Talent Ops Anonymous

Where the head of TA sets the strategy, talent ops enables the execution by enabling prioritization, solution design, project management, analytics, and much more. But the talent operations function didn't always look like this; in fact, it still rarely starts out that way. We invited two stars from PwC Canada to tell us more about how they think talent organizations go through that journey and form successful operations function: James Davidson, Director of Talent Acquisition & Global Mobility, and Samantha Whitehall, Senior Manager - Talent Acquisition Strategy & Process.

In our recent Transformation Readiness study, we found out that the number one priority of CHROs is to improve their teams’ ability to make data-driven decisions, and the number one skill they think is needed on their teams is data analysis. So for this episode, we’re going to dig into the role that talent operations plays in those aspects of transformation with Nikki Cochran, Recruiting and Operations Lead at Humans Doing, and Andrew Savage, Senior Analyst, Talent Acquisition Strategy at Toyota.

Where employer branding and recruitment marketing step in to innovate, talent operation follows to reinforce and scale. So in this episode, we're digging deeper into the relationship between these two functions in the talent organization. We'll be hearing from Ashley Cheretes, who was until recently Head of Employer Brand & Marketing at Cigna, and Brandon Linn, who is the VP, Employer Brand Marketing & Social Media at Freedom Mortgage.

The scope of the talent operations function varies wildly from one company to the next. Talent leaders don’t recruit, train, or develop for this role the same way, and they don't have the same expectations from it. That is why we invited for this episode: Jonathan “JR” Reyes, Director of Global Talent Acquisition Operations at Uber, and Eileen Kovalsky, Global Head of Talent Acquisition Operations at Mondelez International. Let's talk Talent Ops careers, folks.

Elaine Orler, Founder of Talent Function (now a Cielo company) and Andy Rice, Principal and Lead Strategist at Black Box Consulting are pioneers of the modern talent operations function. They’ve learned a thing or two about weathering a storm—and coming out the other end stronger than before. As we enter this next chapter of the new normal—a new year ahead with new opportunities and new pressures—many are doubling down digital talent operations. Investing in new systems, optimizing their current processes, building better metrics… it’s an operator’s moment to shine!

But where should we be focusing our time? What should we be prioritizing? And what will talent acquisition look like on the other end? Get your notebooks out, kids, cuz Elaine and Andy have some big ideas. Check it out!

Many talent teams struggle to fully utilize the technology they've fought hard to get budget for. While it may be tempting to rip and replace, the problems of change management and system optimization remain unaddressed in most instances. 

So what gives? Join Marcelo Mackinlay of Petco and Marissa Daly-Bennett of PepsiCo as they discuss the value of having someone with technical and functional aptitude on your team to ensure every tech investment is a win.