Are you curious about the evolving landscape of recruitment and the secrets behind successful talent acquisition strategies? In today’s episode, I sit down with Kelsey Sorensen, Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition at Black Crow AI, to discuss the dynamics of recruitment in both traditional and startup environments. With a career spanning over a decade in recruitment, Kelsey has honed her expertise in sourcing, candidate assessment, and strategic human resource planning. Her commitment to fostering authentic connections and her ability to create impactful interactions have earned her recognition as a top performer in the field. Black Crow AI is a company that specializes in providing real-time machine-learning predictions without the need for coding. In our conversation, we discuss the how and why of her recruitment journey, her experience in the agency approach to recruiting, and her memorable career moments. Explore how her current role differs from her previous roles and why she prefers a relationship-centric approach to recruitment. Discover why career stability has become critical to candidates, the pros and cons of working for a startup, and hear Kelsey unpack the concept of career stability. Gain insights into the benefits of being a generalist in the recruitment space, the value of stepping outside of the traditional HR role, why you need to love the product or service to take the job, and much more. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Background about Kelsey and how she knew recruiting was the career for her.

• We delve into the pros and cons of the agency approach recruitment.

• Details about her current role at Black Crow AI and what she enjoys about it.

• Unpack the concept of job stability and why candidates are seeking it.

• How marketing can be utilized to enhance recruitment strategies.

• Ways that Kelsey incorporates marketing aspects in her approach to recruitment.

• Explore how to sell the vision of the company to future employees.

• The benefits of working in a startup environment.

• Her methods for building the recruitment pipeline at Black Crow AI.

• What she has planned for her future career trajectory.

• She shares advice and recommendations for fellow recruiters. 

Quotes:

“Just, ‘Smile and dial’ is what we used to say in the agency days.” — Kelsey Sorensen [0:06:01]

“I hate to break it to you but no job is permanent.” — Kelsey Sorensen [0:08:01]

“I don’t think [career] stability means the same thing for every single person.” — Kelsey Sorensen [0:09:06]

“I have my hands in all different areas of the organization which allows me to paint a clear picture of what we are building and developing [at Black Crow AI] to candidates.” — Kelsey Sorensen [0:17:26]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Kelsey Sorensen on LinkedIn

Black Crow AI

Talk Talent to Me

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Modern talent acquisition is more than just making the right hires. Onboarding, mobility, and retention are just a few of the many new responsibilities that TA’s have to consider (and often, they aren’t even in the TA’s title). Today’s guest, Lavonne Monroe, explains how she became the Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition and Onboarding at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and what her role entails. We learn about HPE’s trustworthy DEI policy, how the TA role has evolved over the years, how our guest views employee churn, and the full scope of HPE’s talent team. We also discuss HPE’s recruitment strategy, what Lavonne and her team are currently working on, how she manages her team, and why TA’s are required to have a holistic comprehensive of their organizations. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Lavonne Monroe describes her role as VP of Global TA and Onboarding at HPE.

• Why she trusts HPE to walk the talk as it relates to equality and economic justice. 

• Modern additions to the role of talent acquisition.

• How Lavonne views regrettable and non-regrettable churn.

• The scope of HPE’s talent team, and how they use skip-level meetings. 

• What Lavonne and her team are currently working on. 

• HPE’s recruitment strategy and current workforce. 

• More specifics on our guest’s role at her organization.  

• How she acquired the speech of a business leader, and how this fueled her success at HPE. 

• A closer examination of how she manages her team. 

• Why understanding sales (and the whole business in general) matters for a TA team. 

Quotes:

“We are winning awards around the work that we’re doing but we’re not doing the work to win the awards, we’re doing the work because it is the right thing to do.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:05:00]

“For me, the acquiring part, that’s almost the easy part. It’s the retention; it’s the mobility; it’s the onboarding – it’s so much bigger than just the acquisition.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:08:29]

“Lead generation all the way to retirement, that’s the focus of our team.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:12:40]

“My team, we’re never satisfied. We’re always looking to, ‘How can we get better? How can we continue to improve?’ – we’ll continue to push the envelope.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:18:47]

“I’m really big on finding out what people are really good at, and then putting them in the [right] position to be great.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:20:42]

“We can’t survive without TA.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:26:30]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Lavonne Monroe on LinkedIn

Hewlett Packard Enterprise 

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There’s a saying that goes “Nothing grows in the comfort zone” and our guest today is a formidable example of success outside of comfort! We are thrilled to welcome to the Talk Talent to Me podcast, Nicolette Jackson, Head of Talent over at Zephyr. Nicolette shares more about what they do at Zephyr and her journey to becoming the Head of Talent. We dive into her inspiring and forward approach to negotiating her job offer at Zephyr, and she highlights what prompted her confidence to (always) ask for more! We then delve into the different facts of her mentor/mentee relationship with Lorraine Buhannic, and much more. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• The Nicolette of it all. More about Zephyr and Nicolette’s background and journey.

• Viewing another Chief People Officer’s visible role at the table: how it was apparent to Nicolette.

• She elaborates on the different types of things the board asked Lorraine (the CPO).

• The sparks that influenced Nicolette’s Chief People Officer aspirations.

• Nicolette delves into her approach toward negotiating her job offer at Zephyr.

• The inspiration that prompted her confidence to ask for more (from her job offer).

• Nicolette sheds light on various facets of her mentorship dynamic with Lorraine.

• She shares Lorraine’s anti-imposter syndrome pep-talk/ concept.

• Painting her own data journey and the impact it has had on her confidence. 

• She explains the different ways she is currently quantifying the role.

• Why owning your expertise is a beautiful thing to do for a business.

Quotes:

“When I realized that recruiting was — one side bringing people in but then also how to grow them and make them happy while they were there was the whole other side of the spectrum. And to truly be happy in recruiting — I feel like I also wanted a say-so on how people were treated once they were in the door.” — Nicolette Jackson [0:08:40]

“Who gets the oil? The squeaky wheel, honestly the people that ask for the things they want.” — Nicolette Jackson [0:14:44]

“Nothing that I’ve done in this life that has made me successful was ever comfortable. It’s always been uncomfortable. It’s always been a challenge.” — Nicolette Jackson [0:25:20]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Nicolette Jackson on LinkedIn

Zephyr

Hippo Insurance

Lorraine Buhannic on LinkedIn

Episode: Juxtapose Head of Talent Lorraine Buhannic

Juxtapose

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Sometimes, life is all about taking leaps of faith. And when it comes to talent and talent management, a leap of faith can open doors that you never even considered walking through. Today we are joined by Kara Hughes, the VP, HR Business Partner of Tech & Digital, as well as the Head of Workforce Planning, People Insights, and Analytics at Northwestern Mutual – a financial firm focused on making their clients feel more confident and secure so that they can sleep better, breathe easier, and feel happier. Kara begins the conversation by answering an important recruiting question from one of Rob’s friends about how to approach problematic intake interviews. Then, we get to know more about Kara: how she ended up at Northwestern Mutual and what her job entails. We also discuss the importance of workforce planning, the departments that are responsible for it, and the role of recruiters in becoming part of business strategy and workforce planning conversations. To close off, we explore how the evolution of HR has added to the pains of the industry. Be sure to listen until the very end for some helpful advice on how to send an email in French. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Welcoming Kara Hughes as she answers a recruiting question from one of Rob’s friends.

• Advice for candidates on how to approach intake interviews. 

• The leaps of faith that led Kara to Northwestern Mutual and what her title and role entails.  

• Exploring the role of recruiters in workforce planning. 

• The departments that initiate and prioritize workforce planning, according to Kara. 

• How recruiters can involve themselves in business strategy and planning conversations. 

• Why many people (incorrectly) believe that HR should not have a seat at the strategy table.

• How the evolution of HR helps to explain the modern challenges of the role. 

• Some multicultural advice to end today’s episode. 

Quotes:

“Recruiters and hiring managers, you hope they have a really good intake meeting and are really, really clear on requirements but signals get crossed. So, advocate for yourself and cover all those important bases at the outset and don’t feel bad about doing it.” — Kara Hughes [0:03:51]

“Show gratitude and know who has gotten you to where you are and who’s helped you along the way because if you really sit back and take stock, [you’ll realize that] it’s many, many people.” — Kara Hughes [0:09:49]

“There’s been such a radical shift in the value that [HR] is expected to provide.” — Kara Hughes [0:28:28]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Kara Hughes on LinkedIn

Northwestern Mutual 

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In this episode, you will hear about Frank’s wealth of experience, recruiting for SeatGeek and the challenges it has brought, and their amazing finance and HR business partner team We then delve into what Frank is currently working on at SeatGeek before discussing the importance of foresight and being proactive when bringing talent into a large company. Finally, our guest shares advice for anyone in the talent recruitment space who is looking to move into bigger roles. You don’t want to miss this so be sure to tune in now! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• A brief overview of Frank’s career and a bit about SeatGeek. 

• Overseeing the recruitment period at SeatGeek during COVID and the challenges it brought. 

• Frank tells us about their new finance team and HR business partner team. 

• Why they place focus on planning in their business while remaining agile. 

• How Frank’s experience has helped him participate in the moving parts within SeatGeek. 

• What Frank is working on right now at SeatGeek. 

• The importance of being proactive about bringing talent into a large company. 

• Frank shares advice for anyone wanting to climb the talent recruitment ladder. 

Quotes:

“As you – become a more mature and bigger organization, you have to have better foresight just because there are a lot more moving parts.” — Frank Cebek [0:10:46]

“Always try to bring value to the company you’re working at.” — Frank Cebek [0:26:04]

“At the end of the day, recruiting is a support function.” — Frank Cebek [0:26:19]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Frank Cebek on LinkedIn

Frank Cebek on Instagram

SeatGeek

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Doubling up throughout most of his career, my guest today has both maintained his rank and activity in the Air Force while being a C-level HR professional at a large, well-established company. I’m joined on the show today by Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Human Resource Officer at Riceland Foods Inc., Lionel Riley. Join the conversation as we learn how he managed his parallel careers, his thoughts on the journey of transition from the armed forces to the corporate world, and how his leadership overlaps from being Lieutenant Colonel to CHRO. He unpacks why he strives to maintain mindfulness while managing his team, his responsibility as CHRO for a multi-billion dollar company, including the journey of how he wound up there. We learn about his big move from a long and stable position at Walmart, and Lionel shares three key pieces of advice for those looking at forging a career in this space. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• How Lionel maintains his rank and activity in the army while being a C-level HR professional.

• We delve into the journey of transition from the armed forces to the corporate world.

• His overlap in leadership from Lieutenant Colonel to CHRO Lionel.

• All eyes on him: Lionel recounts first realizing that people were starting to pay attention to what he was doing. 

• How he strives to implement mindfulness when managing his team and their lives. 

• He expands on the responsibilities of the CHRO of a multi-billion dollar company.

• Lionel shares the journey of how he wound up in his role as CHRO at Riceland Foods Inc.  

• Questions he asked in his interview process when deciding to leave a stable position at Walmart.

• He describes the words that settled him into taking a new position.

• Lionel shares three key pieces of advice for those forging their career in this space. 

Quotes:

“The struggle [to transition from the armed forces to the corporate world] is relative.” — Lionel Riley [0:04:03]

“It’s not that, from corporation to the military is so one-to-one, but there’s so many transferable skills: discipline, exposure, cultural experiences that military members who have had the privilege of servicing oversees; they’d be able to bring immense value to your corporation.” — Lionel Riley [0:06:01]

“HR, I tell this to everybody, is a thankless job.” — Lionel Riley [0:11:57]

“Never stop learning — relationships are key and always know that you can receive a nugget or two from anyone, on anything. Never stop learning!” — Lionel Riley [0:29:51]

“Complacency kills.” — Lionel Riley [0:30:17]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Lionel Riley on LinkedIn

Riceland Foods Inc.

Talk Talent to Me

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Veronica Salcido is the Senior Director of Global Talent at Multiverse, and she joins us to share the defining moment in her life when she chose to decline a string of amazing job offers to sell her possessions and climb Machu Pichu. While acknowledging the privileged position she found herself in, Veronica urges listeners to take the plunge and reset their lives if the opportunity arises. Tune in to hear her story of starting a business and getting 21 clients within 30 days before eventually taking on a full-time opportunity where she was able to make a greater social impact. We also explore the influence of AI on talent acquisition and the capacity it holds to create the freedom to do more meaningful work. Join us today to hear all this and more!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Welcoming Veronica Salcido, Senior Director of Global Talent at Multiverse.

• Parallels between working in talent and Veronica’s passion for mountaineering.

• How she selects opportunities that are value-aligned. 

• The pivotal moment in Veronica’s career and the spreadsheet that changed everything.

• Traveling to Machu Pichu during a promising moment in her career.

• How her experience exceeded all of her expectations.

• Launching her own business and getting 21 clients within 30 days.

• Acknowledging the privilege necessary to reset your life.

• How her internal reality differed from external perceptions of the life Veronica was leading. 

• Recapping why choosing herself was the best thing she could have done.

• The two services she offered in her newly started business and how she started to work with founders. 

• Making the decision to climb the career ‘jungle gym’ and seek out a full-time role.

• The concept of a double or triple line.

• Weighing in on the reset happening in talent acquisition.

• Upskilling yourself to embrace Artificial Intelligence.

• The power of automation to create the freedom to do more meaningful work. 

Quotes:

“I ended up having no inbox, no plan, I hiked Machu Pichu, I went off the grid, I had a total reset, and I launched my own business after that.” — Veronica Salcido [0:14:26] 

“I had 26 clients within the first 30 days of launching my business.” — Veronica Salcido [0:14:30]

“I chose to get in the driver’s seat of defining my career and how my life and the opportunities that I was signing up for were going to support that.” — Veronica Salcido [0:14:36]

“That is the juicy part of why we do what we do especially as leaders in talent acquisition - innovation.” — Veronica Salcido [0:36:52]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Veronica Salcido on LinkedIn

Multiverse

The Infinite Game

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Today on Talk Talent to Me, we are joined by Doreen Ghafari, VP of People at AllTrails, to find out how she and her team spearheaded a period of significant growth for the company, more than quadrupling the AllTrails staff in just over three years. Tuning in, you’ll learn about the value of making recruiting efforts an extension of the brand experience, why talent acquisition is so much more than putting butts in seats, and the importance of building a solid foundation of systems and processes during periods of hyper-growth. We also touch on the benefit of treating values as a core competency, data-driven frameworks for performance evaluation, and what a holistic approach to recruitment looks like from Doreen’s perspective.

Key Points From This Episode:

• An overview of AllTrails and Doreen’s role there as VP of People.

• How Doreen and her team quadrupled AllTrails’ employees in just a few years.

• The value of making recruiting efforts an extension of the brand experience.

• Navigating noise in the inbound talent funnel.

• The what’s and why’s of recruiting that go beyond the “butts in seats” mentality.

• Growing pains that come with 4X-ing a company and why processes are key.

• Core competencies behind rapid yet sustainable business growth.

• Key values and frameworks that AllTrails uses to evaluate performance.

• Insight into Doreen’s holistic strategy for recruitment and people operations.

• Advice for aspiring talent professionals and why it’s certainly not a linear career path.

Quotes:

“AllTrails is a beloved brand. People tend to have delightful experiences with the app and the site. We wanted our recruiting efforts to be an extension of that. We want people who come to AllTrails to interview, even if they don’t get the job, to reflect fondly on their experience.” — Doreen Ghafari [0:05:11]

“Scaling is hard – How do we set up the scaffolding that’s going to allow us to do that?” — Doreen Ghafari [0:09:41]

“Recruiting and people teams need to be in lockstep with each other. It’s not separate functions. It’s two halves of the same circle.” — Doreen Ghafari [0:21:10]

“Don’t think of your [talent career] as a linear thing. It’s more – of a bouldering experience rather than a linear ladder.” — Doreen Ghafari [0:28:36]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Doreen Ghafari on LinkedIn

AllTrails

‘TopFunnel Head of People Doreen Ghafari’

Talk Talent to Me

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Russell is a seasoned professional with years of experience leading recruitment teams across various industries. His professional achievements and personal values make him a dynamic leader in the talent acquisition space. Hear how the shift from linear media to digital media has transformed the industry, his motivation for pursuing a career in talent acquisition, and what recruitment can learn from outsourcing channels. Discover how increased employee engagement results in better outcomes, why more information is better for candidates, and how Paramount plans to leverage AI to create opportunities in recruitment. He explains the power of collaboration, how skills create a shared language between HR and business, and the evolution of roles in recruitment. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Russell provides an overview of the current entertainment landscape.

• His diverse professional background and path into the media industry.

• Gaps in the talent acquisition process and where it needs to be improved.

• The importance of employee engagement and lessons from the referral process.

• Fostering trust in non-referral channels and the secret to retaining talent.

• Paramount’s approach to recruitment and the influence of brands on the process.

• Explore the role of AI in connecting talent to the brand.

• Why collaborating with other departments is an essential consideration.

• He unpacks the concept of building a skills-based organization.

• Foundational skill metrics and why they are vital for job descriptions.

• How to create and maintain the idea of continuous improvement.

• Final takeaways about the recruitment industry Russel has for listeners.

Quotes:

“The only constant [in the industry] for the last several years has been change.” —@weaveru [0:02:06]

“There is something fundamentally fractured still with [talent acquisition] processes and technology. I think we have to get back to basics  to make sure we are doing things that allow us to connect to that high-performing talent.” —@weaveru [0:06:35]

“If you are not building or maintaining active relationships with the marketing, corporate communications, legal, and tech departments, you are doing yourselves and your organization a disservice.” —@weaveru [0:20:21]

“Demotivated hiring managers are the biggest challenge facing any organization today. If you do not have your hiring managers engaged and locked in, you are going to fail.” —@weaveru [0:34:27]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Russell Weaver on LinkedIn

Paramount

Talk Talent to Me

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Joining me today is Kelly Culler, Senior HR Business Partner and VP of Talent Acquisition at Northwestern Mutual. In this episode, we discuss her unique role and why people are the heart of any company. Kelly is an accomplished executive with a distinguished career in human resources. She leads a high-performance team dedicated to sourcing, engaging, acquiring, and attracting top-tier, diverse talent that aligns with Northwestern Mutual’s values. In our conversation, we discuss her career journey and path to Northwestern Mutual. We delve into how the HR business partner role differs from traditional HR, ways of differentiating yourself in the HR space, how the recruitment landscape is evolving, and why people are at the core of business outcomes. Discover how to sell your role as a recruiter and unlock the full potential of people and teams. Gain insights into her approach, challenges in the HR space, strategies for building genuine relationships, and much more! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Background about Kelly and her role at Northwestern Mutual.

• A Traditional recruitment role versus an HR business partner role.

• How Kelly developed her skillset and what sets her apart.

• Explore how the traditional HR landscape is changing. 

• Her approach to navigating outdated mindsets in the HR space.

• Why just being good at your job is not enough. 

• Kelly’s unique approach to her role and building relationships.

• Insights into the multi-disciplinary nature of her role.

• Critical aspects of developing healthy and accountable leadership.

• Metrics and methods for measuring effective leadership. 

• The motivation for her leadership development programs.

• Final words of advice for others forging a career in HR. 

Quotes:

“[As an HR business partner], I am going to bring the people acumen to the table because my expertise is people.” — Kelly Culler [0:07:39]

“To me, people are the heart of what creates business outcomes.” — Kelly Culler [0:10:27]

“Forge a relationship with your leader so you have the trust because they are going to help you unlock more things than not from a career perspective.” — Kelly Culler [0:33:37]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Kelly Culler on LinkedIn

Northwestern Mutual

Talk Talent to Me

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