Episode 7 | Kamal Dunani

Talent Acquisition plays a pivotal role in correcting organizational dynamics, influencing cultural fit, and leveraging technology for both short-term efficiency and long-term predictive goals. This podcast highlighted the importance of a deeper understanding of business and effective leadership. You will explore the Technology’s evolving role in TA, from automation to predictive models, underscores the ongoing transformation in talent management practices.

We are delighted to have Kamal Dunani with us on our latest episode of the Podcast, he is the real talent superhero. Kamal Dunani is a celebrated figure in the world of Engineering and Indian Engineering Services (IES), renowned as a top global Talent Acquisition (TA) leader. Currently serving as the TA Head at LTTS, Kamal is recognized for his strategic prowess and industry influence. With a stellar reputation, he is highly sought after for his expertise in transforming TA functions and driving organizational success.

How do you build confidence with key organizational leaders at speed, and what is your playbook for the first quarter when you go into an organization?

I believe to build confidence with key organizational leaders quickly, it is crucial to be very close to the business, understanding its model, structure, and operations. The Talent Acquisition (TA) function, particularly in the services industry, must align its outputs with the organization’s top and bottom lines. The approach includes comprehending the business language, using market intelligence, and leveraging past experiences to gain respect and trust. The goal for the first quarter is to transform the TA function from a mere enabling entity to a strategic partner, working alongside stakeholders to solve problems together.

How do you leverage the market intelligence that TA folks have in the first quarter? Is there something that you put together for the executive committee, or is it just in regular conversations and problem-solving?

Market intelligence plays a crucial role in CXO and leadership hiring. It enables organizations to identify suitable candidates from within the ecosystem, often having worked with them directly. This familiarity instills confidence in recommending individuals for roles, backed by observed competencies and past experiences. This approach not only earns a seat at the decision-making table but also facilitates proactive problem-solving for stakeholders. By leveraging use cases and lessons learned, one can address skepticism and gain acceptance by demonstrating informed decision-making based on real-world scenarios, thereby reducing the perceived risk of failure.

How does executive presence play a role in addressing issues of revenue leakage and skepticism in the services business, especially when dealing with leadership?

You have to leverage past experience and industry knowledge, particularly understanding customer buying patterns and hiring processes. Knowing the customer’s talent needs and hiring practices better than internal stakeholders is crucial. Using relevant use cases instills confidence that your insights are grounded in experience. For hiring a delivery head in the automotive business, industry-specific knowledge is essential, and transitioning from a different sector like BFSI wouldn’t work. A TA head must understand the sector and its dynamics from the start to avoid failure. Additionally, TA professionals should understand business metrics like contribution margin, gross margin, and EBITDA to comprehend the impact of their function on the overall business. This ensures conversations go beyond basic fulfillment to mature discussions about the mechanics of the business.

How do you manage escalations effectively, both internally with stakeholders and externally with customers, while staying objective to solve the underlying problems?

Internal escalations should be managed with clear communication throughout the lifecycle, minimizing issues before they escalate. Collaboration between business and TA can effectively resolve most internal challenges. For customer escalations, maintaining an open mind is crucial, exploring solutions that may challenge conventional thinking. While not every solution may work, embracing diverse perspectives often leads to successful outcomes and customer appreciation. Senior management needs to recognize that not every TA escalation requires an immediate reaction, fostering maturity and strategic responses aligned with organizational goals.

How can hiring the right leaders change the trajectory of an organization, especially in a services company? What kind of impact can leadership hiring have?

In the context of leadership challenges faced by top service organizations in India over the past five years, it’s evident that the critical factor distinguishing the top performer is their robust internal leadership pipeline, cultivated over 40 years. Conversely, the other four organizations have experienced declines, highlighting the pivotal role of strategic leadership hiring. Unlike routine hiring practices, this requires a distinct approach involving dedicated teams and direct engagement with CXOs. Effective leadership hiring focuses on a three-year horizon, envisioning the future structure of the organization, geographical expansion, industry verticals, and alignment with the CEO and board’s strategic direction. This forward-thinking approach ensures that leadership candidates are selected not just for immediate needs, but for their potential contributions in shaping the organization’s future.

How does the pitch change when attracting leaders to move from larger to smaller organizations, or vice versa? What motivates leaders to embark on such journeys in terms of vision, and how does Talent Acquisition (TA) contribute to this process?

Leaders play a crucial role in creating the right pitch for potential hires in a 100 to 200 million dollar organization. They must communicate the career path and growth opportunities within the company. The Talent Acquisition (TA) team needs to be adept at explaining the organization’s vision and future journey to potential leadership hires to generate excitement. This often involves leveraging the strengths of being a smaller organization, which can appeal to candidates from larger companies who might be experiencing an identity crisis or seeking new challenges. TA and leadership must work closely to convey the organization’s culture, growth opportunities, and competitive landscape to attract the right candidates.

What role can TA (Talent Acquisition) play to kind of change culture?

TA plays an important role in two main areas. Firstly, it helps correct organizational dynamics and fix pyramid and organizational challenges, especially as the direction in technology landscapes changes yearly. TA ensures that the organization acquires the right talent needed for new ventures and future plans. Secondly, TA influences the cultural aspect of hiring. While they play a crucial role in leadership hiring by ensuring cultural fit, they need to improve in volume hiring to balance cultural and revenue needs effectively. TA should exercise more authority in hiring decisions to maintain cultural priorities, particularly for mid-level hires.

What role does technology play in building and delivering high-performance hiring engines?

There are two ways to look at the transformation in Talent Acquisition (TA). The first part focuses on automation, such as automating sourcing, duplication checks, and interview planning. This improves productivity by reducing the time recruiters spend on tasks. However, this phase mostly covers low-hanging fruits and while it increases efficiency, it doesn’t necessarily enhance the overall TA function or its ability to reach a wider talent pool and improve employee value proposition.

The second part of the transformation, which fewer organizations have achieved, involves leveraging technology for long-term goals like attracting culturally fit candidates and creating predictive models for hiring and demand. This phase requires more than just automation and is crucial for true TA transformation. Most organizations are still in the first phase, but there is a trend towards moving to the second phase in the next couple of years.

How do you see platforms evolving in the next year or two? How do you see technology playing a role or the function changing?

It’s difficult to predict the long-term impact of AI beyond a year because we’re still discovering its capabilities. Many organizations confuse AI with automation, but AI has far greater potential. I believe it will significantly impact functions like talent acquisition (TA), possibly reshaping its structure and processes within the next two years. However, predicting specific outcomes is challenging; we’re only beginning to understand AI’s full potential.

What advice will you give managers aspiring to become leaders? What key skills should they focus on to accelerate their career progression?

To succeed in Talent Acquisition (TA), it’s crucial to move beyond simply fulfilling tasks designated by SFIDs (Service Level Agreements). Instead, TA should integrate deeply with the business, understanding its problems and becoming a proactive stakeholder. This mindset shift, focusing on business impact and stakeholder collaboration rather than task completion alone, is essential for earning respect, fostering collaboration, and truly impacting organizational success.