#7: The Talent Acquisition Industry has changed forever - TA Leaders tell us how....

TQSolutions took part in a panel discussion at a conference this week for one of Australia's largest Talent functions. As preparation for my short presentation, I thought I would poll several Heads of Talent Acquisition to understand what is currently 'on their minds' for FY18 and their thoughts on the industry's development as we move towards 2020. 


We asked them to share the following:


  • Biggest current operational challenge
  • Key initiative / change program to deliver in FY18
  • Guaranteed change in the industry by 2020
  • What skills and capabilities do people starting in the industry need to be successful 
  • What we should stop doing as an industry
  • What we should continue doing as an industry
  • What we should start doing as an industry


36 Talent Acquisition leaders from 30 organisations responded, most were ASX 50 or similarly sized international businesses. Having aggregated and themed the data, there are clearly four main areas of focus for the TA Leader community:


  1. AI / Robotics and Automation
  2. Employer Marketing and Branding
  3. Use of Data Analytics to become more strategic and proactive
  4. Industry based collaboration and relationships

Below are some headlines from the detailed results:


Major Operational Challenges:

  • Technology - understanding what to automate and how to integrate with core systems
  • People - need to develop greater capability and agility
  • Poorly developed workforce planning
  • Insufficient resources and investment


Key Change Programs Being Delivered in FY18:

  • More Proactive approach to sourcing and talent pipelining
  • Implementation of new systems / technologies
  • Automation projects involving AI and Robotics
  • Recruitment marketing / EVP related activity
  • Technology alignment across the enterprise


What do TA Leaders guarantee will change in the industry by 2020: 

  • Believe Automation through AI and Robotics will be commonplace (chatbots, screening, matching etc) (50%)
  • Data and Analytics will have a significant impact on core operations of TA
  • Increased shift to marketing / branding focus - marketing becomes a critical skillset 
  • Role of recruiter / sourcer will fundamentally change


Skills and capabilities required by people who want to be successful in the industry :

  • Believe data and analytics skills are most important (talent analytics, financial analysis) (25%)
  • Stakeholder engagement / relationship management (candidate and client) 
  • Marketing and branding - including social media management 
  • Business acumen and commercial mindset


What do Talent Acquisition Leaders think the industry should STOP doing:

  • Not valuing the candidate experience 
  • Focusing on meaningless HR metrics e.g. Time to Hire
  • Underselling the value of TA to an organisation
  • Relying on non-verified candidate information
  • Dealing with unprofessional agencies


What do Talent Acquisition Leaders think the industry should CONTINUE doing:

  • Innovating, especially in relation to Automation, New Tools and Technology (26%)
  • Evolving, adapting, flexing, improving
  • Adding value - consultative approach to internal stakeholders


What do Talent Acquisition Leaders think the industry should START doing:

  • Collaborating and connecting across the industry as well as within their organisations (29%)
  • Showcase value and professionalism by measuring and highlighting strategic and bottom line impact of strong TA capability using much improved metrics (24%)
  • Re-position TA as a business enabler (rather than service provider) (21%)
  • Adopt strategic, candidate centric approach to recruitment and talent pooling


In summary, it is clear the industry is on the cusp of a major shift away from old ways of working. New technologies will transform how talent acquisition professionals work and will change the skills and capabilities required to be successful in the industry. 


AI & Robotics will be a key driver of this change and if managed well will allow technology to do the 'heavy lifting' freeing up capacity for Talent Acquisition to focus on what it has been wanting to for years - marketing, branding, strategy, experience, advisory, data and insights, workforce planning, talent management. 


I am seriously looking forward to riding this wave over the coming years……


Gareth Flynn

Director, TQSolutions 

July 2017