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Transforming Talent Acquisition: One Employer’s Story

If your organization is like most, you’re constantly looking for ways to strengthen your workforce through smarter talent acquisition tactics. Although recruiting has shifted dramatically during the past few years, some innovative practices from the pre-pandemic era are worth another look.

A Pre-Covid Lesson in Recruiting Innovation

One example is the talent acquisition process at financial services provider, TIAA. Several years ago when the company completed a full-scale recruiting revamp, we spoke with Angie Wesley, then SVP and Head of Talent Acquisition.

TIAA has since promoted Wesley to Head of Workforce Strategies and People Operations. She has also been named one of the top 100 Women in Business by the National Women’s Conference. And looking back now at how she advanced talent acquisition at TIAA, we can see why she is recognized as a visionary. She clearly is ahead of the curve. 

Because TIAA is a well-established organization, Wesley knew she needed to initiate change in ways that would inspire buy-in, particularly from the recruiting team. Her approach is a powerful lesson in how to beef up business processes with technology and avoid friction while getting everyone onboard.

Rethinking Recruiting for Modern Business Needs

There’s no question that next-level recruiting depends on modern technology. But business aspirations are extraordinarily high. And modern recruiting tools, alone, are not enough to drive a cultural sea-change. For example, many employers want to:

All of these depend on a strong tech stack. But as we’ve seen time and again, simply acquiring new tools and bolting them onto existing processes and ecosystems is not sufficient. Integration and adoption are key — and that takes serious organizational insight, training, and adjustment.

Building a Better Tech Stack For Everyone

That’s where Wesley’s role came in. She led the transformation of TIAA’s recruiting functions so team members could better navigate the modern candidate marketplace.

(Brief reminder: Before the pandemic struck, recruitment was already facing serious pressure. From a very tight talent market to shifting candidate expectations about the hiring experience, employers were fielding plenty of recruiting challenges. But none of us could imagine the Covid curve ball coming our way.)

As Wesley told TalentCulture at the time, next-level recruitment was “either going to come to us, or we were going to have to join it.”

The tools she selected and implemented helped TIAA’s recruiting team in numerous ways. In particular, they significantly improved the candidate experience and paved the way for a more streamlined, compliant hiring process.

What’s more, Wesley’s advancements didn’t get mired in resistance. All too often, organizations meet change with pushback at numerous levels, from employees who don’t want to adjust their workflows to senior leaders who aren’t sold on the ROI of a new recruiting tech rollout.

In TIAA’s case, what made the difference? Two clear objectives…

Keys to Recruiting Transformation Success


1. Provide Training to Build Familiarity and Confidence

Wesley noted that recruiters voiced more concerns than anyone else. “A lot of these recruiters are seasoned, so they have their own way of moving candidates through the process,” she explained. “We had to show them how technology actually helps them, instead of inhibiting them.”

To encourage adoption, TIAA instituted both in-person and remote (web-based) training. The content included plenty of context and real-world examples from other organizations. This approach helped staff members agree that the new tools could help improve their productivity and performance.

In addition, TIAA started tracking who uses the tools, so they can find and fix individual issues. “If we have folks that aren’t using a certain technology or tool in our recruiting process, we’re able to identify them and work with them to understand and resolve the difficulty,” Wesley explained.

2. Focus on Candidate Experience

Many recruiting technology upgrades are intended to improve the candidate experience, but sometimes they miss the mark. Wesley made sure candidates remained a top priority throughout the planning and implementation process.

These days, some of TIAA’s changes may seem like table stakes. But several years ago, these recruitment essentials weren’t a given. (Technology evolves fast!) For example:

  • Online Applications
    TIAA made sure its employment website and career pages were mobile-friendly and candidates could complete the application process on any device.
  • Digital Assessments
    The company began offering assessments that candidates could complete online at their convenience — another forward-thinking capability that is now considered a best practice.
  • Text-Based Communication
    Recruiters began relying more heavily on text messaging to conduct conversations in real-time. This led to more frequent candidate communication that helped the recruitment process feel more immediate, personalized, and meaningful. Ultimately, this
    kind of responsiveness made a big difference that translated into better hiring outcomes.
  • Video Interviewing
    The hiring team also instituted video interviews. Again, this was once a leading-edge strategy that positioned the TIAA employer brand ahead of others. But the organization needed a better way to reach the passive talent market. At that time, the most attractive potential candidates were employed elsewhere. Video interviews offered more convenience and less disruption. Of course, during Covid, video interviewing became the new norm. Now, many organizations still rely on video tools to extend recruiting reach and streamline the hiring process.

Reinforcing the Human Side of Recruiting

Does TIAA’s recruiting game plan suggest that technology should replace human interactions? Not at all. Actually, this is another lesson to remember for the future of talent acquisition. The human element counts, always.

According to Wesley, “What we are finding is candidates still want that human touch in the process somewhere. They don’t want technology to take care of everything.”

Employers must strike a balance in the recruiting journey. Candidates want to experience the human side of your organization, especially when it comes to your company’s history, culture and values. Potential employees appreciate personal conversations with people who can speak on behalf of your brand.

On the other hand, candidates also value employers who quickly process their applications and provide a hiring process that is reasonably simple and painless.

So by all means, deploy the best and most innovative recruiting technology to make the whole journey easier and improve the overall candidate experience. But don’t forget the human touch. After all, those personal moments along the way may just give you an advantage in hiring the best talent.

#TChat Recap: How Talent-Centric Recruiting Improves Business Outcomes

How Talent Centric Recruiting Improves Business ROI 

You know, it used to be that employees were complacent; they kept their heads down and focused on their work, and it got done. It was business as usual, and then, magic began to happen. Employees became self-aware and management could no longer get away with its robotic-systemic approach to doing things. Since then, the world of work has been playing catch up. Going from process-centric thinking to cultivating a talent-centric mindset. Why? Employees are people, not just components to your business. They matter.

This week on #TChat, powerhouse guest Elaine Orler, President and Founder of Talent Function, joined us to discuss the business about talent-centric recruiting and its current state. According to Elaine:

Simply put, recruiters and hiring managers have to shift their approach to a more talent-centric one. And here’s why:

Developing a talent-centric recruiting mindset and culture has to be held accountable past the hiring process. Why? Because measuring performance is what drives the world of work today. Fortunately, we have talent analytic tools that can help tell us how much fun we’re having.

Here are some metrics that recruiters and hiring mangers should be measuring:

Thanks to technology we’re able to measure our success and failure. A knighted necessity in today’s business world. However, we must not forget about the big picture and that is:


Yes, people do matter and they are why we innovate. Employees are the driving force behind work. They hold the keys to the success factors of your business. If you want better a ROI, then develop a talent-centric mindset.
 

Want To See The #TChat Replay?

Closing Notes & What’s Ahead

Thanks again to our guest Elaine Orler for showing how talent centric recruiting can improves the bottom line in business. Click here to see the preview and related reading.

#TChat Events: How Talent-Centric Recruiting Improves Business Outcomes

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#TChat Radio — Are you plugged in to #TChat radio? Did you know you can listen live to ANY of our shows ANY time?

Now you know. Click the box to head on over to our channel or listen to How Talent-Centric Recruiting Improves Business Outcomes.

Note To Bloggers: Did this week’s events prompt you to write about trends on talent-centric recruiting?

We welcome your thoughts. Post a link on Twitter (include #TChat or @TalentCulture), or insert a comment below, and we may feature it!

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What Lies Beneath: The Why of HR Tech in 2012

Does technology emerge to fill a business need – say, serving customers better – or is technical innovation driven largely by cost pressures? Does a completely external, unknowable force influence the development of disruptive technologies? Was it foreseeable Jeff Bezos would disrupt big-box stores and consumer brands with a web site, when most brands had a web site? Was it predictable Steve Jobs would turn the music industry on its head with a digital music player, when everyone already had a Sony Walkman?

I’ve been considering these questions because we are in a period of major disruption in HR technology. Of course, this makes me very happy but it also brings to mind so many unanswered questions. Conventional wisdom may say technologies emerge in response to a raw desire for innovation, but in fact business reality tells me that innovation is a byproduct of the need to reduce costs and streamline business processes – in other words, attempts to automate daily processes – whether social or otherwise. Perhaps nowhere is this easier to see than in the emergence of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and Cloud technologies aimed at solving HR and Workplace challenges.

For many Leaders and HR practitioners, just talking about innovation is not the way to advocate for technology change. It’s much easier to prove the business value of technology if you present it as a way to improve processes and deliver business value. We are challenged as an industry, particularly in the recruiting trenches–with a glut of candidates and, simultaneously, a scarcity of qualified candidates. Clients ask recruiters to source candidates against very specific job requirements; they want to speed recruiting and see key performance indicators (KPIs) and analytics to show HR processes are effective; they need to retain skilled workers, manage and a develop a compelling workplace culture, and create a credible, appealing and connected social media persona and workplace brand to be attractive to job seekers. These drivers require the application of appropriate technologies and the development of HR services to make the technologies easier to use and simpler to deploy. This is just one example that comes to mind.

So this week on TalentCulture #TChat we’re going to look at HR technology trends and leading edge thoughts to watch in 2012. We’ll examine which comes first – innovation or automation – and how knowing the answer to that question will influence how technologies are adopted, and which will thrive or fail. Join us Wednesday night on #TChat The World of Work January 25th from 7-8 pm ET (6-7 CT, 4-5 pm PT, or wherever you are), where HR and Recruiting technology topics are in the hot seat. The #TChat Twitter chat and the #TChat Radio Show are created by @MeghanMBiro and @KevinWGrossman; hosted by them and @MarenHogan; powered by@SocialMediaSean and @CatyKobe; and our partners include @HRmarketer@talentmgmttech@Focus and#hrtechchat as well as our media partner TLNT. Come join us at TLNT Transform February 27-28, 2012, in Austin, TX. Here’s a special $250 discount code for all our #TChatters — TF12TCH.

Join meKevin GrossmanMaren HoganSean Charles and Kyle Lagunas for a very special #TChat and #TChat Radio Show!

Questions we’ll be debating this week include:

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HRO: Engagement Perception and Social Recruiting Technology

I spent most of this past week at the HRO Today conference in Las Vegas as a member of the blog squad, and what do I have to show for it? A new appreciation for HR and Recruiting technology innovation – that’s what.

On the personal side, new friendships were made and old bonds renewed. In short, a very good conference. I even had an opportunity to sing along with dueling pianos  – talk about a Talent Show. Right up my alley. We had many laughs. What happens in Vegas is not always meant to stay in Vegas after all.

This week’s #TChat was a highlight of course. As I referenced earlierin the week,  The HRO Analyst Study was pretty fascinating from my perspective. So while there’s plenty of HR technology out there, much of it is focused on talent management and recruitment. HR and recruiters just are not perceiving what’s out there as innovative, perhaps because most of what we’re seeing isn’t screaming cloud, mobile application. What the survey found, instead, was a gap in perceptions of innovation.

For example, 62 percent of technology providers think it’s vital to innovate in talent management technology – but only 33 percent of practitioners agree. Even more telling: 70 percent of providers surveyed think talent management technology supports work, while practitioners – 37 percent – view the technology as ‘just gadgets’.

But wait, there’s more – over 70 percent of practitioners surveyed say providers ‘rarely or never’ talk to them to gauge whether their offerings align with the practitioners’ business strategies and goals. Yikes, what a disconnect! As a “recruitment practitioner” (one of my hats) I’m hoping there are many more of us who see these innovative tools as a must have – I certainly fall into this grouping.

So let’s go to Door #1 and a review of my stint as a judge on the iTalent2 Demo Competition. The talented roster of hopefuls: BranchOut a solution that helps people tap into their Facebook friends network to find career opportunities; InternMatch a brilliant yet simple application that simplifies finding interns and marketing internship opportunities for organizations of pretty much any size; JobScore a social media-enabled talent management application; SmartRecruiters a winner (did I say it is free?) application with a great SaaS recruiting solution; Wednesdays a team building and employee engagement application built on social media networking, and Work4labs, with a very cool application that enables career sites on Facebook. Quite an impressive array of new technologies included here.

As a judge who ended up being closer to Simon Cowell than Paula Abdul as we first thought – I was way careful about the numbers I gave each company featured, never going past 8 on a scale of 1-10. Apologies to the contestants if that seems harsh, but we’re talking about my passion here: innovation meets matching people talent with new career opportunity.

I have a weak spot for technologies that do it well. In classic start-up form no company or application is perfect just yet. Innovation is truly about creating a culture of working and reworking ideas where it’s ok to make mistakes in the early innings. I found flaws in each application from either a usability or branding perspective. It will be exciting to watch their progression in the coming months. There were almost too many good things on offer for the judging panel.

SmartRecruiters won – it’s a free (yes, free), social-media enabled application that helps companies recruit top talent. The pitch was strong, the website is user friendly, it’s organized and the people are enthusiastic about it’s potential in the market.

I have a soft spot for InternMatch. I mentor as many interns as I can and many people know I’m an advocate for these programs. Pay it forward and all, interns are a great resource for any company – and actual work experience with actual companies is part of a complete education.

I’m so energized by the people I met, the ideas that were presented, the technology that is available right now that will make talent recruiting and hr management so much easier and more productive. I can’t wait to talk to people (and clients) about what I’ve heard about in Vegas and beyond. Onward we go.

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