The HealthNow team donned fresh, white branded t-shirts and set up our pull-up banner at the inaugural Talent X conference in Auckland. We approached this event with open minds, recognizing that the recruitment industry was somewhat uncharted territory for us. Our primary clientele comprises employers looking to streamline their health and wellness benefit processes for their staff or use them for recruitment, retention, and engagement. Recruitment professionals stand at the crossroads of this world, making us eager to explore how we could support them.

The speaker sessions provided valuable insights. Dr. Michelle Dickinson lit up the room with her take on the future of work, the impact of AI on the job market, and the difference in people’s attitudes toward technology adoption at work compared to their personal lives. Her statement that struck a chord with us was, “AI won’t take your job, but someone who knows how to use AI will,” earning nods of agreement across the room. Dr. Dickinson’s expertise and ability to engage audiences on technology and science reaffirmed her leadership in her field.

Despite the challenging acoustics in the venue, the speakers had our minds racing. Megan Lynch and Josh McCole from Bullhorn presented data on the recruitment sector, echoing what many had on their minds – it’s a challenging period for many recruiters. There’s a talent shortage, and a new wave of consultants in the industry is learning business development tactics they haven’t needed during more prosperous times.

A key takeaway from their presentation was the revelation that the third top priority among survey respondents on an international scale was the need for digital transformation. Companies without a digital transformation strategy risk falling behind. This resonated with us, as it reflects what we hear from our customers who are eager to digitize their health and wellness benefit programs to enhance employee experiences and gather data for better organizational decision-making.

The highlight of the event was hearing Anna Mowbray’s story, founder of Zuru and now the creator of the groundbreaking ‘tinder for jobs’ app, Zeil. She shared her incredible 17-year journey with Zuru and explained what led her to start Zeil. Her assessment of the current job classified market influenced the user experience and interface of her new product, which is already gaining tremendous traction.

During the breaks, we had the opportunity to engage with fellow attendees over lunch and coffee, and we placed our freshly-released Employee Market Report in the hands of industry professionals. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and we began to understand how recruiters could leverage HealthNow to their advantage. This not only included recommending it to their clients to enhance metrics across their businesses, both in terms of finances and engagement, but also catering to the numerous companies present in the room that employ temporary and contract staff in the market. HealthNow offers a means to build loyalty and repeat business with short-term contract talent.

The afternoon sessions were equally informative, delving further into AI, data, sales strategies, partner sessions with key sponsors, and more networking opportunities, culminating in some well-deserved drinks at the end of the day.

We were delighted to be a part of this inaugural event and had the pleasure of meeting many interesting individuals who expressed keen interest in learning more about HealthNow and ensuring they had a copy of our report in their inbox.

See you next year, Talent X!