HR Interviews Playlist

Podcasting at events and conferences is one of my favorite things to do. I love the joy of seeing people face to face, and you get the opportunity to access a broad range of views and expertise around the topics shaping the industry.

At the beginning of May, Recruiting Future was an official media partner of The HR Technology Conference Europe in Amsterdam, the first time the event had been held outside of the US.  

AI was a central theme in the discussions, and I was eager to gather insights on the current use cases of AI tools, as well as the potential future implications.

The first voice you will hear is Rebecca Carr, CPO and acting CEO of SmartRecruiters, talking about AI as a co-pilot and its potential to enhance the very human aspects of recruiting.

Next up after Rebecca is my friend and co-author, the ever-present Mervyn Dinnen, talking about his concerns about the impact of AI on employee experience and creativity

Finally, I spoke to Norwegian entrepreneur Eivind Arnsten about the AI employer lawyer his company is building and the potential for widespread automation throughout HR processes and activities.

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Inclusive hiring is vital to building inclusive organizations, and the benefits of getting it right are considerable, both at a human and a business level. Recognizing bias, standardizing hiring manager behavior, and analyzing data are just some of the things employers need to consider to be more inclusive in their hiring.

My guest this week is Sarah Harnett, Senior Director of People Business Partners at Greenhouse Software. In our conversation, Sarah talks us through the steps that Greenhouse has taken to build an inclusive culture through inclusive hiring practices.

In the interview, we discuss:

• What does it take to build a diverse workforce?

• Understanding your employee's experience

• Hiring as a starting point for building an inclusive culture

• ERGs as a vehicle to empower people

• Dealing with systemic bias

• Inclusive hiring manager behaviors

• Structured hiring processes

• Connecting DE&I strategy to corporate strategy

• The implications of AI on inclusive hiring

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Jay Polaki, CEO and founder of HR Geckos, joins the Chad and Cheese Podcast for a session of Firing Squad. HR Geckos is an HR operations co-pilot that automates key HR processes, connects all HR systems, and provides an AI-powered help desk for HR. Jay shares her personal journey in HR and the inspiration behind starting HR Geckos. The company aims to replace fragmented HR systems with a unified, digital platform that connects employees to the information and services they need. Jay discusses the competitive landscape, pricing, go-to-market strategy, and the importance of partnerships. The hosts provide feedback and advice on raising funds, building a team, and scaling the business. Does she survive the Firing Squad? Gotta listen to find out.

In this episode of *Talent Chasing*, hosts Brian Johnson, Jasper Spanjaart, and Chad Sowash break down key insights from their interview with Fred Claire, the former General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This episode is part of their "Film Room" series, where they dissect impactful moments from past interviews, just like analyzing game footage.

Fred Claire is highlighted for his leadership and transformative role in the Dodgers’ success during the 1980s and 1990s, taking them from mediocrity to a World Series victory. We discuss Claire’s leadership style, particularly his ability to make tough decisions without a background as a professional player, emphasizing the importance of identifying talent and building a strong team.

We hope you enjoy this Film Room session!

Fred Claire, former general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, shares his journey from journalist to GM and the importance of relationships in the game of baseball. Fred discusses his love for sports and how it led him to a career in journalism and eventually to the Dodgers. Claire emphasizes the significance of scouting and player development in building a successful team, and the role of analytics in the game. He also shares stories about the legendary Fernando Valenzuela and the impact he had on the Dodgers. Fred Claire discusses his experiences in talent identification and team management in baseball, including his role in building a championship team in 1998. He emphasizes the importance of identifying talent gaps and making strategic acquisitions to strengthen the roster. Claire also shares personal anecdotes about players like John Shelby and Mike Piazza, highlighting the value of honesty and trust in player relationships. He also discusses his battle with cancer and his admiration for the City of Hope cancer treatment center.

The pace of change in recruiting technology continues to accelerate, and with it come opportunities to improve hiring outcomes, streamline operational efficiency, and make much-needed improvements to the candidate experience. When you add in increasing volumes of applications driven by candidate use of AI and the differing wants and needs of a new generation entering the workforce, it becomes evident that we are on the brink of a profound transformation in recruiting processes.

So, what are the most forward-thinking companies already doing? My guest this week is Hollie Powell, Recruitment Business Partner at EDF. EDF is reinventing its recruiting process for early careers and improving the candidate experience by carefully balancing technology and automation with high-quality human interaction.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The early careers strategy at EDF

• Increasing volumes of applications through candidate use of AI

• How EDF is evolving its recruiting process

• The enormous benefits of effective video interviewing

• Speeding up the process to improve the candidate experience

• Ensuring high quality human interaction during the process

• Using an organization wide strengths-based framework

• Keeping up with changing candidate wants and needs

• Planning for the skills shortages of the future

• Consumer brand versus employer brand

• How will early careers evolve in the coming years?

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Welcome to a special edition of The Recruitment Flex recorded live from the Unleash America conference. In this episode, we dive deep into the future of HR technology and talent management in 2 separate interviews Mike Ehrle and Angela Hood.

Join us as we explore their innovative approaches to onboarding, retention, and leveraging AI in the HR space.

Mike Ehrle returns to discuss the latest developments at Click Boarding, focusing on enhancing employee engagement from pre-boarding through retention. Mike shares insights into integrating new retention products, the benefits of partnering with Alight, and the challenges of selling standalone HR solutions in a saturated market.

Key Points:

Angela Hood, CEO of This Way Global, discusses her company's role at the forefront of AI implementation in HR tech, their approach to removing bias in recruitment processes, and the launch of the Sully Sandbox platform. Angela also reflects on her recognition in the business world and shares her vision for the future of HR technology.

Key Points:

Strap in for another episode of HR's most irreverent show where we dive headfirst into the HR abyss. The Chad & Cheese sit down with John Baldino, a man who’s been around the HR block longer than our interns have been alive, and dissect everything that's hilariously wrong (and sometimes right) in the world of human resources.

Tune in for an episode that promises to be as enlightening as it is entertaining, with plenty of laughs, a few cringes, and maybe some existential questioning of your career choices. Don't forget to leave your sensibilities at the door—this ride isn’t for the faint of heart or the humorless in HR.

As I've said many times before, automation in recruiting and HR is inevitable. This means that every TA and HR leader should be thinking strategically about automation, its implications, and, most importantly, the value that it will add right now.

So what are the benefits of automation, and where and how should talent functions be automated?

My guest this week is Brandon Sammut, Chief People Officer at Zapier. Automation is in Zapiers corporate DNA, and they are successfully using it to drive their talent density strategy through automation in recruiting, onboarding, and skills development.

In the interview, we discuss:

• What Talent Density means at Zapier and how they built it

• Focusing on what is uniquely human

• Being transparent about a remote-only employee experience

• T shaped talent

• Automated Onboarding

• Using automation to solve hard problems and make things more personal at scale.

• Experience design and empathy

• Understand where to apply automation and where not to apply it.

• Developing AI skills across the business

• What will the future look like?

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It is becoming clear that job seekers' use of AI tools in the application process has profound implications for talent acquisition. Many employers report a significant increase in application volume, and there is a potential technology arms race as employers and job boards attempt to use AI to identify AI.

While this may help in the short term, it won't work in the long term, and is job seeker AI use even a bad thing?

My guest this week is expert job board consultant Alexander Chukovski. Alexander has been doing a deep dive into how job seekers use AI and its implications for recruiting. He has valuable insights about job seeker verification and its potential to create win-win situations for candidates, job boards, and employers.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The implications of a new generation of AI-savvy job seekers

• The different ways job seekers are using AI include

• ATS integration

• The drawbacks and risks for candidates using AI tools

• A pointless tech "arms race."

• Why is it difficult to spot the use of AI in CVs and applications?

• How should the industry respond?

• The rise of verification technology

• What can be verified now and what might be possible in the future

• The importance of job seekers owning their data

• What does the future look like?

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