The Wrap #11: At RecFest with Joveo

This edition of the Wrap is sponsored by my friends at Joveo. As a high-performance, AI-led recruitment marketing platform, Joveo is transforming talent attraction for employers worldwide. Powering millions of jobs every day, the platform enables businesses to attract, source, engage, and hire great candidates on time, while reducing costs and providing real-time insights at every step of the job seeker journey.

At this year’s RecFest USA, Joveo took another step in their ongoing mission to disrupt the recruitment marketing space, launching MOJO Recruiting Assistant, the only conversational AI assistant capable of handling everything from personalized candidate job recommendations, to screening, and in-chat applications. Please check them out at www.joveo.com

RecFest 2024

Late last week, I attended my first RecFest USA. I've heard about the UK version of the event for years and am thrilled that I was able to make it this year. I've been attending conferences for years (and will be heading to my 10th HR Tech Conference in a week) and I can't stress enough how great a job Jamie Leonard and team have done.

Standard conferences consist of navigating an endless sea of ballrooms, bad food, and a cold, uninviting expo floor. I've been a conference refugee many times, sitting in hallways next to an outlet trying to get some work done or just decompress for a minute. At the end of the day, your feet hurt, you only had Starbucks to eat and are mentally and physically drained.

RecFest gladly breaks that mold. First of all, you are outside. Second, while other events can consist of just vendors speaking to vendors, this brings together the talent community to authentically share best practices and move the talent acquisition function forward together. Everyone is having a good time, even the vendors (hat tip to Jason Putnam and Plum for their arcade booth).

After two days of whirlwind sessions, here are my highlights from the event:

• Tim Sackett, SPHR, SCP and Ariana S. Moon of Greenhouse stressed that AI needs to give back to the candidate experience. Yes! Say it louder for the people in the back! It all comes down to the user experience.
• Plum nailed their session. They didn't take themselves too seriously and entertained us with a Wayne's World parody complete with a top 10 list and an inflatable couch. Schwing!
• "You shouldn't have to say you're hiring for DEI." - Anessa Fike with a great point. Companies with strong, diverse hiring have it embedded in their core.
• "In the age of AI, originality and authenticity are key." - Allie Wehling, MS, SHRM-SCP of Splunk. This is going to be key for the next couple of years in all comms. If everyone is using AI to write, you will only stand out by being human and having a real personality.
• "I often have to tether myself to love, because otherwise what else do we have." - Torin Ellis. If he is speaking at a conference you are at, do your soul a favor and go listen.
• Keith Sonderling rightly pointed out that AI equality is basic civil rights. That's why there is so much liability with it. But on the flip side with AI, we have the ability to permanently take bias and discrimination out of hiring.

There were so many great sessions and content, but the above is what resonated with me. While we were having fun in Nashville, there was plenty of HR Tech news to highlight.

This week's Wrap features research from Workday and RedThread Research, a nice integration between Greenhouse Software and BrightHire, a spotlight on the RecFest community, and the Army of Tennessee. Enjoy!

Workday application rate shows a tough job market in the first half of 2024

Workday released their Global Workforce Report this week and I found this part particularly interesting:

Comparing the first half of 2024 to the same period in 2023, job requisitions are up 7%, application (app) volume is up 31%, and referrals are up 30%—but offers remain flat, suggesting a loosening but still competitive landscape for workers.

This is a big jump in application volume and it's particularly interesting because it's through Workday. While LinkedIn has made it extremely easy to apply for jobs with just a click of a button, candidates applying via Workday have to through a data entry process that is frustrating and time consuming. The fact that these application numbers are up shows how bleak the market was even at the start of the year. Get a copy of the full report here.

RedThread Study Reveals an $8.1B People Analytics Technology Market

My friends at RedThread Research just released a report that the market for people analytics is exploding. While it's at its highest value yet, $8.5 billion, growth has slowed significantly and customer satisfaction has declined. One of the reasons is that customers feel they were overpromised on AI capabilities and underdelivered on support. I've seen this happen with many HR Tech vendors over the years and buyers should make sure they aren't being sold "magic beans" with AI capabilities and make sure that the vendor will support you with real, human support not cut corners with ChatGPT and ticket outsourcing. Check out the full press release here.

Greenhouse gets AI interview notes from BrightHire

Greenhouse Software is adding interview notes from BrightHire into their interview scorecards so hiring teams can easily remember interviews and compare candidates. This is what AI should be - a helpful addition to the human function. More information here.

Spotlight - The wonderful people in HR tech

I can't tell you how good it was to be back around the wonderful people of HR Tech. I ran into old friends John Baldino, Tim Sackett, SPHR, SCP, Kyle Lagunas, Madeline Laurano, Sarah White, Debbie McGrath, Michelle Meehan, MBA, Shannon Pritchett, Chad Sowash, Julie Sowash, and Joel Cheesman. I got to see friends from Europe I haven't seen since before COVID (Bill Boorman) or never met in person Stephen McGrath. I made new connections in Susan Collins, ACC, PHR, CI, Joel Lalgee, Tim Dineen, Omar Khateeb, Sean Worden, Katy Schuck, and Michael Glenn. We have a great community and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

Wikipedia of the Week - The Army of Tennessee

I like to consider myself somewhat of a history buff, but color me shocked when I saw this panel at the Bicentennial Mall in Nashville. I had always thought that when Lincoln was assassinated, the war had already been over. Yet, if you look a the dates, Tennessee's Confederate army didn't surrender until two weeks afterward. For a deep dive into the Army of Tennessee, check out the wiki here

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