Talent Acquisition News

 

Talent Acquisition Movers, Shakers, & News Breakers: March 2020, Part 1

 

Pre-pandemic declaration on March 11, Paychex released a study that found 66 percent of U.S. business owners felt prepared should the virus become widespread. It would be interesting to see what those same organizations think now that the World Health Organization has sounded a more panicked call. While you’re working from home and avoiding any unnecessary human contact, here’s what else is happening in the recruiting and HR world.

 

Recent News

Personalization appeared to be a common theme in the first half of March. Several vendors introduced new features that seek to customize the user experience. Formerly known as Phenom People, just Phenom launched what it’s calling True 1-to-1 Personalization. It can analyze candidate interactions to present relevant job recommendations, search results, and more, along with three other updates.

Glint unveiled Glint 360s, an accessible, insightful, and actionable feedback tool for organizations looking to develop leaders. At the same time, BetterUp announced two new products – Identify AI and Coaching Clouds. These products will deliver hyper-personalized coaching at scale to any employee at any level in an organization.

Likewise, SmashFly’s latest career site update includes enhanced job descriptions, blogging, and dynamic content personalization functionality. Alight got in on the trend, too, with the deployment of an intelligent, data-driven solution that provides employees with targeted alerts and guidance. 

 

Research

On the research front, and related to the recent International Women’s Day, Mercer put out its When Women Thrive 2020 Global Report. The findings indicate that 81 percent of organizations worldwide claim that improving D&I is essential for gender equality in the workplace. However, only 42 percent have a plan in place.

With Equal Pay Day coming up on March 31, Mastercard revealed its pay gap. They disclose that female employees make almost 8 percent less than their male counterparts. Markedly, Mastercard is only the second U.S. financial institution to offer this level of visibility after Citigroup. 

 

Capital Investments, Mergers, & Acquisitions

OutMatch

Talent intelligence platform OutMatch secured a majority investment from Rubicon. Rubicon is a private equity firm specializing in enterprise software companies. The move will reportedly help accelerate and expand the existing OutMatch roadmap in terms of product innovation and strategic acquisitions. Over the last three years, OutMatch acquired analytics solution provider Pomello. They also acquired video interviewing solution Wepow and assessments and talent analytics firm The Devine Group. 

 

Aon acquires its competition

In larger business space-related news. Global professional services firm Aon acquired its rival, Willis Towers Watson. This merger was a $30 billion deal. Aon and WTW are both heavily involved in risk management, insurance brokerage, and advisory work. Says the press release, “The transaction unites firms that share a belief in the power of data-driven insights to create new sources of client value.” Additionally, the combined entity will operate under and trade as Aon.

 

Criteria Corp

Fresh off a significant growth investment, SaaS employment analytics platform Criteria Corp obtained Revelian. The emotional intelligence and game-based assessments firm are Australia based. The move enhances Criteria’s existing enterprise-grade assessment offering. It also positions the company to better serve customers through an expanded assessment portfolio and additional product and services. 

 

Learning Technologies Group

Learning Technologies Group agreed to acquire intellectual property and assets related to Blackboard’s Open LMS for $31.7 million. The transaction will take about four weeks to complete. Following this, LTG will leverage Open LMS as a standalone brand within its portfolio. Additionally, a subsequent partnership will also enable LTG to resell Blackboard products integrating with Open LMS. 

 

Talespin

Spatial computing company Talespin raised $15 M in Series B funding, in a round led by its new partner, Cornerstone On Demand. Focused on workforce knowledge transfer and skill alignment, Talespin will be delivering its extended reality training solutions to Cornerstone customers. With the influx of capital and partnership, Talespin will work to develop technology and products to up-level HR and L&D and continue growing its VR learning content library. 

 

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In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are event cancelations around the world. Please check in with the individual organizer for the latest information. 

 

Other recent highlights:

  • HCM company Paycor introduced its Open Enrollment Wizard tool. This tool promises to streamline the process for small to medium-sized businesses. 
  • Candidate engagement platform WorkLLama rolled out an AI-driven chatbot named Sofi. Sofi intends to boost recruiter productivity. 
  • Service industry-centric MogulRecruiter teamed up with mobile and development firm KiwiTech to build hospitality’s first private elite talent marketplace. 
  • Staffing technology platform Bluecrew launched Bluecrew Manager. The mobile app is for employers looking to find and manage hourly workers. 
  • Tech talent marketplace Hired announced Hired Flex and Self Service to give employers more flexibility in their search. 

 

Got news to share with us for our next update? Contact [email protected].

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Authors
Noel Cocca

CEO/Founder RecruitingDaily and avid skier, coach and avid father of two trying to keep up with my altruistic wife. Producing at the sweet spot talent acquisition to create great content for the living breathing human beings in recruiting and hiring. I try to ease the biggest to smallest problems from start-ups to enterprise. Founder of RecruitingDaily and our merry band of rabble-rousers.