John Hollon interviews Caroline Stokes on this inaugural episode of Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter. John is the founder of Recruiting Daily and thirty year veteran of the news industry. We discuss the origin of the concept of emotionally intelligent recruiting, managing all sides of the hiring process, and the state of recruiting as it is today.

I’m Caroline Stokes, an emotionally intelligent recruiter and founder of the Undercover Recruiter website. I understand the importance of interpersonal communication and curating the right talent for the right position. Listen in on my conversation with John Hollon to get a sense of emotionally intelligent recruiting and what it takes to make it in the industry.

Topics:

• The origin of Caroline’s concept of the EIR
• Introducing emotionally intelligent managers to stressful industries
• Coaching managers and candidates
• Managing the squeaky wheel (whether it’s you or an outside source)
• Furthering your emotional intelligence
• Observing how people communicate
• The state of recruiting
• The importance of transparency on all sides

Quotes:

“Quite frankly, it’s about the human.” –Caroline Stokes

“If you’re not managing your stress, if you’re not demonstrating flexibility, if you’re not listening actively…that’s not going to work for the long term.” –Caroline Stokes

“When you become an emotionally intelligent recruiter, you are actually able to…get a sense from the data…how they behave.” –Caroline Stokes

Resources:

Recruiting Daily

The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter

Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur, CEO, writer, and keynote speaker who mentors CEOs and executives of major global organizations. She holds an MA from Cambridge University and an honorary doctorate from the University of Bath, where she currently lectures for the MBA program. An award-winning author, Dr. Heffernan has written five books including Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril, which was named one of the most important business books of the decade by the Financial Times. Her TED talks have been seen by over 9 million people.

Join us as Dr. Heffernan shares actionable insights and key takeaways to help you become a better leader, manage organizational change, create innovative workplaces, and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

In this episode, we will learn:

• Why competition negatively impacts organizational productivity - and what to do instead (hint: it’s all about your people).

• What the research tells us about our ability to do long-term forecasting, and what this means for the forecast-plan-execute school of management.

• Which style of organizational culture is most likely to survive in the 21st century.

• How to start thinking about your organization in a whole new way.

• How to become alert, sensitive, and aware as an organization – and stay ahead of potential problems.

• Ways to avoid a corporate hierarchical structure that produces pleasers and an “Everybody know, nobody says” ethos.

• How to future-proof yourself and your organization in a world where technology is outsourcing humans to machines.

Quotes:

“The behaviours that drive productivity in our organizations are teamwork and collaboration. (But) … most companies strategize without thinking about people. Then you have systemic dysfunction, with Human Resources left to try and knit the pieces together.”

“If you don’t have an organization that is prepared to be open, responsive, flexible and adaptive, then there’s the danger of becoming obsolete. Or loathed.”

Contact details:

Margaret Heffernan’s Website

Margaret Heffernan on twitter

Caroline Stokes – The Forward Co.

Darrell West is the VP of Government Studies and Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the Brookings Institute. He is also the Author of “The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation”.

Today, we discuss his new book, how the government, corporations, and HR workers need to be ready for changes to the industry within the next five years. Tune in to hear what to expect for the future of HR.

Topics:

• His decades of focus on technology in the workplace
• Dealing with fear of the unknown when educating people
• Predicting how companies will deal with retraining people for new processes
• How Darrell is attempting to spread his message
• Planning for the future
• Darrell’s predictions

Resources:

Inside Politics

Quotes:

“When historians-50 and 100 years from now-look back on this period, they will understand what a transformative time period this has been.” -Darrell West

“We just need to be creative when thinking about retraining…” -Darrell West

“It’s gratifying when you work very hard on a book...and there actually is an audience for this.” -Darrell West

Jacqueline Carter is the Co-Author of 'The Mind of the Leader: How to Lead Yourself, Your People, and Your Organization for Extraordinary Results'. Currently, she is an International Partner for Potential Project and has over twenty years of experience working with organizations across globe to enhance effectiveness and improve performance.

Today, we’re going to talk about the secret behind real productivity, mindfulness, and being the leader you want to be.

Topics:

• Working as a Organizational Behavioral Specialist
• The shift towards mindfulness
• Survival of the focused
• Being a team player
• Bringing compassion to the workplace
• Each person’s “bipolar” nature

Quotes:

“There’s so many ways to be able to clear the mental clutter.” -Jacqueline Carter

“If you are not focused, you are not going to be able to successful in business today.” -Jacqueline Carter

“Too often, we’re distracted by our technology and it takes away from the quality of our interactions with our colleagues…” -Jacqueline Carter

Resources:

Potential Project

The Mind of the Leader

Jacqueline on Twitter

Caroline Stokes

The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter

Marion McGovern, Author of Thriving in the Gig Economy, is also the Co-Founder and former CEO of M Squared consulting. She specialized in employment law and used that knowledge during her time teaching at the School of Management at the University of San Francisco for seven years.

Today, we talk about redefining the gig economy and how it affects the way we look at talent. Join us for an in-depth look at the current state of the gig economy.

Topics:

• The current gig economy
• The urgency trend
• Online freelancing platform contracts
• The creative community and rejection
• The importance of staying hungry
• Why gig work is like moonlighting

Quotes:

“Well, you know, you’re a product of your past life experiences. So I’ve really beenin the project space all of my life.” -Marion McGovern

“Rejection is such more personal, if you’re a creative type.” -Marion McGovern

“The moment you become complacent, the moment you get comfortable being comfortable is...when..it doesn’t work for you anymore.” -Caroline Stokes

Resources:

Marion McGovern’s Website

Marion on Twitter

Thor on Twitter

Moonlighting on Twitter

Caroline Stokes

The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter

Dr. Annie McKee is a best-selling author, respected academic, speaker and advisor to top global leaders. As a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, she teaches and leads the PennCLO Executive Doctoral program and the MedEd Master’s program. As coach to executives in Fortune/FTSE 500 companies and organizations around the globe, Annie uses a person-centered approach to help leaders develop their emotional intelligence, enhance their strategic thinking abilities, and build resonant cultures. 

On this episode, Annie shares ideas from her newest book, How to Be Happy at Work: The Power of Purpose, Hope, and Friendship. As such, we discuss the happiness crisis in the workplace and how we in HR can work to combat it. Tune in for a very in-depth and fascinating discussion!

Topics:

• Using positive emotions to move people
• Developing self-awareness
• The basis of her research for her newest book
• How our beliefs about work are outdated
• Burning out
• Understanding your emotional quotient and how to wield it effectively

Quotes:

“Over time, if became utterly apparent to me that it wasn’t IQ that was making a difference...it was their ability to understand themselves and understand other people and to use their emotions to move people.” -Annie McKee

“When we’re in a negative emotional register, we don’t think as well, we don’t give of ourselves…” -Annie McKee

“Our organizations are high-pressure...and it is really easy to never stop, especially if you love your job.” -Annie McKee

Resources:

How to Be Happy at Work: The Power of Purpose, Hope, and Friendship

Happiness Traps: We Sabotage Ourselves at Work Harvard Business Review article

Primal Leadership

Becoming a Resonant Leader

Management: A Focus on Leaders

Annie on Twitter

The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter

Graeme Johnson is the Global Head of Employer Brand and Talent Acquisition Strategy for British Telecommunications. He has an Economics degree with experience in recruiting. He has worked for Virgin Media and British Telecommunications, where he blended his marketing and econ experience in order to transform his employer’s brands.

Today we discuss his career evolution and how to move from an operations role to a strategic leading position. Join us!

Topics:

• Turning an employer brand around
• How he put a strategy together for BT’s branding shift
• What he learned from failure
• Improving on a system with a low bar
• The future for BT
• Tips for smaller organizations

Quotes:

“I kind of saw it as a much bigger opportunity than Virgin was, to actually tell some stories about the people behind the scenes…” -Graeme Johnson

“We’re trying to be precise and tailor the communication in the same way that any marketing function would…” -Graeme Johnson

“We’re looking at things like automation to take away some of the pain around scheduling and the things that free us up from administrative activities.” -Graeme Johnson

Resources:

Graeme on Twitter

The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter

Beth Porter is the CEO Riff Learning, an advanced machine-learning tool that enhances hiring and talent development. Beth previously worked at EdEx and Pearson; she has used this experience (25 years in educational technology) to help create Riff Learning.

Today, we peek into the not-so-distant future where behavioral tech will be used by organizations in order to not only hire, but also help create healthy teams.

Topics:

• How Beth got into this line of work by mistake
• The biases towards affirmation or confirmation
• Understanding your own behaviors and how they affect others
• Using data in an affirming way instead of a punitive one
• Why she likes Riff’s video tool the most
• How normal orgs can incorporate Riff’s technology
• The goal of Riff Platform

Quotes:

“One of the thing that we are always looking for is: can we affirm something that we believe or do we feel that we have enough evidence to go against something that we believe?” -Beth Porter

“We take a very privacy-preserving approach at the outset.” -Beth Porter

“People do what they do...and we passively collect data behind the scenes.” -Beth Porter

Resources:

Riff Learning

Beth on LinkedIn

The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter

Ulrik Juul Christensen is the Executive Chairman of Area 9 and specializes in the identification of human errors. He has written articles for the Harvard Business Review and coined the term “unconscious incompetence”. Today, we discuss cognitive overload, four-dimensional learning, and behaviors that can work for and against you.

Area 9 is an industry-leading “biological” adaptive engine; a proven solution tailored to target specific needs of corporate employees. Our technology personalizes each learner interaction based on their unique knowledge, experience, and confidence in the subject. Each student gets a unique learning experience personalized to their needs, with fully adaptive content that use neuroscience and computer science to deliver the right content at the right time.

Tune in to learn more about Ulrik and Area 9’s adaptive engine.

Topics:

• Ulrik’s background in medicine
• Cognitive overload and how it leads to errors
• Knowing what you don’t know
• Unconscious incompetence
• A new generation of tools for four-dimensional learning
• Destructive and constructive interruptions
• Human error and the future of AI

Quotes:

“Many education systems...the entire bandwidth is occupied by simple memorization of facts…” -Ulrik Juul Christensen

“Unconscious incompetence is where you actually think you know it, but you don’t...it is the most dangerous kind of incompetence.” -Ulrik Juul Christensen

“All humans possess  the abilities to beat the computers of the future if we choose the right battlefields.” -Ulrik Juul Christensen

Resources:

Area 9

How to Teach Employees Skills They Don’t Know They Lack

Ulrik on Twitter

The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter

Tracey Parsons is the VP of SmashFly Recruitment Marketing Center of Excellence. She has extensive experience with client strategy, digital, thought leadership development, and brand development. She also founded Parsons Strategic Consulting.

Together, we discuss how to be a useful human, the importance of honesty, and why people dread job hunting.

Topics:

• Why people hate the experience of job hunting/finding your purpose
• The emergence of social media and how it affected branding
• Being more explicit in job descriptions, so that they match the actual tasks required
• Using social media to get people more familiar with job requirements
• Don’t be something you’re not
• Don’t tout changes in company culture until they’ve actually been made.
• Getting people to care

Quotes:

“It comes down to the fact that the experience of finding your purpose...is just universally hated.” -Tracey Parsons

“Don’t focus so much on being human, but instead think about being useful.” -Tracey Parsons

“My number one thing is: you can’t show it, if you can’t be it. You can’t go out there and say ‘we are a diverse workforce’ if you aren’t a diverse workforce.” -Tracey Parsons

Resources:

SmashFly

Parsons Strategic Consulting

Tracey on Twitter

The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter