At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, C-suite leaders demanded more from the HR function and its leaders. Many CHROs and CPOs found themselves and their efforts essential to business strategy (if they weren’t considered so already) amid the public health crisis. And the evolution of the HR exec role did not retract as the Covid cases dwindled.

Similarly, as the hiring landscape changes amid technological advances, changing candidate preferences, and an increase in skills-based hiring initiatives, recruiters and talent acquisition professionals are learning that their role in the organization is becoming more and more important to the health and success of the business.

HCM platform iCIMS recently released its annual CHRO report, and in it detailed the transformation of the TA role into one of strategic advising.

“There’s this expectation that we’re making hires…We need to hit all these boxes in terms of the qualification, the quality of that hire, the experience that [candidates are] getting, [and] the readiness of talent that’s available,” said iCIMS CPO Laura Coccaro.

The strategic talent advisor. In the CHRO report, 91% of HR execs said the TA role is morphing into a one of strategic talent advising; 47% suggested it already has, and another 44% expect it to happen in the future.

Coccaro pointed to a number of shifts in the talent market driving the elevation of the recruiting and talent acquisition function within HR:

• A more limited availability of talent, both in regard to actual bodies as well as skills in the market
• Issues related to hiring remote, hybrid, or in-person
• The complexity in the compliance landscape, including pay transparency and bias in AI-assisted hiring
• The “start-stop” in the hiring market, and a need to keep talent pools available for when workforce needs arise
• An increased need for a positive candidate experience in the hiring process

Retention is the new recruitment. Coccaro said talent professionals should strive to “be their authentic selves” in recruiting so potential new hires can make the most informed decision possible when entering the workforce.

“What we know about today’s current workforce is that they’re using a lot of discretion when they’re joining…a new employer. We see that come through consistently, but once they get to a place, they want to stay there for longer than we’ve seen historically,” she said.

In its Class of 2023 report, iCIMS found that members of Gen Z have a preference for staying and growing within a role where possible.

The inverse of this phenomenon, Coccaro noted, is that if there is a misalignment in values, early career employees and recent grads are “faster to pull the ripcord and get out.”

Coccaro said there’s less active external recruiting, but there’s also a need for thoughtful L&D investment in order to gain a leg up on competitors. Talent professionals are looking for ways to both accelerate learning and improve performance of current employees in order to help foster continued mobility and support this new trend among younger employees.

The shelf-life of relevant and needed skills is shrinking as technology like generative AI transforms the workplace. People leaders are thinking more about incrementally upskilling their current workforce with urgently needed skills, rather than searching for a relative novice with no base knowledge of the company or industry. This can be an opportunity for both the company and employees.

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