Emphasis on the Human
The Evolution of HR in a Virtual World
Three quarters of the way through 2020, the world is fundamentally different than it was in January. Markets have shifted, causing vast labour adjustments, and remote work has raised important questions about long-term changes to our lives. Perhaps now more than ever, questions of talent acquisition, employee professional development, and retention are front and centre. So, how exactly does technology fit into the mix? ICTC’s Senior Director of Research & Policy sat down with Lindsey Walker, VP of Talent at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to get a glimpse into this rapidly evolving space.
Alexandra: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me today, Lindsey. Let’s start with the easy stuff. Can you give me a bit of a background on yourself and your role at the Federal Reserve?
Lindsey: Happy to! I really consider myself a career HR and talent practitioner. For the past two decades, most of my experience has been on the recruiting side in financial services. I’ve done high-volume recruiting, niche and specialized recruiting, as well as executive search. I’ve had the opportunity to work for large global organizations in the past, and now for the last four years, I’ve been with Federal Reserve. It’s here that I’ve had the chance to really expand my role and my purview. At the Fed, I lead our talent organization. This includes talent acquisition, development, engagement, learning and development, and planning.
Alexandra: Can you unpack “niche recruiting” for me? What kind of roles fit into this category?
Lindsey: I know that when people think of the Fed, they think about economists, and while we do hire for those roles, our search doesn’t end there. The San Francisco Fed is about 1,700 people in total, and one of our largest groups is our IT department. We do a lot of tech recruiting to support the entire Federal Reserve system, so our team is often looking for in-demand technical and coding-based roles. We also sit in Silicon Valley, so we compete with some of the best-known tech companies in the world — this adds a unique element of complexity to our search.
Another area that is a core function of the Federal Reserve is what we refer to as Supervision and Regulation. These roles are integral to the safety and soundness of our financial economy, and increasingly, they require talent that understands both financial and non-financial risk. This is a very niche spot and it can be difficult to source for — it’s not very boxed in and clean, as far as the skill sets that we’re looking for.
Alexandra: That’s really interesting! Can you speak a bit about how the market has shifted in the last couple of months, particularly in relation to the IT talent that you’re looking for? For example, there’s no shortage of headlines about the increase in cyber-attacks since COVID-19 — are you seeing more demand for cybersecurity professionals?
Lindsey: We certainly hire for our cybersecurity team across the Federal Reserve system, and you’re right, those are very in-demand roles with specific skill needs. But these roles were in-demand pre-COVID, they are in-demand now during COVID, and will remain in-demand post-COVID — that won’t change. What I’d say about broader market shifts, and I’ll caveat it with the reality that this is a very recent shift, is that fundamental skill needs will change. The longer we need to do everything digitally, the bigger the push for everyone across the board — that is, all employees — to have some level of digital acumen.
Alexandra: I echo that. I think basic digital literacy will be needed across all sectors, and in short order. Have you seen any changes in relation to your candidate pools? For example, are you getting different types of applicants than you were pre-pandemic?
Lindsey: Not so much type, but quantity. We have absolutely seen the volume of applicants increase for a lot of the technical positions that we have. Years prior, we had to do a lot of active outreach and sourcing of candidates. Previously, a lot of people working in the tech space didn’t necessarily think about working for the San Francisco Fed — we had to do a lot of pulling, so to speak! We’ll still do that (active outreach) because it’s part of our strategy to make sure that we’re really getting a good cross-section of talent, but we have seen a big increase in applications for our roles in the last few months. We’re getting a lot more candidate outreach on LinkedIn, and we have people contacting us directly about positions — we didn’t really experience this pre-pandemic.
Alexandra: Fascinating, although not all together surprising, given the state of the economy. If you know, are the new applicants coming from tech startups, or more established companies?
Lindsey: It’s really a mixed bag — we are seeing interest across the board. Some of them are from startups, but I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines, and unfortunately, some much larger firms have had to go through layoffs. The pandemic has affected so many different sectors of the economy, and as a result, we’re seeing a really diverse cross-section of applicants.
Alexandra: Do you think that with the uncertainty the pandemic has created, these new applicants are now seeing a role at the Federal Reserve as something more stable, and therefore more attractive?
Lindsey: Yes, I think so! Our value proposition hasn’t changed. We are mission-driven; we are a public service organization — that’s something that is at our core. So, we certainly look for candidates that share our values and want to be part of our mission. I absolutely think that in times like this, an employer that has robust rewards and benefits (versus perks like RSUs or stock options, which we don’t have) can be seen as very attractive.
Alexandra: That makes perfect sense. Do you feel that the pandemic has caused you to re-visit your talent attraction strategy?
Lindsey: It’s certainly changed a lot. One big shift has been regarding location. We’re really focused on the US market for the majority of the roles that we recruit for, but in very quick order — like many other organizations — we had to flip absolutely everything virtual. We were already doing some of that before; for example, we were already doing interviews over Zoom and small things like that. But, while none of this is normal — working remotely during a pandemic is very far from normal — we have been able to see that there are some areas where remote work actually suits us very well. So, we’ve changed our strategy to remove some boundaries on where roles can be based.
This spring, we also had a class of 26 summer interns that were joining the organization, and the last thing that we wanted to do was to cancel the program. We thought that cancelling it would be devastating for early-career young professionals. So, we flipped that virtual as well, and it was really successful. Now my team and I are starting to plan for the next internship program, and we’ve decided that we’re going to continue to lead in a virtual manner. In an ideal world, we’d love to have in-person experiences, but one of the great things about the virtual aspect is that it helps us remove some barriers around participation — it really opens up opportunities for more equity. We found that offering these experiences in a virtual-first manner really broadened our candidate pools. I think that’s a huge win for us.
Alexandra: On the pandemic, everybody’s work lives have changed quite substantially. There are various articles and studies that have come out where the consensus seems to be that people are working longer hours at home than they were in the office. Is there anything that you put in place to avoid employee burnout during this period?
Lindsey: We’ve done a number of things. At the top line, we’ve created a framework that puts care for oneself at the centre. Because there’s a tremendous amount of stress involved in the current situation, our senior leadership has done a really nice job of actively encouraging a work-life balance. As we talk about our value proposition, that’s always been something that’s been important to us, but it’s stressed in a different way right now. We’re encouraging people to take vacations, take time off, and disconnect.
The second part is about making sure that, now more than ever, we’re relying on our teams and supporting one another. And the third piece is about recalibrating to only focus on what’s essential. This means thinking about whether there are projects that can be deferred, or meetings that aren’t really needed. We’ve found that doing this really helps people focus on priorities.
On top of this, we’re encouraging frequent check-ins, and we’ve also put together a lot of wellness programs: we all have access to the Calm app, which has been great; we have access to Talkspace; and we’re really looking at how we can help caregivers and parents that are currently being pulled in every direction, the likes of which we’ve never seen before.
Alexandra: You mention leaning on a few apps for support — Calm and Talkspace, for example. Looking at the industry over the years, how do you think it’s evolved, and what role has technology played?
Lindsey: I’ve been in this space for close to two decades now, and technology has played a huge role. One area that it’s made a big impact in is applicant tracking systems and candidate relationship management systems. These tools have gotten pretty advanced, as we’re able to use them to automate workflows but also make sure that we’ve got the right touch points with candidates. They have other benefits like process efficiency, but for me, the biggest value is in improving the candidate experience. I mean, these are not widgets, they’re people, and they’re applying for jobs, which can be hugely stressful, especially in times like these. If we can use technology to make that experience better, I think it’s a big step in the right direction.
There are times where a personal touch still has to come into play, but I think in some instances, technology can be a big resource. I say “some instances” because I know there is talk about how AI is starting to influence the recruitment space, and to be honest, I’m wary of it. Candidate selection is a really important decision, and I’m not quite comfortable leveraging AI for this purpose, yet.
However, the other part of my role is about internal talent development. This includes career mobility and learning and development; that’s an area where technology like AI has made leaps and bounds, in my view. It’s horrible to say, but years ago, there wasn’t a lot of robust thought around the best ways to enable employees on their learning pathways, or how to find opportunities for internal career mobility for existing employees. But next month, we’re going to launch a new system and platform that uses machine learning to learn about what an employee is passionate about, what motivates them, what their skills are, and where they want to go in their careers. I think this tool will really help our employees find internal avenues that they can grow into with some skill development. To me, that’s really exciting.
Alexandra: That’s really cool. It sounds like you guys are big supporters of upskilling. Do you see this a lot, where employees are looking to transition into new careers within the company?
Lindsey: If we backup or broaden what you are talking about, yes. Take quantitative analysis roles, or data analysis roles, for example: there’s a fair amount of similarity between the technical skills that are required for these positions, and other technical roles we may be recruiting for. If I think about someone who is an associate in economic research, there’s a certain level of skill crossover to some of the policy analyst roles that support the business to ensure a healthy cash and coin supply across the economy. This type of thing can play out in a lot of different ways across our organization, and we really want to show our employees what’s possible. Using technology to show them all the roles that they are a great match for, or different career opportunities that exist within the San Francisco Fed, is really powerful. At the end of the day, it is up to the individual, but you have to give them the tools to develop that mindset of continuous learning and agility, especially because things are changing so rapidly.
Alexandra: Awesome. You mentioned having a sense of apprehension around using AI for the candidate selection process. Are you worried that it might inadvertently filter out a great candidate?
Lindsey: In short, yes. My discomfort at this point has to do with exactly that. There are many areas where I’m happy to do things differently using technology, but in this case, I feel that it’s still too nascent. I have a lot of concern around bias that might be built into these tools. That possibility is really worrying. And yes, I understand that humans are also innately biased, but the stakes are too high for me right now.
Alexandra: What are your thoughts on leveraging AI in instances where you have already selected a core group that you’d like to move to the interview process? Do you think that AI can play a role here, or do you think that this is just as risky, if not more?
Lindsey: As someone who is a long-time practitioner in the space, you can feel the reservation that I’m having. I think that we need to really look at things that are valid predictors of someone’s success in a role, and they are not always straightforward or purely logic-based. I’ll trivialize this a bit, but humans are not built on if-then statements. We are all complex, and we all have unique needs, goals, motivators, and stories. This is an area where, for all our faults as humans, the human touch is still critical.
