The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week

In a recent article highlighting findings from a survey of more than 130 HR executives from around the world, industry analyst Josh Bersin found what seems like a paradox: “Companies are cutting their talent acquisition spending at the same time CEOs feel that skills shortages are getting worse.”

Consider the following results from the survey:

• Only 32% of the HR executives surveyed feel they are involved in their company’s strategic workforce planning.
• More than 40% believe their company has absolutely no workforce plan at all.
• Nearly half (46%) say they’re “running around to keep up.”
  

“All this is happening,” Josh writes, “in a world where 58% of companies feel skills shortages are significantly impacting their business plans [and] more than three-quarters believe they must transform their talent practices to grow.”

So what are talent and business leaders to do? Josh suggests a complete reinvention of talent acquisition to take a much more holistic and strategic approach. Among other tactics, this would involve elevating recruiters from order takers to talent advisors and broadening the recruiting function to include L&D, career management, and employee engagement.

To learn more about what this reinvention could look like — plus more highlights from Josh’s research — be sure to check out his piece at the top of our list below of must-read articles for talent professionals.

And further down our list, you can find out why John Vlastelica also believes in a more holistic approach to talent acquisition; why increasingly sophisticated job scams are flourishing; and why top-rated schools may no longer be as prestigious in the eyes of many hiring managers.

Here are the must-read articles from this week:

1. Research Shows It’s Time to Reinvent Talent Acquisition (Josh Bersin)

2. Soft Skills Are the New Hard Skills in the Age of AI (Lars Schmidt on LinkedIn)

3. What Happens When More Job Seekers Use Gen AI Tools to Customize Their Resumes to the Jobs They’re Applying To? (Glen Cathey on LinkedIn)

4. A Common Misconception About an Untapped Talent Pool (Jina Krause-Vilmar on LinkedIn)

5. Breaking Down Silos: Why Companies Are Taking a More Holistic Approach to Talent Acquisition Leadership (LinkedIn Talent Blog)

6. Can I Be a Journalist If I’m Also a Recruiter? (Sonali Kohli on LinkedIn)

7. Are You Gatekeeping Your Employees from Reaching Their Full Potential? (Guild)

8. New Job Scams Are Flourishing. Young Workers Are Especially Susceptible (The Wall Street Journal)

9. Why We Need to Fundamentally Re-Examine and Redesign the Nature of Work Itself (Jen Fisher on LinkedIn)

10. Why Hiring Managers Are Widening Their Gaze Away from the Ivies (Forbes)

Here is the must-listen podcast:

Sharing Personal Information Can Build Trust on Your Team — If You Do It Right (HBR on Leadership)