13JUN Acosta Europe and the Festival of Work
Members of our HR and Operations team visited the CIPD Festival of Work in London yesterday to listen to the latest insights from the Human Resources and Learning and Development industry, and network with other HR leaders.
Technology & recruitment
Unsurprisingly, technology – and the opportunities and challenges it creates in the business of people management – featured strongly throughout the show. The speed of technological change means that jobs will need to change and evolve, requiring a new suite of skills from employees and potential employees. This opened up questions about education for people before they enter the workplace, while they are in it, and the potential implications for older workers not necessarily versed in the latest technologies.
Industry thought leaders laid out scenarios where Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be used to recruit and on-board talent more efficiently. Additionally in an era of connectivity, recruiters are moving away from qualifications as the primary metric for measuring candidate suitability, instead placing greater emphasis on personality, aspirations and behavioural traits.
The need for the human touch
Despite technological advances in L&D, it’s evident that the appetite for traditional behavioural and cognitive training techniques is as strong as ever. While there were multiple software companies on display in the exhibition hall, there were similar numbers of companies offering human focussed services. Technology is not going to sweep away the “Human” from “Human Resources” completely, and it is clear that both approaches need continued investment from business leaders.
There was an acknowledgement that conventional employee performance review techniques were no longer viewed to be as effective. Instead HR teams and people managers should look to adopt more frequent, succinct and collaborative interactions, focussed on specific areas of development.
Putting people first
Acosta Europe pride ourselves on putting people at the heart of our business. We are committed to the ongoing development and professional growth of our people both in head office and the field.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what we offer at Acosta Europe, visit our careers page.