Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo, London: Day 2 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from the Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo taking place today through tomorrow, Thursday, October 8 in London, U.K. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference. You can read the highlights from Day 1 here.

On Day 2 from the conference, we are highlighting the future of integrated talent management, tackling AI work friction, and the candidate market. 

Be sure to check this page throughout the day for updates.

• Gartner Says CHROs’ Top Priorities for 2027 Focus on Meeting CEOs' Expectations While Minimizing Organizational Risk
• Gartner Survey Finds Only 38% of CHROs and CIOs Share an Understanding of How AI Impacts the Future of Work

Presented by Alistair Kidson, Director Analyst, Gartner

For over a decade, integrated talent management efforts have fallen short, hampered by siloed processes, legacy systems, and unclear value outcomes. Data shows less than 50% of talent functions achieve meaningful impact on core outcomes. In this session, Alistair Kidson, Director Analyst at Gartner, explored how new demands and mounting cost pressures are creating renewed momentum for integration.

• “Sixty percent of CHROs rank identifying, placing, and retaining the right talent as their top priority to meet evolving business needs.”
• “There are two major friction points for talent management functions:
  • Nearly half of talent management leaders say misalignment between internal processes creates friction and wasted effort.
  • Forty-two percent of leaders say their day-to-day activities don’t reflect their talent strategy.”
• “An integrated talent management program enables organizations to generate an 11% increase in talent outcomes.”
• “To integrate their talent management program activities, organizations must do three things:
  • Connect talent customer data 
  • Design outcome-aligned solutions
  • Collaborate across the talent value chain.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with Alistair Kidson by contacting Gerri Weinberger at gerri.weinberger@gartner.com.  

Presented by Cian O Móráin, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner

Enterprises have ambitions to increase efficiency with AI value tools but are not always achieving the results they expect. Cian Ó Móráin, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, explored how ongoing efforts to streamline and accelerate work with AI are creating new bottlenecks and friction points, and how organizations can address the most prevalent sources of AI-enabled work friction. 

• “Only 30% of high AI usage employees are highly productive. AI makes tasks easier, but without active work design, makes work harder.”
• “Just 17% of organizations actively identify and manage work friction created by AI.”
• “Forty-seven percent of employees with high AI usage report they are overwhelmed by work, while 54% say they experience decision drag.”
• “Employees with high AI usage are 1.69 times more likely to regularly correct AI-generated work or accept AI output even when they know they can do better.”
• “To reduce AI work friction, organizations must do 3 things: 
  • Increase speed by shifting decision making from a default of “No” to a default of “Go”
  • Reduce overwhelm by building employee judgment on value in the flow of work  
  • Build desirable difficulties into workflow to stem AI workslop and build critical thinking capabilities.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with Cian O Móráin by contacting Gerri Weinberger at gerri.weinberger@gartner.com.  

Presented by Emi Chiba, Director Analyst, Gartner

Acute talent shortages paired with crushing application volume are leading organizations to a future where it’s simultaneously impossible to get a job and impossible to fill a role. In this session, Emi Chiba, Director Analyst at Gartner, explained that organizations must deliver a high-touch, white-glove approach while driving efficiencies across the broader hiring process to scale these investments effectively.

• “Organizations are navigating two conflicting realities: crushing application volume driven by unchecked candidate use of AI, alongside acute shortages of scarce, in-demand talent.”
• “Approximately 90% of candidates are ‘available talent’ who submit many applications and receive few offers, while roughly 10% are ‘scarce talent’ who receive multiple opportunities and who are willing to walk away from offers that don’t meet expectations.”
• “Almost one-third of available candidates: 
  • Trust AI tools that organizations use will fairly evaluate their application
  • Believe AI tools that organizations use will evaluate more fairly than a human
  • Are open to a job interview conducted by AI.” 
• “Recruiting has been upended by AI – 86% of organizations are adopting AI in their hiring processes and 53% of recruiters use AI to write their outreach messages.” 

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with Emi Chiba by contacting Gerri Weinberger at gerri.weinberger@gartner.com.