We're Only Human

"It's about understanding that workforce isn't a recruiting job. It isn't a leadership job. It's everybody's job. If you have needs in the workforce, you must communicate them. And the vehicle to do that is our recruiting team."Betty Jo Rocchio, Chief Nursing Officer, Mercy We're Only Human -- Episode 109 One of the consistent priorities in our research over the last few years for recruiters is to align with the business and build deep, strategic partnerships. In today's episode, you'll get unique insights from Mercy about how the talent acquisition leadership interacts and engages with its nursing operations leaders. Ben talks with Kayla Drady and Betty Jo Rocchio about their partnership, how they interact with and support each other (especially during COVID times), and what lessons they think other talent and business leaders could use to create deeper relationships. In this episode you'll learn how to create that lasting, impactful relationship with key stakeholders, including the role of skill data, analytics tools, and more.  Learn about Mercy's recruiting activities and openings here: careers.mercy.netLearn about Mercy's mission: mercy.net/about/ Thanks to Phenom for introducing us to Mercy! See our episode archives for We're Only Human and subscribe: http://lhra.io/podcast   See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

"We are what we call a conversational AI platform, the main product being our AI assistant, which was built with a really simple kind of mission to create magical experiences for candidates." Josh Zywein, Paradox.ai We're Only Human -- Episode 108 Chatbots aren't new. Most of us have used them as consumers to get support when we visit a website for a cable or mobile phone provider. Plus, in our last report on chatbots in the recruiting technology space a few years ago, we found over 25 different companies offering bots and tools to help employers automate and streamline their hiring.But not all of them are cut from the same cloth. In this interview with Josh Zywein from Paradox.ai, we talk about how recruiting chatbots have evolved and how the company's bot (Olivia) has served customers like Nestle, McDonald's, CVS Health, and others. We also talk about why chatbots aren't a "DIY" project and what you can get with a dedicated, purpose-built system.  Check out the show archives, subscribe, and more Connect with Josh, Olivia or the Paradox team: http://paradox.ai (you can even chat w/Olivia on the website!)Email: josh@paradox.ai See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

"What different actions can we take going forward? So whether it was an implementation to our benefits plan or whether it was rolling out a new piece to our onboarding process, let's do an analysis at the end... Is there anything that could've made this better? Just one little thing that we could tweak so that we can learn from this." Angie Redmon, striveHR We're Only Human -- Episode 107 Today there's no shortage of employer award programs. Every magazine, business publication, website, and trade association has a version of these programs, and they all look at different elements of how employers support their people. In today's conversation, Ben talks with Angie Redmon of striveHR about how she works with employers to help them win these awards. As you'll hear in the discussion, this is about more than "teaching to the test." It's about fundamentally changing how you care for and support your people, and the journey towards that end goal is perhaps more important than the end goal itself. In the conversation you'll learn the three critical components that lead to a winning strategy over time. Learn more about Angie and connect with her: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angieredmonbestworkplaceadvisor  Find our episode archive, subscribe options on Spotify, Google, Amazon, and more, and learn more about We're Only Human: http://lhra.io/podcast See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

"The way work is getting done is increasingly flexible and it gives the worker the power of choice. That choice serves both the worker and the end enterprise." Dan Beck, COO of Utmost We're Only Human -- Episode 106 Quick, your business needs to fill a talent gap you have, but you don't want to hire a new staff member. What do you do? Hire a consultant? Pick up a freelancer? Snag an independent contractor? Historically, these activities have happened outside the realm of HR, partly due to compliance and partly due to the different approaches to bringing on that talent. In today's episode, Ben talks with Dan Beck, COO of Utmost, about how forward-thinking employers are hiring, tracking, and managing the extended workforce.Think about it: companies today have increasing numbers of gig workers and flexible talent on the books, so why shouldn't we have insights into who they are, how we can manage them, and what that investment looks like at the highest levels of the company?  Learn more: https://utmost.co/ Connect with Dan: dan@utmost.co  See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

"Be gentle with yourself. I think we can all afford a little compassion and we're often able to give that to others easier than we're able to give it to ourselves. Give yourself time for introspection to understand what truly motivates you and let that be your first step."Kristin Richter, Engagedly We're Only Human -- Episode 105 This is a special edition of We're Only Human! Last fall Ben cohosted HR Analyst Day with Jessica from Workology (who you'll hear on today's show). They talked with a wide variety of HR tech companies covering recruiting, benefits, learning, engagement, and more. This episode was one of the outcomes from that experience. In it, Jessica interviews Kristin Richter from Engagedly about the company's focus and how it helps to create a more human-centered workplace.  Want to know more about HR Analyst Day? Check it out: https://learn.workology.com/hr-analyst-day/  Learn more about Engagedly: https://engagedly.com/  Connect with Kristin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-richter/ See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

"You can reconcile accounting, but you can't always reconcile people."Jeremy Stickling, Chief Administrative Officer at Nussbaum Transportation We're Only Human -- Episode 104 Turnover in some trucking and transportation companies runs nearly 100% a year, meaning they turn over virtually every employee over a 12 month period. But at Nussbaum, the turnover runs under 30% a year. What's the secret, and how can other employers with a field-based or remote workforce apply those principles to create better employment outcomes for their people? In this episode, Ben talks with Jeremy Stickling, Chief Administrative Officer at Nussbaum Transportation, about how the company has cracked this code. It's a great case study on caring for people and delivering a great experience, regardless of where employees are based.  Learn more about Nussbaum's purpose-driven culture: https://www.nussbaum.com/purposedriven/ Connect with Jeremy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-stickling-71a5b112/  Find out how to align your own values and work style with the kind of company you want to work with: https://mailchi.mp/upstarthr/5-hr-career-questions See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

I really do believe this is a moment for learning and training that could see a transformation that benefits learners. Simon Greany, Elucidat We're Only Human -- Episode 103 How many times have we in HR and learning been forced to create content in subjects we knew little to nothing about? In today's episode, Ben talks with Simon Greany from Elucidat about how the company supports employers through technology that enables subject matter experts to cocreate learning content. At the end of the day, learning is about performance. It's not about making people happy (though that can be a byproduct). And having targeted training that meets the needs of the workforce is the best option for creating sustained performance over time.  Learn more about Elucidat: https://www.elucidat.com/ Learn about myHRfit: http://myhrfit.com See where you can find the podcast: https://lhra.io/podcast See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

"We can't forget about being human."Tom Moran, Chief Strategy Officer, Prodoscore We're Only Human -- Episode 102 When workers gathered to work on assembly lines, productivity was easy: you counted the widgets produced per hour. In the modern workplace, it's a much harder proposition. How do you know when knowledge workers are really accomplishing what they need to be? In today's discussion, Ben dives into those questions and more with Tom Moran of Prodoscore. Prodoscore is a productivity intelligence tool designed to help companies understand how the workforce gets things done, who may need help, and where opportunities exist for smarter business practices. Tom shares how Prodoscore helps customers measure individual worker productivity, how the data can serve as a performance coaching tool, and more.  See Prodoscore's ethical pledge: https://www.prodoscore.com/company/#pledge See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

"We allow business leaders to dictate things based on who they like, who they golfed with the last weekend, and things like that when it should be: 'Who is doing the work and who is a benefit to our work environment and our culture?'" Carla Patton, HR Executive We're Only Human -- Episode 101 One of the challenges in the last year is that the pandemic showed the cracks in the relationships created by poor leadership. In an office environment, there are enough opportunities to smooth over mediocrity from a leadership perspective, but when things are virtual, those kinds of behaviors like favoritism or simply being inept become magnified. In this episode, Carla Patton encourages us to stop accepting mediocrity from our leaders and hold them to a higher standard. It's not just about business results--it's about the kind of environment they create for their team and whether that environment encourages performance or hinders it.  Links: Ben on the Paychex HR Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3F4a4zK3l0PSQEMf9wl5duConnect with Carla on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlahpatton/Check out The Career Salon podcast with the HR Twins:https://open.spotify.com/show/0zUiPwDUotwiu5dna1WrLa  See the show archives and sign up for episode updates

"We map the employee journey and experiences that an employee has. We do things where we can really hear, learn, and better understand the employee sentiment, directly from employees. We have feedback mechanisms built in that allow us to continually evolve, and we really look at that feedback that we get on our experiences as a gift. We welcome it. We want to hear 'what did we do' and 'how did it land' and 'how can we make it better?'"Adella Bell, PayPal We're Only Human -- Episode 100 Today, one of the most challenging pieces of supporting employees is understanding their unique journeys, identifying their needs at each step, and designing experiences that meet those needs. At PayPal, there is a clear approach that leads to better outcomes, and it hinges on employee-focused design. From how feedback is gathered to how journeys are mapped and more, every piece of this is centered on the employees and what they need. In today's discussion, Ben talks with Ramesh Murugan and Adella Bell from PayPal's HR team to explore how PayPal designs an employee experience that is scalable and high touch, including key insights into how the HR team identifies what the workforce needs through comprehensive voice of the employee efforts.  To learn more about IBM Talent Transformation Services:http://ibm.biz/talentacquisitionOther episodes in this series on Talent Transformation: How Takeda Radically Transformed its HR Operating ModelHow to Drive Business Innovation from within HR Learn about PayPal's commitment to and support of global intiatives in their Impact Report: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/globalimpact  See the show archives and sign up for episode updates