ForceBrands hosted an HR Collective on November 14 in an intimate event that brought together HR professionals in the food, beverage, and beauty industries. The invitation-only event was hosted in New York City where thought leaders gathered to connect, educate, and share insights.

The theme of 2017’s HR Collective was “The Modern Workplace,” which was reflected in a vibrant panel discussion that covered topics including attracting and retaining talent; building a team; training and development; technology and HR; and diversity and inclusion.

The panel was moderated by ForceBrands’ CEO and Founder, Josh Wand, who welcomed the audience of about 40 attendees before he introduced the panelists who included Cassie Nielsen, Vice President, Talent, VMG Partners; Kevin Stapp, Vice President, Human Resources, Shiseido Americas Corporation; Andrew Moss, Vice President, Talent Acquisition, Breakthru Beverage Group; Brian J. Bohling, Founder, Pine Valley Resources; Patrick J. Burlingham, HR Executive Consultant and Leadership Coach; and Tamarah Saif, Vice President of People, Green Chef.

Following the hour-long panel discussion, participants were asked to share their insights in a survey to shed light on their anticipated hiring challenges and priorities for 2018. Read on for the findings*.

  • 2018 Hiring Priorities: The majority of respondents (47 percent) said that employee retention is their team’s No. 1 focus in 2018, followed by attracting top talent (37 percent), diversity hiring (26 percent), and leveraging technology (5 percent).
  • 2018 Biggest Hiring Challenges: The majority of respondents (61 percent) said that competition for talent was their team’s anticipated biggest challenge, followed by a tie at (28 percent) with limited budget and employee retention. Managing salary demands came in last at 17 percent.

Other findings included insight into how the growth of the contingent workforce will affect hiring strategies. An overwhelming 82 percent of respondents do not anticipate their strategy to change in 2018.

On the topic of 2018 budgets, the majority of respondents (55 percent) expect it to stay the same, followed by 33 percent who are expecting theirs to increase.

*The survey sampled 19 industry professionals, aged 20-60.