What the FTE? - Tackling the tough questions about the future of work.

This week on What the FTE? we challenge the myths around hiring and talent functions with Joseph Withers, co‑founder of HighlightTA.

We dig into the biggest misbeliefs startups carry into hiring, why “project” work is often a symptom of underload, how to recognise when to scale your talent capacity up or down, and what partnership really looks like in modern TA.

If you want a more flexible, resilient, and business‑aligned approach to hiring, this episode is for you.

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This week on What the FTE? we rethink one of the most overlooked levers in talent strategy, how we pay people. Traditional pay cycles were built for bookkeepers, not workers.

Sean Paulseth, Head of Revenue, Canada at ZayZoon, is here to show why pay timing matters as much as pay level. We dig into how on‑demand pay reduces financial stress, boosts retention and becomes a strategic advantage in frontline and hourly workforces.

Sean shares how pay innovation works in practice, the guardrails that protect workers and why leaders need to ask payroll teams a new question about compensation design.

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This week on What the FTE? Melissa Marcelissen talks with Alison Kaizer, Partner, Talent at Golden Ventures and one of today’s most incisive thinkers on early stage hiring. 

If you want to make better decisions about who to hire and how to lead in fast‑moving environments this episode is for you.

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This week on What the FTE?, Andy speaks with a cybersecurity founder about how AI and remote hiring have changed where risk shows up inside companies. What starts as a conversation about modern tools quickly reveals how resumes, PDFs, and automated applications can open the door to serious security threats.

They discuss why rushed hiring creates blind spots, how insider risks actually emerge, and why patterns and gut instinct still matter. The episode also explores hiring people who think like owners and building trust in small, fast-moving teams.

If you’re building in an AI-driven world, this episode is a clear reminder that trust takes time, shortcuts are costly, and the basics still matter most.

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This week on What the FTE?, Andy talks with wellness strategist and energy coach Rich Ellis, whose approach to executive performance starts with the body.

Rich shares how leaders can reverse burnout through “1% changes” that compound—simple shifts in sleep, nutrition, and recovery that rebuild sustainable energy.

They explore how to measure your energy daily, why morning light and rest cycles matter more than hustle, and what it really takes to lead without draining your reserves.

If leadership is a transfer of energy, this episode shows you how to protect yours.

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This week on What the FTE?, we go to war with the CV. Former Australian Army Captain turned HR disruptor, Josh Hill, joins us to dismantle outdated hiring systems and explain what “discovery-led hiring” actually looks like.

From military simulations to startup chaos, Josh shares how to slow down the process, ask better questions, and get radically clear on fit — before you ever post a job.

If you’ve ever rushed to fill a seat and regretted it, this one’s for you.

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This week on What the FTE?, Rolando Lopez drops a bold new metric: Talent Replenishment Ratio — the hidden signal most leaders aren’t tracking.

He also breaks down why recruiters need to think like business people, how buzzwords are holding HR back, and what happens when you integrate TA, HRBP, and Rewards into one strategic function.

Whether you’re trying to scale sustainably, keep your top talent, or make HR feel less like HR, Rolando’s integrative, pragmatic lens will leave you thinking differently about what modern people leadership really requires.

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This week on What the FTE?, we hear from Chris Milligan, founder and CEO of Konfir (the UK tech company collapsing hiring timelines from weeks to seconds).

Chris shares how open banking, GDPR, and machine learning have created a faster, more trusted way to verify employment data. They unpack the power of consent-based systems, the future of verification, and what it takes to scale lean in uncertain times.

For HR leaders, it’s a sharp look at how data infrastructure is quietly reshaping hiring, onboarding, and trust itself.

Enjoyed the episode?

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Chris shares how open banking, GDPR, and machine learning have created a faster, more trusted way to verify employment data. They unpack the power of consent-based systems, the future of verification, and what it takes to scale lean in uncertain times.

For HR leaders, it’s a sharp look at how data infrastructure is quietly reshaping hiring, onboarding, and trust itself.

Enjoyed the episode?

👉 Get the full playbook on this topic: www.certn.co/blog

👉 Join thousands of HR leaders receiving our weekly HR insights: www.certn.co/podcast

This week on What the FTE?, we’re joined by Wei Houng, co-founder of HumanOp Technologies.

HumanOp decodes how people are wired using physics - not behaviour.

Wei’s worked with VCs, Fortune 500s and Olympic athletes to help leaders stop managing personalities and start engineering flow.

We unpack what this means for hiring, burnout, job design and team dynamics - and whether rewiring is actually possible.

If you’re still building teams around résumés or gut feel, this one’s a reset.

Enjoyed the episode?

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This week on What the FTE?, Maya Bellay sits down with Katy Hoszka, Global Total Rewards Leader at Certn, to talk about the real power behind pay.

From building salary bands from scratch to navigating the messy truth of transparency, Katy shares how fairness, trust, and storytelling intersect inside a modern reward strategy.

They unpack why equity—not equality—drives performance, how to win executive buy-in, and what it really takes to build systems employees believe in.

If you think rewards are just HR’s domain, this episode will change your mind.

Enjoyed the episode?

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