RECRUITMENT IN 2024/2025

RECRUITMENT in late 2024 MOVING to 2025 and 2030

New rules or a 21st century approach to recruitment that consider the technology that is available to all of us along with the extrinsic Labour Law and intrinsic factors?

The alpha generation are more adept than any other generation at using the technology available to them and can manipulate it to great effect. Are they becoming less socially and emotionally capable perhaps yet but that is something that can be addressed with technology and with culturally sensitive online and in face workshops. The standard cv is no longer enough and bland or banal is out of the window.

When considering this we should not be thinking only from the job seekers’ perspective but also that of the employer:

(a) Nothing’s more critical today than identifying your internal talent and retaining them whilst attracting new talent to your team/company. My tool of choice is PRISM a scientific behavioural and Neuroscience tool with preferred behaviour’s and least preferred or avoided behaviours. In this way we get the right person in the right job, right time, right place with the right leader and everyone grows.

(b) Often times we don’t ask the right questions and then actually listen to the answers rather than just hearing, the obvious questions are not always asked and if they are not in a behaviourally stated way leading to inconclusive responses that provide valid and reliable information.  A job seeker or internal candidate wants to feel the following three things; to be valued, valuable and add value. When we have an idea of their interest, abilities, attitudes, aptitudes and core traits we see a more rounded person and their ‘fit’.

(c) Children are more than able and adept at telling ‘grownups’ exactly what they want to hear in most situations and will play the game effectively without the ’adults’ knowing they have been played.

The business community is behind in the advent of the 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION and the requirement for TVET [Technical Vocational Education & Training] which most businesses have not come up to speed with but must. Along with the need for 10 vocational graduates to every one academic now and this is well documented in UAE with KHDA and all the emerging roles. This was made even more clear to me when attending the recent ENERGY SUMMIT in Ras Al Khaimah where it was made clear that we do not have the skills let alone competencies for the new jobs let alone those down the line. Just think of carbon capture, CO2 re-utilisation and the need for storage tanks in reservoirs, green cement, electrical grids across borders as with the GCC Grid, to name a few opportunities.

ttps://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2024/11/29/frances-edf-in-talks-to-build-five-gigawatt-pumped-storage-plant-in-rak/

RAKTA have invested heavily and successfully with their fleet of taxis and the intercity buses, but most are not owned but outsourced, leading to one of the biggest challenges which is in fact sustainable procurement.

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/transport/uae-electric-hydrogen-powered-buses-to-hit-abu-dhabi-roads-next-month

Vocational career journeys are not alone in being a major challenge for recruitment and the new certifications some have not even been created yet.

UAE and GCC attract many international companies but to date many of these rely on their own countries’ practices and do not necessarily recognize or incorporate local labour laws to their own detriment. For example, the mandatory employment of UAE Nationals in companies of more than 50 employees with huge penalties for those who do not engage with the labour law.

We need to invest in our youth at the earliest opportunity and this is exactly the concept and belief behind FUTURE GUARDIANS [https://futureguardians.io] and INNOTIVES [https://innotives.io]

All views my own.

New Rules for Recruiters

I’ve been trying to imagine what kind of productive, informative, and instructive conversation a recruiter can have with a recent college grad looking for their first job that would lead to a well-grounded conclusion that the candidate is likely to succeed within any given organization. In the insanely judgmental and fragile hiring environment in which we now function, this is no easy task. You’re walking on eggshells and wandering through uncharted and perilous territory. That’s especially true if you’re interviewing on college campuses, where you can trigger a snowflake just as easily with a smile as with a snide remark.

I’m considering this predicament solely from the employer’s perspective since:

(a) nothing’s more critical today than properly identifying and attracting new talent to your team;

(b) it’s become very difficult to ask the obvious questions we once asked to get some fair idea of a person’s interest, abilities, and attitudes in working for and with us; and

(c) kids have become increasingly adept at telling grownups exactly what they want to hear in these discussions, whether they mean it or not.

Don’t Expect Candour and You Won’t Be Disappointed

They’ve obviously learned from the congressional testimony of craven Supreme Court nominees that the truth of your comments means very little as long as you speak “sincerely” with a smile. And, of course, all of these crafty candidates are also coached by their college counselors or their senatorial sponsors to say whatever will get them through the interviews and the day.

As an aside, I’m assuming that you’ve figured out how to avoid and eliminate those entitled and deluded wunderkinds who think that they’re doing you a favor by deigning to speak with you and letting you offer them a position. I’ve concluded that trying to “sell” any prospect on the good reasons to join your business is a waste of time.

If they’re not excited and already interested in the position, if they haven’t done their homework and learned all about your business, they’re not right for the job anyway, and you’d be foolish to spend even a moment trying to convince them of anything. Find the ones who are already inclined, energized, and leaning in your direction and build your team from that pool of prospects. It’s so much easier to ride the horse in the direction it’s headed.

College Grads Are Not as Entitled as They Think They Are

In this context, it also helps to keep in mind that, in these troubled times and highly competitive markets, you shouldn’t have to convince anyone that getting a good initial job with your company makes sense. They really don’t have a lot of choices, whether they presently understand that or not. And things in that regard are only going to get worse.

We’ve entered a decade where millions of entry-level white collar and no-collar jobs are going to be eliminated by automation and AI while our colleges and universities insist on continuing to turn out generalist graduates in fluffy and make-believe disciplines whose skill sets—such as they are—do nothing to differentiate them from the herds of other equally deficient suitors seeking employment, or offer any particular reason to select them from the crowd.

My New Plan: The Second Mouse Gets the Cheese

But try as I might, I’ve really been unable to figure out any sensible or scalable approach to this problem, so I’ve decided on an alternative plan, which is based on the simple idea that the second time is a charm. I’ve decided that I don’t want to be any newbie’s first employer; I want to be the place they work next—and, hopefully, that my place is where they will hang their hat for quite a while. I don’t believe you can be happy until you experience some negative things to appreciate what you have.

Let the colleges keep coddling their kids and I’ll find my new hires a little way down the road, after they’ve learned and lived through a few of life’s real lessons on someone else’s dime. Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

To be clear, I’m not interested in job hoppers, but I like the idea that the folks we’ll be bringing on board through this program are likely to be a little more mature, a lot more focused on sticking around and making things work out, and grateful for the opportunity to prove themselves. Ignorance is cured by experience. No one necessarily wants to be first, but everyone wants to be second.

The good news is that there are plenty of solid prospects floating around, there are very efficient and cost-effective online solutions for identifying and contacting them, there are fewer employers competing head-to-head in the space for the same talent, the compensation expectations are more realistic and less well-defined, and there are no officious college administrators minding everyone’s business and looking over your shoulder.

You’re a lot more likely to be lucky and successful if you’re not simply continuing to look for your new people in the same old ways. The reason lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn’t there the second time.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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