Talk Talent To Me

The talent organization is often seen as a business within a business, but sometimes it is seen more as an expense than a massive contributor to the bottom line. Today we are joined by Liberty Mutual’s Shawn Tubman, who is the head of talent acquisition, and Loralie Thostenson the SVP, technology talent officer. Our guests provide insight into how the operation of the huge talent organization at Liberty Mutual is structured before we discuss how the talent team is seen as an expense center, and how to put into dollars and cents how it is profitable. Tuning in you’ll hear about the transactional lens and the global lens through which Shawn sees ROI for talent processes, as well as the pros and cons of the qualitative approach versus the quantitative approach to proselytizing the value of HR to an organization. Later we talk the very important role of strategy in HR, how our guests determine what specific things a talent organization needs to do to meet the needs of a business, how understanding these needs informs the process of decision making, and why you should ask “A year from now, what are we going to regret not doing?” Listen in today to find out how to balance trying to reach a high headcount goal while also being strategic, the importance of scheduling time for strategizing, and Shawn and Loralie’s advice on how to build your career and be deliberate about your own growth.   Key Points From This Episode:   How Shawn Tubman has managed to stay at Liberty Mutual for so many years. Loralie Thostenson’s thoughts on how the job may stay the same, but unique challenges provide diversity. Insight into how the operation of the talent organization at Liberty Mutual is structured.   Thoughts on how the talent organization is often seen as a business within a business and how this compares to other departments.  How Shawn and Loralie put into dollars and cents how HR contributes to the bottom line.   The transactional lens and the global lens through which Shawn sees ROI for talent processes and how they differ.  Thoughts on the qualitative approach versus the quantitative approach to proselytizing the value of HR to an organization.  How our guests determine what specific things a talent organization needs to do to meet the needs of a business on a macro-level.  How taking the time to understand what the organization really needs informs the process of decision making.  Why you should ask “A year from now, what are we going to regret not doing?”  How to balance trying to reach a high headcount goal while also being strategic.  The importance of scheduling time for strategizing.   Loralie’s advice to make sure that you always understand how you’re adding value.  Shawn’s advice to not be afraid to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and the importance of self-awareness.   Tweetables:   “You can’t put a price on making the best hire because one hire could really change and shape an organization.” — Shawn Tubman [0:13:46]   “‘Nothing really happens in an organization until you make a sale,’ right? You’ve got to make the sale and then everything comes after it. — The thing that came to my mind was, ‘Nothing happens until you hire the person that makes the sale.’” — Shawn Tubman [0:14:17]   “I think one way of thinking about it is data often times is your ‘what’ and the anecdote is the ‘why’. Having the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ paired together on any topic really makes the connection and gives the whole picture.” — Loralie Thostenson [0:17:50]   “There is a balance between the transactional piece of recruitment, which is working with a hiring manager to fill a singular job and then having that overarching strategic approach. I don’t think one could live without the other.” — Shawn Tubman [0:22:56]   “A well-thought-out strategy, it has to be part of all recruitment organizations, whether that exists on the individual recruiter desk or whether it exists on the leader level for a large organization. Time and intentionality has to be spent in defining that strategy.” — Shawn Tubman [0:23:51]   “Make sure that you always understand how you’re adding value to the business regardless of what level talent role that you’re at.” — Loralie Thostenson [0:30:46] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Shawn Tubman  Loralie Thostenson Liberty Mutual  Hired Talk Talent to Me

Whether you work remote, in person, or partially remote, the new world of work contains multiple employee experiences. Today we are joined by Annie Lin, the VP of People at Lever, a company known for helping businesses grow their workforces and improve their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Annie joins us to discuss the new world of work and how to negotiate it from a talent perspective. While some people return to the workplace, others don’t and because everyone’s day-to-day experiences are different, creating an equitable environment for workers is a new challenge that we face. Annie explains how we can think about these new hybrid forms of work in a similar way to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Tuning in you’ll hear how Lever is aiming for equity in everyone’s ability to have an equal impact, irrespective of their day-to-day work experience, and how the company is now less focused on effort and more focused on results. You’ll also discover insight into developments in the job market and talent war, the importance of finding ways to attract diverse candidates, how Lever sets its goals for DEI, and why they break these down to the team level.   Key Points From This Episode: An introduction to Annie Lin, her role at Lever, and her background. The realization Annie had that drew her out of business management and into people ops. How she pushes her team to think about their roles from the mindset of being partners to the rest of the business. The realities of Annie’s role right now in the context of the new world of work. How she level sets for all of these different experiences to create an equitable environment for the individuals in them. Lever’s goal for equity in everyone’s ability to have an equal impact. How Lever is less focused on effort and more focused on results. How Annie thinks about this in a similar way to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  Annie’s contact with the customer base and the product team.  Insight into developments in the job market and how to stand out in the talent war.  The importance of finding ways to attract and bring in diverse candidates. Insight into Lever’s OKRs with regards to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and how they set these goals.  What success looks like in terms of DEI for Lever.  Why they break down DEI to a team level. Annie’s analogy for looking at the positives of hybrid work and its challenges.   Tweetables: “There’s a lot that makes a business work or not work and I truly believe that almost everything boils down to people; who you have, who you don’t have, how those people work together, how they don’t work together, how they evolve and grow as the organization evolves and grows.” — Annie Lin [0:03:52]   “I really push my team to think about their roles from the mindset of a partner to the business.” — Annie Lin [0:05:00]   “We’re actually not aiming for complete egalitarianism in terms of everyone’s day-to-day experiences, but rather what we are optimizing for and aiming for is equity in everyone’s ability to have an equal impact.” — Annie Lin [0:11:51]   “We have people who quite frankly are just effective in different types of environments and we want to be inclusive of all of that. We want all of those different types of people to still be able to be successful.” — Annie Lin [0:14:41]   "I would encourage other people leaders to think about as well, is not just think about the world of hybrid work as a problem that has to be dealt with, — but also as this incredible opportunity to really tap into the strengths and the upsides that come with it as well.” — Annie Lin [0:27:38]   Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:   Annie Lin  Lever Hired Talk Talent to Me

  In a rapidly growing company, it’s often a natural instinct to solve your problems by throwing more bodies at them through recruitment. Today’s guest believes that there is a much better way to build and maintain your talent. Tyler Parson is the head of talent at Chili Piper, a series-B startup that does meeting lifecycle automation for sales and revenue teams. Tyler was hired as the company’s first people operations hire and has been instrumental in building the company’s talent. Initially, she was hired to spearhead recruiting, but after expressing her desire to be responsible for the entire employee life cycle, her role evolved. Tuning in today, you’ll hear why Tyler believes strongly that companies should hire a head of people before a head of talent and why it makes sense to combine the role of recruitment with that of employee ops. We discuss the importance of building the headcount plan strategically, instead of just hiring bodies, and why recruitment should not be an order-taking function, but a strategic partnership between talent and leadership. Tyler also explains why companies should do a better job of looking at their existing talent as plastic with the skills and the desires to move into other roles, and how companies can get a better understanding of their employees career ambitions to provide them with a path to grow towards what they love. Key Points From This Episode: An introduction to Tyler Parson and how she became known as the class clown. Insight into Chili Piper and Tyler’s role in the company.  Why it makes sense to combine the role of recruitment with that of employee ops. Why Tyler believes that new companies should hire a head of people before a head of talent. The first things Tyler implemented on the people ops side of Chili Piper.   The importance of building the headcount plan strategically, instead of just hiring bodies.  Why recruitment should not be an order-taking function, but a strategic partnership between talent and leadership.  The importance of differentiating between the critical needs and the wants of a role. Why companies should do a better job of looking at their existing talent as plastic, both willing and able to fulfill other roles. How the Piper Plan Initiative is used to understand their employees’ career ambitions.  The intentional conversations had between management and employees around individual development. How the Piper Plan Initiative feeds back into the recruiting process. How employees are responding to this initiative.  Thoughts on what makes a good employee.  The importance of providing employees with a path to grow towards what they love.  Tyler’s advice to anyone who wants to grow into a more fulfilling role.   Tweetables:   “Companies choose between hiring a head of people first or a head of talent first. I really fall into the camp where I think that the head of people should come in first. Get your culture locked down, get your impression plans locked down and then hire talent into the function.” — Tyler Parson [0:07:16]   “I really believe that if you – you can put all this time and energy into hiring the talent, but if you don’t develop it and enable it and retain it, then you’re spinning your wheels on recruiting.” — Tyler Parson [0:07:42]   “What we’re trying to build at Chili Piper, — is creating a culture where if you want something new, you always ask for it internally first and if it’s in the realm of possibilities, if it’s in our growth plan which it probably is, then we try it.” — Tyler Parson [0:16:36]   “When you work in a company where people love what they do in a genuine way and you allow other people the path to grow towards what they love, that makes a good employee. I don’t care how many meetings you booked.” — Tyler Parson [0:25:09]   “Be brave enough to be honest with yourself about what really does bring you joy and more importantly, be brave enough to identify when it’s not aligned with what you’re doing right then.” — Tyler Parson [0:28:23]   “It is just a matter of identifying what brings you joy and start to just insert it into your existing job as much as you can. If you can’t, then maybe it is time to find a new one.” — Tyler Parson [0:28:47]   Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Tyler Parson Chili Piper Hired Talk Talent to Me

As the pandemic recedes, millions of workers have decided to rethink their jobs and how they are living their lives. On today’s episode of Talk Talent to Me, we get together with recruitment expert Sarah Baker Andrus to discuss this dramatic trend, why now is an excellent time to be looking for a new job, and how to do the internal work necessary to find and identify a job that you’ll love. In our conversation with Sarah, we hear about her history in recruitment and how she came into the career almost by accident when she discovered that it was a great fit for her personality and interests. You’ll hear Sarah break down some of the biggest mistakes people make when they first start looking for a job and explain why job boards are never the best place to start your search. Instead, you should be researching the type of companies you want to work for and intentionally reach out to them. Sarah offers some useful strategies for determining the type of position you’ll thrive in, like reflecting on high points in your career to identify your most valuable skills and asking yourself “Do I want to work here?” instead of “Will they hire me?” We spend some time reflecting on how worker demands and expectations are shifting in America and examine the many legitimate reasons workers have for leaving their jobs. We had a fantastic time talking with Sarah, and we’re sure you’ll find the conversation as informative and useful as we did. For all this and much more, tune in today!   Key Points From This Episode: Introducing today’s guest, Sarah Baker Andrus. How Sarah discovered a fascinating career in recruitment almost by accident. How reflecting on high points in your career can help you identify your most valuable skills. Why it’s equally important to identify the traits that your co-workers rely on you for. How to turn those traits you’ve identified into a job search. Why you should change the question from “Will they hire me?” to "Do I want to work here?” Why you should identify employers and companies that you want to work with. How men and women approach job searches differently on average. Why Sarah does not promote starting your job search by looking at job boards. How to use intentional networking in your job search. Sarah shares her feelings on accepting a job from an organization that has reached out to you on LinkedIn. Why you should be intentional about the process of leaving your job and finding a new position. The type of questions you need to ask yourself to accurately evaluate your current job versus a job prospect. Why Google is a useful tool for finding organizations that hire people with your particular skill sets. The great resignation that has been happening in America and the many legitimate reasons people gave for leaving their jobs. Why now is a great time to be looking for a new job. The risks of leaving a job versus the risks of staying at a job that isn’t working for you for too long.   Tweetables: “I’ve spent the bulk of my career, so more than 20 years, as a recruiter myself, leading recruitment teams, thinking about recruitment marketing and recruitment strategy, and I have really spent my whole career immersed in everybody else’s career.” — @avarahcareers [0:01:38]   “I was very geeky and intentional about documenting what was working for me at that stage. I thought it was interesting to sort of be the guinea pig in my own adventure.” — @avarahcareers [0:04:17]   “One thing that I think I knew instinctively, and I’m sure you’d agree, is that when we think about the high point moments in our careers, there were certain skills, abilities, talents, that we brought to those achievements. We all want more of that.” — @avarahcareers [0:04:32]   “The vast majority of jobs never even get on to the boards and it’s far more effective to target your list of employers and then go on their careers page and monitor that and create your own job board, whether you use an Excel spreadsheet or some notes.” — @avarahcareers [0:10:57]   “So many great places that are starting from a different premise that has a new way of doing things and that’s what I find really exciting. If you’re at a place that isn’t keeping up, then you become identified with that place.” — @avarahcareers [0:33:12]   “We need to give equal consideration to the risk of staying and what that can do to your career over the long haul.” — @avarahcareers [0:33:43]   Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:   Sarah Andrus on LinkedIn Sarah Andrus on Twitter Sarah Andrus on Facebook Avrah Careers Hired Sign Up to Hired Talk Talent to Me

Throughout her career of more than a decade, one thing has always remained the same for today’s guest: the importance of leading with empathy and humanity. As a young, queer, tattooed woman, Ashlyn stands out in the traditional world of finance, but it was in this world, where someone took a chance on her as a high school dropout, that she rapidly climbed the ranks. In her early twenties, she ran operations for several advisory firms before identifying her true calling: recruiting. Through her work as Senior Talent Partner at Altruist, she’s able to help people find their place and activate their talents and passions. Her passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion really shines through in this interview, as does her mission to empower and educate candidates to make the best decisions for themselves and their long term. We touch on the process of poaching, negotiation and salary expectations, and Ashlyn’s ‘everybody wins’ approach, as well as how Altruist’s onboarding and training philosophy provides a safe space for new hires to say “I don’t know.”    Key Points From This Episode: An introduction to Ashlyn McIntosh, her career trajectory, and her current role at Altruist The importance of being intentional when hiring and retaining talent. How Ashlyn’s role as senior talent partner differs from that of the director of talent. How the rest of the team is structured and how they have grown it through new hires. Why Altruist believes in starting off with their best offer, not forcing candidates to negotiate. Ashlyn explains how forcing negotiation inherently reinforces biased pay inequities. Hear her opinion on salary expectations and listing salary bands in job descriptions. Why she advocates for candidates who undersell themselves; the ‘everybody wins’ approach. How smart companies retain talent by paying them what they are worth. The value of breaking the taboo around discussing your salary with your coworkers. The utility of soliciting salary expectations in a world where no one is forced to negotiate. Ashlyn’s approach to onboarding, which involves borrowing from previous companies. Find out more about Altruist’s skills-based and systems training philosophy.   Tweetables: “We need to be giving the best employee experience possible because all it takes is one bad day and, suddenly, somebody is responding to a recruiter InMail. You have to be careful about the kind of employee experience that you're providing people, or else they do have options.” — Ashlyn McIntosh [0:08:43]   “When it comes down to being competitive, I still always want the candidate to make the right decision for themselves and their long term. I don't get very pushy. I try [to] be a sounding board for my candidates.” — Ashlyn McIntosh [0:14:20]   “Forcing people to negotiate is inherently sexist and racist. There are going to be far less women who are comfortable negotiating. There are far less people of color who are comfortable negotiating.” — Ashlyn McIntosh [0:15:52]   “Letting people know ‘you can do better’ is really important. We have had such a mentality within our society because of capitalism that, if one person wins, it means you can't win when, in reality, there's room for all have us to win. Why would I hold somebody back from that?” — Ashlyn McIntosh [0:19:43]   “There are companies that reward their recruiters for costing the company less money. I don't necessarily think those are smart companies. Smart companies hire the ideal talent for whatever their company is for what they're worth.” — Ashlyn McIntosh [0:21:22]   Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Ashlyn McIntosh on LinkedIn Altruist Talk Talent to Me

Evan shares why we are in the golden age of recruiting, and how recruiter.com's platform represents a huge opportunity for recruiting pros to be creative about how they offer their skillset.

Bailey returns to discuss her new Talent Enablement hire, as well as the most impactful tactics she employed to grow from her role in recruitment to her current gig as VP People. Join Bailey's team

Community Building to Optimize Recruiting with Gina Yocom   Episode 181: Show Notes.   As recruiters and talent managers, we have to think long-term. We will not have a role immediately for everyone we look to place, but this does not mean we should not build relationships with them. Gina Yocom is the Director of Talent at Primary Venture Partners, a seed-stage firm that specifically invests in New York City companies. In this episode, Gina shares some valuable insights around how she uses community building as a recruitment strategy. Rather than only looking at the short-term, Gina looks at the bigger picture, and this technique has already proven immensely effective. We hear about some of the events which Primary has hosted, how they approach different talent levels, and what Gina's unique role entails. Gina is not your average Director of Talent; she is a creative, out-of-the-box thinker who can meet ever-evolving recruitment demands.     Key Points From This Episode:   Primary's unique community-building approach and why it works so well.  How to cultivate a vibrant community and form relationships with many people over a sustained timeframe.  Some of the ways that Gina maintains connections over time.  How Gina creates a community with mid to high-level managers and executives.  Insights into how Gina divides her time as a director of talent.  What hiring managers can do to smoothen the recruitment process.  Primary's new approach of offering dedicated recruiting support to portfolio companies   Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:   Gina Yocom Primary Venture Partners Andreessen Horowitz OnDeck  

The Value of Education as a Recruiter with Adrian Russo   Episode 180: Show Notes. Adrian Russo is the Director of Talent Acquisition at MotoRefi. Adrian also has a Master’s degree in Information Systems, and this in-depth understanding has helped him stand out as a tech recruiter. In today’s episode, we hear about Adrian’s journey and how joining the army ignited a passion for talent acquisition in him. While it may not be apparent at first glance, there are many parallels between military and private sector recruitment. We hear about the platform, RecruitLocator, which Adrian founded, and some of the valuable recruitment-related lessons he learned from a foray into entrepreneurship. Our conversation also touches on the importance of following your intuition, even in the face of naysayers, how to ensure there is true diversity and inclusion at your company, and advice for those looking to take the next step in their careers.   Key Points From This Episode: Get to know today’s guest, Adrian Russo. Adrian’s decision to enlist in the military and how this exposed him to recruitment. The parallels between recruiting in the military and recruiting in the private sector. Why Adrian decided to pursue tech recruiting when he left the military. The benefits of having a tech-related academic qualification for Adrian. Some online resources that you can use to upskill. How having advanced degrees helps Adrian and his team connect with executives. When you go against the grain, you will always get pushback, but if it benefits you, keep going. Why Adrian founded RecruitLocater and the services the platform provides. The importance of having a variety of recruitment tools, not just job boards. Some of the challenges that come with creating a tool that sits on top of search engines. Adrian’s love for MotoRefi and his appreciation of his team. Valuable lessons Adrian learned from his time as an entrepreneur that he applies to recruiting. Entrepreneurship is not the pinnacle of business success. How technology and automation can help with, but not replace, recruitment. Learn more about MotoRefi and what Adrian’s role is. How MotoRefi has built DE&I into the culture to ensure there is diverse talent at the company. What it takes to establish a partnership with organizations that serve under-represented groups. The value of tracking stats over a 90-day period and ascertaining results over a longer timeframe. Adrian's approach for those who are looking to make their next move.    Tweetables: “A lot of people, for whatever reason, think that there's not a lot of parallels between recruiting in the military and recruiting in the private sector. And in some cases, there really is.” — Adrian Russo    “Every recruiting tool has a use. Every recruiting tool has a purpose. I just thought if you want to use a job board, there's a lot of great tools for that. I wanted to have something that was different.” — Adrian Russo   “Talent acquisition, for me, is where my heart will always be at. That's what I love doing. I’ll always be a talent acquisition professional.” — Adrian Russo    “I would encourage people to just look at what's being done, and dare to be different. Think differently. Think outside the box.” — Adrian Russo Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Adrian Russo MotoRefi A Cloud Guru  

Founding pod member Matt Hughes returns to discuss his dynamic role at Hunt Club--a new breed of recruiting agency. We cover how to alter your approach to meet the expectations of an increasingly savvy, in-demand, and remote-centric workforce.