HR Interviews Playlist

Live from the Shaker Green Room, Mary Battle Broxton from Tractor Supply Company joined The Chad & Cheese at RecFest USA to talk AI, authenticity, and hiring without the ‘lazy applicants.’ ‘Embrace the robots, or get left in the dust,’ as Mary urges talent leaders to dive headfirst into AI tools like Paradox. Forget the old-school ways; it's all about tech-fueled, authentic candidate experiences now, where people and bots get to know each other before onboarding. Oh, and by 2025, you better be ready to keep up, or, as Mary might say, enjoy life as a digital dinosaur.

Round up is the monthly show on The Recruiting Future Podcast channel that highlights episodes you may have missed and gives you my take on some of the key learnings from the guests.

Episodes mentioned in this Round Up:

Ep 644: AI, Innovation & HR Tech

Ep 645: Recruiting Nirvana

Ep 646: Skills Intelligence

Ep 647: Attributes

Ep 648: Unstoppable Transformation

Ep 649: Building A Personalized Candidate Experience

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Live from the SmartRecruiters booth, Tracey Parsons, the CEO of Flockity, shared insights at the HR Tech conference in Las Vegas, drawing from her extensive 20-year background in recruitment marketing and employer branding. She highlighted the sluggish pace of change within the industry, attributing it to stakeholder resistance and a pervasive lack of genuine listening, which deteriorates candidate experiences. This oversight often stems from an employer's sense of superiority, exemplified by Amazon's challenged reputation due to its treatment of warehouse workers. Parsons noted the common occurrence of candidates being ghosted post-interview, a reflection of broader systemic failures in recruitment where candidate sentiment remains low and transparency around compensation is stifled.

The friction in job application processes is often counterproductive, deterring potential talent, while companies like Amazon, despite recognizing the costs of high attrition, struggle with implementing meaningful change. Misaligned branding further complicates expectations for both candidates and employees. However, technology offers a beacon of hope by potentially streamlining interactions and enhancing communication.

Parsons criticized the inefficiencies in the current job distribution model, marked by low trust in job postings, and introduced Flockity's innovative approach using influencer marketing to foster trust and improve the candidate experience. She pointed out the skewed dynamics where paid job promotions might not reflect genuine company endorsement, and content tends to emphasize skills over culture. Creators often avoid brand mentions to dodge backlash.

I've done a lot of research this year around the move to skills-based hiring and skills-based organizations. Having spoken to a large number of employers on this journey, it is very clear that success is predicated on looking at skills strategically, holistically, and in the context of both business and personal growth.

Ultimately, employers need to think fundamentally differently about talent and reflect this new thinking in talent acquisition, talent mobility, and talent development.

My guests this week have just published an excellent book encouraging CEOs to embrace this new mindset to build the adaptable, skilled workforce they need in a way that doesn't undermine personal growth and champions the employee experience.

The book is called "The Talent-Fueled Enterprise," and it was great to be able to speak to all three of its authors, Mike Ohata, Larry Durham, and Eric Dingler, who between them have 85 years combined experience in leading talent at Fortune 15 companies.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current most common talent challenges

• The tension between people growth and business growth

• Shifting from tech skills to Skills, Attributes and Experience

• Skilling for human potential

• Building teams for growth, adaptability, and empathy

• Rethinking Talent Acquisition

• Becoming a skills-based organization

• The vital importance of talent mobility

• Employee experience

• The impact of AI

• What will work look like in 5 years time?

You can get 30% off The Talent-Fueled Enterprise by following this link and using the code Recruiting24

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Improving the candidate experience has been a perpetual goal in recruiting. Despite the best intentions, the improvement process's effectiveness still ebbs and flows with the changes in supply and demand in the labor market. However, are things finally about to change?

Ever since the exponential acceleration in the development of AI, I've been excited about the possibility of technology delivering a genuinely personalized candidate experience at scale.

So, what does this vision look like? Which elements are already possible, and what do TA leaders need to do to make it a reality?

My guest this week is Don Tomlinson, CTO at Daxtra. In our conversation, Don gives us a refreshingly pragmatic view of the AI use cases that can combine to build a personalized candidate experience and highlights pitfalls and dangers to be aware of.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Using AI to diversify talent pools

• Taking out the background noise

• Personalizing the candidate's experience in real-time

• Bespoke communication at scale

• Automatically tailoring the hiring process to individual circumstances.

• Transparency

• The dangers of losing the human touch

• Efficiencies, investment, and ROI

• Build vs Buy, Core Vs Complementary

• AI self-auditing to improve strategy and process

• What will the future look like?

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In this lively episode, Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman sit down with Quincy Valencia, SVP of Innovation at Harri, at the HR Tech conference. Known for her no-nonsense approach, Quincy offers her candid insights on the overhyped AI trend, emphasizing that companies should focus on the outcomes AI can deliver rather than getting lost in technical jargon. She highlights how AI has evolved since ChatGPT’s launch, moving beyond basic functionalities to transformative real-time data applications in industries like hospitality. As she discusses the future of HR technology, Quincy predicts continued shifts toward integrated ecosystems and strategic partnerships, suggesting that adaptability and innovation are critical for survival. The conversation wraps up with her advice for cautious companies exploring AI: prioritize business results over the technology’s novelty.

Chapter Timecodes

1. 0:00 - Podcast Intro

2. 2:31 - Meet Quincy Valencia

3. 5:46 - AI in HR

4. 10:31 - Real-World AI Applications

5. 4:56 - Adapting in a Changing Market

6. 20:11 - Advice for Newcomers

7. 23:31 - Future of HR Tech

8. 27:16 - Quincy’s HR Tech Wishlist

9. 30:46 - Wrap-Up

In the last few weeks, many established software vendors have launched AI-augmented products, helping us move past the hype and get a much more hands-on view of what AI means for Talent Acquisition.

There are still a massive amount of unknowns, but it is evident that AI is a chief catalyst in what is now an unstoppable transformation of TA and the broader talent function. AI and automation fundamentally alter the speed and scale at which TA can operate, constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

So, what does this mean for TA leaders and practitioners right now? How prepared are organizations for this level of transformation, and how can TA raise its game to drive more value for the organization?

This week, my guests are Dr. Swathi Palasamudram, Enterprise Business Architect at Bosch, and Nazim Ünlü, Global People and Organization Lead at Novartis, in two interviews recorded at the Smartrecruiters Hiring Success event in Amsterdam in September. Swathi and Nazim shared insights that reveal why the transformation of talent acquisition is truly unstoppable—and how TA leaders can harness this momentum to not only keep pace but lead the way.

In the interviews, we discuss:

• Fear, Adaptability, and the critical importance of strategic thinking

• Current AI use cases.

• How AI can raise the value of TA to the business

• Regional variations in AI adoption

• Retaining the vital human element of TA and HR

• Data literacy

• Building a personalized candidate experience

• The difference between Automation (efficiency through technology) and AI (insights and decision-making)

• Advice for TA Leaders

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Live from the Shaker Recruitment Marketing Green Room at RecFest in Nashville! In the podcast, Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman, dive into the evolving world of recruitment with Joel Lalgee, founder and lead recruiter at The Realist Recruiter. Lalgee, who transitioned from an agency recruiter to building his personal brand online during COVID, shares insights on the recruitment landscape. He emphasizes the importance of authenticity in recruitment, advocating for recruiters to be more human in their approach. The discussion highlights how companies are increasingly turning to social media for recruitment, stressing the creation of relatable content and the strategic use of social media influencers to align with company culture and target audience preferences. They explore the future of recruitment, predicting a rise in independent recruiters and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) models that leverage technology. Lalgee outlines his plans for 2025, focusing on content creation and establishing an RPO model, alongside discussing effective strategies for content distribution across various platforms to engage audiences more effectively.

In this episode of Talent Chasing, Brian Johnson and Chad Sowash dissect their interview with John Harris, owner of AthLife, and explore the complexities of athlete transitions into the real world, the implications of the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) landscape, and the importance of unions in both sports and corporate environments. They discuss the challenges faced by collegiate athletes, the need for employee development in businesses, and the often-overlooked human element in analytics and corporate decision-making.

Takeaways

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Challenge Chasing

04:54 Navigating the NIL Landscape

07:00 The Fantasy of Professional Sports

09:59 The Importance of Unions in Sports and Beyond

12:46 Employee Development in Corporate America

15:46 The Human Element in Business Analytics

In this episode of the Chad and Cheese podcast, Chad and Cheese chat with Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio, Alim Dhanji, CHRO, TD SYNNEX, and Ana White, EVP and Chief People Officer at Lumen to discuss the critical issues surrounding workplace equity, the importance of data-driven approaches, and the impact of recent legal changes on DEI initiatives. The conversation highlights the need for transparency, the role of AI in reducing bias, and real stories of how pay equity adjustments have positively affected employees' lives. Achieving equity is an ongoing journey that requires commitment from leadership and a culture of inclusion.

ENJOY!