The Talent Intelligence Collective Podcast
The one with Randy Bailey from WALMART
Welcome to the 15th episode of the Talent Intelligence Collective Podcast!
Alan Walker (the podcast host) describes the episode below:
I was, as always, joined by my fabulous co-hosts Alison Ettridge of Talent Intuition and Toby Culshaw of Amazon, but unfortunately, no Nick Brooks. He was settling into a brand new role, but more on that in the next episode.
This show wouldn’t be anything without our guests – and this time, we were joined by a long time fan of the show – the fantastic Randy Bailey of Walmart.
We started off the episode in our typical fashion, with Toby updating us on the happenings within the world of Talent Intelligence. The news has been pretty active this month, but it has all revolved around the same topic – the widening labour gap.
I’ve found this whole discussion to be quite eye-opening. They’ve talked a lot about improving the business environment but fundamentally it’s really about a skills gap. The declining supply of labour and skills.
As the gap continues to widen, many organisations are going to be looking at their existing workforce planning. We will have to expand into other markets outside of the UK, which is how the issue really ties into Talent Intelligence.
It’s the role of Talent Intelligence to help the conversation. We are often not solving the problem but bringing the conversation to the table to help get to an answer.
However, Europe is also facing a challenging labour environment, with Eurostat reporting their employment rate of people aged 20 to 64 was increasing quarter on quarter. Meaning their labour market slack – which comprises all people who have an unmet need for employment – is falling.
Even if we decided to look outside the UK, we aren’t going to see this immediate influx in labour. That talent market is ridiculously tight anywhere. It’s time we start thinking about transferable skills.
Sliding in with a news update of her own, Alison wanted to highlight a report she thought was worthy of a mention. The A3 Work Revolution by Talent Alpha. Specifically, their concept of ‘Work remotely, managed digitally and engaged anywhere talent’.
The final piece of news from Toby really tied everything together. Unsurprisingly, given the tight labour market, never before has there been such a need for recruiters with Page, Hays and Robert Walters all producing robust trading reports off the back of an exceptional labour market.
Yes. I’ve seen I think I saw an article that highlighted how there are more job postings for recruiters than software developers. It’s a really hot market. This fuels my belief that every organisation needs better Talent Intelligence, to be proactive rather than reactive.
After this very labour focused discussion, it was time for us to find out more about our amazing guest, Randy. Eager to find out how Randy became the Sourcing Grandmaster (and what that is), the skills he needed to transition into Talent Intelligence and how sourcing has changed over the years.
I was much more about the data initially, but I learned pretty early on within Talent Intelligence, making this information visually easier to read and explain is as important as the data you are presenting.
As ever our hard-hitting interviewer extraordinaire, Alison came prepared with all the questions. Starting off with the observation that while Walmart may be the worlds largest retailer, the size of the Talent Intelligence Team is still relatively small.
Our Talent Intelligence team may be small but we are mighty. We really focus on how we differentiate ourselves from other similar teams, like Talent Architecture. Focusing on what we bring to the table.
On that topic, is there any advice you should share with your past self about starting a Talent Intelligence team? Where to start? Or with what skills?
Always be curious. Take the extra time to present the ideas in a way that people can actually understand the information. Having an amazing diverse team as well really helps with diversity of thought and approach to the puzzle.
I would say be bolder. Be more aggressive. Don’t hold back. If you truly believe the information you have can help make a business decision, then make sure you are talking to the right people.
Till the next one – stay intelligent!