Our June ‘24 Newsletter: Chock Full of Talent News

By Linda Brenner | July 02, 2024

Quote of the Month: “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” ― Warren Buffett

DIY: 3 Steps to a Rapid and Effective Talent Acquisition Audit

Why is now the best time to evaluate and improve hiring in your organization? Because the perfect time will never come. The talent marketplace continues to evolve in unpredictable ways and some skills are becoming more in demand – and more scarce – than ever. Hiring leaders have little patience for poor (or unknown) hiring results. Senior leaders will no longer agree to simply add more recruiters when the perceived need arises. Plus, if posting jobs is your general go-to strategy, it simply can't be working well given how much has changed around us. Read on for ways to objectively assess your talent acquisition efforts and determine how to hire faster and better.

Josh Bersin Agrees: It's Time to Reinvent Talent Acquisition

This article highlights new research showing that talent acquisition leaders are largely left out of strategic workforce planning at their companies, causing many to resign themselves to operating as "order takers" rather than strategic partners. Despite skills shortages significantly impacting business plans, TA spending is being cut while the function remains highly tactical – focused on filling open requisitions rather than proactively sourcing needed skills. Bersin argues TA must be reinvented into a more strategic role that deeply understands skills needs, leverages talent intelligence tools, prioritizes internal mobility, and integrates tightly with learning and development. Here's where we disagree with Josh: Tactics such as changing the name to "talent advisors," merging TA with L&D, and using AI are unlikely to "free up" recruiting resources to become more strategic. It's not sexy, but we consistently see measurable improvements from examining and optimizing the TA strategy, the hiring operating model (ways of working), use of metrics and technology, etc.

The World's Favorite Business Podcast

Read the linked WSJ article or, take it from us: "Acquired" is a popular business history and strategy podcast hosted by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, featuring in-depth, four-hour episodes released monthly. The show captivates listeners from Silicon Valley to Wall Street by transforming company case studies into engaging narratives, often dedicating several hours to explore a single company. Known for their thorough research and detailed storytelling, the hosts attract a high-profile audience, including Taylor Swift, top executives from Spotify and Apple, and others. By focusing on quality over quantity, "Acquired" has built a loyal following and generates significant revenue through sponsorships and advertising, ultimately positioning itself as a premier resource for understanding the success stories of major companies. TGA's POV: check it out - it's great.

New Data: The Impact of Return-to-Office Policies on Retention

From the University of Chicago: This Becker Friedman Institute's paper "Return to Office and the Tenure Distribution" examines the impact of return-to-office (RTO) mandates on employee retention at major tech companies like Microsoft, SpaceX, and Apple. The study finds that strict RTO policies drive higher rates of departure among long-tenured, senior employees, leading to significant human capital costs in terms of productivity, innovation, and competitiveness. What's more, senior employees typically move to direct competitors rather than startups, exacerbating the competitive impact on companies enforcing RTO policies.

PwC's New Internal Talent Mobility Approach

PwC recently launched an AI-powered internal talent marketplace called My Marketplace to help match employees with open roles and projects based on their skills and interests. The platform uses generative AI to create employee profiles from internal data and public sources, which employees can update and hiring managers can then search to identify internal candidates before looking externally. Over 20,000 of PwC's 75,000 U.S. employees have engaged with My Marketplace so far, as the firm aims to improve internal mobility, talent utilization, and retention results.

What Happened When Researchers Applied with 80,000 Fake Résumés

Researchers sent 80,000 fake résumés to U.S. companies, varying applicants' race and gender to study employment discrimination. The findings: white applicants were contacted 9.5% more often than Black applicants, with significant variation among companies and industries. Interestingly, two auto parts companies showed the highest bias favoring white applicants. The study also revealed that centralized talent acquisition/HR practices were associated with reduced bias, while diversity training and other common measures were not effective. The findings highlight ongoing discrimination in the labor market and suggest potential strategies for companies to mitigate bias in hiring. Our advice: improve and differentiate your hiring processes in order to source the most qualified candidates for all your roles.

2024 KPMG U.S. CEO Outlook Pulse Survey Themes

CEOs remain confident in growth prospects of the U.S. economy but are making strategic adjustments to address a combination of near-term risks and structural changes.
They see GenAI as central to gaining a competitive advantage and are working to rapidly advance deployment of the technology across their enterprises in a responsible way.
They are waiting for the opportune moment to pursue M&A activity – most likely later this year or in 2025.
They're proactively managing a tight labor market and focusing on initiatives to promote mental well-being and prevent burnout as acceptance of hybrid work models grows.
The execution of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives edged out other areas as CEOs’ top operational priority. The majority expect to see significant returns from their sustainability investments in 3-5 years.

WSJ Study: What Entry Level Jobs Really Look Like Today

The Wall Street Journal analyzed hundreds of entry-level job postings in a range of roles, sectors and locations, from Chicago to Dallas to San Jose, Calif. They reveal what entry-level work looks like — a mix of in-office and remote work that puts new graduates on track for more responsibility — and what companies think young workers want now. This is a great (animated) read, especially for those among us responsible for college/early career hiring.

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