I spoke to Carl Vellenoweth, CEO of Commoditas Partners who specialise in CTRM recruitment about the current challenges hiring and attracting CTRM talent.
He sees talent retention as very challenging at the moment particularly on the services side where the old model of a slow progression to partner no longer attracts, nor retains talent. “With more organizations optimizing a remote and hybrid workplace, it’s also counterproductive when trying to up skill internally which is why we have seen significant move from established permanent talent to contracting,” he told me.
We also discussed hiring and retaining strategies for the new wave of talent known as GenZ. Carl sees a lack of interest in fossil fuels from this generation, but they are open to opportunities with a presence in renewable markets. “It’s these same businesses that can engage new talent using relevant DEI and a level of intra-preneurism. Nowadays talent that know their worth expect skin in the game and want to use their skills to draw upon the support of a well-developed infrastructure to aid their efforts”, he said.
Carl argues that the commodities industry needs to look at how it recruits younger talent to compete warning that CTRM is not adapting to the increasingly competitive nature of the jobs market. If expertise is leaving the industry due to retirement and young talent is avoiding it due to environmental concerns or a lack of competitiveness, then where will talent come from in the future? Carl thinks that younger people engage in ways most hiring organizations are unaware of “most hiring managers we speak to about their Github presence or engagement on tiktok look lost! If you are serious about attracting the next wave of talent, then adaptation is required.”
