Over the last few years, I've spent a lot of time studying how companies hire -- what makes the best teams thrive, how individuals get selected for jobs, the gating effects of unconscious bias, and our preference for hiring people who are similar to ourselves. I spent 2015 promoting new paradigms about how we should hire based on those learnings, including launching a talent analytics platform to implement the best strategies for hiring and mitigate the bad ones. As we move forward into 2016, I'm excited by new evidence that this paradigm shift is taking hold, and by all the ways I see our society responding to this inflection point.
1. Executives are recognizing talent as a top strategic asset
Consultants and thought-leaders have been predicting the impending talent war for years. Now that it's here, it seems to be here to stay for the foreseeable future. Especially in the example of Silicon Valley unicorns and tech giants, executives are tripping over themselves to be as attractive an employer as possible. The talent war is good for employees: we're seeing unprecedented job perks and major strides for benefits like parental leave. CEOs recognize the critical link between an engaged workforce and high profits, and accordingly are leading with a talent-first mindset. Even if there is a bit of a downturn, this will only make hiring the right talent more important.
2. Hiring continues to be strong
Job growth in 2016 is on track to exceed the hiring rates of 2015. We'll continue to see excellent job opportunities, meaning greater choice for job seekers. Workers have the option not just to find a job, but find ideal job fit.
3. Organizations are looking at how to make hiring practices better
Organizations today understand more about hiring practices than they ever have before. Companies that consistently come out on top in the talent war, like Google, Facebook, and Airbnb, have modeled interview and on-boarding processes that make a strong sell to candidates and place hires at a rapid pace. Additionally, consultants and academics have raised awareness of the importance of hiring strategies that look at non-traditional markers of success -- for example, rather than requiring a four-year degree from a "good school," they aim to understand more about the individual's learning style and how they'd collaborate with other team members.
4. Software will operationalize best practices for hiring and democratize the hiring landscape
Companies who don't have the hiring cache or allure of the Ubers and Airbnbs of the world have struggled to keep up in the race to secure the best and the brightest. And even the top hirers like Google and Facebook have struggled to rid their hiring funnels of the unconscious bias that keeps their talent base homogenous and lacking the kind of diversity that drives real innovation. Both of these kinds of hirers will see major benefit from software that makes those best practices easy to operationalize and implement at scale.
2016 is sure to be another world-changing year. I'm confident that change will be for the better--and step one is harnessing the power of technology to ensure the best practices are being implemented to get the best person into a role.