7 Must-See Sessions at Talent Connect 2024
Do you know the favored line of every parent with a big brood of children? “I love all my children equally, but differently.”
That’s how I feel about the lineup of breakout sessions for this year’s Talent Connect Summit, LinkedIn’s premier in-person event for talent leaders from around the globe. This year’s event will be in Phoenix on October 29 and 30.
And the more than 40 breakout sessions will laser in on topics that are top of mind for talent acquisition, talent development, and HR leaders everywhere: AI, career development, DEI, the ROI of learning programs, and efficiency (that is, doing more with less). Each session will be spearheaded by experts, innovators, and leading-edge practitioners on the issues that are shaping the future of work.
Tasty stuff, right? This is a smorgasbord of epic and epicurean proportions. But you can’t try everything, so here are the seven sessions I’m particularly keen to get a taste of:
1. The Future of HR Has Arrived: Systemic HR in Action, with Josh Bersin
There’s a reason industry analyst Josh Bersin has over 930,000 followers on LinkedIn: He has his finger on the pulse of HR and, using intel and insights, he always paints a credible picture of what’s coming next.
Last year at Talent Connect, Josh introduced the Systemic HR operating model, pointing to the need for a new set of HR capabilities and new ways to manage and operate the people function.
This year, Josh will share specific examples of how HR organizations are changing their operating models, their roles, and their teams. He will point to specific case studies and give attendees a clear, detailed road map for moving HR, talent acquisition, and learning and development to a new model.
2. AI-Driven Career Development at Scale: Insights from Industry Leaders at PwC and Visa, with Jeremy Broome and Leah Houde
Career development is the screaming focus of learning and development professionals in this moment of talent shortages and looming skills gaps. When done right, career development seems the very definition of symbiosis — a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups.
Jeremy Broome, the global head of talent at Visa, and Leah Houde, the chief learning officer at PwC, will share insights into how their organizations are upskilling and developing the careers of the vast workforces. They’ll talk about how their companies have used AI to personalize offerings to employees and increase the efficiency of their teams.
3. How to Structure Your TA Org and Strategies for a World of Automation, with John Vlastelica
John Vlastelica, the CEO of Recruiting Toolbox and a top-rated speaker at a number of previous Talent Connects, brings his keen-eyed expertise and unbridled enthusiasm to a hands-on workshop for talent acquisition leaders.
A regular contributor to the Talent Blog, John will tee up a discussion about how AI and automation will impact the size and makeup of TA organizations going forward.
He will detail some of the trade-offs and customizations needed to prepare recruiting teams to effectively embrace and adapt automation. Then he will set up participants to dive in and engage in peer-driven problem-solving.
4. Measuring Quality of Hire, with Ana Recio
Quality of hire remains the Holy Grail of talent acquisition metrics, fanatically sought-after and frustratingly elusive. But without having a way to measure quality of hire, can recruiting teams truly know they’ve been hiring the best, hiring the right people at the right moment?
Ana Recio, the vice president of global talent acquisition at Uber, will outline how a focus on quality of hire can impact the bottom line and she’ll talk about the promising early results from work at Uber, showcasing improvements in hiring funnel conversion rates, enhanced candidate and interviewer experience, and targeted onboarding as well as reduced applicant-review times.
5. Future-Proofing Careers, with Jay Shankar
Amazon is the one-stop online shop for everything — including, it turns out, careers.
There are many reasons that Amazon was, for three years running, LinkedIn’s choice as the No. 1 U.S. company at which to grow your career. Wouldn’t you like to know how they do it?
Jay Shankar, the global vice president of talent acquisition at Amazon, offers insights into how the company has built a culture of continuous learning and has developed robust upskilling programs that encourage employees to move to new roles and future-proof their careers.
6. Navigating the Dualities of AI, with Jackye Clayton and Tacita Morway
If you have mixed feelings about AI, that’s understandable. It promises time savings and increased productivity but can also bring more bias and unvetted recommendations. So, how do you maximize the benefits and minimize the risks?
That’s the question Jackye Clayton, the vice president of talent acquisition and DEIB at Textio, and her colleague Tacita Morway, the chief technology officer there, will tackle in their Big Idea session, where they will stress the importance of building robust guardrails as an imperative for safe AI adoption.
They will share the four questions to ask every AI vendor to ensure your company lands safe, reliable tools. Finally, they will outline their ideas about practical policies that will safeguard organizations from potential negative impacts of AI use.
7. Recruiting with AI: Guardrails, Guidelines, and Ethical Considerations, with Melissa Thompson, Mark Fuell, and Marie Artim
One of the unspoken benefits of the influx of generative AI tools, with all the promises and challenges they present, is the opportunity they have created for current talent leaders to shape approaches that companies will rely on for years to come.
When there are no legacy processes, the policies and practices you put in place will become part of your, well, legacy. An expert panel of TA leaders will unpack the transformative power of AI for hiring while weighing questions around how to ensure ethical and inclusive practices.
Melissa Thompson, the global head of talent acquisition for the Ford Motor Company; Mark Fuell, the global head of TA for EY; and Marie Artim, the vice president of TA for Enterprise Mobility will detail actionable strategies for harnessing AI responsibly, without compromising integrity and values. They will also discuss the often overlooked aspects of change management, highlighting the critical importance of preparing teams for shifts in technology and of fostering cultures of continual improvement.
