This Week in Talent (9th March)

Team – a massive hello from me, Jess Gibson-Jones!

I’ll be your friendly neighbourhood TWIT editor this month. For those who aren’t acquainted, I’m the Global Head of Talent Sourcing for Toll Group, the founder of the Talent Sourcing Collective, and a passionate advocate of recruitment tech. I can’t wait to share all of the great talent stories I come across with you throughout March.

What a week, what a week. There has been so much going on – I think like everybody it has been insanely busy and at times, in TA as we know – it can feel like the building is burning. I’m not talking about a big blaze, no, I’m talking about those little spot fires that come from nowhere, many of them, never in the same place. Usually, TA are left holding the fire extinguishers whilst everybody has left and run out the back door. Anyone else feel like that sometimes? Yup – its real right now!

On another note – I was speaking with my 12-year-old daughter last week as she was battling some year 7 maths homework (I would totally fail year 7 maths I think safe to say!) and I asked her if she was asking questions in class to try and get the concepts explained in a different way, and she said no. Now she’s a confident kid (Apple.. Tree.. Hello) so I was quite surprised, and I said to her… “do you know what the dumbest question is?” she looked confused thinking Mum was about to go on another rant, and I simply said to her “the one that goes un-asked”.

I relate this back to TA and think about how many times we don’t ask any/enough questions of our hiring manager. Is it because we think we don’t have the right to ask? Are we exercising all our opportunities well enough to ask questions, for example in the job brief? Or are we guilty of not humbling ourselves sometimes and asking these sorts of questions in fear of losing our credibility with our hiring managers?

We need to remember that if we ask better questions – we will generally get better quality answers, so if right now you are struggling with a certain role, or hiring manager – embrace your curiosity, and ask better questions…. you then immediately become the smartest person in the room.

As a reminder – the ATC 2023 State of TA Survey closes this Sunday (12^th March) – make sure to jump in there and complete it to have your voice heard!

Lastly – (but certainly not least!) a very happy International Women’s Day for Wednesday the 8^th of March for all our amazing female talent leaders and recruiters – this industry wouldn’t be the same without you! We see you!

The 2023 IWD theme is “Cracking The Code: Innovation for a gender-equal future”. I’ve included an article this week from UN Women that explains more about this theme, what the focus areas are, and why they matter.

---

Good Leadership Is About Asking Good Questions

If I am encouraging you in your roles as TA to ask better questions, well then it begs the question – what exactly do “good” questions look like? And what else can they do besides provide better information? How about increase your opportunities for better collaboration, aides in building trust, leverages “group theory” and invites exploration of new opportunities.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouses 2023

DEI has been a long, tightly held focus for organisations, but just how do the ones that have got some traction on this – do it, and do it well? I for one, have always wanted to know what elements are they getting right so we can all learn from them and apply within our organisations.

What are the 5 success factors are common among DEI initiatives that had significant impact?

You May Get A “Quiet Promotion” And Not Realise Until It’s Too Late

It’s interesting noticing some of the downsizing trends happening in various industries. What if organisations downsize, but the workload doesn’t reflect the reduction in headcount? Have you taken on more in your current role, or have ever felt like you are doing work that goes above and beyond your job title? If you have, you might have gotten a “quiet promotion.”

Putting the Conversation in Conversational AI Recruiting With ChatGPT

Well, what would a talent edit be, without an inclusion about ChatGPT! For those that have heard about it, seen it, read about it, or for those that have no idea what it is – read on for a complete overview! It’s exciting to see things like this coming into talent acquisition and thinking of ways we can apply it – such as writing job descriptions, suggesting interview questions, or even sourcing! (and yes…. your jobs are still safe…)

National Gender Pay Gap of 13.3% Just A Fraction of Real Cost on Women

As an ode to the fact that International Women’s Day 2023 (#IWD2023) took place this week I wanted to highlight the latest report on the state of the current pay gap in Australia.

Australia’s national gender pay gap has dropped to 13.3%, but still based on average weekly earnings, women earn on average, 87 cents for every $1 earned by a man.

We need to make sure our influence in talent acquisition helps to turn the dial on this. This is an old narrative, and we need to do better!

International Women’s Day 2023: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day focusses on the digital gender gap, protecting women and girls within digital spaces and from ICT facilitated violence, and focussing on marginalised groups including women, into technology related advancement ad solutions.

What a world we live in that this is still a conversation – but let’s remember we don’t just need a day to focus on this, this should be a focus for every day, and for everyone.