Today I've asked Gary Banks to recap the "Essence of NPAworldwide" as experienced during the recent Australia/New Zealand Recruitment Conference in Brisbane. - Jim Lyons
Recruiters have much affinity with the circus, whether it's juggling the expectations of multiple stakeholders, balancing the high wire of candidates accepting or not accepting roles, or just dealing with the clowns in our office (spoiler alert- it's usually the owners!). Recently the world's largest recruitment cooperative NPAworldwide took this theme one step further, with our Australian/New Zealand Conference titled "Taming the Talent Circus- AI's Role in Shaping the Future of Recruitment."
Held over 2 days at the end of October (3, if you count the Moshe Goldberg Memorial Golf Day) in a stunning venue at Waters Edge, Portside Brisbane, it brought together nearly 90 members from the area for Professional Development, Training, Networking and Fun!
The first day was targeted towards the Owners and Managers within our network, key takeaways were:
- Business Coach Mark Creedon showing us how to be the ringmaster of the circus and have a business and not just a job. It's all down to Time, Team and Targets.
- Tech leaders in our Industry from JobAdder, Bullhorn and RecMate discussing on a panel how AI is shaping the Future of the Recruitment industry. AI won't be taking our job, but someone who knows how to use AI might well be.
- Noted Recruitment Coach Tony Hall gave us 10 things that the most profitable recruitment companies are doing right now. The key is "we know what we do, we must do what me know."
The second day saw extra recruiters added to the mix, bringing in extra energy, with the key points being:
- Business Development Expert Rob Hawkes showing us how to walk the tightrope of BD. He said "Knowledge is potential power, action is Power! Do a bit every day.
- A humbling experience to hear from Bill Carson on taming the stress and burnout monster. Having SAFE conversations and practical ways to be grateful for what you have achieved and not beat yourself up for what you haven't.
- International Supersourcer Nikao Hill gave us practical real-life examples of how to level up and find those hard-to-get candidates. He also scared many with the depth of info out there, with 90% of the internet covering the deep and dark web.
As usual, there was an amazing amount of knowledge and intelligence in the room, with best practices shared on engagement with clients, candidates, staff and our NPA Partners. New member Jenny Smith from Jenny Barbour Recruitment summed it up this way, "As a new member of the NPA Network I gained enormous value by attending the 2023 ANZ Conference in Brisbane. Introductions to my fellow NPA members and the functionality of the Network itself would not have been as insightful without the conference. Not to mention, a lot of fun was had, and personal relationships begun."
Perhaps the most talked about part of the conference was running away to the circus- with a Team-building session at nearby Flipside Circus. Learning to juggle, hula, flip, trapeze and build human pyramids helped us improve teamwork and expand our mindset. To top it off, a Circus-themed dress-up Party at Eat Street Markets saw clowns and ringmasters aplenty. Check out the photo album!
It was a privilege to host what will probably be my last conference as an NPA Area Leader. A salient reminder that you can always have fun whilst getting better at what you do.