Traditionally, performance management is a top-down process, dominated by annual reviews, ratings, talent pipelines, and rigid career ladders. Sound familiar? At LEMAN, we used to follow the same formula—even the infamous 9-box grid—before we scrapped the whole system two years ago. Why? Because it wasn’t working.
🚨 The Trade-Off We Don’t Talk About: Our obsession with measuring performance does more harm than good. When we rely on these old-school practices, we:
👎 Reinforce manager bias and end up promoting people who look and think like those already at the top.
👎 Ignore the invisible work that makes teams thrive—like supporting colleagues, onboarding newcomers, or coordinating efforts. The stuff that’s hard to measure but vital to culture.
👎 Enforce an individualistic view of success, ignoring the fact that no one excels in isolation. Success is a team sport, yet our systems reward solo players who might not contribute to the collective good.
By clinging to outdated models, we trade away diversity, inclusion, and the real essence of teamwork. We create environments where getting ahead is more about “managing up” than building strong, supportive ecosystems.
🌟 So, what’s the alternative?
At LEMAN, we didn’t just patch up the broken system—we decided to ditch it altogether. For now, there’s no formalized replacement. Instead, we’ve put trust in our managers and teams to define success together, to break out of the box (literally) and shape their own performance approaches. Is it perfect? - far from. But it's good enough.... for now!
What we’re experimenting with this year is a new pilot we call “New Ways of Working”. We’re partnering with different teams to test new approaches to success and performance. Most importantly, we’re redefining what “good” looks like—not just from an individualistic lens, but based on team success.
It’s not about ticking boxes anymore—it’s about creating environments where people can thrive together.
💡 HR/People professionals, if we’re truly going to build diverse, inclusive, and people-first organizations, we need to stop defaulting to these tired, one-size-fits-all systems. It’s time to lean into experimentation and trust our people to find their own way forward.
What will you choose: more boxes to check, or more space to grow? 🚀
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Originally posted on LinkedIn
What if I told you that in the age of AI, we should ask not what’s left for humans, but instead what’s possible?
The answer is a lot if we bring our uniquely human skills to work. Skills like effective communication, critical thinking, and empathy are vital for both individual career and company success. But far too often, these people skills are undervalued in the workplace and in our economy.
AI will increasingly free up time for employees to spend more of their days on collaboration and innovation — using human skills that technology can enhance but never replace. As David Brooks said in his recent piece about why AI benefits outweigh its risks: “The brain is its own universe. Sometimes I hear tech people saying they are building machines that think like people. Then I report this ambition to neuroscientists and their response is: That would be a neat trick, because we don’t know how people think.”
According to a LinkedIn survey, 92% of U.S. executives agree that soft skills are more important than ever. And LinkedIn research shows that professionals with key soft skills get promoted 8% faster than those with only technical skills. Prioritizing these skills is essential for building a resilient career and a resilient business over the next decade as AI continues to evolve.
Talent pros: You understand the people in your organization — and how to motivate them to sharpen and expand their skills — better than anyone else. That understanding puts you in a position to do some of the most impactful work of your career. You can lead the charge in helping your business unleash a world of work that is more human than ever before.
To help you and your organizations navigate this sea change, LinkedIn has curated six learning paths, featuring 36 LinkedIn Learning courses, focused on developing these essential human skills. These courses are free for anyone to access through December 31, 2024. Among them is my brand-new course, Investing in Human Skills in the Age of AI, that is permanently free to access.
6 critical human skills for right now
As we enter this new era of work, encourage your employees to sharpen these six human-centric skills to maximize their impact — and consider sharpening them yourself.
1. Communication
Communication tops the LinkedIn list of Most In-Demand Skills for 2024 and will remain an essential skill for the foreseeable future. Effective communication from team and company leadership helps connect, motivate, and inspire employees. LinkedIn data also reveals that individual workers with strong communication skills get promoted 11% faster than those without this vital skill.
There’s a lot of talk about AI prompt engineering as the new “it” skill. But whether you’re working with AI or a colleague, effective communication will help you build relationships, collaborate, and drive results.
And when you’re communicating with AI, one way to improve the outputs is to communicate with as much intention as you would a colleague — give AI context and suggestions and ask it to try again if you don’t like the first output. And be polite (another critical human skill). While generative AI tools bring new efficiencies to written work and offer guidance to handle intrapersonal conflicts, truly expert communication requires nuance and balancing AI output with emotional intelligence and contextual knowledge. Invest time in helping your employees become effective communicators and they will help drive business results.
As Vanessa Van Edwards, a best-selling author and speaker on interpersonal skills, says in her LinkedIn Learning course Amplify Your Communication Skills with Gen AI: “It’s key to provide additional information to these tools to help get personalized, usable, and ultimately more human outputs that use your personal tone, style, and unique voice.”
Explore business writing, mindful dialogue, and interpersonal communication in the Building Communication Skills in the Age of AI learning path.
2. Critical thinking
Critical thinkers stand out in today’s shifting world of work. They’re able to engage with big ideas, question assumptions, and synthesize new information to make informed judgments in ways that AI cannot. As people start to use AI at scale for more tasks, our ability to think critically will help us navigate ambiguity and solve problems.
In her course Amplify Your Critical Thinking with Generative AI, Becki Saltzman, an international speaker, author, and trainer who helps leaders and their teams cultivate curiosity and critical thinking, calls critical thinking a “truth filter” — a necessary skill to question AI-generated information for reliability, relevance, and validity.
“Gen AI can suggest seemingly brilliant strategic and creative ideas, Becki says, “but it’s your job to make sure they’re not built on a shaky foundation of assumptions and unverified data.”
Whether you’re questioning the reliability and bias of AI-generated information or working with your team to develop strategies for the business or individual career growth, your ability to examine, interpret, and reflect will set you apart.
Explore problem solving, understanding biases, and integrating generative AI into critical thinking in the Building Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of AI learning path.
3. Creativity and innovation
There’s a strong case for championing creativity in the age of AI. As we turn to AI to handle repetitive, time-consuming tasks, we free ourselves up to focus on more creative endeavors. And once we’re in that creative space, we shouldn’t be afraid to tap AI assistive tools as collaborators. AI doesn’t replace our creativity so much as it enhances it.
Those who have spent time working with generative AI know that the output is only as good as the creativity and innovative ideas you bring to the collaboration. Leveraging your creativity and innovation alongside AI assistive tools will help you generate great work.
There’s magic that happens “when human creativity meets AI ingenuity,” says Dave Birss, international speaker, author, and educator at the intersection of AI and creativity, in his course Integrating Generative AI into the Creative Process. “AI is here to augment your creativity,” Dave says, “allowing you to reach for ideas you never previously considered.”
Employees around the world are catching on. Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index report notes that 85% of users say AI helps them be more creative.
Sharpen your innovation skills and develop your creativity in the Building Creativity and Innovation Skills in the Age of AI learning path.
4. Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand others and perceive social dynamics in ways that machines cannot. It is a critical element to build connection and trust between teammates.
“Humans are really good at making inferences about the information we absorb,” says technology journalist and analyst Chris Shipley, who consults on human and organizational challenges in the face of technological disruption, in her course Leveraging the Power of Social Intelligence in the Age of AI. “Your senses,” she explains, “provide vital context in the workplace, context that is rarely visible to AI and automation tools.”
Those who see human potential as limited to IQ may fear AI’s impact on work. But once we recognize the vast, untapped potential for emotional intelligence (EQ, or emotional quotient), it becomes clear that employees and leaders will play a vital — and essential — role in navigating AI.
Hone your relationship-building skills and increase your emotional awareness in the Building Emotional Intelligence Skills in the Age of AI learning path.
5. Adaptability
Generative AI is shifting job skill requirements at a remarkable pace and scale. LinkedIn data shows that over the last eight years, 25 percent of the skills required to perform jobs have changed; by 2030, skills needed to do your job will have changed by 68 percent. So, that means: Even if you are not changing jobs, your job is changing on you.
Change is the new constant, and adaptability is the new must-have skill that will help your people and your organization get ahead. The ability to respond to disruption and ambiguity with flexibility, resilience, and a growth mindset will help employees manage through uncertainty.
“An adaptive mindset prevents the paralysis of fear and uncertainty and instead puts you on a path to learning, growth, and opportunity,” says Chris Shipley in her course Building an Adaptability Mindset in the Age of AI. She says it’s also a way to stand out as a more valuable employee and make your career more resilient.
It’s no wonder adaptability was named the “skill of the moment” on the 2024 LinkedIn Most In-Demand Skills list. We can’t predict the future, but we can prepare for the big waves of change coming by learning to be more adaptable.
Explore resilience, mental agility, and how to embrace a growth mindset in the Building Adaptability in the Age of AI learning path.
6. Decision-making
So much of good leadership is about making thoughtful decisions when there is no easy solution to a problem. The ability to hold opposing truths in your head, value divergent perspectives, and come to a decision that reflects your company’s values of what is right will only become more important in the age of AI.
From deciding when and where to use AI tools to making judgment calls around AI-generated results to making choices that impact responsible use of AI for the organization, decision-making will remain an essential human skill to counterbalance AI in this new era of work.
Generative AI can be a thought partner and a creative collaborator, but it’s ultimately not the decision-maker. That’s your job. The true power of collaborating with AI comes from effectively balancing AI’s output with your own unique ideas and discernment.
In her course Strengthen Your Decision-Making with Generative AI, Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, an award-winning author, adjunct professor at Columbia, and expert on complex problem-solving, likens AI to driving a car. “We don’t let the car decide where we drive,” she says. “We need to use AI the same way: as a tool to help us arrive at the best choices available for our personal and professional lives.”
Learn how to make decisions under stress and how to recognize bias in the Strengthen Your Decision-Making with Generative AI learning path.
Final thoughts: The future is human
As AI becomes more pervasive, we must continue to ask: How can we continue to do our best work and become our best selves? While technical skills can rapidly change, human skills like communication, critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and decision-making have staying power and are the foundational skills that will remain relevant across functions and over time.
Building these capabilities for ourselves and putting rigor behind how we teach and train our teams in these skills will enable us to deliver new levels of innovation and human achievement and ensure we’re working as individuals and organizations toward ethical and responsible AI.
I often think about a quote from Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon, who says that people routinely ask him what will change and miss the more important question.
“I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’” Jeff says. “And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two -- because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time.”
For humans at work, what’s not going to change — and, if anything, will become even more important — is how we relate to one another and work well together to bring out the most creative and innovative ideas that only the human brain can conjure.
It’s time to reframe the way we think about AI. With the right tools and training, it can be a catalyst for more innovation, more purposeful work, more creativity, and more possibility. And it’s up to talent development professionals to help usher in this more human world of work.
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Originally posted on LinkedIn
I’ve worked with hundreds of organizations large and small to help them build world-class hiring and interviewing practices. Some of the outcomes have been transformative and some (admittedly) have not.
There is one factor, above all, that most strongly predicts the outcome.
If this factor is present, results can be quite dramatic. Hiring managers and recruiters are tightly coordinated. New processes stick. Candidate quality improves. Hiring hit-rates increase, often significantly. Teams become well-oiled hiring machines.
When this factor is absent, change is difficult. Individual skill progression is hit-or-miss. Some individuals achieve amazing results, but many others keep doing what they were doing before.
When I talk to a prospective client, it’s abundantly clear when this factor is present in their organization. It’s also quite obvious when it is not. I can usually tell in the first conversation.
I’ve even declined opportunities when there was no path to getting this factor in place.
So . . . what is this all-important factor?
Full engagement from senior leadership.
When I get an inbound from a CEO who wants to build a culture of hiring excellence and who is eager to take on the work personally, I get that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling. I know they are going to see incredible results.
When I talk to a frustrated chief people officer who is clearly trying to “push a rope" with a big hiring revamp, I take pause . . . and reorient the discussion on how we can get full support from the leadership team.
If you run a company (especially a startup or smaller business), be advised — lip service doesn’t get you there. People look “up” to determine what behaviors are most valued — even in very small orgs or in very flat, democratic cultures. Actions speak far louder than words.
What can you do as a founder or leader of a smaller organization? Carve out time for the hiring skills training program. Leverage your own networks for key hires. Show up to the weekly talent pipeline meetings. Recognize and reward individuals who are driving your most essential talent programs. Talk about talent metrics the way you talk about your P&L.
If hiring the “best of the best” is really important to you . . . take it personally!
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Originally posted on LinkedIn
Reading an article that absolutely nails a topic is one of the most satisfying things in life, isn’t it?
I had this recently when I stumbled across a piece that the incomparable Glen Cathey had contributed to the Talent Blog. Delving into the future of sourcing by looking at it through a lens of AI, Boolean search, and critical thinking, this article gave me serious pause for thought.
As we continue to venture into this new era of recruiting under the shining light (or concealing shadow?!) of artificial intelligence, it’s made me truly consider what qualities and skills make up the core of our industry. And if, as Glen does in his piece, we take sourcers as an example, I have to agree with him that critical thinking is a key differentiator.
“Regardless of Boolean or LLM-powered search,” Glen writes, “a sourcer or recruiter must first have a solid understanding of what they’re looking for.”
There have been some erroneous claims made that with the help of generative AI anyone can be a sourcer — but I don’t think this is true. AI lacks that creative ability to understand, critically interpret, and, most importantly in my opinion, spot patterns.
AI-powered sourcing doesn’t always deliver what you’re looking for
We’ve all seen the Boolean strings that ChatGPT or Copilot can create in seconds. From an efficiency point of view, it’s astounding to see the near-perfect list of sterile synonyms. But when I look at these sequences and apply my years of experience, I know that the results I’d get with an AI-powered string aren’t actually going to match what I’m looking for.
Let’s work through an example: You’re seeking someone who works in the tech industry. You plot your requirements into ChatGPT and you get a string that includes words like “tech,” “technology,” “software developer,” “programmer,” and “software engineer.” All are fine entries and would very likely appear in the profiles and CVs of candidates.
But let’s stop and analyze this for a minute — when you think about the resume of someone who works in tech, what are some of the most obvious words you’re going to come across? What words on LinkedIn have you seen that give you a light bulb moment that they work in tech?
It’s the name of the company they work for — Google, Intel, Apple, etc. Many recruiters miss this trick, instead focusing on industry words and synonyms of these. But people don’t really say they work in tech, they say: “I work for Google.”
It’s critical thinking that enables sourcers to step outside the box of mediocrity, and it’s pattern matching that elevates a good sourcer to a great one.
Pattern matching can elevate your sourcing
I was born with a brain that is predisposed to pattern matching. I see sequences and systems everywhere — from counting numbers on license plates and finding comfort in the magic number nine to organizing mugs in my cupboards, I seek uniformity in everything. It’s just how I’m wired. But I found this characteristic to be hugely beneficial when it came to sourcing candidates in my past life.
Being able to look at profiles and pick up on subtle recurring patterns that could help me unlock a flood of talent was a huge boon. And sourcers who can lean into this proficiency will far outstrip the results of AI, which is quite binary in its approach — at least right now.
If you ask ChatGPT to create a Boolean string for a candidate based in Ireland, you’ll get a list of counties or cities. You might get the word “Irish” too — all perfectly acceptable values. But what about adding in “Leaving Cert,” which is Ireland’s final school exam. Or including the word scoil, which is the Irish for school and appears in an enormous number of profiles. To be a great sourcer, you need to be able to find these patterns in order to elevate your search.
It’s critical to ignore the obvious and focus on recurring signals
You might be reading this and thinking, “Well, I wasn’t born with a brain like that, so what am I supposed to do?”
It doesn’t matter. It’s about questioning the status quo, ignoring the obvious, and learning how to spot recurring signals.
Leveraging AI in recruiting is going to be game-changing, but you still need to employ critical thinking to truly elevate yourself and find the best talent for the role.
Another hack? Talk to people already in the positions you’re sourcing for and ask them if they have any insight into the words or phrases that people of their ilk include in their CVs and LinkedIn profiles. Use their experience to your advantage.
Now, I’m not saying this is always a foolproof methodology. You will get overlap. You will get false positives. It can introduce more noise into the search and give you a plethora of useless results. But it’s all about trial and error. Eventually, through keen observation and critical analysis, you will happen upon patterns that will become essential in your searches.
As Glen put it in his article: “Not all searches are created equal, and some searches are much more inclusive and find more qualified candidates than others while at the same time excluding the fewest.”
The goal of a sourcer is to identify the best talent for an organization. Yet in this era of AI, it can seem like power is being taken away from the cohort of talent hunters. But I disagree: Great sourcers who can think outside the box and spot key patterns will be indispensable in a world that often seems so starved of skills and talent.
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Originally posted on LinkedIn
Back in June, I was delighted to host a gathering of leaders from some of the world’s largest recruitment firms at a LinkedIn search and staffing event in London where our focus was the transformative impact of emerging technologies in recruitment.
We were joined by Nathalie Nahai, a specialist in psychology, persuasive tech, and human behavior, who spoke about the huge challenges associated with managing people through the current rapid pace of tech adoption. The conversation was wide-ranging, covering the radical impact of what’s to come, the competitive advantages available, balancing the tech with the human, and the critical role of the recruitment industry in helping workforces navigate change.
What was clear is that these are not just future concerns but present realities. For recruitment leaders currently being pitched by countless tech providers, the key is to start thinking now about a road map for tech adoption tailored to your organization, what you want to do, and how you want to do it.
AI has arrived and most companies are missing out on the strategic use of it at scale
The message that clearly comes out of the global 2024 Work Trend Index, produced by LinkedIn and Microsoft, is that AI is not a distant potential — it’s already happening. The use of generative AI nearly doubled in just six months, with 75% of global knowledge workers now using it.
We know that AI is going to radically impact recruitment and much of the focus has been on its potential to make it faster and easier to write job descriptions and to automate mundane tasks so that recruiters can spend more time engaging with candidates.
But we are just at the beginning and the pace of change will be rapid. We know that 78% of global AI users are bringing their own AI tools to work, and that’s not just Gen Z — it cuts across all generations. Given this rapid surge in AI adoption, there is a clear need for strategic integration and leadership.
At our event, we discussed the need for executives to take a much more elevated approach to this because the current bottom-up approach means companies are missing out on many of the benefits of strategic AI use at scale. Their lack of oversight also means data is potentially at risk.
We talked about how the next step may be an evolution from chatbots to digital agents: There are businesses out there now helping candidates identify the perfect job fit, using AI to trawl thousands of opportunities, and then customizing a response and sending a CV. We have chatbots working with line managers instead of talent professionals to take job requisitions.
Companies need to prepare for the arrival of digital agents
We are now very close to digital agents turning up to job interviews and taking meetings on our behalf. That could happen within a year, and raises all sorts of questions around employee verification, privacy, and authenticity that leaders cannot afford to ignore.
Businesses that can put together high-level multidisciplinary working groups that include IT, HR, legal, and commercial professionals are leading the way. Taking such a joined-up approach means these steering groups can not only identify AI opportunities but also support staff with training that encourages both adoption and experimentation, at the same time putting in place guiding principles to ensure responsible use.
In the absence of regulation, companies need to develop clear guardrails
Because the pace of technological change is outrunning the ability of governments and regulators to keep up, there is a broad hunger for clear guardrails. In our survey of recruitment leaders across EMEA and the U.S., 71% said it is hard to keep up with the pace of technological change and 74% would like more knowledge and support to take advantage of generative AI benefits.
In the absence of regulation, it is incumbent on business leaders to set the agenda for their own organizations. LinkedIn’s guiding principles, for example, set out our belief that AI technology needs to advance economic opportunities, uphold trust, promote fairness and inclusion, provide transparency, and embrace accountability.
We heard from Nathalie about how important it is to integrate AI tools in ways that still value and empower employees, which means being clear on the problems that need solving and the company philosophies on the best ways forward.
To build trust, embrace commitment, congruency, consistency, and coherence
Nathalie talked about the four Cs — commitment, congruency, consistency, coherence — that she has identified for leaders who want to build trust with employees, which is so important as businesses embed new technologies.
She advises companies to start with a publicly stated set of commitments to specific values and principles. Then leaders need to have congruency in word and deed, making sure actions align with those commitments and are applied with consistency over time. Finally, there is a need for coherence, doing the right things for the right reasons, which may mean sometimes taking a hit to the bottom line rather than reneging on core principles.
Recruiters have a key role to play in the transformation of the workforce
We know that the makeup of the workforce is going to change fundamentally as a result of AI adoption. Already, 66% of global leaders say they wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills, while 76% of professionals say they need AI skills to remain competitive in the job market.
As skills requirements shift, recruiters will be central to workforce transformation, recognizing that some of the in-demand AI skills will already exist within organizations and there’s a need to look across both internal and external resources.
If the recruitment industry takes the opportunity, it can be at the forefront of workforce transformation, supporting multiple organizations as entire economies transition from hiring based on roles and responsibilities to a focus on skills and tasks. The future is going to be about the recruiter as a critical partner, informed by data, helping businesses with strategic workforce planning through a period of radical skills transformation and a shift to continuous learning.
Recruiters have a responsibility to take charge, as others look to them for leadership and learning. And recruitment leaders need to take action now on AI. The most enlightened are already well advanced with rolling out training programs to teach their teams how to use generative AI most effectively. Those forward thinkers are also encouraging their teams to experiment, offering them access to new tools and helping them advance the tools that generate the most tangible benefits in their day jobs.
Employees need intentional trainings to use AI effectively
When I sat down with Michael Smith, chief executive at Randstad Enterprise, to talk through some of the themes in the Future of Recruiting research earlier in the year, he said his company has launched training programs to teach its recruiters how to use AI effectively.
He believes the acceptance and adoption of generative AI presents both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity for the industry today. Randstad is working hard to encourage experimentation and to remain mindful of the need for a thoughtful, considered approach.
“We have a tool that automatically creates job advertisements now, which we estimate saves our people between 19 and 27 minutes each time they need to do that,” Michael says. “The challenge is what those people do with that time – how do we move them into more value-creating activities that align with the aspirations of those individuals.”
Final thoughts: It’s critical to lead from the front on AI issues
Technology has huge potential to level the playing field, empowering smaller organizations to make a bigger impact and challenging larger ones to be more nimble and efficient. By encouraging our people to have a go, find use cases, and play with emerging technologies, we can change the game.
Some really useful practical tips emerged from our event, starting with the need for leaders to educate themselves by leaning on partners, developing their own curiosity, and being prepared to explore. Why not speak to people on your teams about what they are using and how they are finding out about AI tools? Then open your mind to the possibilities within the business.
Next, create clear principles and purpose for your business, focusing on getting your company culture right while creating a strategy for AI adoption and AI use at work. Build trust with your employees and be sure to stay on top of the fast-changing legal landscape.
The critical thing is for bosses to lead from the front, understanding this is about talent, identifying the skills already in the business, encouraging colleagues to experiment, and always prioritizing human communication and relationships.
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Originally posted on LinkedIn
Focus on the process, not the result is advice that can be easily misconstrued.
The result we want, in chess, business, charity, is to win. For a nonprofit providing direct services, victory means delivering the best possible outcome to the population it exists to serve. In business, it means satisfying the customer better than the competitors.
And we all know that results can’t be improved “directly.” We can only optimize results by improving the processes that produce them. This is why we have sayings like,
Don’t focus on the result. Focus on the process that creates the result.
However, "focus on the process" can easily devolve into an emphasis of compliance with an overriding, time-consuming, and resource-depleting process.
The right process brings the right results.
The key word here is "right". Just because we have a robust process in place, it doesn't mean it's right--or appropriate in all circumstances. We should be obsessed with improving our processes, not blindly following them.
Let's Discuss the "Focus on the Process" Mindset
While focusing on the process is essential for achieving desired outcomes, avoiding a rigid, bureaucratic approach that stifles innovation and adaptability is crucial.
Here are some additional points to consider:
- Process as a Tool, Not a Straitjacket: A well-designed process is a framework to guide actions, but it should be flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances. Rigid adherence to a process can hinder creativity and prevent teams from seizing opportunities.
- Continuous Improvement: The goal should be to refine and optimize processes continuously. This involves regular evaluation, feedback, and experimentation. A mindset of "good enough" is counterproductive.
- Alignment with Goals: The process should be aligned with the organization's overarching goals and objectives. A process that is efficient but doesn't contribute to the desired outcome is ultimately ineffective.
- Employee Engagement: Involve employees in process design and improvement. This fosters a sense of ownership and can lead to more effective and innovative solutions.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Use data to measure process effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. This helps to ensure that processes are evidence-based and not based on assumptions or anecdotes.
In essence, the "focus on the process" mindset should be balanced with a focus on results. A well-designed and continuously improved process is a powerful tool for achieving desired outcomes, but it should not become an end in itself. By striking the right balance, organizations can maximize their effectiveness and achieve their goals.
A process that is too rigid can hinder progress and lead to suboptimal outcomes. If you find yourself frequently needing to deviate from the process to achieve desired results, it's a strong indication that the process itself needs to be reevaluated.
Here are some additional considerations:
- Process Flexibility: A balance between structure and flexibility is key. Processes should provide a framework while allowing for adaptation in specific situations.
- Continuous Evaluation: Regularly assess the effectiveness of the process and make adjustments as needed. This might involve simplifying steps, adding new ones, or changing the sequence.
- Feedback Loops: Incorporate mechanisms for feedback from employees, customers, and other stakeholders. This can help identify areas where the process is falling short.
- Risk Assessment: When considering deviations from the process, assess the potential risks and benefits. A calculated departure might be necessary to achieve a critical objective.
Ultimately, the goal is to create a process that is both efficient and effective in achieving desired outcomes. A process that is too inflexible or too rigid is likely to hinder progress and lead to suboptimal results.
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Source material from LinkedIn original post by - Adriana Beal [Lead Data Scientist]
One of the major challenges facing recruiters and HR professionals today is skills scarcity, which continues to escalate worldwide
By looking to your existing employees as a source of new talent, you can begin to develop a personalized and proactive approach to candidate engagement. Increasingly, organizations are moving away from merely filling job roles to seeking specific skill sets. Many businesses realise that the key to success is attracting candidates with the right capabilities, rather than those who merely fit the pre-defined job descriptions. Matching candidates' skills with the organization's current and future needs results in more efficient and effective hiring processes.
1. engage in a high-touch ERP strategy
Employee referral programs (ERP) can prove invaluable in combating attrition, reducing your time to fill, and ensuring more suitable candidates are selected for the right roles. But a high-touch and personalized approach is essential.
Gone are the days of generic mass emails that land in inboxes with a soft thud. Instead of sending out a blanket referral request, forward-thinking companies are taking a more tailored approach, actively reaching out to current employees who may know individuals with the specific skill sets required for vacant positions. Perhaps they’ve worked with them previously.
By engaging in meaningful conversations and leveraging personal networks, HR teams can make more targeted referrals, significantly improving the quality of the candidate pool. It’s all about being proactive.
2. value alumni networks
Alumni hiring, an extension of ERP, is another powerful technique in high-touch talent acquisition. By maintaining connections with former employees — often termed “boomerang employees,” organizations can tap into a network of skilled individuals who have already walked through their doors, soaked in their culture and made an impact. These alumni candidates may prove to be valuable assets for future roles.
3. nurture ‘silver medalists’
Another valuable aspect of high-touch hiring is contacting candidates who were runners-up in previous hiring processes. These “silver medalists” may not have secured a position previously but possess valuable skills and potential that align with your organization's future requirements.
By maintaining a connection with these candidates, you can quickly access potential talent pools, reducing the time and effort spent on new candidate searches. This highlights the importance of ensuring that all candidates have a positive experience during your hiring process — whether or not they get the job.
4. connect with ‘in-flight’ candidates
A fourth group that can become a sustained source of talent are “in flight” candidates who have previously applied for a job with you but may have accepted other offers, withdrawn from the process or simply changed their mind. Often, these valuable prospects can be lost — perhaps they’re not categorized correctly and end up being forgotten in your ATS or CRM system.
But by treating former high-quality prospects as a distinct group worthy of active sourcing, alongside traditional recruitment methods, you can streamline your recruitment process and enhance the chances of successfully hiring them in the future. Don't let candidates slip away; instead, invest in strategies that increase the opportunity to secure them down the line. In doing so, you not only save time but also tap into a pool of candidates who already know and appreciate what your company has to offer.
In a talent-constrained world, adopting innovative hiring techniques to secure best-fit candidates and maintain a competitive edge is essential. A high-touch strategy means you’re not just shouting into the void and hoping for a response. It’s about sparking conversations, exchanging ideas and tapping into networks to find that perfect match.
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Article originally posted on Randstad Enterprise
Over recent decades, the use of information and communication technologies for work has facilitated flexible work arrangements, such as telework, which offer potential benefits to both employees and employers. At the same time, they also pose important risks, particularly in terms of working conditions, workers’ health and safety and work-life balance.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence showed that a sizeable proportion of employees and employers have a preference for hybrid working arrangements, that combine telework with on-site work.
In January 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution with recommendations to the Commission on the right to disconnect. The resolution called on the Commission to present a legislative proposal on the right to disconnect, as well as an EU legislative framework for telework. Specifically, the resolution highlighted the fundamental role of social partners in identifying and implementing measures addressing the challenges of digitalisation, telework and the right to disconnect.
In light of this policy background, in 2022, the European Commission commissioned this study, as one of the follow-up actions to the European Parliament’s resolution. The objective of the study is to gather evidence and to better understand the challenges, opportunities and trends in relation to the flexibility of working time and work location, with a focus on telework and the right to disconnect.
Annex 3. National regulation of working time
Annex 4. Synopsis report covering all stakeholders consultations
Annex 7. Data for future scenarios: 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, 7F
Annex 8. Factual summary of each consultation activity
Annex 11. Environmental issues
Annex 12. Summaries of selected research projects
Your profile picture is a key element of your LinkedIn presence. Our research shows that just having a picture makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed by others.
That means this little round image is your first chance to make a good impression on your LinkedIn network connections — and it's a key element of your personal brand.
If you already have a recent headshot taken by a professional photographer or have the opportunity to get one, this is often a good bet. A photographer can ensure that the lighting is flattering and that you’re putting your best foot (or rather, face) forward. This typically costs between $200 and $400.
However, if you don’t have the budget, the camera on your smartphone will also do the trick. Here are 10 tips to help you pick a strong photo and make a great impression.
1. Pick a photo that looks like you
It might sound obvious, but your photo should give people a clear idea of what you’d look like if they met you tomorrow.
You’ve probably met someone whose social profile photo looks nothing like them — maybe it’s a photo that was taken 10 years ago or before they started wearing glasses. It can be startling to meet them in person if you only have that picture to go by and it might even make them question your credibility.
Make sure your LinkedIn profile picture is recent (within the past few years) and reflects how you look on a daily basis — your hair, glasses, makeup, facial hair, and so on. If you change your appearance drastically, consider taking a fresh photo so people can easily recognize you.
2. Use a high-resolution image
The ideal size for your LinkedIn profile picture is between 400 (w) x 400 (h) pixels and 7680 (w) x 4320 (h) pixels. Larger file sizes are fine (although 8MB is the max), but try to avoid small, low-resolution images.
If the picture looks a bit blurry when you upload it, you may want to opt for a different one. This may also happen if you try to take a picture of a picture (like taking a pic of the photo on your ID badge) so it’s best to take a fresh one instead.
3. Make sure your face takes up at least 60% of the frame
Using a picture of yourself standing atop a distant mountain peak works well for some social media platforms, but it’s not ideal when you want people to know what you look like.
Instead, aim to have your face filling about 60% of the space. Crop the picture from the top of your shoulders to just above your head so that your face fills the frame.
4. Be the only person in the picture
It’s great to show your network that you’re collaborative and love your team. But if you use a group photo as your profile pic, they may be unsure which person you are.
To leave people with no doubt about what you look like, choose a solo photo for your profile pic. Cropping a group photo isn’t the best solution, since you might see a random hand or shoulder popping into the frame. If you do want to include a team picture on your profile, you could use this for your background photo (also known as your banner image) instead.
5. Get someone else to take the picture for you
While it’s fine to use a photo taken with a cellphone, it’s probably best to steer clear of a selfie. Ask a friend or coworker to take it for you — it only takes a minute and it can make a big difference.
For one thing, the front (selfie) camera on most phones produces a lower-quality image than the rear camera. Depending on your phone settings, it may also produce a mirror image, which can cause any words or logos to appear backwards.
Plus, by getting someone else to take the picture for you, you’ll probably find that your pose is more natural and comfortable. They might also help to direct you a bit, like telling you to tilt your head slightly or tuck your hair behind your ears.
6. Take a photo with the right expression
Your profile picture is an opportunity to convey your personal brand. So if you consider your brand a little more serious, it’s OK to look serious in your picture. But generally speaking, smiling can help you look more approachable.
One study of 800 profile pictures found that people view you as more likable, competent, and influential if you smile in your pic. And smiles that show teeth were rated twice as likable as closed-mouth smiles.
Consider practicing in front of a mirror first to see which expression you like best. You don’t want to look uncomfortable, so do what feels natural to you.
7. Avoid distracting backgrounds
Where you take your picture matters. You don’t want anything to distract from your face, so a simple background can help ensure that you’re the focal point.
That’s not to say you have to be standing in a white, empty space. Taking the picture outside in nature or against a painted wall can keep things simple without being boring. If you want to showcase cool details of where you work, though, that might be better for your background photo.
8. Wear what you’d wear to work
If you wear jeans and a button-down most days, it’s OK to wear that outfit in your pic — likewise if you wear a suit. And if you work from home most days, try wearing clothes that match the dressiness of the company as a whole.
Another thing to note is that solid colors tend to do best on camera. Color blocking your outfit using bold tones can help make your pic really pop.
9. Take the photo in soft, natural light
Lighting can completely change the look and feel of your photo. Standing beneath harsh fluorescent lighting can change the tint of your pictures and create shadows on your face, while using a camera flash may make your skin look shiny. Natural light usually produces the best effect, but direct sunlight can make pictures look blown out.
Try taking your picture outside on an overcast day, in a slightly shady area (anywhere that’s out of direct sunlight), or when the sun is setting to help to soften the light. You can also stand inside using the light from a nearby window to illuminate your face and give your skin a natural-looking glow. Avoid standing with your back to the window, as this will make it harder to see your face.
10. Use filters wisely
LinkedIn offers six filters that you can apply to your profile picture, each of which will give your photo a slightly different look and feel. Think carefully about what kind of mood you want to convey, and don’t be afraid to play around to see which filter looks best. The Spotlight and Classic filters, for example, can make your image look more polished and sharp.
If you don’t want to apply a filter, you can still adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation, and vignette of the photo directly on LinkedIn — so you don’t need to learn Photoshop to make a few subtle tweaks.
Final thoughts: What having a great LinkedIn profile picture means for you
Investing in a professional LinkedIn profile photo is an investment in your personal brand. It helps you stand out and entice people to explore the rest of your LinkedIn profile. It also helps you communicate that you’re friendly, likable, and trustworthy — attributes that are crucial to building a strong professional network.
This article was originally posted on LinkedIn
Many recruiting leaders want to implement automation and AI into their processes but ask themselves, where do I start? They must navigate a complex landscape of ethical considerations, regulatory compliance, and technological integration.
There are fears about privacy, bias, and what the corporate attorneys will say. There is concern that candidates will not be comfortable using tools like chatbots or virtual assessments.
This looks like a dangerous landscape to many, and they choose to ignore it or leave for later. This may be a mistake. As AI rapidly advances and is being built into every recruiting product, knowing what to ask vendors and being competent to deal with the issues AI raises is essential.
However, these concerns can be answered with a proactive, strategic, and carefully planned approach. This short article will try to help guide any recruitment leader through the regulatory and legal environment successfully.
Identifying Needs
To begin the journey of AI integration in recruiting, talent leaders should thoroughly assess their organization's needs and technological readiness. This involves identifying specific pain points and constraints that AI could address in their current process. For instance, an organization might struggle with efficiently screening many resumes or keeping up engaging communication with candidates throughout the hiring process. By defining these constraints, recruiting leaders can better decide which tools will be helpful.
Once these needs are identified, the next step is to start small and scale gradually. Implementing AI across the entire recruiting process at once is not only complex but also risky. Instead, leaders should create pilot projects to test their solutions. For example, they might begin implementing an AI-powered chatbot on the career for candidate interactions or use AI for resume screening. This will allow them to discover weaknesses and tweak the tools to work more effectively.
Recruiting leaders should make sure that their team understands how these tools work and what they can expect from them. They should also alleviate recruiters' fears that these tools will replace them by emphasizing that they are being implemented to augment what they do and make their work easier. Communication and education with all stakeholders is essential. They should make sure that they explain how and why AI is being used in recruiting. They should also ensure everyone knows the legal requirements and ethical practices they use.
Ethics and Communication
As a first step, organizations and recruiting functions need comprehensive AI ethics and privacy policies. These should cover data protection, bias mitigation, transparency, and human oversight. These policies must also clearly communicate what data is being collected, how it will be used, and how they will obtain candidate consent. For instance, if a chatbot is used, candidates should be provided with a detailed explanation of how AI is used in the selection process and the option to opt out of AI-assisted evaluations if desired.
This article was originally posted on Fotnews