Article: Talent Acquisition Leadership League Week- Key Takeways

Talent Acquisition

Talent Acquisition Leadership League Week- Key Takeways

As we head to the end of People Matters Talent Acquisition Leadership League Week, we look at some of the important learning that has come out of the various sessions.
Talent Acquisition Leadership League Week- Key Takeways

On the first day of our TA Leadership League Week, we had Twangout with Sumathi Sampath Head – Talent Acquisition, Infosys BPO to discuss the role that big data analytics would play to ensure successful Predictive Hiring. The session was aimed at exploring the nuances of big data applications in today’s ever evolving HR world.  The session began with analysing the scope of big data application in the given paradigm. The importance of historical data of Talent Acquisition to predict and understand future behavior in the hiring space was established. By the collection of relevant data, hypnotizing and using statistical modelling to understand and predict behavior, there is a higher scope of reaching out to the necessary talent as compared to mere correlation of data. The low cost of storage, powerful analysis techniques and the ease in the execution of big data analysis would propel the use of Predictive analysis. The strategic use of big data also finds relevance in acquiring the right talent for acquisition. From an organizational point of view, she stressed on the importance of investment in technology, business analysis and storage capabilities. The efficacy of predicative analysis would depend on all these aspects. It is also important to ensure that the data is reliable and relevant for Predictive analysis to facilitate hiring in a consistent manner. 

Leveraging talent data to ascertain the best way to reach to right talent also helps in optimizing talent pipeline. But the use of predictive analysis by an organisation should only be done when the basic processes of talent acquisition and hiring are sorted out. Once the processes are standardized and are stable enough to create reliable data, the organisation holds the capability to raise the bar of making better decisions on hiring the right talent by using Predictive analysis. 

Day 2

The second day of TA Leadership League , a webinar with Ajit Dias, Head-Human Resources, Ginger Hotels with us  to discuss the scope of Recruitment as compared to Strategic TA. Ajit explained how Talent acquisition is the new priority for HR professionals. With the demand increasing in its growth and dwindling supply, good talent is needed across all sectors. Strategic talent acquisition is necessary to fill the void created by the expansion of the organisation in today’s competitive world. With the increase in pressure to find the right talent, it’s become imperative to use innovative techniques to get right match of qualified talent. 

 The need of the organisation needs to be thoroughly analyzed to find the right solutions to talent acquisition.  One solution cannot fit every problem.  There also needs to be a tie in with the future vision of the company to find the right talent for the present. Clarity of the future would help HR professionals take the right decision for the present. It should be in tune with the direction that the company is planning to take in the future. The key to a successful talent acquisition lies in the proper mapping out of competencies. To have a clear established idea of the necessary competencies would help HR professionals move beyond the regular knowledge based assessment of candidates. It would be beneficial to define a set of competencies that drives the organizations culture and values.  Creation of an exhaustive competencies map would facilitate better understanding of what is currently required by the organisation. This is imperative for proper talent acquisition. 

Similar arguments surfaced when the need to make the right arguments in favour of talent acquisition within the company by the HR professionals resurfaced. For any effective acquisition plan to run there needs to be investments towards the right infrastructure like big data applications and predictive analysis. These help in finding a better ways to acquire talent. This would also help transfer learning within the organisation more effectively. And finally to assess any talent acquisition plan, indicators for success should be created to map out the effectiveness of the talent acquisition plan.  

Day 3 

Diversity in corporate workforce in the contemporary times has become an integral part of the business plan for various organizations.  With major companies across the globe creating strong diversity programs, proactive outreach and recruitment efforts that deliberately focus on increasing diversity are necessary to support an organization in this endeavor. The strategic use of Talent Acquisition can help organisations to reach to a diverse talent pool. 

So how can companies, within the current paradigm, look at having a diverse workforce? As part of the ongoing TA Leadership League Week, we had Prithvi Shergill, CHRO, HCL over with us along with leaders from across the HR community to give some answers. This piece brings together some of the excerpts from the enlightening conversation on our Tweetchat themed at Encouraging Diversity through Talent acquisition. The different questions helped in analysing the problem from a holistic perspective.   

The first discussion was around the various aspects TA could address to solve diversity issues in various companies. The answers to the tweeted question gathered some thoughtful responses right from how "diversity is not about gender, race or ethnicity. It's also about culture and thought process that drives innovation" to "Diversity Hiring Should be a Practice, Not a Target..."

The next discussion revolved around the challenges of the recruiting team in their efforts to address the issue of diversity while recruiting. Responses include: "Appreciate ethnicity, gender, exceptionally abled, language, religion, sexual orientation, life experiences" to "Either compromise on quality or offer a role below potential. Diversity should be a culture, not mandate."

Post the challenges discussion we delved into exploring whether diversity becomes an impediment in the operations of talent acquisition. We had our guest, Prithvi Shregill join the discussions. He pointed out the difficulty in implementation of diversity programs. "Attracting and finding the talent with the right fit to the diversity you wish to see in ideas, ways of working is hard."

The question of clarity in vision and partnering with the right touch points was also expressed. Unless the mandate has P&L impacts, it is never a roadblock. Key is to plan in advance and partner with business for outcomes.

Coming to the best practices discussion we learnt both accessibility to latest tools and infrastructure and the ability to have an open mind to have a primary focus on potential during recruitment are necessary practices.  

The session concluded with a discussion on how TA is evolving to fulfill the diversity mandate of the company.   The two points that stood out the most were how diversity and inclusion are now forming part of employer brand identity and how ROI can be effectively used to convince line managers to become more diverse in their hiring.

The TA Week was a great learning journey for us. We appreciate the support you have showed to us during this week. Seeking your support for future events as well.

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Topics: Talent Acquisition, #TAWeek

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