In conversation with LHH managing director James McIlvena about talent mobility

James McIlvena, managing director of LHH Australia and New Zealand, joined The HR Leader to discuss talent mobility including the role of tech and how smaller businesses can approach L&D.

Shandel McAuliffe, editor at HR Leader: “What do companies need to keep in mind with talent mobility?”

Mr McIlvena: “You can build, or you can buy. Now, ‘buy’ talent has been the go-to forever [and] a day [but] I think what’s dawning on people as they’re getting feedback from the buy side is, we can’t find people. Or, if we can find people, there’s these hyperinflationary bubbles around salary for certain in-demand skill sets, and so, you’re paying a fortune to get this talent.”

“Recruitment difficulty is going up… The bit that stood out to me was the employee responses to that, and are people really doing things differently?

“Now, there are notable exceptions out there that actually take very innovative and new ways to figuring out how they’re going to actually bring talent into the organisation, but the vast majority just roll over: ‘That ad didn’t yield what I wanted [it] to, let’s just repost it for another 30 days and see if I get a better result next time’.”

Mr McIlvena continued: “I would be encouraging anyone to really consider, ‘What am I doing differently?’ Even if it is ‘buy’ rather than ‘build’, asking ‘Am I being more flexible with the requirements of the role?’ ‘Am I negotiable about what level of learning curve there’ll be for individuals as they step into a role?’ ‘Am I looking in different places?’ ‘Am I providing the right environment, or am I just being inflexible on the role requirements and inflexible on how I’m sourcing?’”

He added: “LinkedIn research said 94 per cent of employees would stay longer if their employer invested better in providing clarity around a pathway and opportunities to stay with them.”

Editor: “How does tech underpin talent mobility and help us to plan for the future and grow?”

Mr McIlvena: “Tech [gives] people bite-sized learning. Learning that they can consume in a different manner is critical. Yes, it’s great to have a good learning management system, but it’s actually also good to think about the content and the delivery.”

“The tech can actually enhance what’s available from a learning management system perspective. There’s great stuff out there now. There are platforms that provide digital skill components. There are platforms that actually provide a lot of soft skills which are becoming increasingly more important. That’s often the stuff that is missing from traditional learning content provided by learning development,” said Mr McIlvena.

Editor: “How do smaller business keep up with learning and development without the budget of big organisations?”

Mr McIlvena: “I would argue that it’s somewhat easier for a smaller business; that it’s less complex to actually think about, ‘Okay, what’s our strategy?’ ‘Where is the business supposed to be three years from now?’ ‘Okay, so what does that mean for our people?’ ‘Is there going to be a change in the requirements of the people and the skills we’ve got today to what we need in the future?’”

“There are a lot of things that could be done that don’t require massive scale and massive tech investments or hiring a whole bunch of people dedicated just to this.”

“[For smaller businesses] the main focus for them is that final pillar which is, ‘Have our leaders understood the importance of this and how can we simplify it for them?’ Because leaders are no different … give them something that they can do to start the discussion around looking after your employees, keeping them engaged, and making sure that they upskill and connect to stay relevant to the organisation,” explained Mr McIlvena.

The transcript of this webcast was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with James McIlvena, click below:

https://www.hrleader.com.au/webcasts/23341-career-and-talent-mobility-simplified