The impact of data on global talent acquisition
The growth of technology and the subsequent ability for organisations to source, utilise and leverage data has had an impact on almost every area of society, from home to the workplace and everywhere in between. But how has data impacted hiring strategies and the wider, global talent acquisition market? We recently hosted a round table with The Firm on that very subject and invited Beamery, the talent lifecycle management organisation to join us. Below we have outlined some of our key thoughts about data in the talent industry.
Historically, employers were heavily dependent on third-party executive search firms and recruitment agencies who created thousands of islands of private data from their operations with talent and senior executives. They created large databases that were proprietary, and reinforced their competitive advantage by operating in niche, narrow fields and building up large personal networks that provided them with the required data. This method meant that executive search firms in particular could charge huge professional fees as they essentially acted as gatekeepers to this mine of executive talent data.
Recruitment goes viral
Then the internet arrived, and recruiters had access to global and open data sets, plus new communications channels like email and eventually social media to contact potential candidates. However, while the rest of the world jumped onto this rapidly moving technological train, it could be suggested that the traditional recruitment and executive search industries have only, until recently, chased behind it, and largely struggled to maximise the true potential benefits of talent tech and the analytical capabilities, reduction in time to fill roles, and the many other benefits it can bring, if used properly.
In the current market, there are now numerous programmes that scrape and aggregate big data, like Horsefly, that can provide some insights and analytics, for example in areas like concentrations of talent in different locations, salary benchmarking and talent pool development. However, to be truly effective these need to operate as part of a wider framework, rather than being used in a modular way.
Early days
Despite access to a huge range of talent tech, we are still at an early stage of the technological journey within the wider talent industry. DE&I is a great example. Most employers are now fairly adept at creating workforces with more ethnic and gender diversity; however, many are now looking for other types of diverse talent, including neurodiverse specialists, people from different socioeconomic backgrounds and upbringings and those from alternative education pathways. LinkedIn is very good at telling you about a potential employees’ gender and ethnicity, but it does not work as effectively when it comes to other forms of diversity. There are new platforms approaching on the horizon, but not quickly enough and talent acquisition teams are largely not adapting with the pace of change. LinkedIn was launched in 2002, approximately800 Chancellors ago, when Myspace was the dominant social media platform and Arsenal were the best football team in the country (maybe not that much has changed.) We would probably all agree that the world is a very different place to what it was 20 years ago, however LinkedIn still dominates; why has there been no core revolution in recruitment data technology?
There are a considerable number of different forms of technology available to the talent sector, whether on the inhouse or agency side, but these are not fully integrated into hiring processes and certainly not holistic. For example, you could be using one platform to record and automate the interview process, then another to carry out people analytics work, then another to help with the hiring decision, but with nothing to hold it all together in one centralised place. The range of these technologies is vast, but they are not necessarily fully fitting the market need. Most employers that we speak to are happy with the volume of candidates that sourcing tech is bringing them, but find that key data is missing, or that they have to revert to other programmes to get to the next stage, which suggests something is lacking.
Future developments
Where is the market heading in the coming years? In reality, there will probably be more technology and firms will continue to combine talent technology stacks to get closer to the holistic approach to talent acquisition and management. But recruitment is potentially one industry that will never be entirely tech-led. It needs a human touch and while tools will be provided to assist and make it more efficient, it will likely never become a fully automated, end-to-end process. One major market trend that we are seeing is more skills-based, over experience-led, hiring and this is an area that technology could benefit. Considerable amount of work goes into the taxonomy of professional skills and roles, which enables employers to understand people’s skills and experiences more clearly before meeting them and this shift is likely to continue to grow.
The talent industry has always been good at getting data and firms can source information around macro trends like remuneration structures, migration plans cross-sectors, trends around why people leave and join other organisations, the qualitative perceptions of their brand and much more, but they are now looking for real insights around this data and the technology to unite it is not as evolved as it could be. Here at Research Europe, one of our key value-adds is that we are on top of everything when it comes to talent data, and can bring it together in a coherent, clear and functional way that truly benefits the organisations that we work with. It is easy to get lost in a world of talent acquisition data and to invest in products that do not operate holistically and as an underlying, core feature of your recruitment process. Making the right talent decisions is easy when you are armed with the right information and know how to use it, and our work is all about providing and applying it in the correct way, so organisations do not have to. We are meticulous and are known for setting the quality benchmark within our industry by analysing a vast array of sources, cross referencing global talent information and knitting it together for our clients.
If you would like to speak to our team about maximising your use of data and technology, then get in contact here.