ReleaseWire Connect

It feels like every discussion around growth and progress today includes a mention of AI - and that's no different for HR Recruitment. Whether it is being used to power data and insights, to vet CVs or to implement greater automation, AI has huge potential to affect the future of HR Recruitment. These are two key the ways that AI is likely to be coming to HR Recruitment near you soon.

The Private Equity sector has undergone significant changes in recent years in terms of business models - leading to a shift in hiring strategies as a result. The needs of many firms in this industry today are not the same as they were even a few years ago. Key to this has been the shift in turnaround, which at one point was between three and five years but today is more likely to be five to seven years. Conditions that previously defined the way Private Equity firms functioned, such as the availability of cheap debt, don't exist today and the huge increase in the value of assets as a result of the availability of money (as much as an uptick in profitability) that previously defined Private Equity can sometimes seem very far away. So, how is this affecting hiring strategies for Private Equity firms?

[Trend topics]. A robust HR team is essential in this day and age when working models are shifting and the needs of employees changing too. The right Chief People Officer will be at the head of this department, bringing a range of skills to the table including organisational development and people management. This executive level position is where the building of company culture often originates from and that's why it's so important to fill the Chief People Officer role with someone who doesn't just have the right skill set but is also a good organisational fit.

[Trend topics]. Of all the senior executives that a business needs to source today, a Chief Data Officer is increasingly the most pressing. This role is driven by Technology and covers every aspect of data strategy, from developing it to implementing it and managing it. The ultimate aim is to ensure the security and privacy of data and to guarantee that the business is compliant with the regulation and legislative standards that have been defined by law. In practice, that could look like many different activities, including establishing policies and procedures for data management across the business, implementing access control and encryption, as well as carrying out risk management. It's also often the Chief Data Officer that is responsible for training, ensuring that Technology investments are being properly used in a way that optimises the resources but also ensures data compliance. Without a Chief Data Officer, these standards can remain unmet and this can cause a lot of problems in both the short and the long term.

Executive hiring is not necessarily a straightforward process. Finding the right person can be a combination of waiting, as well as proactive recruitment. However, business environments don't wait and that's where Interim Leadership can make such a valuable contribution to an enterprise. An executive vacancy can be problematic but rushing to fill it with someone who isn't quite the right fit even more so. Interim Leadership gives you access to someone who is essentially a veteran in the executive world and able to arrive in your business and hit the ground running. They will bring fresh eyes, a wealth of experience and feel comfortable stepping in to handle whatever needs attention right at that moment. But what kind of mindset does Interim Leadership require?

Leathwaite has a long, rich history in private equity and venture capital recruitment that has set the firm up to be able to confidently expand in this field. And expansion has been necessary, as private equity is a market that has experienced rapid growth in recent years and where recruitment support needs to bring more to the table as a result. Now, Leathwaite is also expanding to service operating partners and their portfolio companies, building on the vast expertise that already exists within the team and offering this to a broader range of enterprises.

Global executive recruitment has been under a lot of pressure thanks to economic challenges and many other factors, including the Great Resignation. The race to find, and hire, the right people is one that no organisation can afford to back out of. Given the huge impact that executives and leaders have on businesses, putting exceptional talent in place is a key part of the process of nurturing internal growth in any organisation. For organisations looking to take a new approach to global executive recruitment this year, these are some of the key trends to keep an eye on.

HR leadership roles are evolving at a challenging pace. Recent years have seen expansion and contraction in various elements of being an HR leader. Upheaval and volatility have affected companies across the board and it has been those in HR leadership roles who have often been there to pick up the pieces and create new strategies for growth. HR might have been viewed as something of a complimentary support function in some organisations a decade ago but today it's a role that is front and centre to how a business changes and evolves. And this is not likely to be where the evolution of HR leadership roles ends - there is a lot left to do in terms of the future for HR leaders.

[Trend topics]. There has been a noticeable rise in the demand for ESG hires and sustainability talent in recent years, as more and more organisations seek to embed ESG into strategy and structure. However, there still remain challenges in terms of being able to firmly root sustainability into the C-Suite. The HR Role is crucial to achieving this, providing the kind of support that will give the CSO real visibility, as well as the insight and understanding required to navigate an organisation's existing structures. In fact, it's arguable that without the backing of those in HR roles in an enterprise, the rise of the CSO may never happen.

Finance recruitment received a boost in Q3 in London with a significant jump in the number of job seekers looking for positions in this market. Figures showed a 14% increase, on a quarterly basis, in the volume of jobseekers looking for finance roles - and a 28% rise in the statistics when compared to the same period in 2021. The number of those actively seeking out new jobs in finance is the highest it has been since 2017. There could be a myriad of different reasons for this spike, including the cost of living crisis causing many people to rethink what is acceptable in terms of baseline salary and benefits. Companies that have been unwilling to review these figures in the light of inflation have seen employees head for the door. Many jobseekers have also taken the opportunity to find new positions that reflect their own - newly evolved - attitudes and expectations when it comes to work life balance and job satisfaction.