Australasian Talent Conference ended yesterday in Sydney, Australia. The conference hosted close to 200 delegates and a global slate of speakers. A sampling of these included Dr. John Sullivan and Master Burnett from Dr. John Sullivan and Associates, Gerry Crispin of CareerXroads, Christine Deputy of Starbucks, Dr. Charles Handler of RocketHire, Sue Polo of Google, Dr. Ian Williamson from the Melbourne Business School, James Elliot of Deloitte, Naomi Simson of Red Balloon Days, and Sarah Armstrong from Westpac.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am one of the founders of the conference and was also a speaker. The reason I helped start the conference was because there was a need for an Australasian-focused event that went beyond a vendor showcase. It is critical to have vendors at these events because they capture and demonstrate the latest in technology and services. They are what drive progress in the talent space and each application, tool and service is an indicator of where the talent market is heading. But, it is equally important to have the people there who are using these tools and services and who think deeply about talent and who lead the thought process that creates change and improvements.
I hope this conference is doing that and every year I come away from it energized and smarter because of it.
The buzz this year, of course, was mostly about the economy, retrenchments, downsizing, and change. Many delegates were seeing positive outcomes of this recession, though, including a new appreciation for strategy, sustainable workforce practices, and renewed focus on employee development.
The conference topics were mostly focused on the changing talent landscape caused by the economic recession and the impact of technology on both recruiting and employee development. Rather than the usual focus on tactical recruiting and training, this conference emphasized the need for a strategic approach to talent.
Dr. Sullivan provoked and challenged recruiters to think outside their usual comfort zone and take a business-focused approach to what they do. “It’s all about helping the business make money” he said. No one in management wants to hear about saving money — they want to hear how you can help them increase revenue or profit by bringing in better people.
Gerry Crispin pointed out that most corproate career sites are poor quality and that most organizations also provide poor candidate service. He mails resumes throughout the year and tracks whether he gets a response, what that response is like, and how long it takes. The results are not encouraging. The black hole is very real and most resumes that are submitted are never acknowledged at all!
Ian Williamson has done research on retention and discussed the results of his work. If people are leaving your organization to go to a firm that is collaborating with you, it is an oppportuntiy to increae yuour business. Alumni are a source of business. Not all turn over is bad.
Sue Polo of Google explained how Google approaches branding, assessment and on-boarding. She gave an overview of how their focus has evolved as they anticipate changes in the economy and in their own strategy.
Dr. Handler is a psychologist and his specialty is candidate assessment. He was pleased to see that assessment is much more widely used in Australia and New Zealand than in the United States. But he also pointed out that much of the assessment done does not really focus on finding those key competences and traits that will help improve profits or sales. He also showed how new techniques in using simulations and games can improve candidates’ overall assessment experience and also improve the validity of the results.
This event has become the premier talent conference in Asia and brings the highest quality speakers together to engage in discussion. The mix of vendors showing the latest technology, along with intellectually stimulating speakers and delegates from a wide range of organizations keeps me excited.
Twitter has become a new phenomena and many attendees were tweeting about the conference throughout. You can follow their message stream as it was captured by going to Twitter (www.twitter.com) and searching for #atcsyd. Or you can simply click here.
