Bullhorn Engage 2019: Emotional Intelligence, Innovation and Insights
All conferences have incredible key takeaways that leave attendees minds whirling with possibilities. Bullhorn’s Engage 2019, hosted in Boston, was no different. The conference featured thoughtful and experienced experts such as Tim Sanders of Deeper Media, Ursula Williams of Staffing Industry Analysts and of course, Art Papas of Bullhorn. Not only did those in attendance leave inspired, but enabled with knowledge and insight into the modern landscape of the recruiting and staffing industry and how to get ahead of what is to come.
As the only fully-fledged marketing automation solution present at the conference, we had a unique opportunity to introduce how solutions like ours are helping leading global staffing and recruiting firms to place candidates faster and more effectively by utilizing the power of marketing, automation and analytics. Amidst the non-stop demos, we also took part in sessions and gave some thought to key takeaways from the conference…and what we found piqued our interest.
1. It’s about people
A number of keynotes and sessions revolved around this one, core theme: It’s about people. Recruiting and staffing is a people business, based on connection. It requires personalization, trust and emotional intelligence (shout out to Tim Sanders for an epic keynote.) This extends to being inclusive, understanding and empathetic.
2. You can’t opt out of technology
Another notable element of the three-day conference was the thematic presence of “innovation.” In keynotes such as Automation With a Human Touch, Scaling Your Business with Technology or Digital Transformation through Change Management: Overcoming Fear and Risk, industry experts reiterated that embracing the digital transformation isn’t something to opt out of when it comes to maintaining a competitive advantage and growing with the industry.
3. There’s room for personalization and technology
That brings us to our final conclusion. With speakers and sessions curating the two above ideas, there was one commonality across all sessions. It is possible to maintain personalization coupled with technology. Sessions like Scaling Your Business with Technology validated that technology plays a fundamental role in nurturing candidates and clients, enhancing the candidate experience and placing them more effectively. In Automation with a Human Touch, panelists discussed how automation and technology create efficiencies, allowing recruiters and staffing firms to focus on the key, higher value task: creating relationships.
There’s no doubt that there seems to be a talent shortage – as demonstrated in Papas’ keynote itself. In fact, the unemployment rate is at a historic low and aside from a major recession, Papas believes the answer lies in automation. “It’s a real thing. It’s happening. Automation is having an impact. Robots aren’t taking over the planet…yet, but it’s real,” he stated. Papas went on to explain that automation creates the “liquidity” necessary to battle the talent shortage.
Yeehaw! Austin, here we come!
While automation and AI can’t replace the human side of recruiting and staffing, it’s necessary to embrace the power of those tools to continue growing your company for the next stage of innovation. Our team had a blast speaking to the value marketing automation can bring to staffing and recruiting with industry leaders. There were countless insights into re-skilling, corporate social responsibility, inclusion and integrity, candidate engagement and redeployment among the common themes above. We can’t wait to pull on our cowboy boots for 2020’s Bullhorn Engage in Austin Texas; we can already smell that mouthwatering Texas BBQ!