Highlights from HIVE 2024

Disruptions are inevitable, occurring daily from small-scale business decisions to game-changing political events. The challenge for today’s leaders is to harness the energy these disruptions create to pioneer change.

The alternative? Picking up the pieces.

Being a leader in Early Careers (EC) is no longer about filling placements – it’s about ensuring your organisation has the right talent to navigate the relentless changes and technological advances ahead.

It’s time for Early Careers leaders to shift from being the disrupted to becoming the disruptors. Enter HIVE 2024.

At the second annual HIVE event, pioneering Early Careers leaders from global organisations came together to share insights and strategies to learn from their peers, exchange tips and best practice, and innovate in their functions. The topics explored in the event’s agenda were hand-picked by the HIVE community, and were designed to equip Early Careers leaders with the tools they need to embrace the “3 Ps for Disrupting Early Careers”: Planning, Process, and Promotion.

1. Headline Session: Disrupted World

Riaz Shah OBE, Global Innovation Expert, set the tone with his keynote session “Disrupted World.” He explored the challenges of leading an Early Careers function in today’s constantly evolving landscape—from changing demographics and attitudes to the rapid rise of generative AI. Riaz emphasised that for EC leaders, keeping up with these changes is no longer optional, but essential to future success – after all, our world is changing, are you keeping up?

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2. Planning

Dawn Carter, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Uber, and Lucy Hegarty, Global Head of Early Talent Recruitment at GSK, explored how organisations can better tackle demand planning amidst Early Careers disruption:

Lucy Hegarty underscored the difficulty of workforce planning due to fluctuating internal demand – a common challenge faced by many Early Careers leaders. Her suggested solutions included piloting new approaches to hiring, such as considering candidates outside of traditional cycles to meet urgent needs.

Dawn Carter discussed challenges common in the tech sector, such as managing last-minute requests and dealing with low interest in non-tech roles. She also emphasised the transformative impact of AI, which is reshaping customer service and necessitating agile workforce planning to ensure that the right roles are filled at the right time.

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3. Process

Creating clear, coordinated processes is crucial in providing clarity during periods of disruption. Dan Black, Global Leader of Talent Strategy at EY, and Dustin Leszcynski, Director of Talent Acquisition at Burlington Stores, shared their experiences on navigating disruption through efficient processes:

Dan Black discussed how EC leaders can use their organisation’s corporate strategy to set non-negotiables for critical elements like branding and technology. He emphasised the importance of allowing customisation for local nuances while ensuring consistency in core areas. His “stoplight” metaphor—red for what to stop, amber for taking time, and green for proactive actions—helped his team stay aligned, strategic, and agile.

Dustin Leszcynski offered a contrast for leaders who are still in the process of building foundational systems. His focus was on optimising processes, from reporting to enhancing the recruitment lifecycle. By introducing real-time reporting and emphasising experience, he shared how Early Careers functions can build a strong foundation for communicating up the ladder with their senior stakeholders, with notable progress in stakeholder engagement and long-term outcomes.

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4. Promotion

Hayley Bowd, Director of Emerging Talent at Expedia Group, explored how not engaging the right stakeholders at the right time can limit Early Careers teams ability to navigate disruption. Her suggested solution? Take the external energy you would normally apply for campus recruitment programmes and instead bring this in-house to use on your own stakeholders.

This could involve internal activations in high footfall areas, with sweets or raffles to engage with stakeholders internally – just as you would at a careers fair.

The objective and outcome of this approach is to foster a stronger internal advocacy for EC programmes. Her advice to her fellow leaders looking to amplify Early Careers impact internally:

• Bring external activations in-house.
• Maintain excellence in programme communication both internally and externally.
• Step out of your comfort zone—embrace the “test and learn” mindset to innovate.

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What’s next?

HIVE 2024 brought together the brightest minds in Early Careers to explore how leaders can leverage disruption rather than be overwhelmed by it. But HIVE isn’t just an annual event, it’s a year-round community of Early Careers leaders and pioneers.

Apply to join HIVE to take part in our goals of:

• 1. Interrogating trends and information that will help leaders expand their strategic insight
• 2. Fostering a global community of shared learning and connected purpose
• 3. Helping elevate Early Careers on a global scale to address the current challenges that senior leaders are facing

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HIVE content is curated by a Content Advisory Board, ensuring a range of perspectives and diversity of thought. Please get in touch if you would like to take part in a future Content Advisory Board. Our 2024 HIVE Content Advisory Board consisted of:

(US) Dawn Carter, Director, Global Talent Acquisition – Early Career & Apprenticeship Programs, Uber

(US) Dustin Leszcynski, Director of Talent Acquisition – Early Career, Burlington Stores

(UK) Hayley Bowd, Director, Emerging Talent & Careers, Expedia Group

(UK) Lucy Hegarty, Global Head of Early Talent Recruitment, GSK

(UK) Sir David Metcalf CBE, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations, LSE

(UK) Saj Jetha, Founder, The Smarty Train

(US) Dan Black, Global Leader, Talent Strategy & Organisational Effectiveness, EY

(UK) Dr Khairunnisa Mohamedali, Chief Innovation Officer, The Smarty Train