TALENT LEADERS PULSE REPORT 2018 Produced in partnership by
FOREWORD FROM SIGMAR RECRUITMENT Welcome to the Sigmar & EY 2018 Talent Leaders Pulse Report. In January 2018 we surveyed 269 talent leaders from the HR community across Ireland on key talent themes and priorities for the year ahead. Our theme this year is Accelerating Growth Through Talent and Technology and we focused on the aspirations and challenges organisations face within Leadership, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, Performance Management and Organisational Development from a human and a technological perspective. In a strong economy, with the lowest unemployment rates since 2008, it s unsurprising that the retention and attraction of talent have topped the priority list. Technology is viewed and used positively as a tool to support and track and improve recruitment and employee engagement. However with many employers expecting significant technological advances to come within the realms of AI and machine learning in the year ahead and beyond, it is likely HR will have a key change management role to play as individual employees daily working lives are altered and organisational systems impacted. A new addition to the priority list for 2018 is GDPR as HR teams in 2018 will have to dedicate significant resources ahead of the new regulations coming into force in May 2018. In addition, two thirds of the companies surveyed expect to receive a pay rise in the coming year. It s reassuring to see that Learning and Development is centre stage of employers people strategy as it s essential given the fierce competition for talent and need to develop skills within your organisation to futureproof your business and remain competitive. Kate Stewart, Head of HR Recruitment, Sigmar Recruitment 2
FOREWORD FROM EY What is clear is that what has worked in the past won t always work in the future. In our own organisation, CEO Mark Weinberger was recently quoted as saying that it is becoming more important than ever to hire for mindset and not necessarily skillset. This is on the basis that in the future we are going to have a job we don t know yet, using a technology we don t have yet, solving a problem we don t know exists yet. This uncertainty will bring game-changing threats but also huge opportunity. Organisations need to be supported in doing things differently, in building leadership capability and flexing their culture to respond to the changing conditions around them. It is also why we are seeing organisations looking for support in measuring their culture with robust diagnostic tools and looking for support thereafter in growing and enriching their culture with an evidence-based approach. We know that words are easy. What s harder is creating a business that embodies its values in real, tangible ways. After all, the role of business is not just about wealth creation; it s about society as a whole. It s about building a better working world. Niamh O Beirne Partner, People Advisory Services, EY This is what inspired EY and Simon Sinek to join forces to develop a purpose-led leadership platform, building better change capability across leadership teams and consequently throughout organisations. 3
TOP 10 PRIORITIES FOR HR FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS 1 Retaining talent 2 Attracting key talent 3 GDPR 4 Increase employee enrichment/engagement 5 Leadership development and succession planning 6 Developing key skills and competencies through more agile learning 7 Designing an agile organisation for high performance 8 Performance and reward 9 Promote diversity and inclusion 10 Explore the use of artificial intelligence/automation/robotics 4
ORGANISATIONS READINESS TO DEAL WITH CHALLENGES MOST READY 1 Promote diversity and inclusion 2 Performance and reward 3 Increase employee enrichment/engagement 4 GDPR 5 Leadership development and succession planning LEAST READY 1 Explore use of artificial intelligence/automation/robotics 2 Better use of people analytics to drive talent decision making 3 Designing an agile organisation for high performance 4 Developing key skills and competencies through more agile learning 5 Retaining talent 5
REIMAGINING THE FUTURE LEADERSHIP OF TALENT ACQUISITION Recruiting technology is becoming increasingly cognitive, automating much of the search cycle, actively engaging the right people in the right way, at the right time has become paramount to acquiring top talent. KEY FINDINGS Key Find- OBSERVATIONS Ranked 2nd as the key HR priority for 2018, identifying and on-boarding top talent remains a major challenge for organisations and is increasingly seen as a critical bottle neck in driving competitive advantage. As the recruitment market tightens, companies are scrutinising their talent acquisition process to ensure they are best placed to compete for top talent. This includes the use of metrics and analytics across areas such as time to hire, application drop off rate, offer acceptance rate, source of hire and cost per hire. However many companies are still missing a trick when it comes to harnessing important information for their employer branding, with over half not measuring their candidate experience. This is a huge opportunity area for companies to gain insights to ensure an effective Employer Value Proposition and furthermore ensure that an unsuccessful application doesn t negatively effect the overall company brand or threaten a loss of current or future potential customer. 1/5 companies are now using some form of AI when recruiting such as video interviewing, gamification or virtual reality Do you use metrics and analytics to improve your talent acquisition process such as analysing time to hire, offer acceptance rate, source of hire, cost per hire etc.? 6
52% of employers don t track and measure their candidate experience 1/4 of successful hires were non-active job seekers i.e. headhunted or approached for the job rather than applying to a job ad 69% of employers are using metrics and analytics to improve their talent acquisition process Do you currently use psychometrics assessments to support your talent acquisition process? Does your current recruitment process have adequate structures in place to enable unbiased assessment to encourage a diverse workforce? 7
LEADERSHIP With flattening organisational structures, leadership is increasingly being seen as an action and not a function with leaders creating a followship that drives discretionary effort in a more diverse, digital age. KEY FINDINGS Key Find- OBSERVATIONS Leadership is increasingly seen as the sustainable competitive advantage that influences every aspect of the talent agenda, most critically retaining and driving discretionary effort of employees. 17% of employers have no leadership development programme With retention ranking as the No. 1 challenge facing talent leaders and only 46% stating that their leadership team are very or extremely effective at driving discretionary effort, it s evident that the leadership agenda presents a significant challenge and opportunity for employers. Organisations are seeing the benefits in frontline leadership, where all employees are empowered to lead and resolve issues locally, which is reflected in the survey with 98% of talent leaders feel that investing in leadership development at all levels as being very/extremely important, yet only 13% have structured coaching programmes in place for all employees. How does the leadership team reflect the values of the organisation? 8
1/4 1 in 4 organisations have very/ extremely effective succession plans to cultivate the leaders of tomorrow. 98% believe it is very important to develop leadership at all levels within the organisation How important do you feel it is to develop leadership at all levels within an organisation? At what stage of an employee s career do they typically participate in leadership development programmes? 9
PERFORMANCE THROUGH PEOPLE With continuous feedback tools providing richer insights, how can employers accelerate performance while balancing wellbeing and enhance the employee experience. KEY FINDINGS Key Find- OBSERVATIONS It s clear that talent leaders are becoming increasingly data driven with the use of pulse surveys and social tools to measure employee sentiment on a more regular basis. However over half of employers still only hold performance discussions with staff once every 6 months or less, which suggests that many employers don t use the insights yielded to drive performance in real time. 65% of employees are likely to receive a pay rise in 2018 The 45% that do discuss performance at least quarterly reflects the shift towards flatter working structures and higher levels of autonomy, where self-directed working styles require continuous feedback and ongoing performance appraisal. Reward is another topical trend with an average of 66% of the combined workforce of those surveyed expecting to receive a pay rise in 2018. How often do performance discussions typically happen in your organisation? 10
24% of employers have at least monthly performance discussions 63% use continuous employee engagement measurement tools Does your organisation have a structured coaching programme? In the past 12 months has your organisation invested in automation to improve the overall company performance? 11
POWERING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE THROUGH ARTIF Overestimated in the short-term and underestimated in the long-term, the augmented workforce is increasingly blending cognitive thinking, AI, automation and people. KEY FINDINGS OBSERVATIONS Key Organisational Find- structures are radically changing with hierarchical models being turned upside down and with networks of teams being formed around functional expertise, designed for speed and agility. With Artificial Intelligence now permeating deeper into business operations the figures show that expectations on the impact AI will have on the people agenda are high for 2018 with over 41 % believing their workforce will increase their usage of cognitive computing, predictive learning or robotics in the year ahead. 41% believe their workforce will adopt new uses of AI, cognitive computing, predictive learning or robotics in the year ahead This presents a large change management piece for talent leaders as organisations embrace these technologies across the areas of internal communication, training and organizational development and design. How would you describe your organisational structure as it stands currently? 12
ICIAL AND HUMAN INTELLIGENCE 15% of the workforce have had their daily tasks at work altered within the last 12 months due to robotics, automation or artificial, intelligence (AI) 14% of the workforce is made up of freelance, gig economy workers, temporary agency employees or daily rate contractors Has your organisation adopted any HR technology (inhouse or through a 3rd party provider) that uses forms of AI, cognitive computing, predictive learning or robotics in the last 12 months? What percentage of your workforce have had their daily tasks altered in your organisation within the last 12 months due to robotics, automation or artificial intelligence (AI)? 13
LEARNING FOR THE SKILLS GENERATIONS With careers pivoting as quickly as technology, employers are expected to offer on demand learning to upskill for future needs and to sustain competitive advantage through the continuous development of employees. KEY FINDINGS OBSERVATIONS Key Find- With growing desire amongst employees for more agility, self-direction and to selfcurate knowledge, leading organisations are transforming L&D infrastructure to digital platforms while embedding a learning culture. Learning software and developing e-learning content has enabled companies to offer an always on learning platform. 49% of employers now offer learning programmes were employees can craft bespoke development programmes. Furthermore companies can provide a greater choice so that employees can craft bespoke development programmes to their interests and needs. As niche skills are becoming increasingly more difficult to acquire, many organisations are looking towards cultivating a sustainable supply through operating structured internal academy and corporate university models. Does your organisation offer an always on skills learning platform? 14
53% of organisation offer an always on skills learning platform 72% describe their organisation as having a learning culture Does your organisation operate a structured academy, apprenticeship or corporate university model as a sustainable way to supply niche skills? Does your organisation offer a learning programme that gives employees the ability to craft bespoke development programmes? 15
About the survey The survey was conducted in January 2018 representing 269 Talent Leaders. Survey included respondents all industry sectors in Ireland. Surveyed respondents: 76% HR Directors/Heads of HR 11% CEOs 13% Directors This content is for general information and should not be used without permission from the author. All rights reserved. Contact: Kate Stewart Head of HR Recruitment, Sigmar Recruitment Tel: +353 1 4744646 Email: kstewart@sigmar.ie Niamh O Beirne Partner, People Advisory Services, EY Tel: +353 1 4750555 Email: Niamh.OBeirne@ie.ey.com 16