Talent and Growth - The Talent Acquisition Podcast

Tom, a talent acquisition expert, shares his experiences and insights on building scalable talent functions. He emphasizes the importance of pragmatism and adaptability in fast-growing companies. Tom also discusses the challenges of defining and measuring quality of hire and the role of data analytics in talent acquisition. He highlights the essential tools and technologies for supporting scalable talent acquisition, including ATS, sourcing platforms, and AI-powered solutions. Tom also mentions the potential of AI in sourcing and screening candidates, although he acknowledges the need to balance automation with human interaction. Takeaways Pragmatism and adaptability are crucial in building scalable talent functions in fast-growing companies. Defining and measuring quality of hire is a complex challenge that requires a nuanced understanding of the company's goals and context. Data analytics plays a fundamental role in talent acquisition, providing insights and backing up assumptions with evidence. Essential tools and technologies for supporting scalable talent acquisition include ATS, sourcing platforms, and AI-powered solutions. AI has the potential to revolutionize sourcing and screening processes, but the balance between automation and human interaction needs to be carefully considered. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:07 Key Experiences Shaping Talent Acquisition Approach 06:40 Common Challenges in Building Scalable Talent Functions 10:04 The Role of Data Analytics in Talent Acquisition 15:16 Essential Tools and Technologies for Scalable Talent Acquisition 24:33 Key Takeaways and Closing Remarks

Doug Thomson, Head of Technology at Clearbank, shares his approach to people management and team development. He emphasizes the importance of helping team members identify and build the skills they need to achieve their dream job, while also creating an environment that encourages them to stay. Doug discusses the process of identifying career goals, breaking them down into actionable steps, and providing guidance and support along the way. He also highlights the importance of nurturing a culture of learning and giving employees the freedom to challenge and contribute to the team's goals. Doug's approach to leadership focuses on challenging and developing individuals while providing guidance and support based on his own experiences. Takeaways Helping team members identify and build the skills they need for their dream job is crucial for their career growth and satisfaction. Creating an environment that supports learning and development is key to retaining employees. A structured approach to career development, including setting goals and breaking them down into actionable steps, can help individuals progress in their careers. Balancing high performance expectations with a supportive and enjoyable work environment requires giving employees freedom and guidance. Challenging individuals and providing coaching and support based on personal experiences can lead to better outcomes and growth. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 03:10 Building Skills for the Dream Job 07:15 A Structured Approach to Career Development 09:56 Creating a Nurturing Culture of Learning 11:30 Balancing High Performance and Supportive Environment 13:59 Challenging and Developing Individuals 15:19 Guidance and Support Based on Experience

In this episode, Tony Payne discusses the importance of hiring for potential over experience. He explains that hiring for potential can lead to faster, cheaper, and more diverse hiring, as well as increased sustainability for the business. Tony compares hiring potential to gardening, where you focus on the plant before it blooms and get more longevity out of it. He also shares strategies for scoping a job to prioritize potential, identifying and evaluating alternative routes to traditional degrees, and supporting employees with high potential. Tony emphasizes the need to overcome bias in hiring practices and predicts that hiring for potential will become more common in the future. Takeaways Hiring for potential can lead to faster, cheaper, and more diverse hiring. Scoping a job to prioritize potential involves focusing on skills requirements and conducting job workshops with the whole team. Alternative routes to traditional degrees, such as internships and apprenticeships, can be effective in identifying potential candidates. Support systems, including coaching and training, are essential for developing employees with high potential. Overcoming bias in hiring practices that favor experience over potential is crucial for increasing diversity. The future of hiring is likely to involve a shift towards prioritizing potential over experience, with more companies adopting this approach. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 03:42 The Mindset Shift: Potential over Experience 06:24 Scoping Jobs Based on Skills Requirements 10:44 Exploring Alternative Routes to Traditional Degrees 12:26 Nurturing Employees with High Potential 15:05 Methods for Evaluating Candidate Potential 21:19 Conclusion and Contact Information

Varun Mohan, co-founder of Codeium, shares the journey of his company from being a GPU virtualization company to building an end-to-end application for code AI. They made a hard pivot when they realized that transformers were going to become popular and decided to build a product around it. Codeium now has over 600,000 users and processes over 100 billion tokens of code every day. Varun emphasizes the importance of maintaining a lean company and constantly questioning the value of each decision. They prioritize trust, accountability, and realism in their culture and give away their Legos to encourage reinvention. They also focus on attracting top talent by fostering a culture of achievement and showcasing their massive vision and breakneck speed of execution. As the company grows, they aim to maintain their culture of innovation and scalability. Takeaways Codeium made a hard pivot from being a GPU virtualization company to building an end-to-end application for code AI. They prioritize maintaining a lean company and constantly questioning the value of each decision. Trust, accountability, and realism are key cultural principles at Codeium. They give away their Legos and encourage reinvention to foster a culture of innovation. Attracting top talent is achieved by showcasing their massive vision and breakneck speed of execution. As the company grows, they aim to maintain their culture of innovation and scalability. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 05:12 The Challenges and Benefits of Making a Hard Pivot 11:10 Trust, Accountability, and Innovation in a High-Performance Culture 13:55 Attracting Top Talent: Achievement, Vision, and Impact 18:22 Managing Burnout: Focusing on the Most Important Tasks 22:50 The Key to Startup Success: Irrational Optimism and Uncompromising Realism

Liz Dowling, Chief People Officer at Viooh, shares insights on building a people workflow and the role of AI and automation in HR. She emphasizes the importance of having a solutions mindset, being adaptable, and getting things done. Liz highlights the need to align the people workflow with the company's strategy and prioritize programs accordingly. She also discusses the challenges faced in building a people workflow and the metrics used to measure its effectiveness. Liz cautions against relying solely on AI and automation, emphasizing the importance of human empathy and values in HR. She suggests leveraging existing technology and collaborating with subject matter experts to optimize workflows. Takeaways Having a solutions mindset and being adaptable are key in building a people workflow. Align the people workflow with the company's strategy and prioritize programs accordingly. Metrics such as employee net promoter score, time to hire, turnover, and engagement can measure the effectiveness of the people workflow. AI and automation can make an impact in areas such as note-taking, policy creation, and workflow efficiency. However, AI should not be seen as a solution to everything and should be used in conjunction with human empathy and values. Collaborate with subject matter experts and leverage existing technology to optimize workflows. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 03:31 Lessons from Large Organizations and Start-ups 05:00 Setting Up a People Workflow 09:59 Challenges and Overcoming Them 14:30 Measuring the Effectiveness of People Workflows 25:30 AI's Impact and Shortcomings in HR 29:12 Final Advice and Conclusion

Justin Megawarne, co-founder of Megaslice, discusses their hiring philosophy and how they attract the right candidates for their company. They focus on being transparent about the challenges and realities of working at Megaslice, filtering out those who are not a good fit. They emphasize resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to embrace chaos as key traits they look for in candidates. Their hiring philosophy has evolved to prioritize attitude over specific skills. Once hired, they treat employees like adults, being honest and transparent about the company's situation and involving them in decision-making. Takeaways Be transparent about the challenges and realities of working at your company to filter out candidates who are not a good fit. Prioritize resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to embrace chaos when hiring for demanding roles. Treat employees like adults and be honest and transparent about the company's situation. Involve employees in decision-making and provide opportunities for growth and learning. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 01:21 The Hiring Philosophy: Telling the Truth 07:54 Interviewing for Attitude 10:11 Filtering for Resilience and Adaptability 13:05 Balancing Honesty and Attraction 15:37 The Hell Yes or No Approach 20:34 Extending the Philosophy to Leadership and Culture 22:58 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Dave Cook, Chief Technology Officer, discusses the shortcomings of traditional training and coaching programs and the importance of a prolonged duration for effective learning. He emphasizes the need for personalized and adaptive training that is relevant to the individual and their specific business context. Dave also highlights the importance of follow-up and continuous learning to ensure that new skills are applied and retained. He shares his approach of collaborative learning, regular check-ins, and aligning training to real-world projects. Dave emphasizes the need for buy-in from company leadership and suggests using metrics such as employee engagement and project outcomes to demonstrate the value of training. He also discusses the role of peer learning and community building in reinforcing lessons and solving problems together. Dave provides a how-to guide for setting up training coaching programs in the workplace. Check Dave's guide here - https://www.lifelong-learning.club/setting-up-training-coaching-programme Takeaways Traditional training and coaching programs are often one-size-fits-all and not adaptive to individual needs and business contexts. Follow-up and continuous learning are crucial for retaining and applying new skills. A prolonged duration allows for in-depth learning, tailored training, and the development of lifelong learning habits. Aligning training to real-world projects and goals increases engagement and relevance. Metrics such as employee engagement and project outcomes can demonstrate the value of training. Peer learning and community building enhance the learning experience and problem-solving capabilities. A how-to guide is available for setting up training coaching programs in the workplace. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background of Dave Cook 04:04 The Importance of a Year-Long Coaching Approach 07:32 Engagement and Buy-In for Long-Term Training Programs 09:33 Gaining Buy-In from Company Leadership 11:21 Measuring the ROI of Training Programs 13:29 Tailoring Curriculums and Coaching to Individual Needs 15:15 Peer Learning and Community Building in Coaching 17:22 Guide to Setting Up Training Coaching Programs

Crina Pupaza is an accomplished Human Capital leader with a wealth of experience in both large, established corporations and nimble startups, building and managing People and Culture teams and successfully scaling organizations from 50 to 500+ employees. With a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University and 15+ years as an HR leader, Crina brings deep behavioral insight, knowledge, and experience to help organizations source and leverage talent for growing businesses. Throughout her career, Crina has held leadership and advisory roles in various disciplines within HR and Internal Communications at established organizations and startups, including Nymbus (SaaS, Fintech, Series D), eMarketer/Insider Intelligence (subscription-based market research company), OppenheimerFunds (global asset management $220B+ in AUM), the Guggenheim Museum (non for profit), and SquarePeg (SaaS, HR Tech, Series A). In addition to her work as Chief People Officer at Nymbus, Crina is recognized as a thought leader and a Top Culture Change Voice on LinkedIn, where she shares insights on scaling organizations, founder enablement, productivity, and leveraging high performance. Crina is a trusted coach and advisor to business leaders and individual contributors alike, empowering them to navigate complex situations and make strategic decisions that shape the future of their companies and position them for professional success. She is especially passionate about enabling founders, CEOs and managers to be exceptional leaders, knowing that their effect on talent and power to inspire growth can be both exceptional and exponential. Born in Cluj, Romania, Crina has started her education in Psychology at Babeș-Bolyai University. She has completed her education and received advanced degrees and certifications in the United States where she built her career to enable companies to navigate mergers and acquisitions, as well as enhance culture and motivate and drive talent to succeed. After more than 20 years of living in the New York area, Crina and her family opted for a new life adventure in Cary, North Carolina where she is sharing her knowledge with the local business community.

Summary The conversation explores the current state of AI adoption in the recruitment and HR tech space, the challenges and opportunities, and the impact of AI on bias and diversity in the hiring process. It also delves into the phases of technology uptake and the innovative use of AI in business development. The conversation explores the challenges and potential of AI, the need for time investment in understanding AI, the future of work, and the role of AI in human interactions. Siadhal from Metaview shares insights on the impact of AI on recruiting, the importance of experimentation, customization, and reporting in AI products, and the potential of AI in enhancing human productivity. The conversation also delves into the concept of human-AI interaction and the efficiency of AI in replicating human conversations. Takeaways AI adoption in recruitment and HR tech is rapidly growing, but there are still challenges and resistance to adoption. Unstructured data is now useful due to AI's ability to extract insights, leading to significant changes in business processes. AI is being leveraged effectively in sourcing and application sorting, addressing the challenges of candidate differentiation and applicant heavy markets. AI has the potential to mitigate bias by providing more accurate and comprehensive data, but there are still challenges in fully understanding and addressing bias in decision-making processes. The phases of technology uptake, from innovators to laggards, provide insight into the adoption of AI and other new technologies. Innovative use of AI in business development, such as market mapping and chat GPT, is reducing the time and effort required for these processes. Understanding AI requires time and experimentation Customization and reporting are crucial in AI products AI has the potential to enhance human productivity Efficiency in human-AI interaction is a key consideration for AI adoption Chapters 00:00 The State of AI Adoption in Recruitment and HR Tech 08:39 Unstructured Data and AI: A Game Changer in Business Processes 16:16 Addressing Bias and Diversity with AI in Hiring Processes 21:32 The Impact of AI on Recruiting and the Future of Work 26:57 Customization and Reporting in AI Products 36:16 Enhancing Human Productivity with AI 39:49 Efficiency in Human-AI Interaction

Adam Jackson, Co-Founder of Braintrust Network, discusses their unique talent network and the introduction of BrainTrust Air, an AI-powered talent acquisition tool. The conversation covers the benefits, impact on candidate experience, and the ethical use of AI in recruitment. Adam also shares insights on the future of talent acquisition and the evolution of AI in the hiring process. Takeaways BrainTrust is a unique talent network owned and controlled by the talent that makes their living on it. BrainTrust Air is an AI-powered talent acquisition tool that streamlines the hiring process, providing benefits for both candidates and talent acquisition professionals. The ethical use of AI in recruitment is a key consideration, and BrainTrust Air is designed to ignore biases and evaluate candidates based solely on their abilities and experience. The future of talent acquisition will see AI replacing legacy HR tech software, improving efficiency, and providing better output. The integration of AI in the hiring process will free up time for talent acquisition professionals to focus on creative solutions and other aspects of HR management.