"I would be remiss to tell our employees 'you have the power to question your doctors' if I didn't tell HR people 'you have the power to question your consultants and brokers' the exact same way."

Melissa Cassidy, Human Resources Leader, Valpak

We're Only Human -- Episode 171

In this podcast episode, host Ben Eubanks engages in a conversation with Melissa Cassidy, focusing on the topics of benefits, HR, and employee wellness. They discuss Melissa's background and her experience in the field. Melissa shares the challenges she faced when implementing a new benefit plan and the importance of gathering employee feedback. Moreover, they dig into the strategies they used to educate and support employees in terms of benefits and financial literacy. 

Key Takeaways:

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"So when it comes to training and learning as a viable solution for helping people be the best that they can be in the roles that they serve, I believe that that's always been important.  We've just not always been able to illustrate impact in the past the way in which we're able to now. That is because of the different types of tools and resources and knowledge that we've gained about the science of measuring the impact of training and learning."

Kevin M. Yates, The L&D Detective

We're Only Human -- Episode 170

It's an age-old problem: We're training people, but how do we know if it's working? What's the impact? What's the result? What's the ROI? 

In this interview with Kevin M. Yates, the learning detective and a daily practitioner with experience in learning analytics and measurement at organizations like Meta and McDonald's, you'll learn about how measuring and proving training value is closer than ever before. 

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"So it's really designed to be a two-way street and to create that conversation from the very, very beginning points. So we're setting the expectations for what employment is going to be like, especially as a leader at our company."

Nicole Hirsch, Sr Recruiting Manager, Lattice

We're Only Human -- Episode 169

Teaching hiring managers how to interview... It sounds like a foregone conclusion, yet data from the 2023 Lighthouse Research & Advisory Modern Screening Practices Study of more than 500 employers shows that it's not happening as much as it should. Employers put their reputation on the line every time they let hiring managers speak with candidates, but they don't always do a good job of preparing them for what to say, how to say it, etc.

In this conversation between Ben and Nicole Hirsch, a senior recruiting leader, you'll hear how to approach this with intentional focus in order to drive the best hiring results. 

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"Like a lot of people, it's something I fell into. I don't think there's anybody out there that woke up and said, "When I grow up, I want to be an HR tech/HRIS person. So I had a background in social work, counseling, and nonprofit, then got into it and then ended up working in an HRIS role implementing a learning management system.

That was my first kind of true HRIS and I'd never worked with learning management before. I'd never worked in HR before. So it was a learning experience for me. But since then, I've grown in responsibility and different systems that I've worked with, and I've gotten a lot of experience doing data analytics, people analytics and system support.

I just love that blending of technology and people."

Tim Whitley, Director of HR Technology, Oklahoma State

We're Only Human -- Episode 168

Everyone knows the core elements of human resources: hiring, training, compliance, payroll... But what about HRIS?

What does it take to excel in that type of role, and how do you get into that specific discipline of HR? In this interview with Tim Whitley, the HR Tech Wizard, Ben dives into that background, the transition, and advice Tim might have for others that want to explore the same career path. 

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"Pay transparency is here (or coming) depending on where you're located and where you're hiring people. It's kind of like a snowball rolling down the hill getting bigger and bigger. It's something to really stop and think about and prepare for now, because it's not easy. I think the biggest thing around transparency is thinking about what your education plan is for your people."

Megan Nail, Vice President, Total Rewards Practice at NFP

We're Only Human -- Episode 167

In our research with employers, we find many of them believe that salary transparency puts more power into the hands of candidates and employees, but there's also a lot of value for employers, too. If your organization wants to stand out from the crowd, it's not as simple as bumping up pay and walking away. 

In today's interview with Megan Nail, she tells some of the best strategies for evaluating your compensation competitiveness against internal and external measurements. Plus she gives her best advice on how to manage pay transparency in a healthy, employee-focused manner. 

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So we're looking at how the words are actually formed. When you're hiring for a technology manager, what does that mean? Are you looking for a technical technology manager? Are you looking for someone who grew up in the chops of software development, knows all of the full delivery life cycle, or are you looking for someone who's more project focused? If your job description isn't conveying those skills or that type of clarification in the job description, you're not gonna get the right person. You might get lucky.  But when you're hiring at scale, you know you can't do that time and time again. 

Brian Jackson, Talent Acquisition Consultant, Southwest Airlines

We're Only Human -- Episode 166

How can employers use the data from the larger labor market to make decisions on key skills, strategic workforce planning, and other human capital activities? 

In this episode, Ben talks with Brian Jackson of Southwest Airlines on that exact topic, diving into data sources, how to translate insights, and more. Talent leaders that have considered exploring the new era of talent intelligence will learn Brian's thinking on the topic and how he supports his team with external labor data from beyond the four walls of the organization. 

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" I do think that there is so much hidden talent inside our organizations, and we don't even realize it.  How do you find that? How do you leverage that? How do you build and develop that? This is what I find so interesting about the skills conversation. Everything that we've just been talking, about the potential and impact for any one of us is huge."

Heidi Perloff, SVP, Global HR Strategic Initiatives and Delivery Solutions at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

We're Only Human - Episode 165

Think about yourself and your work for a moment. Does your job title capture everything you are capable of doing, or does it just highlight a small subset of your skills that make you who you are? 

In this episode of We're Only Human, Ben talks with Heidi Perloff from The Estee Lauder Companies about the importance of knowing our people, understanding our own talents and passions, and how to bring those together in the workplace. 

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And so that doesn't happen overnight. But over time, as people bought into it and we started to see over the course of one year, we gave the business back 1500 interviews. Imagine the extra time that was available for our product managers. They could do their job, and then when the quality of hire goes up with that, you start to get this [positive] cycle. You've now made a better hire, and because you started with listening, there's a high probability that [they're] gonna be successful and stay longer.

Lance Sapera, Former VP Talent Acquisition, Talend

We're Only Human -- Episode 164

How do you structure talent acquisition teams to support business growth?

Did you know that the best approach isn't to use a very lean team and overwork them? That's the perspective of today's guest, Lance Sapera, who has supported multiple organizations through rapid growth as a talent acquisition executive. The insights he offers are a roadmap to smarter, more effective hiring practices.

As the title indicates, Lance shares one change to TA processes that led to 1,500 fewer interviews AND a stronger quality of hire at the same time, which is virtually unheard of. 

Grab your notepad. This is a great episode and you should have some excellent takeaways. 

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I'm really excited we are a fully remote organization. It's why I get to do the work I do from Hawaii. It does mean I have really early mornings, so be aware of what you're signing up for, but I get to work fully remote. In supporting fully remote organizations, we have to be incredibly intentional about the culture and the way we work.

Diana Brown, Head of People, Eco

We're Only Human -- Episode 163

Working remote. It's a polarizing topic overall, but perhaps even more so when it comes to HR positions. Should HR be in the office, or is it okay if People professionals work remotely?

In this episode, Ben talks with Diana Brown of Eco about how she and her team manage the remote/distributed aspects of creating a connected, employee-focused culture through intentional design, communications, and more. 

goody ongoody.com https://www.ongoody.com/business

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"One of the things that a lot of our industry struggled with was trying to regulate employees and not let them have their phone in their hand, but we actually encourage it. We ask them to help us do TikToks. Everybody gets involved. It really brings in a sense of camaraderie. We're not constantly saying, 'Get off your phone. Get off your phone. Get off your phone.' We're encouraging them: get on your phone, take the pictures, take the videos, promote the brand."

Michele Corkins, Senior Manager, People Solutions, Hawaiian Bros Island Grill

We're Only Human -- Episode 162

Think about this research stat: One out of every two frontline workers thinks they aren't treated equitably with corporate staff. In our 2022 Frontline Worker Study that covered thousands of frontline staff around the world, we found so many different insights that are helpful for understanding how to build an employee experience that supports, connects, and engages these critical employees. Today's podcast episode is a replay of a conversation between Ben and three HR leaders at frontline employers:

Listen in to hear what tools they use to support their people, what resources they think are more relevant to frontline staff, and more. Thanks to Harri for connecting us!

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