Monthly Archives: August 2017

Successful recruitment is about in-depth conversations, and new technologies arent able to help consultants understand candidates better, says Fabien Guerin, founder and CEO of Talent Fishers.

Many business leaders believe that Asia will spearhead the global economic growth for decades to come. Organisations from around the globe are hoping to get a slice of the Asian market, making it one of the hottest destinations for top talent.

Talent Fishers was set up in 2007 in China to cater to a growing demand from foreign-invested companies for human capital solutions in Asia.

When conducting a cross-cultural search, matching candidates to the right position is not enough. We dont only find the right candidates, we are here to advise clients on the best practices for Asian markets.

The mission of Talent Fishers is changing peoples lives by offering them better career and better responsibilities, and we change a companys future by finding the right people for the right roles, enabling the company to better develop.

With the use of the latest technology such as databases, job boards and social networks, a huge amount of time is being saved in extracting data on suitable candidates, but Talent Fishers is committed to taking things to the next level.

We believe having in-depth conversations with our candidates puts them in the best position to be successful, and these new technologies are not able to help consultants understand candidates better.

Our consultants ask candidates the right questions to learn about their professional backgrounds and find out who they really are and what they really want in life.

When conducting a search, understanding the organisation is just as important. Every company has a different culture, DNA and history. We combine all those factors to match an individual who fits in with the organisations culture and DNA at the right time.

Sometimes, the most talented individual might not be the best fit for a specific role at a specific time.

For our consultants to get to know the candidates, a face-to-face meeting is often the best way to communicate. With that being said, I believe technology such as virtual reality will bring a huge impact to the executive search landscape by allowing individuals to hold in-depth conversations without having to be seated in the same room.

I hope with VR technology, I will be able to interview candidates from overseas with the same quality of interaction as we have sitting in the same room.

In todays business world, people are more prone to move to explore another culture. As a result, I foresee top talent from different backgrounds gathering to work in an expertise hub.

There will be different expertise hubs set up around the world and I think Hong Kong is an interesting place for financial services-related functions to set up an expertise hub.

The June 2017 issue of Human Resources magazine is a special edition, bringing you interviews with 12 HR leaders, with their predictions on the future of HR.

ReadThe Futuristor subscribe here.

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The Futurist: Fishing for the right talent - Human Resources Online

Volvos surprise announcement that it will phase out the internal combustion engine by 2019 should be a wake-up call across industries that disruptive technology is already impacting short-term business planning. Anticipating how the economy and human behavior will be reshaped in the years ahead is an important exercise that should inform business leaders decisions and help position their businesses to more readily adapt to the future.

Commercial real estate is not disconnected from the challenges and opportunities posed by technology. Quite the opposite; it will be at the epicenter as outside forces impact how people live, commute, work and interact. As commercial real estate leaders, we should be mindful of how the developments were building now will be used in 10 or 15 years, when todays emerging technology has become tomorrows ubiquitous convenience.

Here are four technologies and trends that could shape commercial real estate in the not-too-distant future.

The University of Michigan is researching self-driving cars at a facility in Ann Arbor. (Image courtesy of the University of Michigan)

Fully self-driving cars arent too far from becoming a reality. In fact, Michigan authorized testing autonomous vehicles on public roads, and the University of Michigan will soon deploy autonomous vehicles around at its engineering campus in Ann Arbor.

While a single campus may seem like a small example, the University of Michigans research could soon open up new possibilities for people who would otherwise chafe at a long commute. If the car becomes a mobile workspace, driving to the office becomes productive work time and the distance traveled is less important. Its conceivable that the suburbs could become a magnet again for people looking for more affordable housing and access to amenities like golf courses, walking trails and better schools.

Flexible work arrangements and the normalization of teleworking could further accelerate a return to suburbia spurred by autonomous driving. These two converging trends may cause more peopleincluding aging millennials with school-aged childrento look beyond the urban cores and close-in suburbs for affordable and spacious housing.

If the sharing economy lives up to its hype, the implications for commercial real estate are enormous. Ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft are already well-established, but driverless vehicles could transform these services from a convenient option to a groundbreaking alternative to car ownership.

As ride-sharing companies mature and autonomous vehicles drive down the cost of rides even further, will it even make financial sense for Generation Z to own cars? What does that do to the footprint and design of multifamily developments? If people can rent out their self-driving cars to a ride-sharing service while theyre at work, will there still be a need for massive parking garages connected to office towers? Could it open new development opportunities for sites now occupied by parked cars?

Herzog & de Meurons design for 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami reimagines the parking structure.

These trends could also drive the redevelopment of existing spaces. Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architectural firm, reimagined the parking garage with its groundbreaking structure at 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami. This mixed-use parking garage includes office space, storefronts, apartments, a SunTrust branchand yes, some parking. The striking design and creative use of space could be a viable model for existing garages that have outlived their usefulness as a place to park cars.

Virtual reality is arguably one of the most disruptive technologies on the horizon, and the applications are endless, from revolutionizing how people communicate across continents to allowing people to experience places in immersive ways.

Applying VR to commercial real estate would be relatively easy. Developers could take investors on tours of planned buildings before any dirt has been moved; brokers may offer tenants virtual tours to multiple properties in the span of an hourall from the comfort of an office; and developers and bankers can test the waters by taking focus groups on VR-aided visits to planned communities before a single dollar is spent.

VRs usefulness to the commercial real estate industry might seem like more of a novelty than necessity, but enterprising people will find ways to make it financially feasible and convenient.

Millennials are not monolithic in their behaviors, contrary to what some industry experts seem to suggest. While many in this generation desire an urban environment close to work and lifestyle amenities, they are also demonstrating an interest in owning single-family homes. Seventy percent of millennials see themselves in the suburbs with their next home, according to a 2016 PulteGroup study.

The emerging desire of millennials to own homes could signal challenges for the multifamily industry, especially if the trend accelerates, too much supply is on the market and Generation Z demonstrates a similar propensity for homeownership.

In the event of prolonged multifamily vacancies, how can investors make the most of their holdings? Could apartments be refashioned and sold as condos for seniors who desire more walkable communities? Might local and state governments offer incentives to convert apartments into affordable housing? Reimagining existing multifamily communities may be necessary in the years to come.

The imperfect exercise of predicting the impact of technology is no reason to avoid asking difficult questions. The business opportunities and uncomfortable possibilities presented by innovation, if properly considered, can be addressed or mitigated now if leaders have the foresight to imagine how thingsand peoplewill change.

Technology has already demonstrated its ability to impact commercial real estate; reduced demand for office space is only one of many examples. If the last decade has taught the commercial real estate industry anything, its that searching the horizon for trouble and opportunities to stay ahead of the next paradigm shift is a smart way to conduct business.

Kathleen Farrell is head of commercial real estate at SunTrust Banks Inc.

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4 Big Trends That Will Shape CRE: A Futurist's Guide - Commercial Property Executive

Anders Srman-Nilsson (LLB / EMBA) is a global futurist and innovation strategist who helps leaders decode trends, decipher whats next and turn provocative questions into proactive strategies. With an average of 240 international travel days a year, Anders view is that the future and the now are converging in a city or start-up near you, giving the curious, the creative and the courageous a competitive and sustainable edge. At the same time, that same future contains fearsome forecasts for futurephobes.

This Swedish-Australian futurist has shared the stage with Hillary Clinton, Nobel laureates, and European and Australian heads of state. He is an active member of TEDGlobal, has keynoted at TEDx in the United States and Australia, was nominated to the World Economic Forums Young Global Leaders in 2015, and was the keynote speaker at the G20s Y20 Summit in Australia.

His thought leadership has been featured in international media like Monocle, Business Insider, Sky News Business, Financial Review, CIO Magazine and Boss. He is the author of the books Digilogue: how to win the digital minds and analogue hearts of tomorrows customers and Thinque Funky: Upgrade Your Thinking, and his most recent book Seamless: the futurephiles guide to leading digital adaptation and human transformation.

His presentations are meticulously researched, highly energetic and always fascinating with content tailored to the audience, which is why clients like Apple, Cisco, Mercedes Benz, Hilton, SAP, Gartner and Macquarie Bank have turned to Anders over the years to help them turn research into foresight and business impact.

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Anders Srman-Nilsson (LLB/EMBA), global futurist, speaker and author - InvestorDaily