Pulling things apart and doing them differently is the progressive route to growth. Sticking blindly to a tried-and-tested process leads to inevitable oblivion. This is the talent hacker’s code.
By Emma Holding, Strategic Sourcing Lead (Chief Talent Hacker), ResourceBank
In an age where technology is ripping up the rule-book, curious individuals are coming to the fore who want to help their companies plot their unique way forward into an uncertain tomorrow. These pragmatic advocates of technology keep a watchful eye on the latest innovations, forever tweaking and refining their views on how their company can remain “future fit.”
Emma with Bill Boorman
At ResourceBank we offer a suite of HR and Talent Solutions to our various clients, so it is critical that we keep on the right side of progress. We have always had a culture of continuous improvement, but over the last couple of years this has turned into a mentality of talent hacking.
As the key “talent hacker” for ResourceBank, I would suggest that every company involved in the identification of talent needs someone in their team who fulfils a similar role. Every aspect of the sourcing from candidate attraction to digital & social recruitment, technology, advertising, candidate experience, employer branding, EVP and beyond has the potential to be optimised, and these hackers explore the market for solutions to transform the way they work.
At ResourceBank, we call it the “Sourcing Hub” – a centre of expertise for all things sourcing related, where our objective is to share our passion, best practice and increase our teams expertise and knowledge across the spectrum of sourcing as well as explore and trial new tools and technology.
A large part of my role involves evaluating the latest innovations in the market and understanding what might work for us and our clients. I am a regular attendee at industry events such as RecFest and #SOSUUK, and although I always come back with far too many ideas that can be practically implemented, a few of the best ones usually make it through to becoming reality.
RECFEST event, July 2018
Change is a stark reality for any recruiter these days. Automation is going to take on the mundane tasks and recruiters will use the extra time to spend on the “human” stuff that the machines will never be able to do.
(Caveat – this will only happen if the tech works for them rather than against them.)
That is always the risk with breaking things up to build something new. Growth hacking will not always be an unqualified success. We have tried certain things at ResourceBank that haven’t taken off, but that hasn’t stopped us from trying the next idea. Too many recruiters back off at the first whiff of failure. Talent hacking is about moving forward, despite the inevitable false starts.
The exciting thing is that transformative change is just one potential innovation away. You can either shut your eyes to that potential or you can give it a try. To give just one example, in an industry that is so heavy on basic communication and admin, chatbots are going to play a fascinating role in freeing up a recruiter’s time for more value-added activity. In a few years’ time, every recruiter will be using them, but it is the recruiters who have a talent hacker on board who will understand how to integrate them to the best possible effect.
I know how I would do it. The real question is this… Do you?
If you don’t, maybe your company needs access to a hacker to help inform your choices?
Contact Emma Holding on 01952 281900 for more information. Emma can run workshops and provide one to one consultancy to develop a #talenthacking expertise in your business.
