The HR Directors’ Forum
The definition of insanity, according to Einstein – and the new England coach Eddie Jones – is doing the same thing over and over again: for the second time in my career, I found myself at the HR Directors’ Forum at sea on The Aurora, or as Britney Spears would put it:
“Oops, I did it again”
I wrote my latest missive from my cabin during a thoroughly stimulating (and tiring!) three days at sea. I attended a number of thought provoking sessions as well as hearing the rags to riches story emotionally told by Lady Michelle Mone (founder of Ultimo) and the excellent closing key note address by Wing Commander Andy Green – the fastest man on earth – who is now aiming to beat his own world record next year (1,000 mph!).
It’s a VUCA world…
I was asked to the Forum to deliver a couple of interactive sessions entitled: “How does HR add value in a VUCA World?” Thankfully, I now know what is formally meant by a VUCA World and the feedback scores were very good (which was a relief!). The research I conducted for the presentation was absolutely fascinating and I’d like to particularly thank Lucy Adams, Matt Nixon and Paul Maxin for their input and thoughts. A copy of my presentation can be found here.
Here are some additional comments, courtesy of Recruiter Magazine.
A.I.
I think it’s pretty clear we live in a rapidly changing “VUCA” world: computing power apparently doubles every two years and that, in itself, presents both opportunities and challenges, particularly in terms of “future jobs” i.e. which jobs will and won’t exist in ten years’ time. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, between 40 million and 75 million jobs may be replaced by robots by 2025. Automation of the key elements of the hiring process, predictive analysis and the growth of algorithms is the beginning of AI. Deloitte has urged HR leaders to view cognitive technologies as “collaboration, not competition”. Apparently AI will also remove any conscious bias from the recruitment process. The recent experimental twitter “chatbot”, which tried to learn from what people taught it on social media, appeared to demonstrate that HR and Recruitment have a few years’ breathing space yet!
On the same note, I rather liked a recent article by PeopleCorp, our partner HR recruitment business in Australia, on the subject of the Digitalisation of Culture Fit.
On RPO
Over the last few months I have undertaken an in-depth piece of research into the RPO market, to be launched in the near future. The research was based on our own inextricable relationship with the providers of that service and some perennial frustrations. In developed, Third Generation, RPO markets such as here in the UK, RPOs are under considerable pressure to innovate. The research takes a critical look at where they have come from, where they are today and what the future shape of RPO may be.
We recently hosted a Round Table breakfast to discuss the initial findings of the qualitative and quantitative research, with over 20 Heads of TA/Resourcing, as well as representatives from AMS, RS and Guidant Group. We exchanged views and offered our thoughts on the RPO offering, its challenges and the future.
Adrian Shooter, Director of Executive Talent, Resourcing & Diversity at The Co-op, closed the breakfast by suggesting that in the current climate, RPO must have “the courage to push back to the client” and that he would love to see “a step up in sophistication and contracts focused around that”. The full results will be published soon.
Health and Wellbeing in a Digital Age
I recently had a wonderfully positive meeting with a senior HRD at one of the banks in Canary Wharf – I won’t name names but I came out feeling that there is definitely a light at the end of the HR transformation tunnel! Let’s hope so, anyway. As I walked back to the DLR, I watched people – as I always do – and I was staggered (if not surprised and a little saddened) by my observations: I counted 62 people on my journey and only TWO PEOPLE out of the 62 were NOT glued to their phones! One of the sessions on the HRD Forum was given by Stevan Rolls from Deloitte and it was solely devoted to“psychological resilience in a tough environment”. My own presentation touched upon the need to keep your workforce healthy in a digital age. I have made a pledge to myself to NOT be one of the 60 going forward, but it’s harder than you think!
If You Are Thinking of Hiring Ex-Army…
Those who have read my previous blogs may know that I am ex-Army myself and a passionate supporter of Service leavers. So this is what you are getting when you hire one……..as well as a bucket load of psychological resilience!
Women in Reward (WiR)
We recently hosted our second WiR networking event (kindly hosted by Hobbs in Covent Garden). We had over 70 attendees and it really was an excellent evening. The aim of the group is to bring female reward professionals into a mutually beneficial community and help promote female leadership in a historically male dominated profession. The community is the brain-child of one of our Senior Consultants, Jade Sweeney. Please do contact Jade directly if you would like more information:
The HR Market
It remains, sadly, rather mixed. Large corporate PLC businesses in the UK seem to struggle to deliver the numbers their shareholders are demanding, resulting in ongoingtransformations (AKA headcount reductions). I recognise that geopolitical influences are probably more pronounced than ever and the ongoing legacy of the recession means that confidence ebbs and flows very quickly. Equally, the SME commerce market (with little or no exposure to currency fluctuations, commodity prices, China etc.) is as active as I have known it in the last 10 years. The Financial Services sector (outside of mainstream, large Investment Banking businesses) is in decent shape also, all things considered, with (once again) smaller firms looking to recruit, perhaps for the first time. Our Payroll recruitment business goes from strength to strength, as does our nascentHuman Capital Services (HCS) division. Our established Reward team are performing strongly, now the “comp season” has ended and they can once again surface for air. Our newly formed Midlands business, under the excellent leadership of Sarah Evans, is proving that the recovery is well under way outside of the South East.
The 23rd June in/out vote is certainly causing some caution but interestingly our clients seem to have recently gained more confidence (perhaps about the outcome?). I’m looking forward to losing the “noise” (for my sanity, as well as for business reasons) and getting on with what we do best: delivering a great service to the HR, Payroll and HCS communities and “delighting” our customers.
And Finally……
I will leave you with my phrase of the moment, courtesy of one of my clients:
“WOMBAT: Waste of Money, Brains and Time”
(AKA “Time Thieves!”)
Richard Colgan
Founder & Managing Partner
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