HR Beyond 2023
The Predictions, The Priorities, The Actions
At the ChapmanCG inaugural HR Thought Leadership Forum in Brisbane, Australia, our guest panellists, including Lauren Saunders (Director, Talent Acquisition Projects, LinkedIn), took us on a journey Beyond 2023.
Hosted by Ashurst the conversation covered The Predictions, The Priorities and The Actions for HR – supported by rich market data and first-hand experiences of our panellists and specially invited HR guests.
With 2022 coined the ‘Paradoxical Year’, the conversation took us through the importance of reflection, emphasising the need to recover from the ‘whiplash’ effect of the last three years. Illustrated by real-life examples, our guest speakers explained how to use data to predict what will come next and how their organisations prioritise agility and a skills-first approach.
ChapmanCGs Kate Vuleta with Lauren Saunders of LinkedIn.
Cross-Skill, Reskill and Upskill
Whilst 2022 was a game of two halves - there was the post covid rush and significant reshuffle for the first half of 2022 with record levels of hiring across industries, followed by a quiet but urgent pullback on hiring and reprioritisation as markets shifted in the last half of the year - businesses looked to HR as the custodians of the way forward for our people. According to the LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report 2023, 82% of global leaders agree that the HR function is more critical now than ever. We must re-program, get ready to solve unknown problems and find more resilience. We need to move quickly, dig deep, and remove the clutter.
The LinkedIn market insights and data shared by Lauren Saunders showed a rebalancing of the hiring rate, which declined in the last year – though talent attraction is more challenging than ever. The concept of ‘talent magnetism’, ‘alumni for life’ and ‘bungee assignments’ (for employees within an organisation to cross-skill, reskill, upskill, and increase retention) were all discussion points.
LinkedIn research also shows that an Australian employee who has made an internal move has a greater chance of staying with their company after two years. However, employees in Australia and New Zealand need to receive the proper support. External market moves can often go through faster than internal promotions, so there is a lot of opportunity for HR professionals to activate internal mobility better.
Do Fewer Things, Better
As proved time and time again, change is a constant. Key competencies we should be looking for moving forward are resilience and adaptability. We discussed the importance of helping leaders to see around corners – teaching them to look at the data truths to build the sequencing of priorities and build a six-month plan, not a five-year plan. The audience was challenged to stop thinking about the foundation and begin building the first two stories and the roof. This was an excellent analogy for HR into the future, where ‘velocity is the new black!’
Simplicity is key – focus on productivity, which generates satisfaction, and chunk priorities down to smaller, more critical initiatives. We must do fewer things better – tick them off and move on.
Lauren encouraged us as global talent leaders to embrace the moment we are in, be agile and look at how we lead through constant change. As a result, LinkedIn has delivered programs to increase leadership agility, taking a skills-first approach and positioning internal mobility as a first key consideration factor.
Key Take Aways
Our audience of global and regional HR leaders collectively agreed this session was an opportunity to benchmark, collaborate on shared challenges, sense-check approaches, and network with peers across sectors and regions, both domestic and international.
With new challenges ahead and an ever-changing talent landscape, it was refreshing to listen to these very human and authentic learning experiences from leaders and inspiring businesses through a data-first and human-centric approach. In short - perfect plans are old news, and skills are the new currency!
ChapmanCG would like to sincerely thank our panellists, our host, and all participants.
Throughout this year, Kate and Managing Director Paul Jury will deliver these ChapmanCG forums along the east coast of Australia. To access the outcomes and insights shared, please connect with Kate directly.
To learn more about our past and future networking opportunities, click here.
