#53 - Caitlin MacGregor, CEO of Plum - On how AI can help any organization hire top- rather than mediocre performers

This podcast interview focuses on product innovation that has the power to transform how we hire and manage talent going forward, and my guest is Caitlin MacGregor

Caitlin is the CEO and Co-founder of Plum. After being President/Director of two startups, Caitlin founded Plum in order to transform talent processes to prepare business owners, like herself, for the future of work. Shortly after that, Plum was awarded the 2015 Gold Stevie International Business Award for best new product or service of the year. The company was also selected as one of the top 10 businesses led by women by Springboard Enterprises NYC.

Plum's mission is to help companies hire, grow, and retain top talent with the power of AI and Industrial/Organizational Psychology. By measuring talents such as leadership, innovation, communication, and more, Plum hosts the single largest database for quantifying human potential at every stage of the employee journey – from predicting successful hires, to informing professional development, strategic workforce planning, and high-potential capability.

This inspired me, hence I invited Caitlin to my podcast. We explore the challenges in the talent acquisition and talent management space, and why so many companies are challenged with hiring top talent. We also discuss how the changes in the marketplace require a different approach to hiring, reskilling and redeploying talent – and why assessing where someone went to school or previously worked are not the things to look for.

Here are some of his quotes:

“Some of the statistics say that, you know, it's a 50/50 chance of hiring the right person.

A lot of companies don't have 50% turnover. So a lot of the time, what happens is that they're putting up with mediocre people.

Maybe 20% of their organization are top performers. But if you understand what makes a top performer, a top performer, and you can quantify that you can actually change that ratio so that you can get more people that meet that criteria.

It's really understanding that every single person has the potential to be a top performer, just not in every role, and that each person has a unique set of talents that makes them a top performer.

So it's really about how do you figure out what makes somebody exceptional, and then figure out the jobs that will allow them to succeed.”

During this interview, you will learn three things:

1. How looking for scarcity can you help uncover hidden market gems that you can open by democratizing access.
2. That to maximize your success as a software business it’s key to align every aspect – all the way from product strategy, to marketing, to Sales, to Service.
3. How new business ideas are born by looking with a fresh eye at what it takes to avoid costly investment decisions.