China Human Capital Forum 2015: We have now entered a new era of recruitment
Morgan McKinley had the pleasure to partner up with HRoot on the 2015 edition and it was overall a great event for both the organizers and participants. We had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of HR professionals across different industries and would like to thank every one of you who took out time to visit our stand. We enjoyed the many in depth and friendly conversations we had and we look forward to touching base soon again.
The agenda for this year was a very extensive one. Many believe we have now entered a new era of recruitment with the developments in the internet and technology space. As the market continues to evolve it is also crucial to continue to develop and re-think the future of the HR function. Besides these topics more traditional aspects around talent acquisition, talent retention, leadership development, the employer value proposition and HR transformation were discussed and best practices were shared.
One particular take away from my perspective was the discussion around driving innovation and change in talent acquisition. Regardless of stance on whether there is a pervasive shortage of talent or not, one thing is clear, attracting talent is the leading challenge for employers today. The second one is building external talent pools and the third one is making competitive offers to top talent. I was surprised to learn that many talent acquisition professionals feel that they are doing alright in terms of employer branding however few recruiting teams are making any significant gains in employer brand awareness. The concept of talent acquisition is easy to understand but difficult to operationalize. Establishing a strong understanding of the scope and function of employer brand is key and without this understanding talent attraction will continue to be a challenge.
Most environments are reactive instead of pro-active. Building dynamic talent communities requires resources and dedication and the majority of hiring organizations just are not there today. They lack established best practices for nurturing talent for the future. It is clear that this discussion is a continuous one and while I agree there is a shortage of talent, this conversation has to move towards the real shortage of innovation in talent acquisition that exists today. I look forward to picking up where we left this conversation during next year’s China Human Capital Forum and see where we all stand in a years time.
