The POZCAST: Decoding Success with Adam Posner

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Our friends at Dalia brought you these episodes from RecFest US 2026! Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

• Authentic Communication Over Interrogation: Interviews should feel like reciprocal conversations rather than rigid Q&A sessions to ease candidate anxiety and yield authentic responses.
• Meet Candidates Where They Are: Traditional platforms like LinkedIn or standard job boards don't reach every candidate pool; platforms like Handshake, TikTok, and local grassroots events often work better for early-career and specialized frontline talent.
• Targeted AI Adoption: While AI capability in HR is growing exponentially, companies don't need to implement AI for everything; core processes, culture alignment, and human connection must come first.
• Empathetic Rejections: Deliver rejection notices with direct human empathy and personal care, not automated templates, to preserve the candidate relationship.

• 00:00 – Introduction & Guest Welcome
• 00:22 – Key Rehab Overview & Scope
• 01:05 – Hope’s Journey from Sales to Talent Acquisition
• 02:32 – Candidate Experience & Respecting Job Seekers' Time
• 03:22 – Overcoming Hiring Shortages in Rural Healthcare Markets
• 05:07 – Rethinking Sourcing: Moving Beyond LinkedIn & Traditional Job Boards
• 07:18 – Leveraging Social Media & Handshake for Gen Z
• 08:56 – How to Identify and Hire Great Recruiters
• 10:25 – Conference Insights: The Rise of AI vs. The Need for Humanity
• 13:06 – Handling Candidate Rejections with Empathy
• 14:44 – Closing Thoughts & Where to Connect
   

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These episodes of #thePOZcast from RecFest USA in Nashville are brought to you by our friends at Dalia. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

• Culture Drives the TA Model: Ace Hardware’s store philosophy—starting customer interactions with "What can I help you find today?"—translates to the recruitment process by placing curiosity, helpfulness, and core values at the center of candidate interactions.
• Standardization Scaled Success: The TA team developed "The Ace Wave of Hiring," a standardized "Req to Check" framework that aligns recruitment evaluation directly with on-the-job performance metrics and core competencies.
• Strategic Use of AI: Ace Hardware uses AI tools (such as Paradox/Grace) for scheduling, communication, image generation, and hyper-specific interview guides, but avoids full automation in interviews to keep human connection front and center.
• Overcoming Automation Friction: Shifting to simplified application processes (like Workday/Indeed Easy Apply) significantly increased top-of-funnel applicants, requiring careful adjustments with conversational AI to balance candidate ease with candidate quality.
• Unconscious Bias Awareness: True bias reduction in recruiting stems from self-awareness, continuous team training, and evaluating talent strictly based on skills, experience, and core values rather than names or backgrounds.
• Compassionate Candidate Experience: Delivering rejections with empathy and clear feedback turns a difficult moment into a constructive experience for job seekers, reinforcing brand loyalty even when candidates aren't hired.

• 00:00 – Introduction & The Ace Hardware "Helpful Place" Brand
• 01:03 – Extrapolating Core Store Values to the Talent Acquisition Process
• 03:26 – Steph Nikitas’ Journey & Overview of Ace's TA Structure
• 04:18 – Storytelling and Impact: What Draws Candidates to Ace Hardware
• 05:27 – Building TA from the Ground Up & "The Ace Wave of Hiring"
• 07:05 – Top-of-Funnel Friction, Easy Apply, and Implementing Paradox (Grace)
• 09:14 – Navigating AI for Interview Scheduling & Human Control
• 10:58 – The Role of AI vs. Automation in Preserving Human-Centric Culture
• 12:29 – Practical AI Use Cases: Recruitment Marketing, Sourcing & Interview Guides
• 14:21 – Defining the Modern Recruiter: Storytelling, Judgment & Unconscious Bias
• 17:17 – Team Spotlight: Celebrating the Deployment of the Ace Wave Project
• 18:25 – Managing Candidate Rejections with Compassion and Empathy
• 19:47 – Golden Advice for Job Seekers & Where to Connect

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast

For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com

Our friends at Dalia brought you these episodes from RecFest US 2026! Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

• Operational Background Builds Credibility: Recruiters with hands-on operational experience build instant trust, buy-in, and a shared language with hiring managers.
• Recruiters as Strategic Partners: Shifting talent acquisition from transactional "order takers" to strategic business partners elevates the overall quality and impact of hiring.
• Internal Mobility Over External Hiring: Five Guys prioritizes promoting store general managers into recruitment roles, teaching them recruiting skills rather than trying to teach outside hires the company culture.
• Immersive Onboarding for External Hires: External hires spend time working in stores—cooking, cleaning, and experiencing operations firsthand—to live the company's core values.
• Candidate Experience Protects Brand Value: Avoiding candidate ghosting and communicating clearly is vital because job candidates are also prospective customers.
• AI Should Enhance, Not Replace, Human Interaction: Five Guys uses AI for automated interview transcriptions to help recruiters practice active listening, while strongly opposing fully automated or one-way robotic interviews.

• 00:00 - 00:56: Introduction and RecFest Experience
• 00:56 - 02:35: Chris Croll's Transition from Operations to Talent Acquisition
• 02:35 - 03:50: Evolving TA from Order-Takers to Strategic Business Partners
• 03:50 - 04:47: Internal Hiring and Immersive Store Training for Recruiters
• 04:47 - 06:05: Empathetic Recruiting and Setting Transparent Expectations
• 06:05 - 07:35: Assessing Cultural Alignment and Maintaining a People-Centric Business
• 07:35 - 08:52: Candidate Attraction Strategies and Recruitment Platform Partnerships
• 08:52 - 10:06: Protecting the Candidate Experience and Preventing Candidate Ghosting
• 10:06 - 12:00: Utilizing AI Tools for Interview Transcriptions and Active Listening
• 12:00 - 13:30: Debating AI in the Interview Process and Human Interaction
• 13:30 - 14:06: Best Practices and Ethics for Candidates Using AI
• 14:06 - 15:00: Celebrating Team Culture, Retention, and Company Longevity
• 15:00 - 15:39: Where to Connect with Chris Croll & Closing Remarks

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast

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#thePOZcast Thanks, Dalia, for sponsoring these episodes LIVE from RecFest USA. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

• 00:00 – Introduction & Career Background: Megan Ratigan outlines her 15-year journey at Marriott, her transition from organizational change management back to talent acquisition, and the necessity to disrupt hiring post-2021.
• 01:48 – Post-Pandemic hiring challenges: The impact of hotel re-openings, labor shortages across industries, and why speed became the ultimate differentiator.
• 03:02 – Automating the Interview Process: Implementing automated interview scheduling, saving 17 days in time-to-fill, and scaling across 10,000 hotels globally.
• 05:28 – Top-of-Funnel Strategy & Application Redesign: Shortening application and assessment lengths using inline evaluations managed by behavioral science PhDs.
• 07:44 – Leverage Organic Brand Reach over Job Boards: Why 60% of Marriott’s applicants come directly to their career site, resulting in higher retention, higher quality of hire, and minimal reliance on paid job ads.
• 11:24 – Streamlining the Candidate Experience: Removing unnecessary interview steps, combining screening with full interviews, and empowering recruiters to act fast.
• 13:28 – Fraud Prevention & In-Person Verification: Utilizing anti-fraud tech, biometrics during background checks, and bringing back in-person interviews for headquarters positions.
• 15:00 – Ethical AI Use for Job Seekers: How candidates can leverage AI effectively for interview preparation and resume polishing without over-engineering.
• 16:04 – The Purpose & Future of Recruitment: Why recruiters must evolve beyond transactional hiring to become broader talent management consultants and continuous learners.
• 18:50 – Shoutouts & Final Job-Seeker Advice: Recognizing team members giving back to the community and offering networking strategies for navigating the modern job market.

• Automation Drives Speed: Automating interview scheduling alone cut Marriott’s overall time-to-fill by 17 days.
• Organic Intent Matters: Candidates who apply directly through a company's career site stay longer and perform better than passive clicks from external job boards.
• Eliminate Process Friction: Combining initial candidate screening calls directly into recruiter interviews saves step-time and keeps qualified applicants engaged.
• Fight Application Fraud Early: Enterprise organizations are integrating multi-step fraud detection, biometrics, and selective in-person interviews to combat bad actors.

• Targeted Networking Over Mass Applying: Job seekers should focus on target companies and build genuine relationships with industry leaders rather than "posting and praying".

   

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast

For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com

#thePOZcast is proud to welcome Dalia as our newest partner. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

• Prioritize Candidate Care: St. Jude’s recruitment strategy centers around "candidate care," ensuring applicants receive clear communication, support, and feedback throughout the hiring process to eliminate the feeling of application "ghosting."
• Maintain the Human Touch Over AI: While acknowledging AI's potential for streamlining operational processes, St. Jude emphasizes human review for hiring decisions—especially when evaluating transitional skills and soft qualities that technology cannot fully assess.
• Recruiters as Brand Ambassadors: Recruiters are the primary entry point to an organization; their role extends beyond sourcing talent to advocate for candidates and clearly communicate the company’s mission and values.
• Resume Advice for Job Seekers:
  • Avoid rigid rules like limiting a resume strictly to two pages if additional context is necessary.
  • Avoid vague "objective statements" that might prematurely disqualify you from other open roles.
  • Omit profile pictures from resumes to reduce unconscious bias during candidate screening.

• Prepare and Advocate: Talent acquisition teams should set candidate expectations by offering preparation tools and insight into interviewers' backgrounds rather than leaving candidates to navigate interviews blindly.

  Chapters

• 00:00 – Introduction & RecFest 2026 Welcome
• 01:25 – Tracie Campbell’s Recruiting Career Journey
• 02:18 – Talent Acquisition at St. Jude: Managing Diverse Roles for 8,000 Employees
• 04:13 – Training Recruiters as Brand Ambassadors and Gatekeepers
• 05:40 – Implementing a "Candidate Care" Strategy
• 08:03 – Evaluating Transitional Experience with Compassion
• 09:28 – Candidate Attraction Tools & Recruitment Marketing
• 11:10 – The Role of AI in Recruiting: Soft Touch vs. Automation
• 13:40 – Walking Through the Application and Rejection Process
• 14:23 – Defining and Combating Application Ghosting
• 16:32 – Future of the Modern Recruiter Role
• 17:22 – Highlight: Sarah Strain’s Leadership Evolution
• 18:38 – Golden Advice for Job Seekers & Resume Tips
• 21:26 – Where to Connect with Tracie Campbell & Closing Remarks

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast

For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com

#thePOZcast is proud to welcome Dalia as our newest partner. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

• Hiring a smarter leader does not fix a broken team structure.
• The key question is: who talks to whom, and who listens to whom?
• Hierarchy can suppress useful insights from people closest to the work.
• Great meetings create equal influence—not just equal attendance.
• Strong teams help individuals learn while improving group decisions.
• MIT’s Building 20 shows the power of unplanned, cross-disciplinary collisions.
• AI can accelerate thinking, but it can also flatten diversity and reinforce existing biases.
• Leaders should assess AI by whether it makes humans more capable over time.
• High-performing teams can decline when their best people are poached; management must plan for attrition.
• Monday-morning move: create space for lower-power voices to influence the discussion.

00:00 Welcome + Damon’s background

04:00 Growing up in a Quaker community

09:00 Is higher education still worth it?

13:00 What groupthink really means

20:00 Why smart teams make bad decisions

28:00 Structural intelligence and information flow

36:00 Hospital hierarchies and hidden organizational red flags

45:00 MIT Building 20 and accidental innovation

55:00 Designing smarter, more egalitarian meetings

1:03:00 AI, bias, and collective intelligence

1:15:00 When successful systems undermine themselves

1:23:00 The one leadership change to make Monday morning

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast

For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com

#thePOZcast is proud to welcome Dalia as our newest partner. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

Key Takeaways:

• You don't need to love your job to be great at it. People can view work as a job, career, or vocation, and each orientation can produce motivated, successful employees. 
• Purpose doesn't have to come from work. A job can simply enable the family, hobbies, experiences, or lifestyle that gives someone meaning.
• The traditional employment contract is changing. Jessica believes fractional work, freelancing, projects, side businesses, and more flexible working relationships will increasingly challenge the idea of one employer owning someone's professional attention. 
• Culture isn't what's written on the wall. Jessica defines culture as what happens in employees' everyday experience, including how managers treat them, how work gets done, and how people experience difficult moments. 
• Treat employee experience like a product. Employees effectively subscribe to the experience an organization provides until they decide to cancel by resigning. 
• HR should optimize for outcomes, not activity. Start with the problem, test solutions quickly, measure the outcome, and iterate instead of spending months producing programs because they look like HR work. 
• AI is changing jobs, not necessarily eliminating work. Jessica expects roles and skill sets to evolve as people find new ways to create value. 
• Early-career talent may face the biggest AI disruption. Both Adam and Jessica identify traditional entry-level career paths as an area requiring serious reinvention. 
• Your career should not be your entire identity. Jessica's definition of success centers on having enough variety and freedom to be more than one thing.

Chapters:

00:00 Why Your Job Doesn't Have to Be Your Passion
00:29 Welcome to #thePOZcast
00:49 Meet Jessica Zwaan
02:02 From Rural Australia to the People Business
03:42 Choosing University Without Knowing What You Want
06:23 Why Jessica Chose Corporate HR Over Publishing
07:30 Do You Have to Love Your Job to Be Successful?
10:55 The Societal BS Around "Meaningful" Work
12:12 When Jessica Realized Corporate Culture Was Broken
14:30 What Should We Throw Out About Traditional Work?
16:42 Remote Work, Offices and the Future Workplace
19:25 What Workplace Culture Actually Means
22:33 Treating Employee Experience Like a Product
23:20 Does Everyone Need Purpose at Work?
24:31 How to Understand What Actually Motivates Employees
25:59 What HR Can Learn From Product Teams
27:10 How Jessica Evaluates Career Opportunities
30:25 Why She Initially Turned Down Leapsome
31:55 Writing Purpose and Work
33:42 Who Purpose and Work Is For
34:52 Will AI Replace Jobs?
36:52 Why AI Could Reshape Early Careers
37:48 Jessica's Dream Job
38:51 What's Next for HR and AI
39:44 What Keeps Jessica Up at Night?
40:00 How Jessica Defines Success
41:51 Where to Find Jessica
42:26 Closing

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast

For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com

#thePOZcast is proud to welcome Dalia as our newest partner. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

Key Topics:

- Reinvention as an ongoing identity, not a one-time event
- The importance of self-awareness and understanding emotional patterns
- Taking intentional action to create change
- The role of confidence and curiosity in reinvention
- Balancing life roles and redefining identity after loss
- The power of self-advocacy in career and life transitions
- The significance of presence and mindfulness in daily life
- How understanding human nature aids personal growth
- The process of uncovering joy and living intentionally
- Lessons learned from overcoming grief and trauma

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Stacey Schifflet's journey of reinvention
01:54 Childhood influences and foundational values
03:51 Lessons from multiple career reinventions
06:12 Realizing the difference between rebuilding life and rebuilding oneself
07:54 Understanding human nature and emotional patterns
09:26 From insights to action: breaking habits and creating change
13:00 The skill of reinvention and building confidence
15:01 Defining identity beyond roles and titles
19:48 The story behind Treasure Map to Joy
21:50 Uncovering joy and living with intention
25:07 The importance of self-advocacy and taking control
30:04 Navigating career transitions and embracing change
34:07 The one question to ask for life-changing insights
36:57 Stacey's definition of success and her North Star
 

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast

For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com

#thePOZcast is proud to welcome Dalia as our newest partner. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

• Why venture capital is not the only path to building a valuable company
• How to identify the capital and resources already around you
• The Mompreneur Mayhem Matrix
• Why founders must establish personal non-negotiables
• The emotional cost of being present physically but unavailable mentally
• How perfectionism holds entrepreneurs back
• The three buckets every founder should use to delegate
• Why $1.5 million in revenue can still leave a company with no cash
• The difference between top-line growth, profit, and cash flow
• When to delegate finance and operational responsibilities
• How motherhood strengthened Beth and Victoria as leaders
• Why empathy can become a competitive business advantage
• The three people every founder needs in their “kitchen cabinet”
• Why success without happiness is not really success

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast

For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com

#thePOZcast is proud to welcome Dalia as our newest partner. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)

https://www.dalia.co/audit?utm_source=pos

Key Topics:

- The impact of emotions on leadership and success
- The importance of vulnerability and authenticity
- The role of emotional healing and inner child work
- How to recognize and manage burnout
- The relationship between achievement and fulfillment


Takeaways

- Emotions are already leading the way in our decisions and actions.
- True leadership requires vulnerability and genuine connection.
- Burnout begins before the workload increases, rooted in emotional depletion.
- Healing emotional wounds can immediately improve organizational performance.
 - Leaders must look inward and take responsibility for their emotional state.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Randy Lyman's Journey
02:15 Early Lessons from Family and Their Impact
04:18 The Turning Point at Age 28
07:01 The Hidden Variable Leaders Overlook
09:23 The Epiphany of Emotional Release
12:49 Achievement vs Fulfillment
15:35 Healing as a Collective Leadership Practice
18:33 The Inner Child and Creativity
20:53 The Roots of Burnout
23:36 Lessons Learned from Writing the Book
25:53 AI and Emotional Awareness in Leadership
28:50 Practical Steps to Change Emotional Patterns
30:54 Rapid Fire: Leadership Insights
31:08 Vulnerability: Earned or Given
31:18 Can a Company Outgrow Its Founder?
31:29 Leadership Clichés to Stop Saying
31:44 Success Requires Heart
32:01 What Keeps Randy Up at Night
33:01 The Power of Emotional Healing
33:38 Redefining Success in Life and Business