🖼️ 2 Images to justify TA & DEI Spend

I decided to attend The Talent Acquisition Summit in Bogota last month.

It didn’t disappoint.

Learning from US and Latin American TA teams on the approaches they’re taking and hearing from some top-class speakers sparked new thoughts.

Employee Lifetime Value

One of those speakers was Carl-Johan who runs Product at Teamtailor.

Here’s what he shared.

The image below represents the lifecycle of an employee and the value they bring to the organisation let’s call it Employee Lifetime Value.

On the vertical axis we have Employee Output and on the horizontal axis Time.

Step 1: First Day:

A new employee joins. They take time away from the team while they’re being trained and onboarded

Step 2 Starts Contributing:

Once they’re onboarded they begin contributing to the team and output gradually increases

Step 3 Reaches Maximum Potential:

They’ve settled in, developed skills, gained experience and eventually hit their max potential

Step 4 Decide To Leave:

All good things come to an end, they decide to leave - their output drops on the way out

Step 5 Last Day:

The employee has their last day and their output falls to zero 👋🏽

Now let’s see what we can do to impact Employee Life-Time Value.

Step 1 Shorten Ramp Time:

Through employer branding campaigns before roles go live and with efficient talent attraction and recruitment processes as well as faster onboarding employees can start earlier and contribute to the business sooner

Step 2: Increasing Productivity

By intentionally attracting a diverse variety of talented people we have greater diversity of thought and opinion which increases innovation and productivity which increases output

Step 3: Maximising Productivity

Investing in an inclusive and equitable working environment with well-paid employees provided with learning and development allows for people to perform at their very best

Step 4: Expanding Retention Period

With bigger investments in these areas employees are less likely to leave because they’re lacking them. Now they contribute to the organisation at a higher level for longer before moving on

When they do leave they talk to their network about their positive experience and recommend them to apply for a role linking us back to Step 1

To me this is a cool way of visually representing the value TA and DEI teams can bring to an organisation. Budget holders should consider the impact that new hires have over time on company output, revenue and profit rather than looking at TA and DEI functions solely as a cost centre.

We can only fully embrace that perspective by looking long-term at the full employee lifecycle just as sales and marketing teams look at customer lifetime value.

12-Year-Old Sensation

It’s difficult to express through words the presentation from 12-year-old Allison Avendaño.

She previously founded an organisation to help kids develop digital skills.

At the age of 9 (I know what you’re thinking - what took her so long?), this young entrepreneur won investment on Shark Tank Colombia and set out on a journey to inspire and train kids.

At The Talent Acquisition Summit, she gave a talk on Generation Alpha and pursuing your dreams.

Allison reminded us that as children we dream big and gradually add mental barriers that inhibit us from achieving those dreams.

I for one left feeling massively inspired, especially after seeing a 12-year-old do so much in her career already and step up and give the best presentation of the day.

Here is her advice on attracting young talent (translated into English):

1. Irresistible Offer

“We want to leave a fingerprint of change. We are looking for a purpose. What can you offer to allow us to make that fingerprint? The best use of life is leaving something that can survive.”

They’re interested in building careers that they feel have an impact. They won’t all be trying to save the world but making a difference is certainly important to them. How can you demonstrate the real impact that your roles have on your users, customers or internal team members?

2. Listen

“Attract young people by learning to listen to their changing needs.”

Gen Z are different to Millennials. Gen Alpha are different to Gen Z. Needs change and the employers who attract the best talent will be those who stay on the front foot of these talent trends. So good thing you’re reading this newsletter!

3. True Leaders

“We don’t expect you to be perfect but credibility is so important.”

To young people you and your senior leadership don’t need to be right all the time but they do have a high bar for transparency and integrity.

They feel it’s important for them to be kept in the loop and for major decisions to align closely with the employer brand values.

Internal comms has such a big role to play in retaining future talent.

Until next time 👋🏽

Tobi

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