The SIA’s Executive Forum: 3 key learns from Day 2 

Global Head of Solutions, Rob Moffat, offers key learns from a second day at Executive Forum (North America), presented by Staffing Industry Analysts.

The second day of the Executive Forum, hosted by Staffing Industry Analysts, offered a combination of discussions on the staffing industry directly, but also some insights and advice to those who lead it.

Here’s my take on the trending themes and conversations predicted to dominate our discussions over the next 12 months.

The human side of leadership

Two separate sessions covered the human aspect of leadership from different angles.

The first led with the benefits of truly being a values or purpose led organisation. Having initially admitted that a Google search may not be the best way to define a company’s values, the speaker reflected on the process undertaken to develop them for their own organisation, detailing both the direct and indirect benefits, such as engagement and retention, that having a clearly defined purpose had produced.

A later session focused on how vulnerability and openness from a leader makes them easier and more believable to follow. On the other hand, some of the more traditional behaviours, like always being last in the office, actually prompt your staff – sometimes damagingly – to mimic these actions.

Yes, it is, no it isn’t… a “direct” conversation

The panel on Direct Sourcing generated one of the livelier discussions of the day. The session marked a shift from the more historic conversations of definitions and impact with a rather blunt ‘It’s coming’ and ‘it’s been live in the UK for 20 years’.

The conversation then considered why organisations were buying into it, with one panellist commenting that ‘two years ago it was cost, but now it’s about speed and quality’ only to be countered with a rather pragmatic ‘if you’re talking to procurement you need to be talking about savings.’

A third panelist diplomatically stated, ‘I agree with both of you.’

The conversation illustrated how different stakeholders within an organisation have different agendas and priorities, but Direct Sourcing is one of the few “new” services in staffing that actually delivers across the board, offering ‘the value to the organisation of having talent ready to go.’

Total talent… again

No conference or summit would be complete without the returning debate of if, when and how we can truly look at the ‘total’ workforce as one flexible skill base, rather than siloed as temporary, permanent, services or freelancer, to name just a few.

Everyone agrees that while these channels remain separated, organisations need an omnichannel approach to engaging with these workers and their skillsets to benefit from the widest and best talent pools.

Final thoughts

An informative few days with a number of familiar subjects, complimented by a couple of new or progressive perspectives and some useful advice on how leaders in the industry can better lead their organisation and teams in this ever changing landscape.

Looking forward to next year!

Missed part 1? Catch up on the key insights here.