Are you attracting the best people for the future? And, more importantly, if you do attract them, are you RECRUITING them rather than rejecting them? That might seem obvious, but many leaders, recruiters, and HR professionals reject exactly the people you need most.
As a leader, what are you doing to attract the right people and build the team that will succeed in the future?
Last week, I was in the Barossa Valley, speaking at a conference for HR leaders and HR professionals.
Those are some of the most important people in your organisation because they greatly influence who joins your team and what remuneration and other packages they provide to the best people.
Whether or not you’re in HR, what are YOU doing to make sure you attract and keep the best people?
For this conference, my client encouraged me to be provocative – even controversial – to spark conversations for the rest of the day.
I really applaud that, and it gave me the chance to ask some challenging questions and raise interesting ideas.
One of my provocations was the role of AI in HR and recruitment. There’s a lot of it happening now, both from the candidate’s side and the employer’s side.
There’s good and bad AI use in both of those areas, of course. But one of the worst situations is an employer rejecting somebody who used AI in their application.
That’s crazy!
This began with the launch of ChatGPT, with candidates sending obviously AI-generated CVs and cover letters in job applications.
When leaders, recruiters, and HR professionals asked me about that, I would always reply,
“Are you asking me how to reject them or recruit them?”
These candidates are using AI to solve a problem in their lives: to find the next job on their career path. Don’t you WANT people like that? Sure, their AI use might be a bit naive and rough around the edges – but that’s OK. You can help them, train them, and mentor them.
Also, if you think outside HR and recruitment, every other leader and manager in a typical organisation WANTS AI-competent and AI-positive people. And you might be actively rejecting exactly those people.
This happens internally as well.
Within your own team, some people might be keen and enthusiastic (and even annoying) about AI. When they suggest something, show off their AI use, or demonstrate an AI app that hasn’t yet been approved by IT, it’s easy to criticise them or ignore them.
But you NEED these people!
This is not just about AI, of course. It’s about people solving problems – for themselves in the recruitment process and for your team once employed.
Do you have that sort of person in your team? If so, treat them like gold
I’m running an online presentation soon, “Seeing Into The Future”, about how to understand what’s around the corner and over the horizon – and build a team to help you navigate the future. It’s free, public, and open to all. So, please register here and invite other leaders in your team and network, too.
