Using LinkedIn to network

In the first of our blog series on LinkedIn, we explained how to create an impressive LinkedIn profile. Here we explore ways to optimise your profile, network and seek out job opportunities on the platform.

There are currently more than 58 million companies listed on LinkedIn with more than 15 million open job listings.

Six people are hired via LinkedIn every minute. Read on for tips and tricks to make sure the right recruiters are matched with your profile, improving your chances of being found for the right role.

Be active:

The more active you are on your profile, the more you will appear in employer/recruiter searchers. Tweaks, updates and relevant content sharing and posting will help boost your presence. If you are currently job searching, make sure you are using LinkedIn regularly.

Follow the companies in which you are interested and their executives/thought leaders to build up links and stay informed on developments and opportunities and gain insights into their culture.

Connect, connect, connect. Don’t be shy about sending out a request to anyone you know or is connected to you in any way who you can share insights with and might be mutually helpful. This is not a friend-making platform, it’s about building networks. You will be as useful to an old colleague, schoolfriend, acquaintance, contact-of-contact as they are to you. Also, link in to recruiters, HR leaders, industry influencers and key decision makers. If an employer sees you are linked to them via other connections, they are more like to take you seriously. It will help you access the elusive hidden job market and bring recruiters to your door. Do follow etiquette, though. Don’t employ a scattergun approach, mindlessly messaging hundreds of people with no obvious links to you. Ensure there is a purpose or shared interest or field. Add a personalised message explaining why you want to connect and offer to help or share information, but keep it brief.

Be proactive. Message senior decision makers, hiring managers, recruiters, any of your connections in the relevant sector and ask about opportunities. Keep it brief, friendly and professional. Read profiles fully first to get a sense of their preferred style of communication and their role and experience so you can make any introduction or opening gambit personal and specific instead of sounding like a cut and paste job. Don’t send CVs on spec and long personal sales pitches. Just explain what you are looking for, how you think you can help and ask if they know of opportunities or can suggest anybody else to contact. Any inside information may give you that edge over other job seekers and valuable access to the hidden market.

Open to work. Consider whether it’s appropriate to set your profile to Open to Work. There’s a video here on how to do it. You can limit this information to recruiters, useful if you do not want other people to know you are looking or want to seek opportunities subtly. Alternatively, you can also alert all contacts, although you might wish to discuss this option with a skilled coach to decide on the right positioning for you.

Search and subscribe to job alerts: Clicking on the jobs icon in the toolbar will take you to a page where jobs matching your skills and experience will be displayed. You can search for further positions and switch the “set alert” toggle to “on” to receive notifications when relevant new jobs are posted.

Join groups and networks to extend your reach and stay informed. Add insightful comments to posts and share or create your own content to showcase your expertise and thought leadership and make sure people see your name. Nine in 10 super successful job hunters in a LinkedIn survey belonged to at least one group.

Maintain your network. Once you have made a useful contact, try to maintain it. For example, if you had a good job interview but didn’t get the post, follow up with a message to the panel members thanking them for their time, asking for feedback and politely requesting that they might consider you for any future roles. Be careful not to overstep the mark or become over familiar. Keep it professional unless the relationship has developed into a mutually more friendly one naturally. Ensuring you are gently in the background of a specific space will help keep you in the mind of employers, recruiters and other contacts who may have helpful information or consider you when an opportunity arises.

Prepare for applications and interviews. Use this incredible resource to frame your approach, response and interview style. Look at anyone who has worked for the company or comparable companies. What skills do they showcase? What were their career trajectories? Who do they follow? What do they post?

Similarly, read into the company culture and the backgrounds of any individuals who may have a part in the recruitment process. Finding a common interest with an interviewer before meeting them can be a good icebreaker – say a football team or the fact you’ve both worked at the same company or in the same European city. It shows you’ve done your homework. Don’t be over familiar though! Knowing it’s their first born’s 18th birthday or the name of their dog could backfire!

Should you pay for premium?

If you’re not actively looking for a job, recruiting or seeking to build your sales or following for commercial purposes, the free-to-use platform should meet most or all your needs.

But it’s worth going for the free one-month premium free trial to unlock the extra features and decide if it’s worth paying for while you are in the market. They include direct email access to hiring managers, notifications of views of your CV, LinkedIn Learning courses and AI-powered searches.

These are just some of the tools and benefits to LinkedIn and the beauty of it is that it’s a vast resource of accessible, free and easily searchable information to support you in so many aspects of your career development. However, while algorithms make it as personal to you as they can, there are limitations to its offering.

It goes without saying that competition for jobs at the very top is most intense and the process so much more complex as companies seek the very best candidate for crucial positions upon which futire company fortunes can be made and lost.

If you feel you could benefit from professional, structured highly personalised support in your executive job search, do contact Rialto for a free initial consultation.

In just 22 years, LinkedIn has gone from an experimental social media app created in its founder’s bedroom to the world’s stand out digital business platform. Here, we look at how to create a standout profile to build your personal brand and how to use the platform for executive and senior leadership job searches.

With a billion members in 200 countries and territories, LinkedIn has changed the way professionals connect and interact, a development turbo-charged by the lockdowns of the Covid pandemic.

While many see it simply as a live CV/recruitment service, it is a far more valuable resource than that with several functions that can be incredibly useful to anyone in any post in any sector. They include networking, influencing, subtle marketing and branding through delivery of quality content (no spamming or unsolicited sales approaches allowed) and research/learning.

For example, if you need to understand the opportunities and risks of AI in your business, LinkedIn is a good place to start. Companies including our own invest considerable resources in creating high quality, original and free to access content on topics like this, relevant to their target audience.

In this first part to our LinkedIn blog series, we will explore how to create a brilliant profile to build your personal brand and project a polished, professional front to support your career transition or development.

Part two will explain how to use the platform for executive and senior leadership job searches and ensure recruiters & other key stakeholders find you. Later in the year, we’ll show you how to grow your followers, promote your personal brand and increase your influence by posting relevant content to showcase your talent.

How it works:

Knowing how the LinkedIn algorithm works is key to getting the best use out of it. Unlike other social media sites, it is designed to avoid posts going viral, focusing instead on relevance, quality of content and meaningful connections between individuals with common interests and similar profiles.

The more time you spend using it, the more it can understand your needs, refining its selection of content and connections to organisations and people that will prove increasingly relevant and helpful.

Using LinkedIn Effectively

Today, the first contact any potential new business partner/employer/employee is likely to have of you will be digital, most probably through LinkedIn, which is why you need to be skilled in promoting yourself on it.

In person, it is said that we make 1,000 computations about an individual within seven seconds of meeting them. We read appearance, body language, personality – we respond through experience, instinct and chemistry.

Online, there are only visuals and words to go on. In some ways, this makes it easier – we can control how we present ourselves. In other ways, it makes it harder – with fewer readable clues, a single mis-step could carry far more weight than all the positive signals being sent out.

Think about what happens when you cast an eye over a LinkedIn profile. Your brain whirrs into gear, scanning for clues to build a picture. And, yes, you will form a fairly instant opinion based on what you see. You may even decide whether you want any further contact based on this first, rudimentary judgement. Without even realising, people who have not grasped the importance of this may be denying themselves the chance to make a better second impression in real life once the LinkedIn verdict is in.

Every day, people are doing the same to you which is why it is essential to get it right and fully exploit the power of this global connectivity.

Getting your profile right:

1. The basics: your profile needs to be easily discoverable, informative, up to date and professional. The right people need to be able to find you. Many professionals would be unimpressed if they struggle to find you and then find your profile lacking compared to peers. Pages with complete profiles get 30 per cent more views per week. Get your message across by writing in clear, plain English (or your language of choice). Avoid jargon, cliches and overly florid language. (Here’s a list of words to avoid). Check and double check for typos or errors or get someone else to cast a fresh pair of eyes over it for you, preferably a knowledgeable mentor or coach.
2. Ensure your photo reflects the image you want to present. It’s fine for a creative executive to look a bit whacky, but if you’re a finance director or working almost anywhere else in senior leadership, a professional head and shoulders with office attire and clear background is essential. Use company insignia if appropriate and ensure you are recognisable. No flattering 20-year-old photos!
3. Add detail. The more you include – school, university, previous employers, achievements, awards, professional learning, etc – the more search tags are available for people to find you and the more connections and relevant content will come up for you.
4. Write a stand out headline and articulate, succinct summary that lists your experience and skills in your target sector. It should read as a story with a personal touch to single you out and give you that elusive quality which never fails to attract the right people: likeability. So, if you’re on the board of a charity or have a burning ethical mission in which you are highly active, mention that, as long as it’s relevant. It’s a good idea to seek second opinions from a trusted mentor or career coach. How does your profile come across to them?
5. Use keywords for your industry and role and include your location and areas of expertise, in terms of skills, experience and geography. The more specific information you offer to potential recruiters and employers, the more easily they will find you and the better the matches. So, if you’re fluent in Mandarin, a member of a professional association or you’ve work for or partnered with renowned global organisations, name them.
6. Think carefully about which skills to list. LinkedIn offers keywords for Skills in three categories: All, Interpersonal Skills and Industry Knowledge. Think of soft skills too – the most in demand is creativity. List as many as you can justify if challenged. You need to think about examples you could give to illustrate any if asked in interview so stick to what you really know. Endorse other people’s skills and they are likely to return the favour, adding to your credibility and chances of finding a job – eight out of 10 people who secured a role on the platform within three months had at least 10 endorsements.
7. Consider upskilling to meet evolving or in demand requirements in the changing marketplace. It’s a good idea to look at leaders in your field or desired area of work to see what skills they are listing. LinkedIn has seen the number of members adding Generative AI skills like Copilot and ChatGPT rise by 142 times while non-technical professionals enrolling on AI courses has increased by 160%. (Rialto can benchmark your skills against the current market in your sector and function and help you fill in any gaps.)
8. Keep your profile up to date. It’s a good idea to get into the routine of dedicating time every month to maintenance; check it’s up to date, keep an eye on trends and stay ahead of the curve. The platform is always releasing new AI-powered tools to nudge you in the right direction. Use them!
9. Link to any successful accomplishments, videos or published articles in the Add Project section. These can be specific to your field or beyond to showcase your range of interests and skills.
10. Learn from the best. LinkedIn analyses some of the most successful profiles on the platform and explains why and how they work so well

Once your profile is sparkling and complete – check your rating, you want to be at all-star – it’s time to optimise it and start networking to get closer to that dream position. To learn more about this read part two to this Blog series, which explains how to use the platform for executive and senior leadership job searches and ensure recruiters and other key stakeholders find you.

Later in the year, we will show you how to grow your followers, promote your personal brand and increase your influence by posting relevant content to showcase your talent.

There’s no getting away from the fact that LinkedIn is now an essential tool for anyone in business. Whatever stage of your career, it’s worth investing your time and energy in it. First, ask what you want from it and dedicate your resources to that end. If you want to fully harness its many features and use it to offer a refined and finely-tuned personal brand, it’s worth getting professional support, particularly if you are seeking a senior role with a competitive salary in this difficult market.

Rialto can help you use LinkedIn effectively as part of a strategically structured, personalised executive career transition and job search. Contact us for a free initial consultation.

Our consulting and research teams at Rialto invest an increasing amount of time upgrading how we can best support business leaders to continually develop and flourish professionally and, perhaps most importantly, retain their zest, enthusiasm, drive and relevance in the face of emerging business and economic trends.

Whether our clients are just starting to realise their next horizon ambitions, looking to diversify their portfolio of executive positions or consolidate and plan for an active semi-retirement, the single most important, fundamental principle at the heart of all of their strategies is this: Progress. Stagnation and, worse, being left behind, are among the greatest fears of the world’s most dynamic and successful leaders and influencers.

Progress keeps things interesting, keeps leadership ahead of the curve, ensures a constant upwards trajectory. Progress means always having an eye on the future and being prepared for wherever it may bring. It means committing to continuous learning and personal growth; to nurturing and expanding networks; identifying, meeting and surpassing the changing requirements in an economic landscape that is evolving at lightning speed, propelled by exponential acceleration of technological disruption.

But how can individuals refine and upgrade their credentials, skills and expertise to be leaders of the future?

Here are three practical steps we support our clients to adopt to gain a competitive edge:

1. Invest in your own digital and technological literacy

Why It Matters:

The Generative AI-led technological revolution is transforming every function within every industry at a dizzying pace. It is no longer good enough to employ people to ‘do’ AI for you. AI, particularly Generative AI, should be reviewed, adopted and scaled regularly by anyone in any leadership capacity to drive innovation and efficiency and to empower workforces to use it safely and effectively.

Key Skills:

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning:Understanding AI and its applications can help leaders automate processes, drive growth, performance and efficiency, derive insights from big data and enhance decision-making.
• Cybersecurity:Knowledge of cybersecurity and other risks around AI is crucial to protect organisational data, infrastructure and reputation.
• Data analytics:The ability to analyse and interpret data helps make informed, strategic decisions. Applications such as predictive analytics and simulation software enable low-cost testing and refining of new products, services and innovations.
• Digital transformation strategies: Implementing and managing digital transformation initiatives helps organisations to stay competitive and relevant.
• Blockchain technology: Helps secure complex, cross-border transactions and simplifies logistics solutions.

How to attain them:

We’ve dedicated much of our digital content and training to this for several years now and helped many hundreds of senior leaders from around the world get ahead of this fourth industrial revolution. Now AI is becoming mainstream, there is no hiding from it. It may seem intimidating but it is just like any business language and can be demystified with appropriate support and training. See our recent blog on how to go from AI avoidant/confused to pro. Rialto offers personalised development programmes and organisational analysis for AI implementation plus regular online webinars with specialist tech/change management experts.

Sites such as LinkedIn, Google, and Microsoft also offer free online training to help bridge your knowledge gaps and become proficient and confident in your own digital and technological literacy.

2. Cultivate your emotional intelligence

Why It Matters:

Emotional intelligence involves the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions, as well as recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to the emotions of others. This skill set is essential for effective leadership and has a profound impact on various aspects of business management and organisational success. It enhances decision-making, communication, relationship-building, navigation of internal politics, employee engagement, change management, leadership influence, and conflict resolution. By cultivating emotional intelligence, business leaders can create a more positive and productive workplace and interpret and respond to the changing demands of their marketplace.

In today’s business landscape, leadership needs to be able to connect, communicate effectively with and influence a huge variety of stakeholders across a broad range of media, networks and digital platforms. One day an executive or senior leader might be addressing MPs in a select committee hearing, the next, answering concerns of venture capitalists; later that week delivering difficult news to the workforce in the morning and an interactive webinar to schoolchildren after lunch. Emotional intelligence is an essential skill to tune in to the language, style, culture and expectations of different audiences.

Key skills:

• Self-awareness: Poor leaders are the last in the room to recognise their own shortcomings, whether it is a bad temper or failure to trust and delegate. Leaders who are self-aware can correct mistakes, apologise when needed and adjust their leadership style. They are more likely to continue to grow professionally and be more aware of the dynamics of their interactions with others, helping them to foster stronger, more productive relationships with colleagues, employees, stakeholders and customers.
• Self-regulation and rationality: No matter how skilled and experienced a leader may be, no organisation wants to take on the liability of an individual who can not control their emotions in today’s commercially sensitive and litigious world. Being able to regulate emotions and respond rationally even in the most arduous or stressful situations is a skill highly prized and valued in the modern business world. Staying focused and rational also helps ensure clearer decision making based on data, evidence and expertise, not temporal and unreliable feelings.
• Empathy: Leaders who show empathy and genuine concern and compassion for their employees’ well-being are more likely to gain their trust and loyalty. Empathy means appreciating that each member of your workforce is a human being with feelings, fluctuating mental and physical health needs, emotional needs and commitments outside of work. Empathetic leaders are attuned to their markets and respond quickly and appropriately to changing cultural dynamics and influential external events.
• Conflict management: Wherever there are people there is conflict. In a well-managed environment, conflict can be a positive energising force, driving original thought, innovation and passion. Get it wrong, and teams can disintegrate into bitter power struggles, simmering resentment and a vacuum of creative collaboration. Effective conflict management and resolution fosters strong teams and constructive outcomes.
• Building trust and rapport: Senior leaders and executives in an effective people-centred organisation know they have hired the right people, feel a natural rapport with them and trust them to do their jobs within the accepted parameters. That mutual trust is rewarded with loyalty and productivity. Such leaders inspire confidence and reassurance during times of uncertainty, helping to maintain morale and focus.

How to attain them:  

Taking the time to step back and reflect on successes and failures, whether relational or business decisions and outcomes, helps develop emotional intelligence and raise self-awareness.  Engaging in EI training and working with executive coaches can significantly enhance these skills. Seek a mentor or coach to act as a sounding board and mirror. Ask them to help you reflect on and learn from your emotional responses when dealing with others or making decisions. Are you able to understand the emotions you feel? How might your opinions and communication impact others? What expectations might there be on how you behave in difficult situations? Are there certain triggers that cause a more emotional response, for example?

Once you remove or account for these factors, you can analyse more clearly your emotional responses and look to balance them with logic and reason.

The best leaders find ways to manage stress levels, through positive actions such as seeking mentoring and coaching, a healthy exercise, diet and sleeping regime, hobbies and other cultural distractions and interests and spending quality time with friends and family.

In work, they treat their employees as individuals, not a hive or cogs in a machine. Pre-empt their needs, look after their health and wellbeing, practise active listening and responding with emotional clarity.

Good leadership takes the time to address the emotional dynamics behind disagreements and brings rational judgement to de-escalate and resolve conflict. Reasons behind any decisions should be communicated clearly and effectively to avoid any sense of injustice and help all parties learn from the experience. See our blog on leadership lessons from the tech titans to see how Apple CEO Tim Cook employs empathy and inclusion to motivate his devoted workforce and turn customers into worshippers.

3. Embrace lifelong learning

Why it matters:

The foundation of effective leadership into the future lies in a commitment to lifelong learning and in this category we include skills and expertise and experiential learning. Once, a quality degree, perhaps an MA in your specialist subject plus ongoing on-the-job training were considered enough. That was during the decades between World War Two and the late 1980s, when the economic landscape changed at a pace that was positively glacial compared to today’s dynamic, fast-evolving environment.

Technology and globalisation have combined to create a constant state of flux rocked by frequent shocks such as the internet and digital revolution of the 90s, the advent of AI and especially launch of ChatGPT’s open Generative AI interface in 2022, and the Covid pandemic.

Today, executives and senior leaders need to be agile, adaptable and proactive, not reactive. While nobody can really predict exactly when and where the shocks will come and what their impact will be, leaders can ensure they are ahead of any cultural and technological curves by building on-going learning into their professional routine. We have covered the need for constant upskilling and learning in digital and disruptive technologies above. Other areas for focus could include these key skills:

• Responsive leadership: You may think you have this leadership thing licked, but even if you are CEO of a FTSE-100 or Nasdaq-listed multi-national, the world of business continues to change around you and you must continue to change your leadership style with it to stay relevant. What worked in 2020, during the pandemic, may be less effective today, post ChatGPT. Laws and expectations around inclusivity, equality, mental health and work culture are changing constantly. Covid saw the move towards remote working and all the technologies that came with it. We’re moving through hybrid working and increasingly coming back into the workplace as we rediscover the benefits of physical proximity, close collaboration and emotional connection. How leaders dress has even changed as well as how we network and how we speak to each other, all so much less formal. A new book or blog by an influential leader can shift the dial almost overnight. Key/evolving topics to study might include strategic leadership, change management, team dynamics, decision-making processes, conflict resolution and organisational behaviour.
• Global Business and Economics: Globalisation requires executives and senior leaders to have a keen understanding of international markets, economies, and cultural nuances. They need to know what is expected of them in different environments, cultures and countries as their organisations expand into new regions. Cultural sensitivity is key to international leadership but equally important on the domestic front where stakeholders and staff will increasingly represent different nationalities and cultures. Gaffes can be costly in terms of reputation, productivity, contracts and partnership relations while sensitivity and awareness can help any organisation navigate new territory with success. Topics for learning might include cross-cultural management, global supply chain management, emerging markets, economic Trends and forecasting and international regulations and compliance.
• Marketing and customer experience: Understanding market dynamics and customer behaviour helps executives drive growth and create value for customers. In today’s volatile, globally competitive and fickle markets, customers have access to choice as never before which means leadership in all functions need to be finely attuned to their demands and relationships to the brands or services they are offering. Optimum CX and customer engagement/loyalty is fundamental to commercial success and therefore should be a consideration in every strategic decision. Key topics for study might include: digital marketing, consumer behaviour, brand management, customer relationship management, market research and analysis and user experience (UX) design.

How to attain them:

If you’re seeking a formal qualification, enjoy academia and have the time and capacity, you may wish to explore formal education options like the Open University or studying for a diploma to develop your expertise in your professional field. Some organisations will finance further study for employees and offer sabbaticals.

There is a myriad of less formal options available to help keep your broad business credentials polished and relevant for executive transition or progression. A burgeoning industry of professional learning has emerged in response to demand during this most testing of times for senior leadership. Personal recommendations are the best way to go or try using a Gen AI tool such as ChatGPT for suggestions.

Perhaps your company offers opportunities such as in-house training or mentoring schemes. Or you might wish to set up your own mentoring scheme or internship. Taking on PhD students or specialists or buddying up with younger recruits can serve both parties extremely well with reciprocal learning. As an experienced leader, you have much to give, while the process of mentoring can help build social skills, communication, self-awareness and intergenerational connectedness.

And of course there are many free online resources, such as webinars and courses produced by companies trying to promote their products or digital platforms such as LinkedIn, Coursera and edX. You can also watch TedTalks, tune into podcasts or follow blogs. Here’s a Forbes list of books and blogs for leaders to read in 2024 to get you started.

The Rialto website also has a library of resources.

If you require a more personalised Leadership benchmarking and understanding of your skill set, gaps that need addressing or expertise that needs updating, you may wish to engage a professional executive career coach.

What is crucial to all leaders who want to stay ahead of the curve and remain relevant, valued and influential, is the right mindset. Being open to new ideas, new technologies, new cultural dynamics; staying on top of trends, being aware of what is happening in the news, in politics, in the law, in global relations. This will help provide an external framework of contextual understanding of where the economy is headed in order to make strategic decisions and navigate your own career through an ever-changing climate on to a horizon which might look different every time you stop and peer out.

But it is equally important to look inwards – to have a meaningful understanding of your own capabilities and limitations; to work to develop an emotional maturity that allows you to tap into those feelings and intuitions and compassion when required, and other times, step back and think with logic and reason.

Rialto are global Executive Career Transition & Internal Mobility specialists who can support executives or senior leaders facing challenges in making progress within today/s more competitive and rapidly changing executive marketplace.

Executive Outlook:  Going from GenAI avoidant to pro – and raising your relevance and value in the future workplace. 

Whether you are looking to make a successful executive transition externally or progress within your current organisation, AI will undoubtedly play a part in your professional development.

Until very recently, AI was something scientists did and most people’s familiarity with it came from science fiction. Since the public launch of ChatGPT’s Generative AI tool in November 2022, however, it has exploded into action to become part of the very fabric of our global infrastructure.

Every individual in a position of leadership should be thinking about AI every day – how it is changing their industry now, what is on the near horizon, how different the world will look two, five, 10 years from now as disruptive technologies continue to develop and expand exponentially. Most importantly, how you can exploit it to stay relevant, further your own career and understand how to best use it to accelerate the growth and performance of your team or organisation to increase your own value in the workplace.

Here we review some common questions and comments from what Rialto  consultants hear from AI-curious executives and senior leaders and explain why and how it can support every individual’s professional development.

What does AI actually do?

Even though we have all been using it for many years, most of us on a daily basis whether through our smartphones or algorithm-based personalised services such as Netflix, almost all surveys show high levels of scepticism and fear around AI.

Some of those personal barriers to adoption are based in well-founded concerns around regulation, ethics, the risk of machines taking our jobs and the security and reliability of such new, constantly-evolving and mysterious technologies.

Others are born out of more nebulous reactions: suspicion, fear, feelings of intimidation and difficulty grasping how it works or how it could benefit an individual or organisation.

When terms such as Machine Learning (ML), Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative AI, Neural Networks and Big Data are thrown around, sometimes seemingly interchangeably, it can be easier just to think: I’ll leave that to the techie people.

However, this is a language we all need to learn to speak and a permanent addition to our personal and professional lives that we would just as well do to get to grips with now in order to stay relevant. History shows the Luddites did not win the 19th century war against cost and time-saving textile technologies, the machines and their owners did.  There is still time to benefit from being among the earlier adopters.

When you get under its skin, you can begin to understand that Generative AI is really about using machines to survey and analyse masses of information, volumes unimaginable to the human brain, looking for patterns, predicting what will come next to an increasingly accurate degree and suggesting ways to take advantage of this crystal ball-like magic. Think of it like that and the potential applications become endless. (Though GenAI is only as good as the humans operating it and it comes with caveats.)

Some industries and individuals are catching on faster than others but it will become as central to any sector or function as we humans.

I don’t work in technology, why do I need it?

In terms of any individual’s professional development, all evidence points to the fact that recruiters are increasingly valuing AI skills alongside experience, other leadership attributes and expertise, no matter what role is being filled. Astute candidates and in-post senior leaders are responding accordingly. There is growing evidence that candidates with AI skills and knowledge even if less experienced are likely to secure roles in preference to more experienced candidates.

In a recent survey by Microsoft and LinkedIn:

• 76% of professional respondents said they needed AI skills to remain competitive in the job market.
• 69% believed AI could help get them promoted faster.
• 79% said it would broaden their job opportunities.

Also:

• 68% of the fastest-growing US roles on LinkedIn didn’t exist 20 years ago.
• 12% of recruiters say they are creating new roles around the use of generative AI.
• Head of AI positions tripled in five years and grew by more than a quarter in 2023.

Meanwhile, non-technical professionals signing up to LinkedIn AI courses jumped 160%, with architects and project managers most eager. LinkedIn said it had seen a 142x increase in members globally adding skills like proficiency using ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to their profiles.

Rialto research at the end of 2023 found some of the fastest growing positions among the C-suite were chief automation officer, chief digital officer and chief data officer while traditional roles such as chief executive officer and chief operations officer were oversupplied with fewer  advertised positions available.

While a background in data and digital technology are helpful in these new roles they are not essential. Candidates with expertise and experience in business operations, change management, project management and strategic management can gain sufficient skills in these areas to add them to their current CVs and apply for these in-demand roles or leverage them to improve their own performance and value in their current position.

Here’s how you can go from sceptic to experimenter to power user by working and playing with AI every day:

1. Start your day using Generative AI. How did you plan to start the day? How can you make that start better with AI? Become familiar with Microsoft’s Copilot, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini. Read reviews, find out what they can do. It may be that your company prefers one and has a policy on its use and/or a paid subscription to a more advanced version. If it doesn’t, can you be the one to take the initiative and suggest it does?
2. Practise prompting. Any time you have a thought or question, feed it into a GenAI tool. If you don’t get the answer you want, rewrite it and learn how to communicate with it to get the best out of it.
3. Research the tools being used in your industry. What are the best case uses, the most popular tools and how are they being exploited effectively?
4. If you are in work, look at your list of tasks/challenges. How could AI help? Investing time in research will save more than it takes.
5. Whether you are in work or looking for work, practice using it in your personal life until it becomes an integral part of your thought process. Play with it, ask random questions or for help buying a present for an awkward relative. The more you use it, the more proficient and confident you will become.

Now I’ve got the basics, what next?

First: Learn the language of AI and stay updated on rapid advancements, particularly those disrupting your sector. Think about the barriers to your own personal adoption to date – what are you afraid of? Do you need to benchmark your skills and devote time and energy to further training?

Next: Whether or not you are looking for to step up or are planning your future career direction, think about what AI skills you need to update your profile, including proficiency with ChatGPT and other GenAI tools, any training you need or have to complete and any AI strategies or projects with which you could or have been involved in. When creating a digital profile, think about keywords such as data, predictive analytics and Generative AI and whether they need to appear in any searches. If you are looking for progression within your organisation, seek to get involved in new AI projects and look out for any in-house training. If none is available, ask for some for you and your team.

Incorporate AI into every possible task and project. Explore possibilities, investigate opportunities, look at what your rivals are doing: what are they using? How? How could you do it better? How could it benefit your sector, organisation and individual roles to drive strategic implementation and deliver growth, efficiencies and improved performance.

It won’t take long to realise the potential benefits and applications and you will be using it like a pro, able to speak the language and naturally inspiring confidence from your teams, employers and potential employers in your capacity to drive growth through the power of AI and other frontier technologies.

DO be aware of the limitations and ethical responsibilities around AI. While Generative AI is getting more reliable, it can hallucinate and make up facts and even research papers. Read, edit and verify everything it produces before using and think about data protection and copyright/plagiarism issues and be alert to any possible bias.  One common mistake is expecting AI to make the same mistakes as humans – training is essential to be able to understand how Generative AI creates content to be able to identify any potential issues.

If you would like professional support benchmarking your own skills, better understanding what recruiters want or wishing to compete more effectively in the changing Executive job market, or if you would like Rialto to help you create a strategy to incorporate the most relevant Generative AI and other AI technologies into your business model, contact our team to discuss how we can help.

Rialto Consultancy and Rainbird Technologies Announce Strategic Partnership to Deliver Transformative AI-Powered Solutions

Uniting AI-powered decision intelligence and expert-guided transformation to elevate business success.

London (UK), May 22nd, 2024 – Rialto Consultancy, a leading global provider of change management, organisational transformation and multi-level employee career transition solutions, and Rainbird Technologies, the pioneering Decision Intelligence platform, today announced a strategic partnership to bring groundbreaking AI capabilities to enterprises.

This alliance combines Rainbird’s advanced, explainable AI technology with Rialto’s deep expertise in guiding organisations through complex people-oriented change initiatives. Together, the two organisations will empower clients to harness the full potential of AI to drive innovation, improve decision-making, and unlock unprecedented business outcomes through a compelling joint solution focussed on considerate AI adoption and workforce upskilling and transition priorities.

“We are thrilled to partner with Rainbird and leverage their cutting-edge decision intelligence platform,” expressed Richard Chiumento, Rialto Director. “By integrating Rainbird’s AI-powered insights and automation into our comprehensive people focussed change management solutions, we can help our clients navigate transformation with greater speed, precision and transparency.”

The partnership will focus on a joint go-to-market strategy, enabling Rialto to seamlessly incorporate Rainbird’s solutions into its portfolio of services. Clients will benefit from a unified value proposition that combines Rialto’s expertise in areas such as talent development, change communication, global career transition employee upskilling, with Rainbird’s ability to digitise human expertise, automate complex decisions and provide auditable explanations for AI-driven outcomes.

“Rialto’s deep understanding of organisational change and their proven track record of driving successful transformations make them an ideal partner for Rainbird,” emphasised Rainbird CEO, James Duez. “Together, we will empower enterprises to embrace AI-powered decision-making that is aligned with their strategic objectives and values.”

The partnership will initially focus on joint go-to-market efforts in the United Kingdom, with plans to expand into additional global markets in the future. By leveraging each other’s strengths, Rialto and Rainbird are poised to redefine the way organisations navigate change and harness the full potential of AI.

About Rialto Consultancy

Rialto Consultancy is an award-winning global provider of change management and organisational transformation solutions. With a focus on talent development, change communication, global career transition and employee upskilling, Rialto partners with enterprises to guide them through complex change initiatives and unlock their full potential.

For more information, visit https://www.rialtoconsultancy.com/.

About Rainbird

Rainbird’s revolutionary Decision Intelligence platform is transforming enterprise decision-making with trust and explainability at scale. For over a decade, Rainbird’s AI platform has enabled organisations to digitise human expertise into enhanced, yet transparent, extended knowledge graphs. Their advanced reasoning automates complex judgments at scale while providing auditable rationales behind each outcome.

For further details, explore https://www.rainbird.ai.

Press Contact

Rialto Consultancy: Justine Smith, Press@Rialtoconsultancy.com

Rainbird Technologies Ltd: Sabu Samarnath, sabu.samarnath@rainbird.ai

“Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.” Peter Drucker (a founding father of modern management theory)

If death and taxes are the only certainties upon which we can rely, the best we can do is consider and interrogate the likely developments of the near future and prepare our business models and personal career growth plans accordingly.

Here are some of the major themes that the Rialto team believe will influence the economy and global executive job markets in 2024.

1: Optimising AI.  

If 2023 was the year that early adopters got ahead and most doubters came round to the reality that generative AI is here to disrupt every part of our lives and many occupations, 2024 will see a more mature, pragmatic and strategic integration of frontier technologies into all aspects of work automation priorities.

It is imperative that executives prioritise the need to ensure senior leadership are bringing in the talent or hiring expertise to identify the most appropriate applications and introduce them across the business as seamlessly and effectively as possible.  By the end of 2024, the gulf between believers and dinosaurs will become increasingly evident.  The influence of generative AI is developing exponentially. Looking back at the pace of acceleration of adoption in 2023, it is almost impossible to imagine the disruptive force it could generate over the coming 12 months.

As McKinsey succinctly stated in its recent report, “What matters most? Eight CEO priorities for 2024”,  executives need to ask: “which parts of the business can benefit? how can applications be scaled from one to many? and how will new tools reshape their industry?”.

This is not just a paradigm shift, it is a revolution, with accelerated change now a constant; business models and mindsets need to adapt to be able to respond in real time to stay ahead of the competition.

Rialto can help you benchmark your personal readiness for the future of work and identify any skills gaps. We also offer a programme of live online events presented by experts in specific fields around the frontier technologies and their application in various functions and sectors.

2: Another year of economic uncertainty.

2023 proved to be a year of economic contradictions and we go into 2024 with the same equivocation. Despite all of the crosswinds which threatened to push the UK and major global markets into recession, including conflict in the Ukraine and the Middle East, double-digit inflation, record energy costs, high interest rates and the legacy of Covid driving a cost-of-living crisis, markets ended the year buoyant with the US indices reaching record highs.

With inflation falling rapidly, interest rates likely to follow later in the year, wages rising faster than prices, and promised tax cuts in the Spring, many forecasters are now predicting a grey market up to the UK national election, with stagnation rather than recession.

In the background, the risk of conflict spreading and causing energy prices to spike will continue to prompt caution among investors.

Executives and board members across most sectors will be emphasising the need for resilience, efficiency and frugality. Spending is likely to be targeted on processes, technologies and strategic priorities that will focus on savings to build up reserves and create agile business models to adapt to the fast pace of AI-driven change; leaders will look for creative, low risk ways to promote growth in an otherwise stale UK economy which continues to lag behind other G7 countries.

That could offer little in the way of relief to the lean executive job market which Rialto highlighted with exclusive data at the end of 2023. It showed a dramatic fall in publicly-advertised executive level vacancies on the year, highlighting the increasingly critical need for the most senior level job seekers to be able to access the hidden market, identify the opportunities meeting their requirements and upskill or retrain if necessary. Pivoting towards new roles created by the technological revolution could open further pathways to successful career transitions.  The focus is on creating a brand and skillset which are more relevant than ever to the new market demand curve for leadership talent.

3: Elections.

2024 is a year of elections, local, national and global.

Will it be a 1992 – the year Labour leader Neil Kinnock snatched defeat from the jaws of victory after taking a tumble on Brighton beach? Or another 1997-style landslide for Keir Starmer’s more centrist Labour party? Markets are always averse to uncertainty. How might that affect the economy?

PM Rishi Sunak has indicated he will call a General Election mid=way through the year.

Will his promised tax cuts fuel increased consumer confidence and prompt a commerce-led recovery? – or spook markets concerned about further increases to record borrowing levels?

The most recent polls put Labour 19% ahead of the Conservatives which would give them the seats they need for an outright majority and a strong mandate for change.

However polls are notoriously inaccurate. Not only did they get it wrong in the last two US elections and our Brexit referendum, they can reduce turnout for the leading party from voters convinced the outcome is a foregone conclusion.

Rishi Sunak will betting on an economic turnaround as inflation and interest rates fall globally to carry him over the line but will his immigration all-in on the divisive Rwandan policy see him go bust and bring on a surprise early election?

And what will it mean if Labour do win? Starmer is keeping his cards close to his chest so little detail in his manifesto so far. He and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves are, however, determined to prove Labour can take care of business and keep tight fiscal control with new powers for the Office of Budget Responsibility so don’t expect any big public spending contracts, though the construction industry would see a shot in the arm with a promise to build 300,000 new homes a year for five years.  They have promised is to secure billions in private funding to promote growth in the regions, focusing on the green energy economy for which a massive injection of cash would follow a Labour victory.  Along with AI, it’s the growth sector of the moment. Can Starmer pull a rabbit out of the hat and rejuvenate the former industrial heartlands?

In contrast, Sunak has backpedalled on renewables in a bid to put fresh air between him and Starmer, so uncertainty over related future financial and economic policies is likely to deter foreign investment at a crucial time for the sector, potentially leaving the UK too far behind to play catch up with China and the US who are going full steam ahead in the race to become the green superpower.

Whatever and whenever the result, executives seeking new positions and career transitions could do worse than to reskill and pivot towards these emerging technologies.

Business leaders also need to keep an eye on regional elections, including the London mayoral election which could have a big impact on the City, and global elections, including US Presidential elections which will have an important bearing on Western relations with the crucial Chinese market.

4: Laser-focused strategic growth.

As leaders and executives seek to navigate stormy waters at the beginning of the year,  laser-focused strategic growth will be more important than ever.

Budgets remain tight, investment in new technological infrastructures will remain a priority; now is a good time to revisit and update McKinsey & Company’s 2022 10 rules for intelligent growth.

1. Put competitive advantage first. Find your winning formula first then scale up.
2. Make the trend your friend. Stay on top of emerging markets; recognise when the trend is waning and change.
3. Don’t be a laggard. If you’re ahead, keep moving to stay ahead, no treading water. Be more Apple, less Blackberry.
4. Turbocharge your core. How can you build strength into the core that will support new growth? Technology? Product development?
5. Look beyond the core. Expand organically using natural connections and progression.
6. Grow where you know. Optimise your local advantage, knowledge, connections etc.
7. Be a local hero. Win strong loyalty and brand awareness in your locality.
8. Go global if you can beat local. But be sure your product will transfer to new markets first
9. Acquire programmatically. Plan organic growth alongside new ventures. Think about the emerging sectors such as AI and green technologies.
10.  Shrink to grow. Prune dead wood and re-seed for stronger growth,

In this time of uncertainty, it is more important than ever that all leadership teams are constantly looking for opportunities for growth and development with minimal risk, whether micro or macro, into new markets, new sectors or improving on core business performance. Entrepreneurial curiosity needs to be built in to the workforce with strong two-way communications to open opportunities for all employees to contribute ideas to optimise performance at every level.

5: Filling skills gaps.

Technology is disrupting the way we do business at all levels but we need the right people at the wheel to prevent a kamikaze ride into the future.

Generative AI and other frontier technologies are bursting with almost limitless potential but are also fraught with tensions and risks that need a human touch. The most advanced business leaders are starting to recognise that abstract skills such as empathy, curiosity and adaptability are becoming more valuable to the fast-changing, AI-led economic landscape than traditional qualifications such as superior formal education. Emotional intelligence, creativity and strategic thinking are among the skills that cannot (yet) be replaced by technology.

The UK’s education system has been slow to catch on to the need for these skills to power the country’s future economic success. Even young people graduating from universities and sixth forms now have not been prepared for this brave new world.

Senior executives need to demonstrate these skills in their own leadership but also build them into the workforce through strategic recruitment and continuous upskilling and training. HR leaders should be bringing in AI applications to analyse and meet current and future skills requirements particular to the growth strategies of the business.

6: Minding mental health.

As the New Year blows in on the back of grey skies, driving rain and warnings of another gloomy economic 12 months ahead with further job layoffs and a lingering cost-of-living crisis, maintaining a feel good factor in the workplace is a challenge facing leadership in all sectors.

According to Gallop’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 report, almost six in 10 employees considered themselves quiet quitters – psychologically disengaged from work without a sense of meaning or purpose. It claimed that active and psychological disengagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion a year or 9% of global GDP.

By genuinely committing to caring for the wellbeing and welfare of staff, companies could potentially make huge savings with minimal outlay at a time when critical skills shortages and economic uncertainty are threatening to undermine growth in every sector.

Investment in cultivating relational intelligence, empathy and introducing mental health toolkits, evaluation and support will pay dividends. That may mean hiring consultants or using AI programs to deliver focused training, continuous assessments and easily-accessed support services.

Employees who are being made to return to the office after the homeworking of Covid times and adjust to constant technology-driven changes in their daily operations may be at risk of burnout and disillusionment. Open, two-way communication, flexibility and understanding can all help cushion employees and make them feel safe and valued.

The CIPD claims flexible working can reduce staff turnover by up to 87%.

Some companies are going further, offering sensory spaces, menopause support and introducing wearable devices to track mental health, sleep patterns and AI programmes to analyse sentiment around workplace developments. HR directors should be actively analysing workforce engagement and identifying risks to reduce attrition rates and costs and maintain a healthy workforce to boost engagement and drive performance.

On a more personal level, executives and leaders have had to take on more responsibilities and cope with more change than at any time in history. Those in position should be aware of their own stress levels and look for ways of managing competing challenges, whether by re-evaluating leadership teams to maximise opportunities for delegation of duties or building in moments of decompression, rest and mindfulness throughout the working week.

For those seeking a career transition or out of work and actively looking for a new position, share your journey with a trusted relative, friend or consultant. It is too easy to get caught in a cycle of hope and despondency as opportunities come and go. Take time to reflect on any rejections and seek advice from someone who may have a more objective perspective and be able to help turn challenges into positive development.

“Information is power. Particularly when the competition ignores the opportunity to do the same.” US billionaire Mark Cuban.

 At Rialto, we pride ourselves on staying abreast of current and emerging market trends with one eye on the present and another into the future. This is one of the ways in which we support our clients from c-suite and senior leadership level to stay ahead of the competition, whether seeking career progression or career transition.

We share some of the most relevant, timely insights our executive career coaches and other colleagues through our regular articles and blogs, and our quarterly programme of webinar events

Here, we review what we believe to have been the top five themes of 2023, largely aligned with our predictions from the end of last year, linked back to some of our previous insights and articles of the year.

1: Generative AI

Without doubt, Generative AI was the biggest business trend of 2023 and, barring any unanticipated seismic disruptions, most likely to hold its place into 2024 and beyond. This time last year, ChatGPT was a bit of a novelty. People were using it to write poems to their dogs and test its joke-telling ability. Two months later, it had broken all records by acquiring 100 million active users. In May 2023, a Gartner poll of 2,500 executive leaders found that publicity around ChatGPT had driven almost half of them to increase AI investments with 70% in exploration mode and 19% piloting or using the technologies.

As we head into 2024, the breadth and scope of generative AI and its more analytical technological sibling, large language models (LLMs), is almost limitless, affecting every single sector and function of work with a market expected to grow from $6.2 billion in 2023 to $58.5 billion in 2028.

Over the last year, Rialto insights, articles and webinar events have reported on the dazzling potential of GenAI applications in areas including, but not limited to: intelligent recruitment, training tailored to current and anticipated skills needs, market trend analysis and response, enhanced employee engagement, resource optimisation, supply chain management, sales and marketing, personalised customer experiences, report writing, content generation, sentiment analysis and insights, data management and analysis, internal communications, real time reviews of diversity, equality and inclusion policies and sentiment.

We also looked at research into which areas were expected to see the biggest productivity gains from AI while this article looked at how c-suite executives should be forming a strategic relationship with technology to drive impact. Here we looked at key areas where HR leaders can harness AI to revolutionise recruitment processes, enhance employee experiences, and provide data-driven insights to inform strategic decision-making HR.

Rialto has been ahead of this sharp curve in raising awareness with many senior level clients on how to become proficient in these technologies, building the confidence and expertise needed to oversee transformation strategies to integrate appropriate applications seamlessly and safely across the business. We have supported others seeking new opportunities to learn the language and capitalise on the capabilities of AI or pivot towards emerging technology-based C-suite roles such as chief data officer, chief information security officer or chief digital officer.

A central role played by these new positions is to safeguard organisations from reputational and AI financial risks.

Highly-trained co-pilots will be essential in managing ethics and compliance, monitoring accuracy and, of course, ensuring all AI-driven objectives and outcomes are imbued with human sensitivity. Here Rialto explored five skills needed for an AI-enabled executive workforce.

2:  Resilience and adaptability

Disruption and unpredictability have become the new normal. Today’s business leaders need to be able to absorb the shocks, endure adversity and adapt their business models, cultures, systems and workforces to respond and adapt fluently, with resilience no longer being a “Nice-to-Have”.

Executives have had another tumultuous 12 months, dealing with the legacy of 2022’s UK leadership chaos, sky-high inflation, rocketing costs and energy prices, economic uncertainty and pessimism, a slow job market, conflict close to home in Ukraine and Middle East, continued post-pandemic changes to working culture, not to mention the new technologies discussed above.  Those who have shown resilience and adaptability have been better able to create a unified, collaborative business environment, driving cultures of innovation and learning, and making faster and more dynamic decisions.

On a more personal level, in-position executives continue to need to adapt their own leadership style and skills to evolve with the fast-changing market and the traditional requirements of their roles. We looked at common challenges faced by those preparing for navigating senior leadership transitions, Top Resilience Strategies during Career Transition and how to turn a negative into a positive, making the most of rejection in an executive job search. while this piece looked at ways executives can adapt, evolve and pivot to reposition themselves in a more desirable, future-focused niche.

3: Strengthening relationships

Whether encouraging belonging among increasingly geographically-isolated staff, developing a wider network or consolidating stakeholder partnerships, building stronger relationships has shown itself to be at the heart of successful leadership in 2023.

A recent YouGov poll found that half of UK employees work from home some or all of the time and while the jury is out on the impact on productivity, many surveys have shown that distance workers often feel disconnected and worried they are invisible and so less likely to progress in their careers. C-suite need to work with HR to explore more collaborative operating models to recreate the interactive and sociable in-person dynamic alongside well-organised real life meet-ups. This approach can help avoid drops in morale and productivity, pitfalls of silo working, to build cohesive cultures, positive workforce identity and maximise joined[up performance.

In this insight, our expert Rialto executive career coaches shared five essential strategies they encourage executives to employ when seeking to enhance their leadership influence to motivate teams, engage stakeholders, inspire confidence and shape outcome from a distance.

We also looked at the value of continuous executive networking to build new and reinforce existing partnership relations. Data from McKinsey shows that only 14% of professionals have grown their networks since 2020, while less than 50% reported making any effort to do so. Yet the more extensive & relevant your network is, whether long-established or newly-connected, the greater your reach when you need to expand into new sectors or terrains or bring in expertise for business or personal growth. We looked at four key activities we recommend our executive clients to practise when networking: personal benchmarking, development and growth, gaining wider perspectives on innovation and sharing insights and advice.

4: Still reaching for Glass Ceiling

This term was first coined in 1978 to describe the invisible social barrier preventing women from reaching higher levels then almost exclusively occupied by men.

More recently, its meaning has been expanded to include any prejudices or working conditions that hold individuals back, whether due to gender, race, disability, mental health, age, sexuality or gender identification. 2023 also saw people start to talk about the impact of the menopause on women in the workplace and ask how explorers could support them.

Equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) are now built into any successful business model and there are legal requirements to do so with serious consequences for discrimination.

Rialto director Richard Chiumento says: “Most executives may remember a time when the boardroom and senior management were homogenous zones of white males. Today, it is a joy & much more appropriate to see a make-up from every cultural background and of all ages, a real diverse group of individuals which makes the workplace so much more vibrant, dynamic, productive and interesting”.

However, while things have improved greatly, and progressive business leaders are truly recognising the unmistakable value of having an expansive plurality of views, experience and backgrounds in any boardroom or business environment, there still remains much work to be done.

“We still hear from clients who are coming up against these discriminatory barriers, whether seeking to progress within their organisation or looking at career transition. We help them to identify and overcome them while also advising leaders how to capitalise on an increasingly global market by building visibly and displaying a genuinely inclusive and welcoming culture.”

From 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority set “comply or explain” targets for listed UK companies of 40% female board members including at least one senior position and at least one member from an ethnic minority background.

The deadline saw a flurry of new appointments, with 60% of new non-executive vacancies filled by women in 2021-2022.  However, the theme for 2023 was something of a regression with boards wary of geopolitical and economic tensions reverting to the security of experience over the unknown, suggesting that for some, it remains a box ticking exercise rather than a genuine commitment.

Headhunter Spencer Stuart surveyed the UK’s 150 biggest listed companies and found increased caution around appointing first-time directors, down to 31% from 44% the year before. The number of candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds was at its lowest level this year since 2020 while the proportion of non-executive vacancies going to female candidates peaked at 60% in 2022 but dropped to 51% in the 12 months to April, 2023.

Richard Chiumiento said: “Instead of just paying lip service to EDI, organisations need to set metrics and actively seek to redress any imbalances or obstacles to genuine equality of opportunity and remuneration parity. As well as ensuring compliance, this ensures better, more trusting and productive relations with employees, potential candidates and other stakeholders. Organisations that do not comply or only commit to the bare minimum risk a damaging financial impact as well as reputational damage.”

We spoke to some of our female clients about their experiences to mark International Women’s Day in March, 2023. They told us some of the greatest barriers they felt were thrown up by unconscious bias, imposter syndrome, misunderstanding of equality and AI bias within automated recruitment processes. You can read more and find advice from our executive career coaches here.

We will revisit EDI and look at the tangible benefits of a healthy and robust culture and policy in the New Year.

5: Talent shortages:

Post-Covid, we saw a “quiet quitting” trend, where employees and leaders at all levels stepped away or down in search of a better work-life balance having spent so much time out of the office during lockdowns.  In 2023, finding, attracting and keeping the best talent from the resulting smaller pool became a strategic priority for every sector and at every level, as did investing in existing teams.

We talked throughout the year about the many tools and methods organisations can employ to ensure they have an intelligent recruitment system and a positive culture, which encourages organisational commitment and an ethos of continuous learning and career progression.

We looked at strategic HR priorities including cultivating talent and upskilling, and taking the initiative with AI to help achieve those objectives and drive growth and productivity.

We looked at how predictive analytics can identify trends and patterns needed now and in the future. AI can then find potential candidates with those skill sets, even if passive, and tailor individual job offerings based on market and internal data and the individual’s experience and requirements. While generative AI can create and deliver bespoke training programmes designed to meet organisational and individual need and ensure the workforce remains agile and responsive to the dynamic internal and wider economic landscape.

We also analysed what this meant for our clients who were seeking career transitions. Unfortunately, our exclusive data revealed that the talent shortage had not led to an abundance of opportunities.

Our analysis of publicly-advertised mid and senior level executives and leaders found an incredibly worrying decline in vacancies. For example, in November 2022 there were 12,761 publicly-advertised UK Chief Executive Officer vacancies. In October, 2023 the number was down to just 115. Non executive directors were down from 4,034 to 42 and Chief operating officers dropped from 1,814 to 82. (figures are a snapshot, and not a 100% accurate depiction)

We shared some of the invaluable advice provided to senior clients on how to shine in a gloomy marketplace and some of the bright spots on the otherwise gloomy horizon.  Rialto director Nick Storey also shared his advice on staying ahead in executive career transition.

It has certainly been a tumultuous year and we hope you have found some of our insights and articles helpful in navigating the fast-changing marketplace and economic landscape. We will continue to monitor trends and developments across 2024. Please let us know if there is any subject or angles you would like us to look into.

In a recent survey, chief executives cited financial growth as the second highest priority for HR in 2024 after talent management.  HR leaders rated this tenth, revealing a disconnect which could be limiting potential for growth. CEOs also placed “efficiency and productivity” and “technology review and investment” much higher than HR Leaders.

Here are three key areas where HR Leaders and the C-suite should be working together to strengthen the contribution and impact of HR and add greater value to their organisation.

1: Leadership effectiveness  

HR need to constantly evaluate the evolving challenges and expanding responsibilities that functional business leaders are now expected to take on. A substantial three quarters of HR professionals acknowledge that leaders in their organisation feel overwhelmed by the growing scope of their responsibilities with more than half stating that their leaders bear more responsibility than they can effectively manage.

Regardless of sector or discipline, these are just a few of the day to daily challenges leaders may face on top of their specific positional duties: balancing short-term responses to crisis vs longer term visioning, cultivating fit-for-purpose behaviours, understanding and integrating fast-developing technologies, leading hybrid teams, managing multiple, sometimes competing stakeholders. On top of all that, they must oversee healthy cultures with clear EDI policies and execution and motivate workforces who may feel burned out and be seeking better work/lifestyle balances.

In order to thrive and drive productivity and efficiency, organisations require HR to step up and proactively support the path to navigate multiple priorities.  This means listening and being responsive. Among the strategies HR can employ to assist are: resetting expectations; enabling effective delegation and communication training through access to coaching and training for staff; simplification of structures and tasks; identification and help integrating new technologies to improve efficiency; and ensuring directives around business culture and expectations are clear and visible.

Leaders should be made to feel confident in asking for help without being judged and have built-in time for reflection and mentoring.

2: Talent Management and upskilling  

In the domain of talent management and upskilling, HR has an opportunity to take centre stage in its strategic input to the rapid evolution of workplaces and business models.  The integration of AI into HR functions will support the evolution of job specifications, with HR leveraging AI audits to assess skills, experience, and talent. AI applications will further empower HR to identify and cultivate individualised training programmes, aligning upskilling initiatives with the dynamic and agility needs of an organisation.

As the landscape of talent acquisition continues to transform, acquiring, retaining and optimising talent extends beyond traditional measures.  In a survey conducted by Gartner, only one in four employees surveyed said they felt confident about their careers. Scope for promotion, progression and personal enrichment can be as important as income when valued employees consider factors influencing their career decisions.

This shift requires a focus on creating a holistic approach encompassing employee wellbeing, coaching, transparent career progression and more flexible work arrangements as well as a commitment to continuous learning and upskilling.

Career progression is moving further away from being a vertical ladder with clear scripts and gateways, unfolding instead as a matrix with interconnected paths.  HR leaders should be ready to tailor talent strategies to these new business models which will open wider career possibilities, more diverse employee expectations and opportunities that represent finite cycles of work with dynamic possibilities for personal growth.

3: Embracing AI  

Surveys show C-suite buy-in to AI advantages is not being matched by enthusiasm from HR leaders. More than two thirds of executive leaders agree benefits of AI outweigh risks yet only a fifth of HR leaders are actively engaged in AI discussions across their organisations.

Most describe the application of AI as being something that will become increasingly important in the future. However, the most advanced organisations and their HR leaders are using it now to streamline processes, improve efficiency and enhance employee experiences, lifting HR’s role in the organisation.

First steps for HR are creating a framework to assess and identify appropriate AI applications and support departments to adapt existing organisational working models to assimilate and fully exploit their potential to drive progress and efficiency.  Importantly, they must also be aware of the risks and create a framework to ensure their ethical, transparent and responsible use.

There are known issues around generative AI, such as bias and a built-in tendency to “hallucinate” – literally to make things up. Whether you have AI tools built for your organisational needs or integrate existing applications, ensure there are humans testing, overseeing and constantly assessing output before it reaches any audience.

While younger generations may be unphased and embrace the fast pace of technology-driven change, adoption of frontier technologies may alienate some older workers who are already feeling bewildered by the pace of change, post-Covid, and worried about being displaced by automation.

Manage their concerns with genuine, effective two-way communication. Explain any changes, why they are necessary and how they will benefit them, ensure they get proper training to co-pilot the technology effectively, open channels for feedback, listen and respond.

If you want to learn how Rialto can help your HR teams to explore and prepare for the future of work and emerging business models, contact us on +44 (0) 20 3746 2960.

As organisations grapple with the complexities of talent management, employee engagement, and the ever-changing dynamics of the workplace, the adoption of AI emerges not just as an option but as a strategic imperative for HR.  Far from being a threat to traditional HR practices, AI serves as a powerful ally, with opportunities to revolutionise recruitment processes, enhance employee experiences, and provide data-driven insights to inform strategic decision-making HR. 

In the near term the potential to improve productivity through a more streamlined, focused, strategic HR function is around 30%, yet 56% of HR professionals believe it will be at least three years before they will be prioritising AI.    

To hold back in adopting AI now is to hold back on elevating the role of HR to new heights.  Here are five practical uses in which AI comes into play in HR functions: 

1: Recruitment and onboarding 

AI should be embraced in recruitment and onboarding processes for its ability to streamline and enhance the hiring experience. By leveraging AI algorithms to analyse applications, identify top talent, and automate routine tasks, organisations can significantly reduce time-to-hire, improve candidate matching, and ensure a smoother onboarding process, ultimately creating a more personalised experience for candidates and leading to a more efficient and effective workforce. Consider the following:

• Predictive analytics can help identify trends and patterns both outside and within an organisation and identify skills needed now and in the future by an organisation, department or team.
• AI can then find potential candidates with those skill sets, even if passive, and tailor individual job offerings based on market and internal data and the individual’s experience and requirements.
• Generative AI can produce marketing and recruitment materials.
• “Chatbots” can respond to job advert questions.
• AI-enabled software can sift through unlimited numbers of applications and produce shortlists based on organisational need, matching behavioural attitudes to company culture as well as qualifications and experience.
• Digital platforms can create and deliver automated onboarding and training programmes.

2: Talent management 

AI can act as a game-changer in talent management, offering insights into employee performance, career development, and succession planning. By harnessing AI algorithms, organisations can optimise talent acquisition, identify skills gaps, and foster a proactive approach to employee development, ensuring a strategic and future-ready workforce.  Consider:

• Tracking employee sentiment, predict exit risk and inform and advise managers to respond appropriately.
• Enabling and managing self-service portals allowing access to services, training and information and reducing the workload of HR professionals.
• Identifying and preparing potential successors for outgoing leaders to ensure a seamless transition.
• Automating repetitive tasks allowing employees more time for creative and collaborative work, boosting productivity and job satisfaction

3: Learning and development 

AI integration in learning and development is essential for personalised, data-driven insights that cater to individual employee needs. By leveraging AI-powered platforms, organisations can deliver targeted training, recommend tailored learning paths and continuously adapt content to keep pace with evolving skills requirements. It can be used to:

• Audit skills within an organisation and market trends to prepare for future needs.
• Identify which employees should be upskilled in which sectors and specialities to ensure a smooth, dynamic, responsive workforce.
• Create personalised training modules which adapt content to the individual and promote a culture of continuous learning.
• Design training to nurture soft skills such as resilience, leadership and adaptability to prepare for shocks, crises and disruptions.

4:. Compliance 

Navigating the intricate landscape of HR compliance has never been more dynamic and AI can streamline these processes, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. It can track and manage workflows related to compliance tasks, such as background checks or policy acknowledgments.    Create compliant documents and update them with legal and internal policy changes. Applications can:

• Detect any real or potential legal or regulation violations and alert appropriate departments in real time.
• Analyse pay equality and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) issues.
• Use algorithms to detect current and future risks by recognising anomalies such as insider trading or money laundering, freeing employees from the intensive, time-consuming analysis of vast amounts of data.

5: Administration:  

Overall, AI has a huge role to play in reducing administrative tasks by automating scheduling, carrying out data analysis, and report generation, allowing HR teams to optimise time management, make more data-driven decisions, and streamline communication to support change management and leadership initiatives. This can include:

• Providing automated HR support to staff.
• Writing and disseminating company announcements.
• Monitoring sentiment towards proposed and actual changes and creating communications to reflect and assuage concerns and build positivity.
• Tracking and recording content from meetings and highlighting action points.
• Generating and disseminating reports.
• Creating content for employee surveys, distributing, analysing responses and producing insights and action plans.

We encourage all HR teams to embrace the transformative potential of AI, moving it from being seen as a buzzword to a powerful workforce ally.

If you are a HR leader and would like to explore how to be part of the AI lead within your organisation or you are a senior executive and want to know more about how to AI can be used to transform HR into a more strategic, valuable, insight-driven asset, contact Rialto on +44 (0) 20 3746 2960.

The Rialto resident number cruncher has been tracking publicly-advertised executive-level vacancies for the past 12 months and our exclusive data for the year to October 31, 2023, reveals a truly worrying trend.*

Our analysis of the last year of publicly advertised senior vacancies looks like a Himalayan mountain range falling down to sea level – wild fluctuations bottoming out almost completely as traditional open c-level level positions all but dry up as the landscape shifts in the face of seismic shocks from the explosion of AI.

Here, Rialto director Richard Chiumento casts his expert eye over the figures –  and finds the bright spots on an otherwise gloomy horizon.

So, Richard, a pretty bleak picture emerging here?

In my 30 years of supporting global business leaders to take their next professional career transition I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it. It reflects what we’ve been hearing from our executive outplacement clients who are exploring moves into similar positions in different companies or sectors. Many come to us having drawn a complete blank with their usual actions of registering with headhunters (who have limited mandates to fill) or approaching target companies. I’m afraid this data only confirms worst fears. The volume of the most senior level positions is reducing quickly and substantially.

Which Executive roles have been hit hardest?

In terms of traditional mid and senior level executives and leaders, the decline in vacancies is across the board CEOs, CMOs, HR directors, NEDs, COOs, etc, and it is global. For example, our data shows that in November 2022 there were 12,761 publicly-advertised UK Chief Executive Officer vacancies. In October, 2023 the number was down to just 115. Non executive directors were down from 4,034 to 42 and chief operating officers dropped from 1,814 to 82.*

We have to be careful as these are not definitive figures but they do show real indicative trends which we discuss and use to plan successful strategies with our clients. We can also see old-style candidate profiles diminishing as traditional executive functions start to disappear.

What’s behind it?

A perfect storm of factors: the legacy of Covid, economic uncertainty, the geopolitical tensions in Russia, Ukraine and now the Middle East; inflation and rising interest rates have led to a cost of living crisis. Consumers are buying less and companies are reacting by investing in pay increases where possible and cutting their own costs where they can. They are accelerating digital transformation and investment in generative AI and other frontier technologies rather than people. Many have imposed a recruitment freeze and are choosing to reshuffle internally or are culling expensive senior staff – particularly those who have failed to stay relevant to organisational, market and customer needs and don’t recognise that they need to stay open to continuous learning.

So should people just hold on and wait for the storm to settle?

It’s not that simple I’m afraid and we tell our clients that doing nothing is not an option. Against the background of this inauspicious economic landscape we find ourselves in the midst of the greatest revolution to hit the workplace in history.

Last week, Elon Musk told Rishi Sunak he believed AI would one day make all job functions obsolete and that we would all get to choose whether we want to work as a sort of recreational hobby. I don’t buy into that though I do agree AI will have a seismically disruptive impact.

Historical projections about AI-related job losses have put the repetitive tasks in the firing line, driving, coding, accounting. However, our data shows that executive segments are equally vulnerable.

Senior level individuals are better off actively taking control of their career asset and driving assertively into the future instead of sitting back and allowing their value to rust and  depreciate.

I’ve been talking about the transformative impact of AI for a long time and it’s no co-incidence that we started tracking this data in November, 2022 when ChatGPT launched and changed the way work is done. The generative AI that powers it and other models such as Bard, Perplexity, Cohere Generate, AlphaCode, Synthesia, will have more of an impact on our lives and workplace than any other technological development in history. Companies are already drastically reducing and rebalancing their workforces as they adopt these efficient new technologies. Where they are recruiting in numbers it’s in these new technology-led spheres.

This is not like the previous downturns we have seen – this is the dawn of a new era and there’s no going back. But there are positives – there are new opportunities opening up which see executives working alongside AI, co-piloting, and these are the roles for the future.

What are the emerging executive roles?

We also analysed emerging roles being created by companies looking for different skill sets as they employ new business models, digital transformation and generative AI applications. They include chief automation officer, chief digital officer, chief data officer and chief experience officer. We are seeing real growth in these roles and a shortage of skills, in contrast to the massive oversupply of traditional senior role skillsets. It’s the new skillsets and opportunities we support our clients to pivot into.

What actions are you taking to enable clients to make the jump.

It’s more of a turn, a pivot, than a jump. We’ve been able to look at the big picture and join up the dots between old world and new.

We help senior executives realise how they need to adapt and evolve, upskill or reskill; that’s whether they wish to stay in their current role, move to a new company in a similar role or move into one of these new roles I’ve discussed. Some are doubtful, initially, either because they are fearful and overly-pessimistic about being obsolete or over-confident that they can live off past glories. Our market mapping data really supports what we’ve been advising them: they need to be as dynamic as the times, keep moving forwards.

We have a finely-tuned and highly successful programme to help them to stay relevant. We identify and evaluate their aspirations and risk factors against our knowledge and research of current market trends.

We identify the priorities, actions and opportunities that would best suit each individual according to their own unique set of goals, skills and experience. We encourage our senior level clients to feel positive and confident about their place in this new world and to be proactive about positioning themselves as the best, most informed, stand-out candidate when they set their sights on a new position.

How do you see the picture developing?

The existing world of work is dying and the skills that made people attractive to employers are dying with them in most sectors and in most functions. The pace of change is faster than I think almost everyone realises. The World Economic Forum says 1.1 billion workers will need to reskill before 2030. Our core message to clients is this: the executive job market is moving faster & is more disruptive than at any time in history – if you stand still, you’re going to get left behind.

Figures are not 100% accurate and should be read as a trend rather than as definitive data.

*Sources: LinkedIn up to July and Adzuna from August to October 2023. Figures are not 100% accurate and should be read as a trend rather than as definitive data.