Roxana Brahasteanu, Talent Acquisition Director EMEA at Morningstar presented an interesting keynote at the IESF Regional Meeting in Copenhagen. As a global client, searching for talent in several countries simultaneously, she shared her vision and ideas on how corporate Talent Acquisition teams and Executive Search Recruiters can build long term partnerships for success. Morningstar already had successful collaborations with IESF Romania, IESF Spain, IESF Norway and IESF Switzerland. This article defines the trends for successful talent acquisition from the perception of the client. Where are the similarities with our recruitment businesses and what are the challenges? What if we can align even better and join forces in the war for talent?
Morningstar, Inc. is an American financial services firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It provides an array of investment research and investment management services. With operations in 29 countries, Morningstar’s research and recommendations are considered by financial journalists as influential in the asset management industry, and a positive or negative recommendation from Morningstar analysts can drive money into or away from any given fund. The firm also provides software and data platforms for investment professionals, In 2019, Morningstar acquired the world’s fourth largest credit rating agency DBRS and in 2020, Morningstar entered into an agreement to acquire Sustainalytics, a research and ratings firm specializing in environmental, social and governance (ESG) insights.
Roxana Brahasteanu: “We build a Global Talent Acquisition team because there is a significant growth in our market, therefore we need to be agile and flexible to meet the growing needs in high volume recruiting. Fast results on the execution side requires extraordinary flexibility, in the post pandemic world more than ever. So how can we leverage collaborations across regions and domains, to expand our chances of success, rather than working on a single assignment base only? The key to succeeding in continuous recruitment I think relied on longtime partnerships between the client and the agency.”
Recruitment landscape
“When we look at the future of recruiting there are a couple of developments we must consider. First, the talent trends are changing fast and we’re still facing post pandemic challenges. The demand for highly skilled talent is enormous. Especially in the IT industry we also see the globalization of tech talent. Another important topic is diversity and inclusion, not only as a tagline, but a real integrated part of your business strategy. And finally, we need to make sure we hire for the future and overcome virtual barriers. We need to respond to these trends in several ways: Agility and speed must become the norm. In fast growing industries, like at Morningstar, continuous and pipeline hiring are becoming the new normal. And if there is one thing the pandemic teaches us it’s the interconnectivity of markets and geographies.”
Candidate journey
At the IESF Regional Meeting in Copenhagen executive search partners joined the discussion and talked about important parts of the recruitment process to make the candidate journey better aligned. “Employer branding is a very important trend, on your website do not only focus on your clients but also or even mainly on potential employees. It’s not only the candidates that have to sell themselves, but also the company to sell themselves to the candidate. The human touch in talent attraction will never be replaced. Some systems will make processes go smoother, but recruiters and executive search professionals are important brand ambassadors and key advisors. Sometimes clients wish to see several candidates for a position to compare. But in this candidate market, finding a perfect candidate should be enough for a client to continue with the hire. You simply can’t afford to wait and let a perfect candidate walk.”
One quote that summarizes the presentation and discussion is from Steve Jobs: ‘The secret of our success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world.’ And we will keep doing that, thank your Roxana Brahasteanu!
