Matthew Lant took time out of his busy schedule as Head of Recruitment and Employer Brand at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) to answer 3 quick questions about getting started in talent and his upcoming session at ATC2024: Unified Hiring: how we redefined AFCA’s needs and aligned Hiring Leaders.
How did you get started in Talent? Would your 20-year-old self be surprised to see you where you’re at now?
In short, yes, I never saw myself working in talent, nor in a corporate environment. I came back from the Royal Military College after a medical discharge with no idea what I wanted to do. My start was in a particularly competitive agency environment where they would bring 3 people in on a traineeship with a view that only 1 would last 3 months. It was a brutal start to my life in talent but I learnt so much and had the most amazing manager who I still keep in contact with.
Your session outlines that you realised your Hiring Managers were not as aligned as you needed them to be. How did you first bring this up to your Hiring Managers? It seems like it would be a hard conversation.
Haha would be if we positioned it that way. In this case, we chose to start with endorsement at the executive level and then directly embedded in our organisational 3-year strategy. To achieve this, we initiated a review that very clearly identified current maturity and the organisational risk of doing nothing (massive thanks to Emma for TQ for helping to do this).
What was the tipping point in your career that really escalated your journey into a senior leadership position?
There have been numerous, but the consistent theme has centred around taking a chance and choosing to get uncomfortable by putting myself in a position where “failure” was possible, if not, likely. The other constant has been good counsel from people who challenge me, back me and genuinely care for me.
ATC is turning 18 this year. Care to share how you celebrated your 18th birthday?
In a similar fashion to most, I’m sure. With lots of friends, lots of laughs and way too much to drink. The details are hazy.
