In ten years of working with talent acquisition leaders, we know the importance of finding opportunities to connect, workshop ideas, and develop deeper professional relationships. In particular, we’ve found a need for small-group forums focused on authentic content, where leaders can wrestle openly with big challenges and generate creative solutions to move their work forward.
In our second Talent Lab in Chicago, we hosted eight leaders to discuss translating talent acquisition and early talent recruiting into business value. Here’s what it looked like:
Student perspective on mentorship and beyond
Handshake’s Director of Research, Randy Tarnowski, hosted a fireside chat with Hiba Rizvi, a Loyola University Chicago rising senior studying software engineering. Their conversation dug into students’ perspective on hybrid work (they want it!), the difficulties of assessing company fit during asynchronous interviewing, and professional development. Hiba shed light on student’s need for interpersonal engagement in their first job so they can learn soft skills and company culture norms. They see mentorship and professional development as the key to accessing this type of learning.
Debating the impact of AI and re-humanizing the job search
Sean Sabihi from Handshake’s UX Research team delved into findings from a 10-week diary study that followed 15 job-seeking student journeys. Talent Lab attendees discussed ways employers can build stronger relationships with early talent, with a focus on AI and related technologies. Leaders shared both implementation considerations and success stories, illustrating how different tools have helped make time for more human touch in the hiring process.
“Speed to performance” thinking on business value
Members of the Handshake Insights team walked attendees through different approaches to quantifying the ROI of talent acquisition work, especially when presenting outcomes to C-level stakeholders. The group discussed how measuring speed-to-performance is a critical lens when building their strategic business case for early talent recruiting.
Join the next talent lab
We’ll be hosting more Talent Lab events throughout the year and into 2025. Each event will bring together eight to ten senior leaders to share, discuss, and workshop topics related to their industry or function. We’re excited to create a first-of-its-kind space for cross-pollination of ideas, where leaders of all backgrounds can network, engage in rich conversations with peers, and have fun solving problems together.
Let us know here if you’re interested in joining the next event!