The Recruiting Future Podcast - Innovation In Hr And Recruitment

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Jennifer Boulanger Head of Global Recruitment at Booking.comIt has become very clear from the research I’ve been doing this year that Talent Acquisition is developing in complexity at the fastest pace we have ever experienced. To be truly successful at recruiting in today’s agile business environment employers needs the right mix of  expertise, technology, process and data.My guest this week is Jennifer Boulanger who is Head of Global Recruitment at Booking.com. In the interview we discuss:    •    The challenges Booking.com have faced recruiting 5000 people in the past year    •    Global mobility in tech hiring and the tools and techniques that make it successful    •    Applying marketing thinking to Employer Branding     •    The journey Booking.com is taking towards data driven Talent AcquisitionJennifer also discusses the technology Booking.com use to manage recruiting and provide a great candidate experience and shares her thoughts on technology trends for the future

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Doug Shaw from What Goes AroundThe importance of creativity in business is well documented, particularly when it comes to transformation and innovation. However what has become clear during my on-going research into recruiting innovation is that many companies struggle to think creatively.My guest for this episode is Doug Shaw, an HR consultant with a particular focus on creativity and collaboration.In the interview we discuss:    •    Why you don’t have to be a creative business to think creatively    •    Why creatively should be a coactive exercise rather than a coercive one    •    The business outputs that creativity collaboration can driveDoug also describes how companies can literally sketch their future into existence and give us his three key principles which can help companies to be more creativeSubscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Jason Seiden from Brand AmperSome of the most popular podcast episodes so far have been the ones that cover employer branding. We discussed how to measure the impact of employer brands as well as innovative ways of communicating them. Up to this point though we’ve not looked at the work involved in building them and the way in which some the traditional methods of employer brand research are being challenged by new approaches.My guest for this episode is Jason Seiden who is challenging established thinking about employer brand development via his company Brand Amper.In the interview we discuss:    •    Why traditional employer brand research takes too long    •    Turning employees stories into employer brand equity    •    The power of Social Proof in recruiting    •    Thinking about employer brand the same way as product placement    •    Why companies who are afraid of giving their employers a voice will failJason also talks about the fundamental changes happening in th

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Gareth Jones from ChemistryA few episodes back I spoke to Matthew Jeffery about an innovative global graduate recruitment campaign SAP had been running. On this week’s episode I dig a bit deeper into the story behind its success by talking to Gareth Jones from Chemistry who were the company who designed the recruitment process.We also talk about technology and assessment in general covering a number of areas including:    •    The biggest mistake most companies make when they are recruiting    •    Using personal data to predict future performance    •    The current and future role of algorithms in assessmentGareth also shares his thoughts on the future of work and some of the emerging technology he is seeing in the assessment space. Subcribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Guido Niewkamp from SocialReferral The concept of super charging employee referral schemes by plugging them into employee social networks has been hyped as the next big thing in recruitment for at least the last five years.It now seems that the tools and approaches that power this concept have matured and are bringing huge benefits to the early adopting employers who bought into them. Social referrals are now hitting the mainstream and in this week’s episode I talk to Guido Niewkamp the co-founder of SocialReferral to discuss what is working and why.In the interview we discuss:    •    How employees become brand ambassadors    •    Why 50% of employees won’t refer and how employers can motivate the other  50% to do it    •    Success stories including a retailer who recruited 200 people in a month from their social referral schemeGuido also gives his take on the future of the referral space and we discuss why referral schemes will need to be more about employer branding sto

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Ina Bourmer of Goodgame StudiosTech Recruiting is a hot topic at the moment for a vast majority of employers. I’ve been doing a lot of research recently into the similarities of the challenges in this area in different markets and geographies and very consistent themes are coming through.My guest for this episode is Ina Bourmer Head of HR and Talent Acquisition for Goodgame Studios in Germany.  Goodgame Studios is currently the fastest growing employer in Europe in the games sector and they are recruiting talent from 21 countries into their Hamburg HQ with a 100% direct sourcing model.In the interview we discuss:    •    The techniques they use to get a 60% response rate and 40% interest rate from their proactive sourcing    •    How their onboarding team start working with candidates at first interview stage to help with the persuasion process    •    The benefits of candidate experience SLAsIna also talks about the importance of People Analytics and what she is looking fo

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Ken Ward of Winter Court ConsultingThere is a huge amount on content published on a weekly basis detailing tools and techniques that can help employers recruit software engineers and other digital professionals. It can be very difficult to separate what is sound advice from all the click bait and product spin.My guest for this episode is Ken Ward from Winter Court Consulting. Ken has two decades worth of practical experience in tech recruitment and is keen to bust a number of popular tech recruitment myths and truisms. In the interview we discuss:    •    Key motivations that make tech professionals move jobs    •    How to design a recruitment process that works     •    The often-disputed role of LinkedIn, Email and Job Boards in tech recruitment    •    The “Cult of The Engineer”    •    Why most new recruiting products designed to help with tech recruitment are focusing on the wrong thingKen also gives a number of practical tips for all employers who are recruiting in t

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Melanie Hayes Head of Organisational Development at Compass Over the last few years an increasing number of employers have been developing apprenticeship programmes to address long term skill shortages in their industries. One company who are doing this very successfully are Compass who have offered over 3000 Apprenticeships in the last five years and have achieved a Grade 2 Ofsted rating for their programme.My guest for this episode is Melanie Hayes Head of Organisational development at Compass and it was very interesting to hear more about the programme and the value it brings to her organisation.In the interview we discuss:    •    Why Compass have an apprentice strategy    •    The different types of value it brings to the business    •    How apprentices are recruited     •    Differing candidate expectations    •    The number one reason why every employer should invest in apprenticeshipsMel also talks about the changing landscape in experience hire recruitment and s

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Kevin Hough Head of Resourcing at LV=Responding to changing markets by evolving new approaches to talent attraction is a big challenge for many large employers. Over the last few years I’ve been very impressed with a number of the employer branding and recruitment marketing initiatives I’ve seen coming out of financial services company LV=.It was great to get to talk to LV=’s Head of Resourcing Kevin Hough and get the inside track on some of their successful initiatives, as well as his thoughts on social media, data and employer branding.Topics we discuss include: How LV= has used community engagement to implement a successful social recruiting strategy. The importance of brand ambassadors and how they can come from surprising sources The power of learning via mistakes and challenges The economics of the candidate experience Kevin also talks about why an EVP can be like owning a bidet and how LV= found out they were sponsoring the wrong station!Subscribe to this podc

In this interview Matt Alder speaks to Stephane Kasriel CEO of Upwork.A recent report published by McKinsey indicates that the digital talent marketplaces driving the “gig economy” could play a significant role in increasing global GDP by $2.7 Trillion by 2025. Upwork is currently the biggest talent marketplace place in the world and I was delighted to get the chance to speak to Stephane Kasriel their CEO for this week’s podcast.The topics we discuss include:    •    The merger of Elance and oDesk that created Upwork    •    How a talent marketplace actually works    •    The huge diversity of skills represented on the platform    •    Remote working and dynamic corporate talent pooling    •    Solving the global digital skills crisis    •    What the future of work will look likeStephane also talks about Upwork’s experience of having an employee base that is 70% freelance and distributed across the worldLinks from this episode:The Future of Work, published by Faster Future Publishing McKinsey Report: Connec

In this interview Matt Alder talks to Matthew Jeffery VP Head of Global Sourcing & Employment Branding at SAPAs I do more and more podcast interviews it is becoming very clear that recruitment innovation is a complex subject. Every employer is in a different position and what is innovative for one company can just be normal recruitment practice at another.Matthew Jeffery has always been someone at the cutting edge of innovation in our sector and in this episode we talk about some of the work he has done at SAP as well as his wider views on what is happening in the industry.Topics discussed include:•    How SAP have “democratized” graduate recruitment by using technology to reach a broader audience•    How to give a good candidate experience at scale to 50,000 applicants•    What algorithms can do that recruiters can’t but why they won’t be replacing humans any time soonMatthew also gives us his views on why he feels recruitment isn’t being properly discussed at government level.  Subscribe to this podcast in

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Adrian Thomas Chair of The Recruitment SocietyThere is a tendency in the social media world in which we now live for content published about recruitment to focus on instant gratification via tactical quick fixes. In reality the issues many employers face can’t be solved that simply and resourcing can be very complex.In this interview Matt and Adrian discuss a number of resourcing related topics including the case for In house recruitment over RPO, which metrics organisations should measure to ensure great recruitment practice and how employers should align Talent Attraction with Talent Management. Adrian also shares his thoughts on the differences between working with the public sector and private sector and what the future might hold for resourcing strategies. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Andy Curlewis of Cielo Talent
 Employer Brand is a very hot topic at moment and the number of episodes of this podcast which have been dedicated to it recently reflect the level of interest in the market. The one vital element that is often missing from the employer brand conversation though is how you measure effectiveness. In this episode Matt and Andy discuss employer branding’s relationship to both talent attraction and talent management, the five core areas where the effectiveness of an employer brand can be measured and what this means in the social media age of truth and transparency. Andy also share his thoughts on the importance of content marketing and what the future of employer branding might look like. Subcribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Nick Price of CareerGift.The relationship between employer brand and candidate experience is a well documented one however despite this very few employers seem to consider the candidate experience to actually be part of their employer brand strategy.In this interview Matt and Nick discuss the unbreakable relationship between employer brand strategy and candidate experience. Nick share his thoughts on the practical things companies can do to align one with the other and also talks about CareerGift’s unique offering which is helping employers deal with rejected candidates in a brand appropriate way Subcribe this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks with Lars Schmidt of Amplify TalentEmployer branding is a much discussed and often much misunderstood topic. Over the last ten years the digital revolution has brought a significant shift in how companies are addressing the topicIn this interview Matt and Lars discuss what the modern definition of employer branding should be and how digital engagement and social media are driving thinking in this area. Lars also shares a case study about the work he has been doing with Hootsuite which embraces new technology to push the envelope on employer branding.

In this episode Matt Alder talks with Matt Charney Executive Editor at Recruiting DailyThere is so much social media and conference talk in the industry round new tools and approaches it would be easy to think that we are in a golden age of recruitment innovation. However when you dig below the hype, some would argue that a lot of the new products being launched are just slightly different versions of existing technologies that have already been around for the last ten years.In this interview Matt and Matt talk about the current state of innovation in the industry and what makes a genuinely innovative product. They also discuss why employers buy into new tools, the role of established vendors and an emerging trend that could see us looking at recruitment in very different way.Links from this episode: http://www.recruitingdaily.comhttp://www.recruitingblogs.com Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Sinead Bunting Marketing Director for Monster in the UK and Ireland.Women are currently massively unrepresented in the technology sector and dealing with this problem is of critical importance for the growth of every company trying to succeed in our digital world. On the back of their recent successful “Girls in Coding” event Monster has stepped up to help facilitate the debate round this issue in the recruitment sector. In the interview Sinead talks about the motivation behind doing this, highlights the seriousness of the problem and discusses some potential medium and long term solutions which are emerging from the conversation. Links from the episode:Monster’s Girls In Coding event and video Sinead's contact details - sinead.bunting@monster.co.uk Martha Lane Fox’s Dimbleby Lecture Subcribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Laszlo Bock SVP of People Operations at Google.Google’s approach to HR and Recruiting has always been a much discussed topic and Matt was delighted to be able to find out directly how Google has built its incredible success on the back of an innovative approach to talent.In the interview Laszlo talks about his belief that hiring should the single most important people activity in any organisation and dispels some popular misconceptions about how Google recruits. He also share his thoughts on culture, the importance of data and why Google focuses on “People Operations” rather than Human ResourcesLink to Laszlo’s book:Work Rules! by Laszlo Bock

In this episode Matt Alder talks to HR Technology expert Peter Gold.Most recruitment markets are now candidate led and more and more employers are increasing their hiring activity. This is not necessarily being backed up with an increase in budgets or head count for recruitment and many in house recruitment teams are finding their resources are being stretched to the limit.  In this interview Peter talks about “Recruitment Hacking” and how it can make technology an enabler for recruiting efficiency. Referrals, careers site conversions, job title optimisation and content targeting are some of the key areas discussed. Peter also shares a number productivity tools that he feels everyone can benefit from.Links to some of the tools discussed in the episode:Buzzsumo Hootsuite  SaneboxSlack Gmail Meter Rescuetime Subcribe to this podcast in iTunes

In this episode Matt Alder talks to Adam Gordon MD of Social Media SearchTalent Communities have always been a controversial topic in Social Recruiting. There is always a lot of talk about them but case studies that prove whether they are actually effective can be hard to find. In this interview Matt and Adam discuss the three main reasons talent communities fail and how employers can optimise their community approach for success. Adam gives a number of examples of talent communities that have succeeded and outlines how he feels this area of recruiting can develop in the future. Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes