- Skills shortages are putting the pressure on HR leaders to find talent, especially for technical roles in AI and cloud computing.
- GenAI has the potential to change almost every job, creating new opportunities while raising the bar for workers using it.
- Fostering a culture of continuous learning will help employees acquire these critical skills. Talent leaders should also look for candidates with high levels of learnability.
A healthy dose of curiosity and willingness to learn are the best skills anyone can have in this age of AI.
When it comes to AI, Hudson Global CEO Darren Lancaster said that a willingness to learn is one of the top attributes he looks for in candidates today. A leading provider of talent solutions, Hudson RPO helps organizations around the world find and recruit top talent to drive innovation.
As Lancaster’s main focus is to recruit people with tough-to-find skills in the tech space, opening up the search for those candidates with the potential to learn is a must. With the pace of technology quickly advancing and a lack of critical skills in the overall workforce, he has extensive experience spotting trends and getting ahead of the curve.
In this episode of The New Talent Code, Lancaster joins hosts Ligia Zamora and Jason Cerrano for a conversation about how organizations, including his own, must adjust talent acquisition strategies to better serve their customers and remain competitive.
Related content: From skills shortages to GenAI, Hudson Global CEO Darren Lancaster shares insights on the future of work and recruiting.
Skills shortages aren’t going anywhere
According to a 2023 Gallup report, 51% of currently employed workers said they’re watching for or actively seeking a new job. The talent market remains fiercely competitive — especially when it comes to technology skills.
“When you think about the kinds of skills organizations are looking for from a technology perspective, you immediately think to yourself of the AI-type skills,” Lancaster said. “Cloud computing is a challenge — anything in terms of software development — and even aspects in digital marketing.”
However, Lancaster notes that organizational leaders are rethinking their approaches to acquiring these critical skills. “Learnability becomes a key criterion for them,” he said. “If you can get that person who is adaptable to learning, [acquiring the right skills] is easy.”
Curiosity is another skill that will be key, along with learnability, as organizations look for the future potential in talent.
“The job in which we’re operating now is going to significantly change over the next few years because of the introduction of AI technology,” Lancaster said. “My clients ultimately need us to recruit people who can adapt to that change.”
GenAI and the workforce
GenAI will change nearly every job to some extent. Some jobs will be partially or fully automated, and entirely new jobs will be created.
Lancaster is looking forward to this future where technology brings new opportunities.
“I can only see the benefits of [GenAI] rather than the parts that are going to pull us back because I strongly believe that in everything that’s ever happened, or the evolution of the way in which technology has led us, It’s often created jobs rather than eliminated them,” he said.
Lancaster envisions a balanced approach to incorporating GenAI into the workplace, insisting that organizations and their workers must feel secure in how they use it. However, with increased capabilities comes higher expectations.
“We become more efficient,” Lancaster said. “But with that efficiency, there is a higher expectation around what we will achieve. The expectation level of the client will be far more advanced than it was 10 years ago.”
Developing critical skills
Finding critical skills won’t just be a hiring game. Upskilling and internal mobility will be essential for organizations looking to acquire these skills.
“The internal mobility platform organizations create is one of the key structures that organizations need,” Lancaster said. “The parts that can help are the AI parts, which you can introduce into internal mobility.
“[AI] will be helpful in the future because you can tailor profiles within your organization to see wherever employees can be adaptable for future roles or skill sets that are coming out or within the workforce plan,” he continued.
Lancaster also emphasized the importance of career pathing to engage employees. “A career path is a genuine interest from your current line manager into where your career ladder is ultimately going. It’s looking at the capabilities of the individual, but it’s also visualizing what the potential path is of an employee and what the future can be for them.”
Successful internal mobility, however, demands visibility and transparency. Organizations will be challenged to help their talent understand what they’re looking for when it comes to career progression.
“It’s almost like lifting the curtain on certain situations so employees can say this is what’s available,” Lancaster said. “It goes back to continuously learning through the job. It’s the encouragement of that, and it’s creating the culture within your organization to really make it helpful.”
Listen to the entire episode on The New Talent Code podcast on our site or wherever you listen to podcasts.
