Andre is a technology staffing leader with a proven track record of driving growth and scaling organizations on a national level. With over 16 years of experience in the staffing industry, he has provided strategic leadership to several technology staffing ventures. He is currently the Vice President of Delivery for Trustpoint.One Technology & Consulting Division. He is responsible for the nationwide client expansion of delivery execution, company growth, and executive-level strategy. His expertise lies in guiding organizations through periods of rapid growth and expansion, optimizing operations, and driving sustainable profitability.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, he prides himself on strong leadership and mentorship capabilities. He has a passion for developing talent, nurturing high-performing teams, and fostering genuine relationships that have resulted in mentoring leaders across multiple industries.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Pennsylvania State University and is an active contributing member to Special Olympics of Georgia, American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Habitat for Humanity foundations.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andredurnell/
What do you think is the key to being successful as a Talent leader in the current business environment?
Being a successful Talent leader in the current business environment requires a combination of strategic thinking, adaptability, a focus on people, and a commitment to ethical practices. It’s about understanding that an organization’s success is closely tied to the talent it attracts, develops, and retains.
As a Talent leader, what is your key advice for managing your teams and people?
My advice for building and managing a highly productive team revolves around the following principles:
- Create an organization built on trust: If you don’t foster an environment of trust, you tend to create an atmosphere of micromanagement and employee paranoia. You have to promote failing fast and learning from mistakes.
- Set clear expectations and goals: You can’t expect individuals to be aligned with you without clear expectations and goals. This serves as the measuring stick for determining organizational success. Accountability follows from setting team and individual goals and expectations.
- Resilience: The business of people and services is challenging. If your teams lack the ability to be resilient, you also lack the creativity to solve problems. There is always a solution or a learning lesson in every situation. Being resilient lies at the heart of that.
- Open communication and dialogue: Transparent communication is a must. In this business of dealing with people, open communication leads to better outcomes. The best solutions to problems can come from anyone, not just leadership. If you create the right environment, people tend to share great solutions to problems.
- Rewarding Achievements: You need to be able to recognize and celebrate individual and organizational achievements. Rewarding achievements strengthens the culture, leads to retention, and boosts overall morale.
How the role of a recruiter changed has and what new skills do you think they need to possess and develop?
The role of a recruiter is rooted in sales. The more sales development recruiters gain, the greater the consistency in results. You need to truly immerse yourself in detailed domain knowledge, client knowledge, and develop the mindset of building relationships rather than transactional ones.
What do you think is the biggest challenge and biggest opportunity facing Talent and Recruitment?
One of the biggest challenges I see within the industry is a lack of resilience and adaptability within organizations. With the rise in interest rates and labor prices, companies that are still adhering to the status quo are being penalized in the market. The greatest opportunity we have in the industry lies in optimizing and automating very outdated processes in attracting, delivering, and retaining talent.
What is the next stage of transformation for Talent Acquisition and Recruitment?
There is a significant push to incorporate AI into Recruitment and Talent Acquisition (TA) models. While the human element of business can never be replaced, there is an enormous opportunity to integrate AI tools for the operational aspects of the business. Operational tasks often bog down recruiters, preventing them from dedicating more time to connecting with potential candidates and clients.
How do you think external staffing solutions will partner and work with companies as we move forward?
External staffing solutions will continue to be a value-add to organizations in the acquisition and retention of talent. Leveraging data and analytics in recruitment processes can lead to more informed decisions. Helping clients in identifying trends, optimizing sourcing channels, and improving the overall efficiency of the hiring process. Any external staffing solution that can eliminate organizational pain and provide services with speed and quality will always come out ahead.
Would you like to share any other opinions or thoughts about Talent acquisition and recruitment or the wider business world?
Talent acquisition and recruitment are becoming increasingly global. Candidates can now perform their jobs from anywhere, with organizations forming offshore/nearshore teams, and information dissemination occurring at an extremely fast pace. Innovations in tools, techniques, and service offerings are poised to gain momentum in the near future. Companies still need to strategically bolster areas such as candidate experience, diversity, employee development, and flexibility around remote/hybrid models to maintain competitiveness.”
TA.guru’s Talent Leader Series seeks to share the view of leaders in the Talent space.
By sharing the thoughts and insights of these leaders will hopefully help the Talent industry as a whole as it explores new opportunities and faces new challenges.
If you are interested in participating please contact sean@ta.guru for more information.
