Staffing World 2023 is in the books – what a jam-packed three days in Charlotte!
Here are my three top takeaways from the highlight event of the American Staffing Association.
We Need AI, But We Aren’t Sure What We Need
Almost a year ago, Chat GPT became public, and that sent the business / technology world into a tizzy. “We need AI right now. If we don’t implement it now, our business will close tomorrow!”
After a couple of months, everyone was able to take a deep breath.
One of the keynote speakers, Paul Zikopoulos, is a leader in generative AI. He had a lot of awesome points but one of his points really stuck with me – “We overestimate new technology in the first 1-2 years, but underestimate new technology in the 5-10 year timeframe.”
Yes – we do need artificial intelligence tools in our tech stack, but we don’t know what we need. Companies could go out right now and purchase dozens of AI products or services, but is that really helpful?
One of the biggest challenges of the tech stack is getting everything to talk to each other. It’s a challenge now, and it will become a bigger challenge with more tech / AI tools getting implemented into your company’s arsenal. Adding new AI options for your team could cause confusion and resistance. We don’t like change, especially with technology.
On top of that – legal issues and regulations are hanging out there. That isn’t to say totally avoid AI, but we have to be aware of what’s going on.
We know we need artificial intelligence and AI tools, but we aren’t sure what specifically we need. Find the balance of waiting it out a little bit… just not too long!
Recruiters Are “Processors”
This theme kind of randomly jumped out on the last day of Staffing World, as I heard multiple people reference the word “processor” or their recruiters doing a lot of admin tasks – scheduling interviews, reviewing resumes, getting forms completed, etc.
One really awesome tip that I heard during the industrial sector panel was to time track what percentage of the day recruiters are spending on admin tasks compared to actually recruiting. Is it 60% on admin and 40% on recruiting? Is it 80-20?! Is it 30% admin vs. 70% recruiting?
Whatever the breakdown is – track what’s going on and then adjust to what is successful for your business. By giving your recruiters more time to actually recruit, they will likely be happier.
Adjust the tasks of your recruiters to give them more time to talk to the people who actually want to work for you!
Put the Ego Aside
The two other keynote speakers featured world-class careers from the world of sports – former basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and gymnast Dominque Dawes. A common theme came through both of their talks, and that was putting aside the ego for the success of the overall team or company.
Dominique Dawes talked about being part of the “Magnificent Seven” – the USA gymnastics team that won the overall team gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Gymnasts are wired to be very inward-focused. It’s an individual sport, and the concept of teamwork was initially foreign to these gymnasts. During their training up to the 1996 Olympics, that mindset had to shift. It took time, but once they did, it led to greater results for the team and eventually the gold medal.
Coach K had a similar message. He focused on coaching the 2008 USA Basketball Team, otherwise known as the “Redeem Team.” That team featured all-time basketball greats – LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony – focused on the goal of bringing the gold medal back to the United States in men’s basketball at the 2008 Olympics.
He talked about their last exhibition game prior to the Olympics – when Kobe Bryant was taking bad shots or “Laker shots” as Coach K put it. LeBron James continued to look to the bench during the game, and Coach K continued to reply, “I got it.”
Coach K worried after the game, overnight, and in the morning before talking to Kobe Bryant. He was going to tell one of the best people in the world at his job to change the way he did his job. That’s difficult!
They talked the next day. Coach K mentioned how making selfish decisions that might be good with his old team wasn’t the best decision for the success of the USA Basketball Team. Kobe Bryant responded, “Ok” and they moved on.
That’s the takeaway for us – hold each other accountable and put the ego aside. Everyone is more successful when they work together toward the common goal of the organization. Hearing that message from two of the best people ever in their careers certainly resonated!
Catch the Whole Staffing World 2023 Recap Webinar
Looking for the entire webinar recap from the Haley Marketing team that attended Staffing World? Head over to Lunch with Haley to watch the webinar (live or on-demand) and get even more takeaways from Staffing World 2023.
