Tim Ackermann is a seasoned and passionate HR and Talent Acquisition expert with over 20 years of experience in various industries and global regions at companies such as Deutsche Bank, Microsoft, Swarovski and Zalando. Recently he joined Lidl, one of the world's largest grocery retailers, as global head of Talent Acquisition & Experience to create a unique and frictionless experience for future and existing employees. Outside the corporate world, Tim taught HR Management at the International School of Management, in Munich. He is a founding member and vice chairman of Queb e.V. the (German) Association for Quality Employer Branding and is actively engaged in the harmonisation of European higher education with fibaa e.V.

Here is what Tim shared in an exclusive interview for MERIT before his participation in the annual MERIT Summit 2019.

What are you passionate about professionally?

I obviously have a never-ending passion for my home turf, talent acquisition (TA). I think the fastest moving areas and the most innovative ones in TA (and even in HR) currently are HR tech and sourcing. The latter is not necessarily based on tech innovation but needs a lot of creative thinking and human spirit. But there are areas outside of TA which are, in my view, closely linked and where I also have some passion. “Experience” as a whole concept – candidates’ and employees', physical, technical and cultural – seems to be gaining strong momentum and I can see functions addressing this concept being created in other major corporations around the globe. Still, it’s really interesting to see how different corporations approach this in different ways and organisational designs. And although not new but still hot and a buzzword, when it comes to processes, performance and engagement, I still see gamification as a powerful tool that is still in development. Real gamification, again, relies more on human creativity than on technology.

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges or issues for businesses today?

Businesses, be it the commercial side or HR, are all challenged by constant change and disruption. This makes planning and leading very hard, though those skills/functions will still be necessary. Business and HR leaders have to find new ways of engaging candidates and employees, enabling all of the organisational levels to take the right decisions fast, and be able to execute. The challenge of L&D as well as the leaders, as part of this, is to make sure that their organisation has the right skills and capabilities to outperform and outmanoeuvre their competition.

Part of the disruption is that nowadays competition is fierce even across different industries. As experts in HR and talent acquisition we can already feel the pressure as we face fierce competition to hire and retain the same kind of talent (e.g. e-commerce, IT). Everywhere.

What is your opinion about the in-house training evolution over the years?

Actually, I am not sure where it currently stands. The approaches are very different by organisation. One thing that won’t change: there will always be some kind of mix. For example, some companies have certain key competencies where they will always provide the content in-house and others, as a matter of confidentiality, always manage training themselves. Other more “commodity” skills and new/upcoming skills and competencies will always have to be acquired from external partners or sources.

What are the changes needed in L&D?

L&D has to see itself as a commercial part of the business and must also be able to prove this. Technically, being a mere training provider and/or process owner is far from being commercial and being an accepted function by the very people using L&D’s services. So being a specialist in your own disciple is not enough; you need to understand, speak, and act commercially.

What do you want people to get out of your session during the 2019 MERIT Summit?

When I listen to someone at a conference I am usually happy if I am not bored and get one (!) take-away that is potentially applicable for me. I hope people will get that in my session. And I would like to foster a lively debate about the future of L&D. It might actually spoil the discussion if I share too much about what I will be showing and what my point of view is, so I will keep this answer brief.