Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/124894
HRO Today Forum Europe Tech Talent's Top Tier Four start-ups took the Forum stage with their ideas and innovation. By Debbie Bolla "We are all out looking for what's new, and somewhere in the world there is always new technology," exclaimed Bill Boorman, founder of TruEvents and the host of the 2012 iTalent Competition. And that was precisely the premise of the innovation showdown: executing new ideas with technology. Four start-ups—Suited Jobs, Small Improvement, Zapoint, and 3Desk—went head-to-head on stage before a panel of esteemed judges and an audience whose members had their vote too. What were they looking for? A company with the most potential to break out in the marketplace. The start-ups tackled tough workforce management issues, including performance, talent acquisition, and contingent labour. Judging the newbies on five criteria—business value, innovation, technology, visibility, and pitch—was a panel of industry luminaries. It included David Andrews, CEO of AOI and chairman of Host of Ideas; Andy Campbell, HCM strategy director of Oracle; Matt Charney, director of marketing for Talent Technology Corporation; Brad McCaw, senior consultant for Towers Watson; Fiona Reddan of The Irish Times; and Paul Hearns, editor of Computer Scope and executive publisher of TechCentral.ie. In the end there was only one winner, but each start-up showed remarkable value in increasing efficiency and decreasing the pain points of today's global organisations. [32] HRO TODAY GLOBAL | WINTER 2013 SuitedJobs "Job seekers and organisations are looking for that perfect fit, but we approach it in a 'I know it when I see it', gut-feeling type of way," said Dr. Daniel Crosby, president of SuitedJobs. "We've tried to package that and put it into a technology that will bring people together and create true fit." Crosby's background as a psychologist helps. He has first-hand understanding of how organisations tend to hire people based on bias. SuitedJobs is trying to change all that by making the process specific, user-generated, scientific, and actionable. Their solution calculates a total fit score for each potential employee, and that is based on job fit (what the candidate wants) and culture fit (the true culture that the company has to offer). "By mapping with an algorithm the distance between where they are and where they want to be, we are able to pair people to new jobs, give them a suggestion of how good of a fit they are for their current job, and we are able to suggest types of employment and companies," says Crosby. Zapoint "There are two sides to every coin, including the talent management coin," said Chris Twyman, founder and CEO of Zapoint. "Talent management is one side, and career management is the other."