5 takeaways from the Talent & TIARAs Conference on rethinking talent, potential, and performance in a changing world of work.
There’s a famous story about Ernest Shackleton’s recruitment efforts for his 1914 Antarctic expedition. The advertisement supposedly read:
“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”
Whether Shackleton actually placed the ad is disputed. Historians have never found the original. But the story has endured for a reason.
It is a striking example of recruiting for the reality of the job and the purpose behind it. No inflated promises. No lengthy list of qualifications. Just a clear description of the challenge and what it would take to be part of it.
That idea feels especially relevant today. As the nature of work changes, organizations need to get clearer about what success requires and the capabilities people need to deliver it.
At last week’s Talent & TIARAs Conference, hosted by TALiNT Partners in Atlanta, Georgia, talent leaders explored many of these questions. One discussion, The Operational Reality of Skills-First Talent Models, featured Sean Barry, Harver’s CEO, and examined the practical realities of putting skills-first approaches into action.
I left the conference thinking about five important takeaways for talent leaders.
1. Hire for capability, not just experience
For years, hiring decisions have relied heavily on experience. Job titles, years in a role, industry background, and familiar career paths have served as signals of a candidate’s potential.
But experience alone doesn’t tell the whole story.
Someone may have years of experience performing a particular job without demonstrating the capabilities needed to adapt as that job changes. Another candidate may have a less traditional background but possess the judgment, curiosity, analytical thinking, and adaptability that the role requires.
The challenge for talent leaders is to look beyond what candidates have done and understand what they can do.
That means defining success before the hiring process begins. What does strong performance actually look like? Which capabilities matter most? What separates someone who can do the job from someone who can excel in it?
When organizations answer those questions, they can make more objective, job-relevant hiring decisions. They can also broaden their talent pools by recognizing potential that might otherwise be overlooked.
2. Use skills-based hiring to drive better business outcomes
Skills-based hiring is an important shift in how organizations identify and evaluate talent. But its value goes well beyond removing degree requirements or changing the qualifications listed in a job description.
The real opportunity is to connect the capabilities organizations assess during hiring to the outcomes they need people to deliver.
That starts with understanding what success looks like in a role. What should this person accomplish? Which capabilities are most important to achieving those results? And how can employers evaluate those capabilities consistently and objectively?
This requires organizations to rethink how they define jobs, assess candidates, and measure hiring success.
Industrial-organizational psychology provides a foundation for understanding the relationship between demonstrated capabilities and job performance. Predictive assessments help organizations evaluate candidates against the requirements of the role, rather than relying solely on resumes, interviews, or subjective impressions.
But the work shouldn’t stop when someone accepts an offer.
Organizations should connect pre-hire assessment data with post-hire performance, retention, and other meaningful business outcomes. This helps talent leaders understand whether their hiring practices are identifying the people who actually succeed.
It also creates an opportunity to measure Return on Talent Investment (ROTI). When organizations understand the relationship between hiring decisions and business performance, they can make better decisions about where to invest in talent.
Across Harver’s customer base, organizations have reduced time to hire by around 40% and early attrition by up to 25%. Better hiring decisions can improve both the candidate experience and business performance.
Skills-based hiring provides the foundation. Connecting demonstrated capabilities to measurable outcomes is how organizations realize its full value.
3. Prioritize the human capabilities that will matter most in an AI-driven workplace
Technical skills remain important. But as technology evolves, the ability to learn, adapt, think critically, communicate, and exercise sound judgment becomes even more valuable.
Consider the growing role of artificial intelligence in the workplace. Organizations need people who can work effectively alongside AI, understand its possibilities and limitations, and apply it appropriately.
That raises a new question for talent acquisition: How do you assess whether a candidate is ready to work in an environment where AI is part of the job?
Harver’s AI PREVAIL™ assessment is one example. It helps organizations assess candidate AI readiness, giving employers insight into an increasingly relevant capability.
The broader point is that organizations need to keep reassessing what success looks like. The capabilities that differentiated top performers five years ago may not be the same ones that matter most five years from now.
Hiring strategies need to evolve accordingly.
4. Bring talent acquisition into the C-suite business conversation
Talent acquisition has a direct connection to business performance. Yet recruiting teams are often measured by activity and efficiency rather than the value their hiring decisions create.
The conversation needs to change.
Talent leaders need to be at the table with the CEO, CFO, and other members of the C-suite. They need to understand the organization’s strategic priorities and translate them into workforce and capability requirements.
More importantly, they need to connect talent decisions to the outcomes the business cares about.
How does hiring the right people affect productivity? What does early attrition cost the organization? Which capabilities will help the business execute its strategy? What is the financial impact of consistently getting hiring decisions right?
These are not simply recruiting questions. They are business questions.
Return on Talent Investment gives talent leaders a useful framework for making that connection. It shifts the conversation from how many people were hired or how quickly roles were filled to the value those people deliver.
When talent acquisition can demonstrate how hiring decisions contribute to business performance, it earns a more strategic role in shaping the organization’s future.
5. Use technology to make better hiring decisions, not just faster ones
Technology plays an important role in helping organizations make better talent decisions. But technology should support sound hiring practices, not replace the judgment and expertise of the people making those decisions.
The goal isn’t to add more steps or create more complexity for candidates. It’s to gather better information and make the process more relevant to the job.
Science-based assessments can provide objective insight into a candidate’s demonstrated capabilities. Automated reference checking can help employers gather meaningful feedback and verify information. And a strong employer brand and candidate experience can help organizations attract and engage the right people.
Each part of the process serves a purpose.
Harver’s predictive assessments, gamified behavioral assessments, and automated reference checking help organizations make more informed hiring decisions. Meanwhile, Symphony Talent’s recruitment marketing and employer branding capabilities help organizations attract and engage talent through compelling employer brands, career sites, and candidate experiences.
Together, these capabilities connect two important questions: Who are the people your business needs, and how will you find and engage them?
Technology can make that process more effective. But the final hiring decision belongs to people. The role of science is to give those people better evidence on which to base their decisions.
The question talent leaders need to ask
The conversations at the Talent & TIARAs Conference in Atlanta highlighted a challenge facing every organization: The world of work is changing, and hiring practices need to keep pace.
Organizations can’t assume that the experience, credentials, or job titles that signaled success in the past will be enough to predict success in the future.
They need to understand the capabilities that drive performance. They need objective, job-relevant ways to assess those capabilities. And they need to connect talent decisions to the business outcomes that matter.
At Harver, that approach starts with science. With more than 35 years of assessment research and expertise in industrial-organizational psychology, we help organizations identify the people most likely to succeed in a role. Combined with Symphony Talent’s recruitment marketing, employer branding, and candidate engagement capabilities, organizations can connect the science of identifying talent with the work of attracting it.
Because ultimately, hiring isn’t about finding someone who looks good on paper. It’s about finding the right person for the right job.
So here’s the question every talent leader should be asking: Are you hiring the people who have the experience you recognize, or the people who can deliver the outcomes your business needs?
