hard to see what the right plan might be when you’re dealing with the type of stress and anxiety that surrounds us these days. That’s where we can help. PeopleScout is highly consultative — by asking a few key questions, we can help a talent acquisition leader identify the right levers to pull to drive the result that they need. We’re happy to walk a potential partner through a quick diagnostic to see if we’re a fit and if we can be helpful. Sometimes, even if we’re not the right fit, just having the conversation can be helpful in getting down to the root of what talent leaders really need right now. And we’re happy to share our knowledge and be helpful, especially during these tough times. 

Are there any final thoughts you’d like to leave essential employers with today? 

The hope is that this is temporary. And that very quickly we’ll go back to solving more familiar talent acquisition challenges, like how to find more great people. But, at this time we’re poised to be flexible, and creative, to help solve the new problems we’re all dealing with today. 

PeopleScout U.S. Jobs Report Analysis — March 2020

Posted on by nfuqua

U.S. employers shed 701,000 jobs in March as the coronavirus crisis began to impact the country. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. Year-over-year wage growth rose to 3.1%. This ends the longest continuous economic expansion in U.S. history.

The numbers are expected to grow even more bleak in the coming months. The March numbers are based on reports from the first two weeks of the month, before many states implemented stay-at-home orders. Therefore, the full impact is not yet known.

U.S. jobs report infographic

The Numbers

701,000: The U.S. economy shed 701,000 jobs in March

4.4%: The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%

3.1%: Average hourly wages rose 3.1% over the last year.

The March Losses

The job losses are most significant in the leisure and hospitality sector, which shed 459,000 jobs as bars and restaurants closed and international and most domestic travel came to a halt. The March jobs report was the biggest monthly drop since the worst months of the Great Recession.

According to the New York Times, even industries that had initially continued running, like manufacturing, are starting to see major impacts as factories close. The job losses are also spread across industries considered essential, including healthcare, as dentists and other non-essential healthcare providers have closed their doors until the pandemic lifts.

There are very few bright spots in the report. Some employers in the transportation and warehousing sector and grocery stores have picked up hiring to meet increased demands.

What’s to Come

The numbers are likely to get far worse in the coming months. As MarketWatch reports, the March numbers don’t reflect the approximately 10 million people who filed for unemployment during the final two weeks of the month. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. could lose 27.9 million jobs and have an unemployment rate as high as 16% by the end of May. The nonpartisan congressional budget office predicts that unemployment will pass 10% in the second quarter of the year. April’s job report could show the largest ever drop in employment.

COVID-19 Series: Hiring Solutions for Essential Employers

Posted on by nfuqua

As organizations around the globe confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, even the most seasoned talent leaders find themselves in uncharted territory. We’re creating a series with our experts here at PeopleScout about the issues that are most pressing during this uncertain time.

We are focused on the safety of our employees and clients, friends, families and loved ones. However, it is important for many organizations to keep their talent acquisition functions moving – whether to provide essential services or to serve our communities by providing jobs. Many organizations are also now adapting to a newly virtual workforce.

In that spirit, this podcast shares insights from PeopleScout Leader of Business Development in North America, Jessie McGowan about hiring solutions for essential employers.

Jessie spends the majority of her time sharing our solution offerings with prospective clients where she calls upon her years of experience leading a diverse portfolio of RPO client partners.

COVID-19 Series: Keeping Candidates and Employees Safe with a Virtual Hiring Solution

Posted on by nfuqua

As organizations around the globe confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, even the most seasoned talent leaders find themselves in uncharted territory. We’re creating a miniseries with our experts here at PeopleScout about the issues that are most pressing during this uncertain time.

We are focused on the safety of our employees and clients, friends, families and loved ones. However, it is important for many organizations to keep their talent acquisition functions moving – whether to provide essential services or to serve our communities by providing jobs. Many organizations are also now adapting to a newly virtual workforce.

In that spirit, in this podcast, we share insights from PeopleScout Global Leader of Affinix Client Success and Strategy Allison Brigden on transitioning to a virtual talent acquisition solution.

Allison has been with PeopleScout since 1995 and has served in roles related to implementing and managing complex RPO programs as well as operations and technology. In her current role, Allison focuses on leveraging technology to elevate the talent strategy and client success through Affinix, PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology platform. Allison leads an Affinix Client Success Team and our strategic technology partnerships. The Affinix Client Success Team is focused on understanding our clients’ objectives with Affinix and creating positive outcomes. She also possesses a deep commitment to corporate social responsibility, with an emphasis on military veteran advocacy. Allison holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah.

At PeopleScout, we’re all dealing with the same changes—working from home and recording these podcasts from a distance, so things may sound a bit different than you’re used to hearing.

PeopleScout U.S. Jobs Report Analysis — February 2020

Posted on by nfuqua

The Labor Department released its February 2020 jobs report which shows that U.S. employers added 273,000 jobs in February, which beat analyst expectations. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%. The labor force participation rate remained at 63.4%. Year-over-year wage growth fell to 3.0%. U.S. employers have now added to the payrolls for 113 straight months, extending the longest continuous jobs expansion on record.

U.S. Jobs Report February 2020

The Good

The headline numbers in the February jobs report are good news. According to MarketWatch, analysts had expected just 165,000 new jobs—far below the 273,000 added last month. The strongest gains came in healthcare, restaurants, construction and government jobs. Healthcare providers alone added 57,000 positions. This provides a strong baseline for the economy as concerns over the coronavirus grow.

The Bad

Despite the strong numbers, the New York Times reports that there are vulnerabilities in the economy. Business investment and wage growth have been sluggish for months. Hiring in manufacturing is also slowing. Analysts expect job creation as a whole to slow in 2020.

The Unknown

The biggest concern—the novel coronavirus—has yet to make an impact on the jobs report. The numbers in the February report come from the week of February 12—before the U.S. saw an uptick in coronavirus cases or deaths. Experts say the February report demonstrates a strong baseline against which they can monitor the impact of the virus in the U.S.

However, the Wall Street Journal reports that companies are starting to feel the effects. Airlines and hotels are reporting a decrease in business—with some airlines cutting back on the number of flights and announcing hiring freezes. Experts also expect the virus to have a large impact on restaurants, entertainment and retail. At the same time, there has already been increased growth in the healthcare and science sectors.

So far, the New York Times reports that the manufacturing sector is seeing mixed impacts from the virus. Those who depend on parts from China may be experiencing supply issues. However, some U.S. based manufacturers are seeing increased demand from companies that previously relied on overseas suppliers. Over the next few months, economists will be watching the impact closely.

Talking Talent Leadership Profile: Jon Porter

Posted on by nfuqua

Jon Porter doesn’t have a typical recruiting background. He started out as an accountant with KPMG and made his way through the advertising sector before finally landing as the Managing Director of PeopleScout in the UK and Head of EMEA Operational Delivery. Along the way, he was lucky enough to work with many organizations with diverse recruiting challenges – from the British Army and the Metropolitan Police to Diageo. So, when Jon looks at talent challenges, he doesn’t just look at them as a recruiter; he views them through the wide-angle lens of the entire business, and he sees them as a storyteller.

Jon shared his story from PeopleScout’s London offices. He explained how the unique and ever-evolving challenges and opportunities in the UK and Europe will influence talent acquisition leaders around the globe.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing the UK and Europe in talent acquisition right now?

The biggest challenge has been the uncertainty around Brexit since the referendum in 2016. Organizations have not had certainty around the future, and this has influenced decision-making around how to potentially invest and grow a business. The focus of government around the normal investment programs has also been affected, as much of parliamentary time was focused on the many Brexit bills progressing through both Houses. It almost felt that the UK was on pause and we just needed to press the play button. After the election result of December 12, 2019, it now looks like some of that uncertainty has been removed. The newly formed government, now with a working majority, is pushing for a conclusion of the Brexit debate by the end of 2020.

What are the talent acquisition trends you’re seeing in the UK and Europe today?

There are some clear trends in the marketplace. The obvious one is technology. There is a fragmented and hugely diverse technology landscape in the UK and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), and leaders are looking at how to better navigate that landscape. How do they make the most of it – to drive efficiency, cost savings and better-quality candidates – and optimize the way they do things?

There is also a trend of organizations looking at multi-country programs, with a focus around EMEA. Organizations seem to be looking at talent more globally and around the concept that talent isn’t limited by traditional country boundaries or geography, or even technology. It’s fast-becoming a boundary-less environment.

How is the introduction of Affinix™ to Europe fitting into and changing the conversation about technology in the region?

I think that our timing couldn’t be better. We’ve had loads of great feedback on Affinix since our September launch at our Resourcing 2025 event at the London Science Museum, and I think it’s because it provides a flexible solution at a time when organizations are still a bit cautious about how they’re going to evolve their technology solutions. Because Affinix is a middleware, it affords our clients the opportunity to get the great technology of the now, but also it provides them with security for the future. It’s a manifestation of now to next.

How do you tell a cohesive and relevant story when recruiting across borders?

Finding “space” in a busy talent marketplace is hard; differentiating one company offer from another requires a deep understanding of brand and channel. Developing target personas, and understanding how they live their lives and how to create a one-to-one dialogue is essential. At PeopleScout, this approach and understanding is in our DNA. It’s how we think.    

When looking at cross-border campaigns, we first consider the message – the employer brand promise; the value exchange between the organization and the candidate – the deal. This message needs to be authentic across all borders. It needs to reflect the lived experience of employees within the organization. It can be aspirational; however, it can’t be an exaggeration of the truth. That can only lead to unfulfilled expectations, reduced engagement and increased attrition.

The art of the storyteller is to deliver a consistent, overarching message while accommodating the nuances of the countries in which it needs to be delivered. The language, tone, imagery and cultural touchpoints may change, but the essence of the promise remains consistent. Good recruiters understand how to bring the story to life in conversation with candidates and yet remain true to the organizational narrative.

What are some of the lessons from the UK and Europe that leaders in other regions should be paying attention to?

Many organizations have a structured view around their approach to talent and where they think hires might come from – whether it’s specific geographies, sectors or universities. I think one of the things that we’re doing in Europe – which does seem to be a message that’s landing elsewhere – is that we need to be more open-minded and a bit more conscious around things like social mobility and inclusivity.

Organizations are looking past the barriers of geography, society and technology. They’re seeing that talent is going to be pivotal to the evolution of business. That’s driving a mentality of embracing talent without any boundaries and taking a more progressive and equitable view of talent.

What are you most excited about for the future of talent acquisition?

The speed of change in talent acquisition is going to accelerate. Technology is absolutely going to fuel that acceleration. Clients are going to have greater and greater expectations, requiring more dynamic talent acquisition strategies. That will be driven by the fact that talent will be even more of a differentiator for organizations.

We’re also going to see employer brands and employer value propositions (EVPs) play an even greater role in the hiring process. The EVP is going to become the cornerstone of the people agenda – so, not just recruiting, but also learning and development, organizational design and more. How does the EVP play into the culture and behaviors of the organization?

Additionally, the vast majority of jobs that will be created five to 10 years from now probably don’t even exist today. So, there will be the evolution of new job roles, new technologies, new demands from organizations and new challenges in the world and political landscapes. This makes talent acquisition an exciting place to be.