2020 presented unexpected and unprecedented challenges that were not easy to tackle. Despite all of the curveballs 2020 threw at us, we believe the talent space—and the world at large—is stronger than ever. The seemingly insurmountable challenges of 2020 fostered change, innovation, and opportunities for a better future.
The End of Normal and the Need for Innovation
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, two-thirds of the world’s workforce were sheltering in place and companies had to adjust in a matter of weeks to a model that has taken years to implement. The extreme measures to stop all face-to-face business interactions changed the workforce as we knew it. While these forced, rapid changes upended “business as usual” and “normal” routines, they ignited the innovative changes borne out of necessity..
Mastering Remote Work Management
We found the shift to a remote workforce went better than expected. Many companies succeeded at adopting a remote model as highlighted in our Trends Report “Mastering Remote Work Management.” The new remote style of working made Talent Acquisition (TA) leaders rethink how work gets done in the context of recruitment. Our member-exclusive research playbook on hiring remotely shows TA leaders how to create effective hiring strategies to perform in a remote working environment. This year excelling at remote hiring is key to driving greater productivity in TA functions. Knowing this we held a webinar in partnership with Mitchell Martin to show how to attract talent virtually and leverage technologies to improve the business problems in a remote hiring model.
Pivoting to the Virtual Recruitment and Events
Virtual Recruitment and Events grew in popularity as a remote hiring tactic. Even companies undergoing hiring freezes are opting for virtual events to promote their brands and capture passive talent to build robust pipelines when they are ready to hire again. Virtual Event Platforms became a new sub-vertical in the TA Technology Ecosystem 9.0 released in November 2020. In the Ecosystem 9.0 Report, we dive into the macro-level trends of 2020 and take a deeper look at the long-term impact of the remote workforce experiment and the shift of corporate recruiting priorities to diversity hiring.
The Renewed Vigor around Diversity Hiring
With the public outcry for racial justice, we have seen renewed vigor around diversity hiring, workplace equality, and diversity and inclusion. Over the years, we’ve conducted in-depth research on applying technology to enhance diversity in all stages of the hiring process. Our research reveals those technologies that can improve diversity in the hiring process and offers a Diversity Hiring Maturity Model to benchmark your firm’s progress. To engage insightful discussions around diversity, we hosted Diversity Workgroup sessions where thought leaders in the talent acquisition and HR industry conversed on how technologies are being leveraged to help hire a diverse workforce.
At the Cusp of Recruitment Process Automation
In 2020, we’ve seen the power of automation processes and conversational AI for recruitment and talent acquisition. We are at the cusp of an automation revolution, and our Trends Report on Robotic Process Automation provides insight and inspiration on how to leverage this technology for your recruitment function. The report reveals knowledge on how to take advantage of RPA to simplify payrolls, reduce onboarding time, and increase efficiencies in talent acquisition. The need for recruitment process automation will be particularly relevant in 2021 when companies are trying to do more with less. We’ve been helping our clients automate their recruitment processes to meet their hiring goals in the new normal. Our clients are also learning how to improve their candidate experience remotely with tools that enhance feedback and communication digitally.
How the TTL Team Built a Remote Workforce in 2020
Our team at TTL has swiftly adjusted to the new virtual workforce. We now have home offices set up across the country. Through an entirely virtual process, we successfully hired and onboarded new members of our team, without any in-person interactions. Our remote work experience has gone better than we would have imagined. Of course, our team experienced the occasional remote mishap with attendees at our daytime webinars sipping on work-from-home cocktails. There’ve been a few video calls where professional attire on top and PJs on the bottom did not work as well as intended. These hiccups are all part of the virtual learning curve; we’ve had great fun pivoting our events to the virtual space and challenging our creativity to reach a new level. We have even expanded our horizons to the moon and back (in a virtual-reality sense). During the annual Executive Retreat, we took a virtual trip to the moon for a team-building experience.
Let’s Make 2021 Limitless
As we welcome in 2021, we are pushing our boundaries and reaching new heights. We are moving to expand our research into the talent management technology space and building out our team to support this effort. Our advisory side of the business has grown from just a few discrete services to now go much further in assisting clients to run their digital transformations. We’re already helping some of the world’s largest companies in this way.
We all have had our fair share of limits this year with the restrictions that the world-wide pandemic has brought. Our intention and hope are that next year our goals and visions will be limitless.
We would love to help you in any way we can to reach your 2021 goals without limitations. Feel free to reach out to us at hi@talenttechlabs.com for a quick chat.
Wishing you all the best in 2021.
Warmest regards,
Brian & Jonathan
