This series is designed to bring together professionals and entrepreneurs to share insights, strategies, and experiences from across a range of important business sectors and topics. Through open discussions, collaborative activities, and case study analysis, participants will explore emerging trends, effective communication techniques, and innovative approaches to engaging audiences.
In this session, we will focus on talent attraction, in conjunction with NRG.
0930 – 1000 Welcome & objectives
- Setting the scene: why talent attraction is a business-critical capability
- The impact of getting it right and the cost of getting it wrong
- What good looks like in today’s market
Understanding today’s talent landscape
- What candidates expect from employers in 2026
- Shifts in candidate behaviour and decision-making
- Common attraction challenges across the North East market
- Positioning your organisation effectively
1000 – 1045 Attracting the right talent
- Writing job adverts that engage, not just inform
- Moving beyond job descriptions to value propositions
- Choosing the right channels and messaging
- Aligning hiring managers and stakeholders early
- Inclusive recruitment in practice
- Removing bias from attraction and selection
- Inclusive language and accessible processes
- Broadening talent pools and challenging “like-for-like” hiring
- Small changes that make a big impact on diversity and fairness
- Q&A
1045 – 1100
Break
1100 – 1145 Designing a strong candidate experience
- What “good” looks like from application to offer
- Where processes typically fall down
- Communication, feedback and transparency
- The link between candidate experience, brand and acceptance rates
- Practical ways to improve experience without adding complexity
- Vetting and pre-employment screening
- Interactive mentimeter activity
- What checks are needed and when
- Balancing compliance with candidate experience
- Common risks and how to mitigate them
- Building screening into the process without slowing it down
1145 – 1200 Wrap up and next steps
- Key takeaways
- Actions participants can implement immediately – commitment cards
- Open Q&A
