New Portrait Of A Talent Acquisition Leader In 4.0

New Portrait Of A Talent Acquisition Leader In 4.0

July 31, 2018

On 20th July 2018, our workshop “Talent Acquisition – Blend with Business” - organized by Talentnet Executive...

New Portrait Of A Talent Acquisition Leader In 4.0

On 20th July 2018, our workshop “Talent Acquisition – Blend with Business” – organized by Talentnet Executive Search Services – saw over 70 recruitment managers, HR professionals and HR managers. This workshop introduced new perspectives on 4.0 talent acquisition trends, incorporated with business insights from a panel discussion.

A “shift” in the talent portrait

While the talent profile has always been defined based on two common elements: “experience” and “knowledge”, the 4.0 era has introduced a completely new perspective on talent management.

At present, knowledge is universally accessible and transferrable; and talents’ experience has to be kept up with the volatile movements of the daily – even hourly economic environment. As such, it is imperative for both employers and employees to look into other qualities of an agile talent: Learning agility, ‘Un-learning’, Resilience, and Adaptability Quotient (AQ) (Agile Talent, Ralf Knegtmans, Cornerstone Amsterdam).

In her presentation, Ms. Quynh Phuong, Director of Talentnet Executive Search Services, explained the concept of learning agility.  The 5 dimensions of learning agility consists of:

  • Change agility – curiosity and readiness to try new things
  • Mental agility – high level of analytical thinking
  • People agility – desire to understand others
  • Results agility – ambition to achieve goals
  • Self-awareness – ability to understand oneself, striving towards self-development 

Overall, this is an individual’s potential in dealing with complexity, as well as the ability to cope with volatile conditions – those brought about by the evolution of information technology. Taking into account the rise of fluctuating work conditions, this is currently one of the most highly demanded qualities in an employee.

Talent acquisition in Vietnam: the power of 4.0 technology is underutilised

The shift in talent has already happened. But still, will talent acquisition in Vietnam be able to keep up with the changes, to “hunt” talents and contribute to business?

Regrettably, here’s the reality: Talent acquisition in Vietnam is still immature. Whereas Talent Acquisition partners in the region are now playing a part in corporate strategic decisions, recruitment managers in Vietnam are still struggling to influence their key stakeholders. Moreover, even in this 4.0 era, when it comes to digital tools, Talent Acquisition professionals are limiting themselves to minimal business-as-usual tasks and cost-saving functions, whereas technology has a much bigger potential to influence the business.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri, Vice president of SMB & Retail Business, NS BlueScope, stressed the importance of engaging with the business. A recruitment manager who is knowledgably aware of his or her company can translate challenges into competitive advantages, in turn attracting suitable talents whose motivations and career orientation match with that of the company’s. Case in point, if a recruiter cannot boast his company’s unique selling points when comparing with their competitors, he will hardly be able to convince a prospecting, but picky candidate.

In conclusion, modern technology has tremendously streamlined access to business data. It is then the Talent Acquisition’s role to convert such data into insights, essentially using these insights to provide direction to strategic planning. The results and strategic direction extracted using this technology can then be provided to the Talent Acquisition’s most important stakeholders: Candidates, Line managers, and the CEO.  As such, it is highly recommended for businesses to start understanding the different ways 4.0 technology can be utilized in order to harvest strategic benefits.

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Human-touch is indispensable from technological strategy

Relationship management in businesses is always important, and talent acquisition is no exception. For a Talent Acquisition professional, it is crucial to understand and “touch” both sides: line managers and talents.

On the topic of 10 essential skills of a Talent Acquisition leader, MS. Quynh Phuong emphasized that over half of these skills involve emotional intelligence, despite the fact that technology is now the focal point of many businesses. The 10 skills are: Talent influencer, Talent scientist, Social selling with Design thinking, Recruiting with agility, Situational judgment, Commercial awareness, Digital literacy, Managing ethical dilemmas, Data focus & storytelling, Market research & Strategy forming.

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Not only do these skills increase the recruiter’s influence amongst stakeholders and build personal branding, they also aid in building strong bonds with business stakeholders.

Mr. Tran Van Tho, Tax Partner, Parker Randall, elucidated his opinion that there should be two sides to a Talent Acquisition – the scientist side which analyses data and generate insights about their candidates, and the human side that can attract and influence candidates through narratives of their companies.

Expanding on Data focus & storytelling, Ms. Quynh Phuong stated that “Data is useful, but it is more important to use the data to advise and convince our business leaders and prospecting candidates”, she continued, “At the end of the day, communication is key”.

Mr. Le Quang Dai, Managing Director of CLF (Duy Tan Group), shared a story of an occasion where he was searching for a strategic business partner. One of the candidates which he found impressed with had strong resonance with the business’ development direction and market trends. He found out afterwards that the company has previously made contact with this particular candidate, and maintained frequent contact, shared work opportunities, and specifically gave him advice regarding career progression at the company. This approach of maintaining a strong, genuine relationship has created an opportunity for both the company and this candidate to connect with each other at the right time.

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