Global thought leader, futurist, and author on the future of work, automation, and human capital Ravin Jesuthasan shares why this is such an exciting time to recruit talent to an organization.
Ravin Jesuthasan
Global Thought Leader
What does the future of recruiting look like to you?
It is a truly exciting time to be involved with recruiting. The confluence of factors at play (the great resignation, the move to remote/hybrid work, the rise of gig talent, the growing use of AI in the recruiting process) are fundamentally altering this core capability for every organization.
The future of recruiting will no longer be just about addressing the “supply side” of the work equation (i.e., finding enough talent with the right skills at the right time and at the right cost to fill a job). It will also be about bending the “demand side” of the equation (i.e., organizing work through means beyond jobs, (re)bundling component tasks to exploit skill adjacencies, and identifying alternative means for various tasks, including employees in full-time roles, employees from other functions, automation, gig talent, etc.) so we can meet the available talent on their terms.
How has technology helped empower employers to find and retain top talent?
Technology has turbocharged every aspect of the talent lifecycle. From identifying talent (through the use of AI and scraping techniques) to screening prospects (through natural language processing) to assessing candidates (through AI-infused gamification) to onboarding new hires (through smart scheduling and network analysis) to understanding evolving employee preferences and intent (through AI-driven continuous listening techniques and machine learning to predict the likelihood of turnover), AI and process automation have transformed virtually every core HR process.
What is the most common challenge employers face when trying to retain talent and how can this be avoided?
The most common challenge employers face in trying to retain talent is assuming that the job to be done is fixed. This leads them down the path of trying to retain someone to do the work they were previously doing, or looking to replace that person with someone else who has comparable experience and expertise. Instead, employers should be asking how the job can be reinvented to either make it more attractive to talent and/or add greater value to the organization.
For example, can we use process automation to substitute the mundane, repetitive, rules-based aspects of the job that frustrate employees? Are there activities that can be performed remotely and thus provide the employee with greater flexibility in when or where the work is performed? Can we use natural language processing to augment a particular task, and thus increase the productivity of the employee? Can we redeploy certain “lower-level” activities to another role and add newer, more complex tasks to enhance the value of the job and its contribution to the organization?
Most importantly, how do we create the capacity to perpetually reinvent work so talent can be continually challenged and rewarded to grow and acquire new skills, instead of facing the false choice of needing to move to another job in order to progress and grow?