Figuring out what your next 6-12 month hiring roadmap looks like can be daunting. So many variables to consider, so many new technologies, you might feel pulled in various directions. The key is not to become overwhelmed by the array of twists and turns in the HR arena, but rather to lean-in to where you see your workforce in the future and plot the steps to get there.
With every industry showing unique needs and changes, here’s a snapshot of some of the interesting directions companies are headed in the coming months.
Energy, Engineering and Industrials
With a shift towards green energy, new legislation in this sector will promote more green skills as workforces evolves to become sustainable and decarbonized.
Investment Banking
As banks consider their internal structure, they are analyzing how technology will provide more agility to their hiring decision making. In highly regulated environments there is more of a hesitation around new technologies like AI. But some are interested in piloting technology and new tools to drive efficiencies where it is seamless to do so.
Construction, Healthcare, Retail
In high volume, hourly hiring – such as in the construction industry – there is a focus on leveraging a skills-based approach to determine the best fits for roles. Quality of hire remains supreme in this area of sourcing and recruiting.
Organizations will be looking to hire more contingent labor workers as they bounce back from lower hiring volumes. A continued uncertain economic landscape across many sectors is creating a greater focus on creating flexibility in their employee make-up.
Food and Hospitality
In California there has been a new minimum wage applied to the fast food sector, now at $20 per hour. An interesting development that will likely have consequences to other sectors and parts of the country. This presents an additional layer of complexity to an already evolving talent acquisition landscape.
Technology
Companies are exploring how to source talent for supporting and driving AI technologies. There has been an increasing interest in looking into the architect and planner roles involved in implementing and setting the stage for new AI technologies. Establishing a gameplan ahead of AI usage is a strategic step that is critical to ensure compliance is met and tools are utilized properly.
Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences
Organizations are looking to their location strategy to reduce cost and drive scalability/agility – with India being an area of interest for some employers.
An important thing to think about on your talent road ahead is what your destination will look like. With every hiring destination looking a little different, each industry is going to require different TA needs and will need to adjust to the changing economic and technological landscape differently.
Talent community engagement and the use of CRM technology within talent acquisition is nothing new, but it is something that many organisations struggle to do well. Why?
All too often the business case for the CRM tech is approved and a shiny new tool is purchased, but what it takes to establish, engage and nurture talent communities is not fully considered. The result? The tool becomes a holding pen for candidates and a tumbleweed of generic newsletters follows, potentially leaving that talent with a tainted perception of the company’s employer brand.
Something needs to change… enter the Content Strategist and the Content Creators. Wait, what? This is TA not TikTok. No this, in fact, is Talent Marketing.
To drive the potentially unrealised value in CRM, employers must not only invest in the right tech solution but also the right creative skillsets to bring their employer brand to life in a way that is meaningful and personalised to each talent community.
But let’s start at the beginning…
What is a CRM?
CRM systems serve as a vital tool for automating engagement workflows, effectively segmenting candidates, and tracking candidate interactions. This leads to increased efficiency in the recruitment process; saving time and resources. It’s a win-win!
In parallel, the creation of a vibrant talent community can provide a readily available pool of interested candidates – expediting the hiring process and contributing to more efficient recruitment.
Sounds good, but where does content come in?
Beyond the technical aspects, developing a compelling content strategy is critical for engaging these talent communities. Content that resonates with potential employees can instill a sense of community and connection.
A robust content strategy can also enhance the company’s employer brand and reputation. Sharing insightful content that showcases the company culture, values, and opportunities can attract a diversified talent pool. This leads to an improved candidate experience, as potential employees can gain a deeper understanding of the company before applying. Furthermore, engaging content increases candidate engagement levels, making them more likely to apply and stay connected with the company.
Not only that, a well considered and well executed content strategy can help when engaging critical skills talent or under-represented groups.
How is it achieved?
Essentially, any effective CRM implementation needs to make provision for content strategy and content creation. Those skillsets can sit in-house or can be outsourced, but will require a strong partnership between TA, Employer Branding, HR, Marketing and Comms. From defining the strategy, identifying the stories, creating the content, managing the campaigns, analysing the effectiveness and refining the strategy over time.
How will we know it’s working?
Done well, your investment talent pool engagement will significantly improve hiring outcomes and foster long-term loyalty towards an employer brand.
Don’t believe us?
Ask our Financial Services client who’ve been able to reduce their external media spend by 90% by investing in talent community engagement over several years. In 2023, one blog article featured in a newsletter achieved more apply clicks than any other external piece of paid or social media.
When it comes to investing in CRM, think tech and content as two sides of the same coin. Only then will you realise the benefits.
I had the pleasure of hosting a panel discussion with three of our AMS clients, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and GSK at the 2024 Institute of Student Employers Global Conference last week.
Our panel are tenured Global Early Careers Leads and run recruitment campaigns and programmes across EMEA, the Americas, APAC and India. It was fascinating to get under the skin of some of the benefits, challenges and regional complexities.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of running programmes globally?
My first question to the panel was around the benefits and disadvantages of running Early Careers programmes globally.
We heard about how a global Early Careers programme can provide the c-suite with a global lens on skills, diversity, and other key business drivers. Bringing in an annual intake to pivot on skills shortages can provide strategic advantage and boost workforce planning efforts. Different regions and locations bring different skills and the ability to leverage multiple regions and feeding this knowledge into the bigger picture is transformational. For example, the growing trend of recruiting apprentices in the UK across back and now front office investment banking roles, and the strong growth of technology hubs in India.
We know Generation Z are globally mobile and expect to be treated like consumers so selling a global product and introducing them to a global network resonates. There are also cost efficiencies around managing partnerships globally, streamlining resources more effectively and using tools and technology at a greater scale.
Disadvantages mentioned were the time spent on the internal politics and complexity. HR will drive for global consistency, but the business will often want the opposite so finding that ‘glocal’ approach can be a challenge. Additionally establishing a global footprint will come with global risk exposure, particularly in the finance sector where managing risk is critical. This can be time consuming to get right and consistent governance and controls will need to be in place and regulated.
From a marketing perspective, within countries, global brands can be diluted, for example the top ten organisations regularly appearing in the highfliers research are often those with a strong in country focus such as the big 4, NHS and BBC. A brand will have different levels of employee attractiveness across the regions.
What are the operational challenges?
I then asked the panel about the operational challenges of running a global early careers campaign. We covered off multiple factors. The fact that different universities have different approaches. For example, some of the legalities in EMEA where universities can dictate salaries to be paid and the complexity of how campus recruiting works in India in conjunction with the campus placement officers.
Assessment also is different per region so establishing a one size fits all is often not possible. For example, online testing in the US comes with its own legal complexities. Another challenge is the ease of hiring and retaining the campus recruiter skill set in some countries where is has not been delivered as a specialism previously.
Furthermore, with the number of stakeholders involved and the interconnection required, it can be complicated to get stakeholders to align and to make decisions. Data is one of the key benefits of a global campaign but agreeing what to measure can be a complex and needs to have some consistency across an often-divergent process.
The final challenge discussed was around diversity, equity and inclusion which has different meanings in different countries. We discussed the focus in India, on gender and disability which is different to the US and UK so trying to find alignment in focus and reporting can be involved.
What advice would you give to organisations looking to set up a global campaign?
The third question I asked the panel was about advice they would offer for organisations who are looking to set up a global campaign. And the main advice was that no one size fits all. Consequently, it is key to focus on where your organisation want to be consistent and where it need to be different. Bringing local embedded subject matter experts together as a global team with a common purpose will be a great starting point. Matrix ownership can be beneficial i.e., the US regional lead also manages attraction globally, the APAC regional lead also looks after data.
Alignment is of course valuable, but it is not necessary to shoe-horn countries into a global approach e.g. diversity will always need to be regionally sensitive. Also, a reminder not to under-estimate the basics e.g. time zones for meetings, and networking events. We also talked about the importance of working through the balance between cohort hiring and ad hoc hiring as you gradually create some cohesion across the global offering.
As ever in the world of talent acquisition it is a challenge to balance the needs of the business and what works in recruitment however bringing early careers hires together in centrally managed cohorts rather than on an ad hoc basis does provide the ability to space hiring out. Moreover, creating greater definition across the application process start dates and deadlines will come with benefits as we increasingly see early careers recruitment stretching across the whole year.
I would like to reiterate my gratitude to our panel members for spending time with us and helping grow our knowledge around global early careers programmes.
At AMS we support over 30 early careers and campus programmes, some global and some regional and have supported with over 28,000 hires this season. If you would like to talk to us about how we can support you, contact us.
It is generally acknowledged amongst contingent workforce professionals, that Time and Materials (T&M), resources procured under a Statement of Work, is considered sub optimum buying. Perhaps even worse, “rogue” buying. But few organisations have the appetite, knowledge, or experience to understand how to address and change buying behaviour within their business operations. The consequence of this is that organisations with a critical mass of “non-permanent workers”, are overspending to the tune of millions, for what are essentially commodity-based skills.
It’s not only T&M SoWs where costs can be highly inflated. Having many multiple T&M resources on one SoW means there are no defined outcomes or deliverables or consequences of non-delivery which should be a key feature of any Statement of Work service. Moving these multiple T&M arrangements to fixed price should be a key consideration.
On 16th November, AMS hosted a roundtable session bringing together procurement leaders who are on the journey to change the dial on their organisation’s improper usage of T&M resource under Statement of Work. The discussion and insights provided enabled them to work through several challenges and the options available to enable them to drive the change through their business. Amongst other things we discussed how to:
simplify contingent worker classifications
identify optimum fulfilment channels
utilise fixed price SoWs
put in place processes to support the change including decision trees, resource desks, process automation as well as, comms and education programs within their business.
In our support of these clients, here at AMS, we have a tried and tested methodology that can be applied across any organisation. With our extensive contingent workforce experience, we can confidently support any organisation with a business case to change and incorporate services procurement into their overall non-employee talent strategy.
I read an interesting article in the Financial Times last week by Nick Bent, Chief Executive of UpReach, a Social Mobility charity. In his piece “Class and the City” he questions why the finance sector, in this instance, is not going further to report on social class when reports have found that “socio-economic background is more likely to impact a person’s route to success in financial services than gender or ethnicity” (ref. data report Shaping our Economy).
For me, this article and the data and research that Nick Bent references, is yet more evidence to support why “Class” should be considered as protected under the Equality Act, with social class cutting across all the other issues. I’m not alone here, the British Psychological Society, the TUC, the Social Mobility Commission and some academics have argued for “social class” to be added to the Equality Act 2010 as a way of promoting social mobility and addressing class-based inequalities (Ref. article Should class be protected under the equality law)
Despite the barriers facing working-class people continuing to gain traction, and reference to the nation’s and economy’s interest to shatter the “class ceiling”, Mr Bent draws attention to the finance sector and the “absence of stringent proposals on social class in a new consultation by the Financial Conduct Authority on diversity and inclusion. The FCA suggests mandatory strategies, data collection, target setting and progress reporting on the characteristics that currently fall under the equality act, which does not include socio-economic background”.
I agree with Nick Bent, the FCA and other regulatory bodies for that matter, should go further and commit to mandatory reporting on socio-economic background as well. But is the bigger question here, should class be protected under the Equality Act?
Nick Bent references some alarming statistics from Progress Together’s data report “Shaping our Economy”:
Students from a lower socio-economic background who get a first-class degree are still less likely to obtain a top graduate job than a more privileged peer with a 2:2.
“socio-economic background is more likely to impact a person’s route to success in financial services than gender or ethnicity”.
Working-class women seem to suffer a double disadvantage, progressing 21% more slowly into senior roles.
Working-class women from ethnic minority backgrounds are 30 times less likely to be in senior positions than privileged white men.
By adding “class” as a protected characteristic this would put a duty on public sector entities and large organisations to monitor and report on their efforts to tackle discrimination of this kind. So why has it not happened? Perhaps it’s the complexity of defining and proving social class. Unlike other characteristics like race or gender, social class can be less straightforward to identify and measure.
There is no doubt that a workplace made up of people who are hired based on being the best person for the job and with the greatest potential to excel (rather than their socio-economic standing or background or any other irrelevant characteristic) makes good business and commercial sense, it’s also the right thing to do.
Despite the absence of social class being a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, there are still plenty of step’s businesses can take towards positive change.
Mr Bent highlights “that paying travel and accommodation costs for job interviews and work experience, offering the living wage for internships and using admissions frameworks are trivial investments that can offer a huge return if companies then find talent in previously unexplored demographics and geographies” in addition to “introducing policies to close class gaps in pay and promotion.”
I’m proud to say that at AMS we are collecting data and reporting on the socio-economic background of our UK&I employees and have done so for the past two years. This crucial insight into our workforce feeds our wider social mobility plans, plans that has seen us embrace new partnerships to influence change with Movement to Work, Beam, Bridge of Hope, Recruit for Spouses and the Social Mobility Foundation. It’s also great to see our progress recognised nationally with AMS entering, for the first time, The Social Mobility Foundation Top 75 Employer Index last year – we came in at number 43.
Furthermore, on the Public Sector Resourcing framework we are promoting the Social Mobility benefits of the Recruit, Train, Deploy service line as an entry into employment for individuals from a low socio-economic background. Candidates are sourced for their attitude and aptitude to learn.
My final thoughts, I would encourage organisations not to wait for “class” to be added to the Equality Act as this might never happen. There is nothing to stop companies reporting social class alongside the other protected characteristics and it doesn’t necessarily require this mandate. It’s the right thing to do and can be one of the first steps for employers to take positive action to address identified barriers or disadvantages faced by certain socio-economic groups who make a significant proportion of our working population.
The idea that it is in the nation’s, and the economy’s, interests to shatter “class ceilings” is gaining traction
I’ve always talked openly about experiencing imposter syndrome all through my career and it appears that I’m not alone! According to this article in the FT, roughly 70% of us have experienced imposter syndrome at some point in our careers. The other point that surprised me was that I had always assumed that women generally are more likely to experience imposter syndrome, than men. However, most recent studies confirm that there is no significant difference between genders.
I’ve always tried to channel my imposter syndrome in a positive way – but I’ve not always felt that I’ve been successful with this. From reading through this article, it confirms that there is upside if you can channel your imposter syndrome in the right way. An upcoming paper from MIT Sloan School of Management professor Basima Tewfik, suggests that those who experience imposter syndrome are more likely to have an advantage over other colleagues through their team work, interpersonal and other social skills.
So, a different perspective from the normally more negative approach related to imposter syndrome. As ever, always interested to hear what you think!
Most of us — roughly 70 per cent, research suggests — have at one time or another suffered from what is known as “imposter syndrome”.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently announced new rules for listed companies to report on targets and data collection for ethnicity and gender representation in Boards and executive management roles.
The Parker Review also recently reported on the progress of the FTSE 100 organisations against the target to have at least one ethnic minority executive in their Board. 89% had met this target by the end of 2021. It is evident that by having making a commitment to a target and implementing a supporting plan enables organisations to improve their overall representation.
Here at AMS we established an ethnicity action plan in October 2020, we made a commitment to double the ethnicity representation of our global leadership community by the end of 2021. We met this target and we have now committed to double again by the end of 2023. We developed a robust plan with the support of our Board and Exco and implemented a number of different initiatives and programmes eg. reverse mentoring, Rooney rule for hiring etc. However, in agreeing to a clear target it has helped us to maintain focus, momentum and priority on the end goal.
The FCA has finalised rules requiring listed companies to report information and disclose against targets on the representation of women and ethnic minorities on their boards and executive management, making it easier for investors to see the diversity of their senior leadership teams.
