The Amazing World of Unleash
A recap of my experience and five key takeaways from Unleash World 2023 - “Where the HR world meets.”
October 16 and 17 were the dates that I had marked in my calendar. Unleash World is the biggest European event “where the HR world meets”. There might be less tech compared to Zukunft Personal, yet the network, best practices and inspiration gathered at Unleash are of great value for any company that searches for that recipe to maintain growth and productivity despite talent shortage, skills gaps and a more self-assured workforce.
Intro
It has been six years since I’ve visited Unleash. My first time was in Amsterdam back in 2017 and I remember feeling overwhelmed by the presence of market leaders, market influencers, and the amusement park experience that made me feel uncomfortable in a business setting (yet that changes fast once you are wondering around like Alice in Wonderland, chasing the white rabbit).
I also remember meeting interesting startups on the grid in 2017, who wondered why Unleash didn’t offer a larger startup grid, because there were more startups out there then there were present at the time. Nevertheless, market leaders claimed the stage back then and there wasn’t a lot of talk about the adoption of new technologies. It even seemed like an obstacle that had to be overcome.
At that time, I held the role of stakeholder manager for an HR technology startup ecosystem, and that particular edition proved to be a resounding success for our Belgian community. Two of our startups, Spencer and MobieTrain, went head-to-head in the startup competition, with MobieTrain emerging as the ultimate winner.
I’m telling you this just to say I was looking forward to this year’s edition in Paris. I got recommended by my friend Bas van de Haterd and was asked to moderate the Talent Acquisition stage on day 2, which gave me full access on day 1 to explore the exhibition, listen to best practices, attend keynotes and meet some very interesting people.
Unreal arrival
Despite the travel issues on Monday, I managed to get in Gare du Paris Nord on time to meet my invitee for Unleash World: Gertjan De Wilde from apideck.com, a startup that is building a unified API-layer for i.e. HRTech-ecosystems. As a moderator I was eligible to invite guests so I invited Gertjan because he missed the startup program and this way he could enjoy some serious networking for his startup.
We were drinking coffee when we heard about the terrorist attack in Brussels, realizing we were there just two hours before. The news came as a shock, which it did for a lot of people I presume. Gertjan and I almost instantly decided to go to our hotels early. The situation already felt unreal, yet not in the way we would have wanted it… and the event hadn’t even started yet.
Kickstart
Tuesday morning I was up early, immediately regretting going for a budget hotel close to the event venue as there was no hot water available on the 6th floor. However, that cold shower brought me back to reality and afterwards I blended in with the Parisiens that were on their way to work, taking the tram towards Expo Porte de Versailles. I missed the first two because they were too crowded, but managed to hop on the third ride that passed the stop. Ten minutes and 5 stops later this sardine was uncanned in front of the Expo. (I admit, on day two I took a Uber.)
The Expo is huge, with up to 7 separate event halls. In hall number 7, on the third floor, Unleash was opening its doors with a beautiful skyline view on the Eiffel Tower. The smell of coffee, macarons and… cute little monsters were welcoming us. It was an ideal setting to lay back and enjoy HR innovation insights, an exhibition of software providers and startups, knowledge sharing sessions and any-minute networking in Paris.
‘I’m a free man in Paris. I felt unfettered and alive. There was nobody calling me up for favours, and no one’s future to decide’. - Joni Mitchell
Anyway, Tuesday was the day of the opening and I really wanted to attend the keynote of Josh Bersin. He always brings interesting insights to the table and is often one of the first persons to know about new developments in mainstream HR Technology, and he did. I actually enjoyed every minute of his talk. Finding confirmation in my own observations, I was only capable of agreeing on almost everything he said.
Strikingly, or by the power of suggestion, he also almost predicted the key takeaways that I’ve kept in mind after the two day exhibition (and after my head stopped spinning from all the conversations, impressions and..coffee from the Beamery booth).
Five key takeaways from Unleash World 2023:
With an introduction that pointed out that the world’s GDP per capita keeps growing exponentially and the impact of digitization is not to be underestimated, things got serious real fast. With the curve becoming steeper and the most recent developments of new technologies or generative AI only being in the first stages, companies are in for interesting times. Especially when talent shortage and skills gaps start weighing in on the workforce and company growth.
1. Skills effectivity
Skills measurement and management are getting too much attention, yet they are important to accomplish a strategically successful workforce planning, enable internal mobility and/or boost performance. However, it is easy to get lost in translation or step into the pitfall of overrating strategies or tools. It is more important to develop an understanding of what the company wants to achieve with its skills-management in the first place.
"The thing with skills is to focus on the problem. First look at your goal and then look for the tools to accomplish that." - Josh Bersin
2. Superworkers
With high pressure on workers, due to labour market challenges like talent shortage and skills gaps, Candidate Experience, Employee Experience, DEI and wellbeing are going to become evermore important to not glide into a conflict model fed by burnouts, strikes or lock-outs. Companies might even need to review the social contract because they need superworkers to thrive in these challenging times. In the meanwhile these employees are sending signals they are fed up with the increasing working pressure as a consequence of the labour market challenges. With automation as a partial saviour for this pressure and steep learning curve, companies need to act more accordingly towards the economic value of their employees.
"The presence of people and talent are going to determine the speed of growth of a company." - Josh Bersin
I completely understand this from a global perspective, yet in Europe and in Belgium to be precise we have - on average - the best jobs in the world according to the Labour Rights Index that scores the NATO’s SDG guidelines for decent work. Also in Belgium, 50% of the workforce still doesn’t find their job workable according to recent a study of a Belgian Newspaper and according to the latest statistics; about 200k vacancies are left unfilled. Statistics and sentiment are contradicting each other. Is that a surprise? It reminds me of a story of a king that had everything and was never satisfied, but let’s not get religion into this.
My guess is that the national talent pool is exhausted and not all companies are overthinking a global approach to expand their search and ensure their growth. Hasn’t the talent market already become much bigger than the sales market already?
3. Kitchen drawer problems
In the past years the HRTech market grew exponentially, boasting point solutions and startups. Also, companies have invested heavily in their overall Tech Stack, often leading to what Josh Bersin calls “The Kitchen Drawer Problem” because the average number of corporate apps increased from 99 to 155 in the past three years (+57%), with an increase of 17% in the last year. Solving this in the upcoming years will be the challenge. After all, “simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication” (Einstein).
"Companies have too many stuff." - Josh Bersin
Chad Sowash of the Chad & Cheese Podcast summarised this as: “Moore's Law has finally closed the tech gap. We (TA / HR) finally live in a space where WE have the same advanced tech as sales, customer service, and marketing. NOW we can focus on being the actual engine of every business transaction. Now... WTAF will we do with it all?”
4. HRMS stepping up
With 2023 as being a low in the HR Tech Market investments dynamics, HRIS market leaders are stepping up. As they find instant innovation with the use of generative AI and copilots, they increase in market value as their acquisition strategy seems to pay off.
With the HR Conference in Las Vegas and Unleash World in Paris, in one week, all these companies came up with new and innovative releases.
“In the past 18 months more than 165 HR Tech vendors have been acquired by larger companies.” - Josh Bersin
Examples of new releases from market leaders:
Microsoft Viva released its skills based learning system,a way to find mentors and experts, an employee development platform, and an internal mobility tool that looks like a talent marketplace.
Microsoft’s acquisition LinkedIn has announced generative AI platform Recruiter 2024
ADP releases API central and launches corporate venture capital fund
Workday Unveils New Generative AI Capabilities to Amplify Human Performance at Work and integrates with Beamery.
Ceridian rebrands itself to Dayforce to reflect company focus.
UKG acquired Irish global payments provider Immedis back in June and has just announced their very own multi-country payroll solution.
Oracle plans on integrating generative AI in its HR workflows by the years end
Even challenger Oyster launched Pearl, an AI-powered chatbot that can answer questions about global hiring and remote work regulations, saving HR teams the headache of having to read through static, outdated or hard-to-find information.
5. A new innovation cycle inspired by AI
A new innovation cycle is occurring at the horizon with generative AI only being in its early development. This leads to a new generation of HR technology applications that is being funded and developed as we speak. Innovation is a recurring process that has no end, it is the mission of every HR manager to keep up with the pace and ensure a sustainable business outcome on the long term. Companies should not be afraid to pilot with startups and/or be frontrunners in adopting new technologies.
Between last year's second and third quarters, funding for VC-backed HR tech startups dropped by $2.7 billion according to investment bank Houlihan Lokey. That being said, Gartner predicts that AI will drive broader HR Tech investments, which will lead to adoption in the long term.
“HR needs startups to innovate.” - Thomas Otter of Acadian Ventures
Current market dynamics that recently caught the eye:
Mid segment market HRIS HiBob added another $150M in a new round of funding
The Selection Lab, a leading Amsterdam based developer of cutting-edge assessment technology for applicant screening, has successfully raised €1.25 million in funding.
Global HR Technology Leader Harri Raises $43M in series B to Support the company’s Continued Expansion of Frontline Worker Employee Experience Solutions
Saudi-Based HR Platform Jisr Closes $30 Million in a Series A Round, considered to be the biggest series A for HR Tech in the Middle East so far.
ETS acquires PeopleStrong’s assessment and remote proctoring subsidiary Wheebox
Employee Experience startup Klaar Raises $800,000 in Seed Funding to Revolutionize HR Technology
Pakistani HR tech Paismo firm raises $1.3 million in seed round, plans Middle East expansion
Also, Confirm secures $6.2 in funding with its talent management solution that incorporates organizational network analysis into a traditional performance process.
Closer to home, Belgian startup and global payroll platform PayBix won the prestigious Belgian HRTECH.be “Startup of the year” award, and I am looking forward to seeing who wins the recruitment tech award in Holland next month.
My impressions of Unleash World in Paris 2023 summarized:
“Unleash was a 2-day business trip to another world, ‘where the HR world meets’ and everybody speaks the same language no matter where they are from: the people language.”
Best keynote: Josh Bersin
Startup Winner of Unleash: Talk’n’Job– a German-based virtual voice-guided job application
Cool BeNeLux startup: Recrubo.ai, recruitment tool that improves time to hire
Best panel discussion quote:
“We did not get Candidate Experience right for 20 years.” - Michael Kienle, Global Vice President of TA at L’Oreal.
Best global workforce insights talk: Orsolya Kovacs-Ondrejkovic, Associate Director BCG
Most admirable growth story: Canva by Jennie Rogerson, global head of people
Interesting use case streamlining Talent Acquisition Technology: Deloitte & Avature by Maarten Verleyen, TA systems & analytics manager
Keynote with vision on the future: Bayer, “from managing complexity to open talent exchange” 👀
Insightful exhibition talks:
Phenom, HiBob, Beamery, Remote, 🇧🇪 SD Worx, 🇧🇪 PayBix, Humaans, 🇧🇪 WooClap, 🇧🇪 TechWolf, Recrubo.ai, Cegid, Degreed, 🇧🇪 Valpeo, 365Talents, PoetryHR, Radancy, Paradox, Edligo, Sense, Avature, and many more.
Best booth: Beamery (nothing beats having the best coffee & barista of the entire exhibition)
Best rooftop party: HiBob
Best macarons: HiBob
Cool people to have met in a real (yet surreal) environment: Chad Sowash, Andrew Spence, David Green, Mervyn Dinnen, Csenge Pfandler, Amelia Donovan and Paige Richmond, Jennie Rogerson, Summer Baruth, Georgia Kyriakopoulos, Bas Van de Haterd, Niels van Lindenberg, Maarten Verleyen, Martijn Hemminga, Mark Van Assema and all the people of the vendors and startups I talked to.
The great absentee: “the metaverse”. It was hyped shortly before OpenAI claimed the headlines in 2023 and it might be preparing itself for a revival in the categories learning, collaboration and remote working. After Accenture’s use case with its Nth floor, EY is also launching its own metaverse with a clear purpose. Maybe that is good news for Mark Zuckerberg, who was planning more layoffs in the metaverse division.
Conclusion
In summary, my trip to Unleash World in Paris in 2023 was an eye-opening experience that taught me a lot about the future of HR and technology. Despite some initial travel hiccups, the event itself was a source of inspiration. Josh Bersin, a respected figure in HR, highlighted five important lessons: the need to manage skills effectively, improve the experience for employees, deal with the growing complexity of HR tech, adopt market leader evolution and embrace the potential of generative AI.
I also had the opportunity to meet many innovative companies and individuals, ranging from startups to industry leaders, all contributing to the transformation of HR technology. They are passionate and creative, reshaping how we work and interact with our employees.
In a rapidly evolving landscape, we witnessed significant investments, acquisitions, and initiatives, reaffirming the industry's commitment to advancing HR technology. As we reflect on this journey, it's clear that the future of HR is constantly changing, and it's our responsibility to adapt, seize opportunities, and navigate the complexities of a digital world filled with potential. Unleash World has shown us the power of innovation and adaptation in shaping the future of HR, and its impact will continue to resonate as we stay at the forefront of change in this transformative era.
Kudos to Bas van de Haterd, https://www.digitaal-werven.nl for the recommendation and collaboration! 🙌