Big Conversation: Talent Wars with Martin Smith and Ben Paynter

This week we're talking about the Procurement Talent Wars - the battle for great talent within the function. 

Rich is speaking to Ben Paynter, Procurement Director at Burberry and Martin Smith, owner and founder of the Talent Group and host of Talent Talks podcast to get their inside perspective on the war for talent within our profession.

We cover:

• 0:44 - How the UK recruitment market is - as of December 2023
• 2:12 - We’ve been hearing about a talent shortage for a few years now - how does a procurement leader see it?
• 5:31 - What are the key skills procurement leaders are looking for and what are the hot categories?
• 8:00 - Gap between leading vs simple involvement in activities which candidates put on their CVs
• 10:29 - Migration from perm to interim in IT category at a certain level.
• 12:10 - Is IR35 still having an impact?
• 13:47 - Lack of graduate schemes and talent development
• 16:18 - Confusion over procurement job titles and job descriptions
• 17:53 - Which teams are getting hiring talent right and what are they doing?
• 22:01 - Are there many truly strategic teams out there or are many just talking a good game?
• 25:25 - How much do candidates want to work with a strategic function vs greenfield or brownfield?
• 27:19 - What has the in office, wfh or hybrid position settled on?
• 28:46 - Is there a difference between age or experience level as to willingness to return to office?
• 30:50 - Importance of water cooler moments / maximising value of office time
• 32:11 - Is there anything that candidates should be doing that they are not?
• 36:03 - Annoying practices: Recruiters
• 40:15 - Annoying practices: Hiring managers
• 41:33 - Annoying practices: Candidates
• 46:33 - Importance of feedback