Talk Talent To Me OwnBackup Director of People Ops and Total Rewards Shane Long
The shift from an individual contributor into leadership is something that most people will face in their career at some point, and it's not always an easy decision. Director of People Ops and Total Rewards over at OwnBackup, as well as an accomplished opera singer, Shane Long is here to talk about his jump into leadership and take us through how he arms recruiters to be more effective during the offer stage and throughout. In this conversation, we dive into the best ways for startups to navigate total rewards, previously known as benefits and recognition, and the importance of identifying what motivates people, be it a candidate or team member. Shane weighs in on how to compete when there's a FANG company's comp offer that outpaces yours, before discussing that intricate matter of equity, transparency, and answering questions that are and aren't being asked. You'll hear about some frank feedback that was hard to hear but formed a crucial part of Shane's growth, plus the oddest and coolest advice he received early in his career that swung his decision to pursue leadership from a 'no' to a 'yes' and deeply influenced his leadership style. We also get a sneak peek behind the curtain of his enablement sessions with recruiters and learn the importance of empowering recruiters to be the most knowledgeable person in the room, and what that empowerment looks like in practice. He's a true powerhouse of leadership from a hugely successful startup that's experiencing endless and exponential growth, year after year, and we hope you can join us for another fantastic conversation!
Key Points From This Episode:
- An introduction to Shane and a brief sprint through his illustrious opera career.
- How studying business and organizational psychology prepared him to be a recruiter.
- A great leader that impacted his early career and his decision to jump into leadership.
- The oddest and coolest advice he's ever received.
- Hear about the type of leadership that most people react negatively to.
- The frank feedback that was hard to hear but ended up pivoting his communication style.
- We discuss total rewards in the SaaS industry and why it's better to start at an early stage.
- Always revisiting candidate motivations, plus how to compete with FANG comp offers.
- A peek into the enablement sessions and calls that Shane does with recruiters.
- Diving into misunderstandings about equity and how to best navigate those conversations.
- Working with managers to coach them through figuring out what motivates their teams.
- Talking about what motivates different people and how to find the right questions to ask!
Tweetables:
“At the end of the day, for me, I want to have a positive impact on my team and on their development, and empower them to have the same impact on the organization.” — Shane Long [0:09:36]
“First and foremost, it's not just about comp you want to sell, you've got to sell the company as well. You've got to package the company in a way that's going to be appealing to [the candidate].” — Shane Long [0:15:40]
“A lot of companies keep equity structure, and logistics and calculations really close to the chest or really close to the top of the organization. I say that recruiters are the frontline, they're the ones talking to these candidates. They need to be the most knowledgeable about it.” — Shane Long [0:19:33]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: