Innovation and talent acquisition: where’s the evolution happening today?
According to a study conducted by SharedXpertise, over 90% of organizations cited innovation as an important component of their talent acquisition technology strategy. This is not surprising since talent acquisition is ripe for change. Job boards are not working. Resumes are not working. Talent pools are not growing. As a result, best practice organizations are more than willing to throw away traditional methods in favor of more effective solutions. In today’s economy, they have no choice. Organizations need to revamp their strategies and rethink technology decisions.
Fortunately, there are options. We are seeing innovation from all angles — not only from startup providers entering the market, but also from traditional providers, changing their business models and providing new levels of connectivity and insight for both recruiters and job candidates. The challenge for buyers is to determine which providers are truly offering a new approach from those simply offering a new marketing or sales strategy.
Below are a few of the key trends in talent acquisition technology and some of the leading providers in each area.
Mobile: Mobile is transforming how organizations operate, offering more connectivity, opportunities, and partnerships. According to a study by comScore, the number of smartphone users at the end of 2010 was 60% higher than a year ago. In order for talent acquisition to stay relevant, mobile needs to be a part of the equation. Despite a large number of mobile “job apps” and talent acquisition system providers launching “mobile solutions”, very few providers offer native applications for both recruiters and job candidates. Even fewer providers offer a dedicated team to take on this endeavor. Kenexa launched its mobile solution this year. ADP and Taleo will follow suit later in the year.
Mergers and Acquisitions: Consolidation will continue to define the talent acquisition technology space. The market for standalone talent acquisition systems is being replaced by integrated talent management as organizations are looking at a single provider to meet their talent needs. First Advantage and Cytiva are examples of providers that have been acquired this year. The good news for customers is that providers are being more thoughtful with acquisitions…creating a plan for integration, attempting to keep sales and customer support intact and putting the customer first (or at least intending to do so). Only time will tell how these acquisitions unfold and who is next on the list.
Social Media: Social media has become part of the norm in talent acquisition. Every organization regardless of industry seems to be prioritizing integration with social networking. This akes sense when you think about the number of users on Facebook (700 million) and LinkedIn (100 million). What are today’s leading providers offering organizations in social media? A few examples include the ability to upload a LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed on the corporate career page, and social profiles to view a candidate’s activities on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Analytics: Every solution provider, from the resume parser to the job board, seems to be reinventing itself to become an analytics provider. The challenge for organizations is determining which solutions provide credible data from those that offer nothing more than marketing hype. CareerBuilder is one provider that may succeed as a result of its partnership with Wanted Technologies, offering insights into job postings and key labor trends.
Solutions for Job Seekers: In the past, few providers have offered solutions for job seekers since it was difficult to justify a business model. Today, providers are offering “communities” for individuals (rather than organizations) to share ideas, and a few startups are offering tools to help job seekers rather than employers. Startwire and Zapoint are two worth mentioning.
Talent acquisition is one of the most dynamic areas of talent management and the technology space is continuing to evolve to meet both the internal and external pressures of today’s economy. We will continue to follow the key trends in the space, but would love to hear from you.