The last three years have seen unprecedented disruption to the world of work. The rise of remote and hybrid working indicates a workplace revolution, but how much have things actually changed?

Presentism is still a big issue, with some employers using economically tough times as an excuse to get people back to the office. Meanwhile, many hybrid and remote employees struggle with legacy working methods not designed for the world we are now living in

My guests this week are Lizzie Penny and Alex Hirst, co-founders of Hoxby and authors of the best selling book Workstyle. Lizzie and Alex are campaigners for a more modern autonomous working style. They are using their own experiences of running a remote first business to start a movement to make work better for everyone. 

In the interview, we discuss:

• What is wrong with work

• Ageing populations, independence and technology

• Breaking free from a 200 year old operating system

• Autonomy, productivity and accountability

• Digital first, not physical first.

• Trust over presentism

• The vital importance of asynchronous working

• How the Workstyle revolution works at Hoxby

• Inclusive for structurally excluded workers

• How to make a seismic change

• Meeting in person to build deeper connections.

• Remote leadership

• Old rules, new challenges

• The relationship between autonomy, well-being, and productivity

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

Job Boards still play a central role in talent attraction, but outside of the job board industry, there isn't much discussion or debate about their current state and future potential. So are they still fit for purpose, how are they evolving, and what can job board statistics tell us about the current talent market?

My guest this week is Dave Jenkins, founder of Wave. Wave publishes Wave TrackR, a regular independent report that uses job board data to track recruiting trends, which means Dave has a wealth of insights to share.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current state of the job board market

• Pricing models and programmatic adoption

• Geographic market differences

• The importance of the active audience

• Are there still more jobs than candidates?

• How to get the best out of job boards

• Mindset change

• What's the future of job boards?

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

A full transcript will appear here shortly.

I published three interviews in October to mark National Disability Employment Awareness month. What particularly struck me was the amount of work going into neurodiversity hiring, and I want to dive deeper by finding out how specific employers are developing their programs.

My guest this week is Neil Barnett, Director, Inclusive Hiring and Accessibility at Microsoft. Neil helped to develop Microsoft’s Neurodiversity Hiring Program, which has been in place since 2015. He has excellent insights and valuable advice for employers looking to establish similar programs.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Are employers getting any better at disability inclusion?

• The story behind Microsoft's Neurodiversity Hiring Program

• Screening in rather than screening out

• Changing the hiring process to set people up for success

• Providing tangible feedback

• How the success of the program has changed aspects of Microsoft's other hiring programs

• Building an inclusive workplace

• Non-apparent disability and self-disclosure

• ERGs and growing internal communities

• Building the business case to get started

• How Microsoft collaborates with other employers

• Advice for parents on the future of neurodiversity in the workforce

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts

A full transcript will appear here shortly

Talent Intelligence is on the rise, with an increasing number of TA teams putting data at the core of their strategy. However, do employers genuinely understand the full potential of TI, how do you get started, and what is the business case for building a specialist resource?

My guest this week is Toby Culshaw, Talent Intelligence Leader at Worldwide Amazon Stores. Toby is one of the global pioneers of talent intelligence, having built teams and Philips and Amazon. He has also recently released his first book, "Talent Intelligence - Use Business and People Data to Drive Organizational Performance" Suffice to say, this is a must-listen interview for anyone who wants to know more about the development of talent intelligence. 

In the interview, we discuss:

• What is Talent Intelligence, and how is it developing

• The business outcomes and value of TI

• What areas of TA is data intelligence being applied to?

• Where should TI sit within the organization?

• Maturity model

• When TI isn't TI

• What skills does a TI function need to be successful?

• Building capability

• What will be possible in the future?

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Hourly hiring remains challenging for many employers, and despite the worsening economic outlook, it will likely remain a huge challenge for several years to come.

So what innovations are we seeing in how employers approach hourly hiring and in the technology they are using? What does good look like now, and how will automation define the future?

My guest this week is Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain. Over the last few years, Fountain has helped companies hire over 13 million hourly paid workers in more than 75 countries, meaning Sean has a lot of insight to share.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current talent marketing in hourly hiring

• The challenges of the last few years

• Fundamental changes in the workforce that will see hourly hiring continue to be challenging for years to come.

• What makes employers successful in this market

• The vital importance of speed in hiring

• Recruiting automation

• Using technology to provide a quality candidate, hiring manager, and recruiter experience at scale

• Really human hiring

• Personalization

• Quality versus quantity

• Why hourly hiring is the most innovative place to be in talent acquisition

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts

With high-profile layoffs in some large technology companies, it is perhaps easy to forget that digital transformation is still driving a massive need for tech talent in employers all over the world.

Despite the current economic headwinds, long-term trends are in play that require specific operating and employer brand strategies, particularly in companies that are not traditionally seen as being digital.

My guest this week is Blair Bennett, Senior Vice President Global Talent Acquisition at PepsiCo. Digital transformation is creating a significant need for tech talent in their business. In our conversation, Blair talks about the strategy they are putting in place to hire the people they need.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The size and scale of talent acquisition at PepsiCo

• Market trends and challenges

• Digital transformation and bringing in new capabilities

• Repositioning talent acquisition strategy

• Personalizing candidate experience in competitive talent markets

• Automation in the TA operating model

• EVP and employer brand for specific talent cohorts

• Talent intelligence

• Geographical targeting and segmentation

• The role of technology

• The long term demand for digital talent

• The future of personalization in talent acquisition

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcast.

Skills based hiring continues to be a growing trend as employers rethink how they attract and assess talent. So how do you define what good looks like and identify the right hires for your organisation?

My guest this week is Leadership Strategist and Talent Consultant Ginny Clarke, who formerly ran executive hiring programmes at Google. Ginny is a strong advocate of competency-based recruiting and has some invaluable advice to share. 

In the interview, we discuss:

• Spotting competencies and demonstrated behaviours

• Talent reviews and performance evaluations

• How do you define and identify talent?

• Looking more broader to increase diversity

• Psychological safety and equity

• The relationship between leadership and culture

• Competencies as skills plus knowledge plus ability

• Deconstructing job roles

• Looking past employment history and education

• What does the future of work look like, and how should employers be preparing

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.

With the news cycle currently dominated by significant layoffs in large tech companies, it is essential to take a step back and consider the longer-term picture. Many employers are still struggling to find the right tech talent. Recent research has shown that skill shortages will continue for years as education systems are not setting students up with the right skills for our AI-dominated future.

So what should employers be doing right now to recruit and develop tech professionals, and what is the impact of remote and hybrid working on early careers talent?

My guest this week is Atli Thorkelsson, VP of Talent Network at Redpoint Ventures. Atli advises start-ups across Redpoint's portfolio on talent acquisition and development. He has some important insights to share on the current state of the market and the strategies employers need to adopt to deal with the longer terms challenges.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current state of the tech hiring market

• Long term challenges

• Development of early career talent

• The role of the Chief People Officer

• Building the right foundations for talent development

• How do remote-first organizations support mentoring and development?

• What are the biggest hiring mistakes start-ups make?

• What can corporate TA functions learn from start-up hiring practices?

• How will recruiting technology develop in the future?

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

DE&I remains a major priority for employers, but progress is slow and sometimes completely stuck. So how should companies be thinking about diversity, and what practical actions can they take to build and benefit from teams of difference?

My guest this week is writer, broadcaster and consultant Simon Fanshawe. Simon is a well known figure in the UK and has recently published an excellent book, "The Power of Difference". He advocates that progress comes when employers move away from the jargon around DE&I and genuinely understand how building a diverse workforce will drive their specific business objectives. 

In the interview, we discuss:

• The human question of diversity and what does it actually mean.

• The power of combining difference

• The dangers of conformity and the imposition of rules

• Building teams of difference

• Using data to understand what is happening and why

• Understanding specific diversity business cases

• The virtuous circle of selection

• Is unconscious bias training actually helpful?

• Redesigning the recruiting process to challenge assumptions

• The most accurate predictor of future success

• Making employee resource groups more effective

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

A full transcription will appear here shortly.

As the move towards skills-based hiring intensifies, the role of assessment tools is becoming increasingly important. As employers focus on being more inclusive, it is critical to understand how the science behind assessment tools works to support this.

My guest this week is Kristin Allen, Senior Manager of Psychometrics at SHL. SHL has an applied research initiative, SHL Labs, driving talent technology innovation. One of the key research pillars is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and SHL has recently published the first results from its neurodiversity research program.

In the interview, we discuss the following:

• The role assessment plays in helping employers build diverse workforces.

• Fully inclusive talent solutions

• Using assessment to reduce bias

• Job analysis and validation

• Transparency

• Disability inclusion

• Using language that encourages candidates to ask for accommodations

• Spiky profiles

• Emerging best practices

• What does the future look like?

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.