The Breakthrough Hiring Show: Recruiting and Talent Acquisition Conversations (James Mackey: Recruiting, Talent Acquisition, Hiring, SaaS, Tech, Startups, growth-stage, RPO, James Mackey, Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Human Resources, business, Retention Strategies, Onboarding Process, Recruitment Metrics, Job Boards, Social Media Re)
Explore every episode of The Breakthrough Hiring Show: Recruiting and Talent Acquisition Conversations
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Feb 2022 | EP 1: Erin McCann, Senior Vice President of People Operations - SevenFifty | 00:24:53 | |
Erin McCann, Senior Vice President of People Operations at SevenFifty joins host James Mackey to discuss:
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| 18 Feb 2022 | EP 2: Megan Bowen, COO - Refine Labs | 00:40:42 | |
Megan Bowen, COO at Refine Labs joins host James Mackey to discuss:
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| 22 Mar 2022 | EP 3: Steve Cadigan, LinkedIn's First Chief HR Officer and Founder - Cadigan Talent Ventures | 00:35:21 | |
Steve Cadigan, LinkedIn's First Chief HR Officer and Founder of Cadigan Talent Ventures, joins host James Mackey to discuss:
Steve Cadigan is a highly sought-after talent advisor to organizations such as Google, Salesforce, The Royal Bank of Scotland & the BBC. Top VC & Consulting firms, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, KKR and McKinsey regularly retain him for his insights. Throughout his career the teams, cultures, and organizations he has built have been recognized as exceptional, “world-class” performers by the Wall Street Journal, Fortune magazine & others. In 2021 he was recognized as being among the top 200 Global Thought Leaders in the world of People & Talent.
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| 13 Apr 2022 | EP 4: Alan Rudolph, B2B Enterprise SaaS Exec | 00:21:54 | |
Alan Rudolph, B2B Enterprise SaaS Exec, joins host James Mackey to discuss: employee success programs, the importance of an end to end journey for employees, and the employee value proposition. 01:00 Mistakes and Opportunities to Improve Employee Experience 03:00 Candidates Are Placing a Larger Emphasis on How a Job Will Integrate with Their Personal Life 06:30 Where Should Employees Start with Creating an Employee Journey 08:39 How Can We Accelerate Employee Ramp Time Given The Shortening of Employee Tenure 10:32 Hiring The Right Candidate 12:25 Hiring Candidates That Are a 70%-80% Fit 17:25 The Canard of, “Candidate-Driven Markets Never Last”
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| 13 Apr 2022 | EP 5: Yuri Kruman, Chief Executive Officer - HR, Talent & Systems | 00:46:51 | |
Yuri Kruman, CEO at HR, Talent & Systems (voted best full-service HR firm in NY for 2021 & 2022 by Acquisitions International), a Top CHRO for 2022 (PeopleHum), a Top 100 DEI Leader in 2021 (Mogul) , employer brand expert, VC/PE HR advisor, and author of Be Your Own Commander-In-Chief, joins host James Mackey to discuss: how corporate learning & development is broken, how to actually understand what your people need, performance management, his new book, and a lot more!
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| 13 Apr 2022 | EP 6: Mukta Arya, Chief Human Resources Officer (APAC) - Societe Generale | 00:44:53 | |
Mukta Arya, Chief Human Resources Officer (APAC) at Société Générale joins host James Mackey to discuss: DE&I, Learning & Development, the Future of Work, People Analytics, and more!
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| 26 Apr 2022 | EP 7: Nate Guggia, Co-founder and Head of Brand - Before You Apply | 00:45:16 | |
Nate Guggia, co-founder and Head of Brand at Before You Apply, joins host James Mackey to discuss the struggles of hiring today, the major disconnect with employer branding and recruiters, moving fast while building a great culture, LinkedIn content that actually works, and a lot more!
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| 03 May 2022 | EP 8: Nathan Deily, Chief People Officer and Co-Founder - nth venture | 00:33:54 | |
Nathan Deily (former Microsoft, LivePerson, Raytheon, Honeywell) left corporate America to start a Venture Studio called nth venture. He joins host James Mackey to discuss talent acquisition in the context of a start up in a virtual world and hiring for alternative compensation models (as a possible revolutionary new approach to comp). 01:10 The Old Paradigms for Talent Acquisition at Start Ups are Out the Window 02:35 Alternative Compensation Models, Nobody Gets Paid Until Success 06:00 What Type of Company Can Work for Alternative Compensation Models 09:00 Does The Alternative Compensation Model Work at Scale? 12:45 How Do You Figure Out Operating Income for Alternative Compensation Model? 17:05 Common Mistakes Founders Make When it comes to Talent Acquisition 23:25 Nathan’s Background: Going from Enterprise to Founding a Venture Studio 26:30 Nathan’s Time at LiverPerson 30:30 Nathan’s Contact Info
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| 06 May 2022 | EP 9: Laura Holcombe, Talent Acquisition Manager - Streetbees | 00:41:37 | |
Laura Holcombe, Talent Acquisition Manager at Streetbees, joins host James Mackey to discuss how to rise into a talent acquisition leadership role, recruiter lessons from the pandemic, the importance of being human and much more! 07:22 The pandemic was a course correction on values 09:15 Power of personal branding on LinkedIn 11:00 Training recruiters to embrace the human element of recruitment 15:48 Optimizing recruitment operations 22:00 Getting into talent acquisition during the pandemic 25:13 How recruiters feel when their company treats candidates poorly 26:25 The power of being in tech 27:40 How to get into talent acquisition leadership 32:00 Importance of people skills 33:15 Importance of business acumen 34:30 Say-Do ratio 35:55 Asking for feedback from direct reports 38:50 How to contact Laura
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| 06 May 2022 | EP 10: Barry Mainz, Chief Operating Officer - Malwarebytes | 00:29:28 | |
Barry Mainz, Chief Operating Officer at Malwarebytes, joins host James Mackey to discuss: the rapidly shifting workspace, employee retention trends in tech, what benefits employees want, learning & development, retaining top talent, and more!
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| 11 May 2022 | EP 11: Siadhal Magos, Co-founder and CEO - Metaview | 00:36:53 | |
Siadhal Magos, Co-founder and CEO of Metaview, joins host James Mackey to discuss the challenges modern companies face with interviewing at scale and more! 00:51 Challenges with Interviewing at Scale 03:30 What is Metaview and how it fits into talent acquisition optimization 07:15 Gathering and applying interview-data at scale to improve talent acquisition 19:00 Not all companies are skilled at hiring talent 22:23 Interview trends 25:23 Why aren’t talent acquisition teams more operationally driven? 31:30 Stats to focus on when applying data learning from Metaview to talent acquisition function 33:15 The problem of knowledge transfer due to high turnover
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| 12 May 2022 | EP 12: Monica Pool Knox, Chief People Officer and Board Director - ex: Microsoft, Twitter, PepsiCo, LivePerson, Sony, CBS, Verizon | 00:34:31 | |
Monica Pool Knox, Chief People Officer and Board Director - ex: Microsoft, Twitter, PepsiCo, LivePerson, Sony, CBS, Verizon, and more - joins host James Mackey to discuss how the talent pool has become global and ultra-competitive, the data doesn’t support the narrative of a “Great Resignation”, candidates have a tendency to join a company where they have existing relationships, and a lot more! 01:40 What’s impacting the talent acquisition function right now 03:25 Role of HR has evolved into helping people deal with issues 04:25 The talent pool has become global and ultra-competitive 06:40 Bigger tech employers are recognizing the importance of a people-first culture 09:30 Emerging technology is forcing talent leaders to reevaluate 10:55 The data doesn’t support “The Great Resignation” 13:30 What’s more important, hiring or retention? 15:05 Candidates have a tendency to join a company where they have existing relationships 18:20 Should organizations put an emphasis on cultivating personal brands for leadership 20:40 Leaders need to take the time to understand who they are working with 25:15 Implementing culture chats 27:05 A new way to think about company alumni 32:00 How to contact Monica
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| 03 Jun 2022 | EP 13: Julia Arpag and Stephanie Quinn-West, Talent Acquisition Team Leads - SecureVision | 00:45:03 | |
Julia Arpag and Stephanie Quinn-West, Talent Acquisition Team Leads at SecureVision, join host James Mackey to discuss how to rise into a talent leadership role, imposter syndrome, automation tools for recruiting, what the best/worst companies and hiring managers are doing, and a lot more! Episode Chapters: 00:32 Who is Julia Arpag? 01:05 Who is Stephanie Quinn-West? 02:17 How do you become a top-performing recruiter and move up into a talent leadership role? 05:20 The challenges with proactively stepping up / Imposter Syndrome 09:45 Pros and cons of using automation tools in the recruitment process 15:00 The upside-down funnel 17:25 What the best companies and hiring managers are doing to be successful at recruiting 23:15 Hiring candidates that are a 70% fit 26:05 Common mistakes companies and hiring managers make with recruiting 33:55 Placement sources for tech roles
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| 03 Jun 2022 | EP 14: Weekly Talent Acquisition News Update for May 30 - June 3 | 00:18:19 | |
Guest host Nick Andrews joins SecureVision CEO James Mackey to discuss trending talent acquisition news from the week of May 30, 2022 - June 3, 2022: 00:25 Elon Musk banning remote work at Tesla
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| 07 Jun 2022 | Ep 15: Kim Hiler, Chief People Officer - Intradiem | 00:49:24 | |
Kim Hiler, Chief People Officer at Intradiem, joins host James Mackey to discuss how most companies say they are "people first" but don't actually implement a people-first culture, the many benefits of letting the lease expire on the physical office space, employee lifecycle strategy: from first touch to alumni, and much more! 02:01 How Intradiem technology helps contact centers 03:15 Everyone says we’re “people-first”, but for most it’s lip service 05:43 Living and breathing core values 07:40 How do you actually implement a people-first culture? 13:45 Letting the lease expire on the physical office space 17:03 Survey, and listen, to your employees to find out what they want 19:35 Employee lifecycle strategy: from first touch to alumni 22:56 Elon Musk’s decree of ‘everyone come back to the office’ 26:01 Minimizing stress and creating psychological safety in the workplace 29:25 Delivering surprise news means an HR failure 32:25 Top lessons learned from having an international team 37:12 The scale-trap with relationships 40:15 Putting people first is best for the business 43:15 Employer branding and talent attraction
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| 14 Jun 2022 | Ep 16: Katherine Johnson, Chief People & Legal Officer, Head of Compliance - Storj Labs | 00:43:55 | |
Katherine Johnson, Chief People & Legal Officer, Head of Compliance at Storj, joins host James Mackey to discuss what the "Web 3" world of decentralization must get right (and where Web 2 failed), hiring policies and parameters to ensure a diverse workforce; applying the Rooney Rule in Corporate America, the responsibility of SMBs to implement DE&I into the company’s framework, and a lot more! 00:20 Who is Katherine Johnson and what is Storj? 08:05 The responsibility to implement DE&I into your company’s framework 12:15 How to approach job descriptions 15:05 Being inclusive is about making everyone feel welcome and being mindful 21:45 Hiring policies and parameters to ensure a diverse workforce; the Rooney Rule 28:45 Impacts of DE&I efforts 34:45 Storj Institute helps under-represented get a foothold in tech 35:45 Lessons learned from working at an international, multicultural company 40:45 How to get in touch with Katherine
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| 16 Jun 2022 | EP 17: Talent Sourcing Best Practices w/ Jim Wink of Okta | 00:45:29 | |
Jim Wink of Okta joins host James Mackey to break down talent sourcing best practices on a highly tactical level. This episode features tips on how to effectively use specific tools, best practices to produce talent acquisition outcomes., and much more! 02:03 How an agency-recruitment background can influence your talent acquisition career path 04:00 Importance of having a proactive mindset 05:35 Tools for sourcing 08:30 Using LinkedIn free search tool to produce talent sourcing outcomes 11:15 Impact of brand name on talent sourcing outcomes 12:15 LinkedIn jail 15:30 Okta’s sourcing tech stack 17:30 Email response rates 18:45 SeekOut vs hireEZ 20:15 Volatility with tech hiring & layoffs 23:00 How a recruiter can differentiate with their outreach 27:05 What are the benefits and perks to attract top talent in today’s market 29:40 Sourcing process 31:30 Sourcing partner to recruiter ratios 35:10 Globally distributed teams and how cultural difference impact recruiting 42:15 How to contact Jim
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| 22 Jun 2022 | EP 18: Coaching and Talent Management Strategy w/ Joshua Encarnacion | 00:44:47 | |
Professional leadership development consultant Joshua Encarnacion joins host James Mackey to discuss coaching and talent management strategy, where C-levels miss on culture, psychological safety at work and a lot more! 00:25 Who is Joshua Encarnacion? 02:15 Coaching and Talent Management Strategy 05:30 Most Lack the Vulnerability to Accept Coaching 09:35 Should you Make Coaching Accessible to all Employees? 12:05 Use Onboarding to Get People into the Right Mindset 13:35 Where C-Levels Miss on Culture 15:15 Where Should Talent-Management Rank on the Priorities List for C-Levels 20:10 Developing Emotional Agility 21:10 The Power of Psychological Safety at Work 24:10 Unlimited PTO is Confusing 28:35 Balanced Perspective on DE&I 34:30 Loss of Connectivity and Empathy 35:55 Elon Musk’s Talent Management Approach 39:45 Aligning on Core Principles
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| 22 Jun 2022 | EP 19: How a Recruiter Amassed over 131K followers on LinkedIn w/ Joel Lalgee | 00:41:00 | |
Joel Lalgee, lead recruiter at Hirewell, who has amassed over 131K followers on LinkedIn, joins host James Mackey to break down his social media game and much more! 00:28 Who is Joel Lalgee 03:31 Content development as a function of talent acquisition 13:45 The need to diversify your recruitment efforts 23:01 ROI of social media posting for a recruiter 31:35 What are things employers need to do to attract and retain recruiters 34:40 What recruiters should be looking for when deciding what company to work for 37:15 Recruiters Should Set Themselves up as a Business for Contract Recruiting
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| 23 Jun 2022 | EP 20: The pros and cons of starting your recruitment career at an agency w/Luke Whitburn | 00:42:34 | |
Luke Whitburn joins the show to discuss the pros and cons of starting your recruitment career at an agency, the changes in talent acquisition over the course of a 25 year career, what should be in your recruiting tech stack and a lot more!
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| 23 Jun 2022 | EP 21: Breaking down the in-office breakdown and the rise of individualized management w/ best selling author Jeff Arnold | 00:40:52 | |
4x best-selling author Jeff Arnold joins the show to discuss the challenges with managing employees who span generations, individualized management, building a culture remotely, leadership challenges, and a lot more! 00:20 Who is Jeff Arnold? 01:15 Generational breakdown on how the Last 3 Years Have Challenged Everything 05:32 Challenges with managing employees who span generations, and individualized management 11:30 What mistakes companies are making when it comes to talent 14:25 Can culture be built remotely? 16:58 The challenges with distraction 21:01 Psychology of success 25:25 Lessons learned from tough times 27:11 There are no easy leadership moments 30:45 Transitioning from trial-and-error to experienced leadership 33:25 The importance of investing in executive coaching 38:00 How to contact Jeff
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| 23 Jun 2022 | EP 22: Building a talent strategy after you raise capital for your company w/Seth Welty | 00:37:21 | |
Seth Welty joins the show to discuss how to build a talent strategy after you raise capital for your company, the issues with back-channel hiring, building inclusive cultures and DE&I, and a lot more! 00:25 Who is Seth Welty? 01:55 Once you raise money, how do you build a talent strategy? 04:21 Common mistakes with crafting a talent strategy 10:15 The impact of hiring for entrepreneurial spirit and grit 12:45 The interview trap with sales and talent acquisition professionals 13:45 Be cautious with back-channel hiring 16:50 Full breakdown of interview stages, prioritization, and tactical insights 26:02 Building inclusive cultures and DE&I 30:31 SMBs need to take ownership of inclusive cultures and DE&I 33:25 How to contact Seth
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| 23 Jun 2022 | EP 23: What is empathy-driven recruiting and how do you implement it w/ Elijah Elkins | 00:49:34 | |
Elijah Elkins joins the show to discuss empathy-driven recruiting and how to implement it, how bad business models create bad recruiters, recruiters with agency background vs corporate/in-house background, and a lot more! 00:23 Who is Elijah Elkins 03:32 What is empathy-driven recruiting and how do you implement it? 06:02 Changing your mindset from outcome-focused to experienced-focused 07:35 How bad business models create bad recruiters 10:35 The importance of having your recruitment vendor being a partner 12:45 The challenges with working with international clients 15:15 Recruiters with agency background vs corporate/in-house background 21:15 Creating better experiences by looking at recruiter pain points 22:55 How to determine the size of an in-house recruiting team, and how/when to leverage recruitment vendors (30-50 size company) 29:55 Flexible RPO solutions for start-ups are a newer phenomenon 31:34 How to determine the size of an in-house recruiting team, and how/when to leverage recruitment vendors (51-200 size company) 36:56 Common trap: job description stuffing and role creep 43:45 The importance of process 46:45 How to contact Elijah?
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| 21 Jul 2022 | EP 24: Breaking down and optimizing the candidate experience w/ James Lafferty | 00:35:05 | |
James Lafferty, VP of Global Talent Acquisition at Epicor, joins the show to discuss how in order to optimize the candidate experience you need to break it down into its simplest parts, how company culture can drive talent acquisition outcomes, moving into your first talent acquisition manager role, and more! Episode Chapters: 00:19 Who is James Lafferty 01:28 Breaking down and optimizing the candidate experience 08:15 Starting your recruitment career from at an agency 09:55 Company culture drives talent acquisition outcomes 15:14 Talent acquisition should find the right job for the candidate 21:45 How to move into your first talent acquisition manager role 25:24 The importance of having support from leadership 29:15 What to do when you’re feeling stuck
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| 22 Jul 2022 | EP 25: Breaking down the nuances of hiring engineering talent w/ Mats Andersson | 00:34:30 | |
Mats Andersson, Talent Acquisition, People person and Project Manager at Uplift Agency and the Executive Director at The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco & Silicon Valley, joins host James Mackey to discuss the current market conditions for hiring tech and engineering talent, finding tech talent from bootcamps, the nuances of multicultural organizations, and more! 00:25 Who is Mats Andersson? 01:55 Current market conditions for hiring tech and engineering talent 03:01 Geographical breakdown of engineering talent 04:25 Finding tech talent from bootcamps 07:15 Providing the right training, enablement, and support to new hires 10:50 Trends in what engineers are looking for 14:04 The challenges with hiring engineering managers 17:45 Thoughts on building international teams 22:40 Nuances of multicultural organizations 28:15 Prague 31:50 Wrap up
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| 27 Jul 2022 | EP 26: How to hire top tech talent during uncertain market conditions w/ Anit Arora | 00:33:03 | |
Anit Arora, Talent Acquisition Lead (Engineering) at LiveRamp, joins host James Mackey to discuss hiring engineering talent over the last 3 months, what the best leadership teams do in uncertain market conditions, effective strategies and tactics to achieve DE&I goals, and more! 00:19 Who is Anit Arora? 02:35 Overview of the tech / engineering recruitment landscape since 2020 06:50 Availability of tech / engineering talent over the last 3 months 11:40 Top talent always has the most options in any market conditions 14:50 What are the best leadership teams doing in uncertain market conditions 18:05 Effective strategies and tactics to achieve DE&I goals 23:03 The importance of representation on the interview panel 24:35 Why ERGs need to work closely with recruiting 27:05 The importance of executive-level buy in for DE&I success 29:02 The time to start is always now 30:20 Wrap up
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| 27 Jul 2022 | EP 27: Breaking down the importance of data to optimize the talent acquisition function w/ Nayeem Chowdhury | 00:50:15 | |
Nayeem Chowdhury, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Air Protein, joins host James Mackey to discuss how data plays an important role in talent acquisition, implementing a data culture, using automation to maximize talent acquisition workflows, and more! Episode Chapters 01:30 High level, how does data play an important role in talent acquisition 04:35 What are the most important data points in talent acquisition 07:45 Offer acceptance rate vs. time to fill 11:40 Implementing a data culture 14:40: Overview of talent acquisition dashboards 18:30 Overview of applicant tracking systems 22:10 How to deploy a data scientist for talent acquisition 26:45 Should a startup build out an internal talent acquisition team? 29:30 You need to make RPO firms an extension of your existing talent acquisition team 30:45 Establishing your checks and balances 33:00 Using automation to maximize talent acquisition workflows 37:29 What is talent mapping 40:45 What do you start with when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion?
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| 27 Jul 2022 | EP 28: Upgrading your talent acquisition team from a tactical filler of jobs to a true talent acquisition partner w/ Nancy Gray-Starkebaum | 00:47:03 | |
Nancy Gray-Starkebaum, VP of Client Value Realization (formerly the VP of Global Talent Acquisition) at Phenom, joins host James Mackey to discuss how to run a talent acquisition team when the world is seemingly falling apart, how to work with hiring managers to create a talent acquisition process, the importance of data and process, and much more! 00:18 Who is Nancy Gray-Starkebaum 02:25 How do you run a talent acquisition team in a choppy market? 05:05 Best practices for process documentation 07:45 How documentation and data can change yourself from a tactical filler of jobs to a true talent acquisition partner 9:25 How to help hiring managers make the right choice 15:15 Talent acquisition needs to own the first 14 days as opposed to hiring managers 19:44 Data-driven insights that improve the talent acquisition process 26:15 What metrics define success: team metrics vs business metrics 29:35 How to make hiring plans as accurate as possible 35:45 Inhouse recruiters vs hiring agency recruitment vendor to fill roles in a volatile environment 38:05 The importance of recruiters having a wide range of experiences 44:15 How to connect with Nancy
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| 28 Jul 2022 | EP 29: Building incredible recruiter-candidate relationships w/ tactics that are hiding in plain sight w/ Khurram Muhammad | 00:36:08 | |
Khurram Muhammad, Senior Manager of Recruitment at Maisonette, joins host James Mackey to discuss hiring trends in the eCommerce industry, attracting diverse talent, tactical steps on how to get your personal brand out there, and much more! 00:19 Who is Khurram Muhammad? 01:30 Overview of Maisonette 02:30 Hiring trends in the eCommerce industry 03:55 Impacts of supply chain issues on eCommerce 04:35 Competitiveness of hiring and retaining eCommerce talent 05:40 How can an eCommerce company stand out to attract candidates 6:45 Publishing a DE&I report to attract diverse talent 10:35 Enable L&D to boost talent attraction and retention 13:55 Creative ways to get your personal brand and company brand out there to attract talent 17:05 How much time is spent on personal branding; the 80/20 rule 19:43 The power of referrals 20:50 The secrets to building incredible recruiter-candidate relationships 25:23 How can talent acquisition professional get speaking engagements 27:15 The power of Slack communities 28:30 How do you move up in talent acquisition 33:32 Wrap up
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| 28 Jul 2022 | EP 30: Make your talent acquisition process unforgettable by understanding how marketing, talent acquisition, and core human needs converge w/ Meqa Smith | 00:49:17 | |
Meqa Smith, Founder of The Unforgettable Agency, joins host James Mackey for an unforgettable, philosophical, and at times heady discussion about talent attraction, talent engagement, talent retention, creating a company with a clear mission and value proposition, and a lot more! Episode Chapters 00:19 Who is Meqa Smith? 04:01 The similarities between marketing and talent acquisition 05:45 How can companies optimize talent attraction 07:45 The human operating system 09:55 What every human needs 11:12 Understanding what you’re actually offering employees 14:24 How do you package up and promote jobs using the seeking system 17:25 A company needs a clear mission and value proposition infused into it’s talent acquisition messaging to candidates 21:45 Don’t make a job description a job ad 25:02 Create a brand that stands for something 26:40 The key to talent attraction is having a brand and mission people can buy in to 30:02 Tactical steps to changing your company’s mission and purpose to align with human needs 35:33 The similarities between recruitment and dating 39:50 Using a human voice in job descriptions 43:30 You need to have 3-5 distinct values you can operationalize 45:30 Wrap up
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| 15 Aug 2022 | EP 31: Converting a thought that challenges the status quo into a scalable business w/ Troy LeMaile-Stovall | 00:38:39 | |
Troy LeMaile-Stovall, CEO of TEDCO, joins host James Mackey to discuss the venture capital scene in Maryland, the talent acquisition landscape from the investor perspective, making orbits collide and more! 00:19 Who is Troy LeMaile-Stovall 02:38 Talent landscape from the investor perspective 03:52 Remote work has hurt spontaneous innovation 07:58 How should growth-stage companies attract talent 11:01 Almost everyone says that people are the most important asset, but few actually make the investment 13:02 Advice from titans of venture capital 14:10 The DNA of an entrepreneur 16:15 The importance of the founding team 18:55 The business concept of making orbits collide 20:03 How to go about creating jobs 24:05 Early stage companies tend to need more resources 29:33 The geographical axis of DE&I 35:00 Challenges of the wealth gap 36:00 Wrap up
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| 22 Aug 2022 | EP 32: The merger of talent acquisition and people operations w/ Ian Ambrosio | 00:34:59 | |
Ian Ambrosio, Global Talent & People Ops Manager at Sendle, joins host James Mackey to discuss the benefits of bringing talent acquisition and people operations closer together, employee tenure is no longer an issue, breaking down the new era of interviewing and more! Episode Chapters 00:19 Who is Ian Ambrosio? 1:50 Starting a talent acquisition career on the agency side and then moving into corporate 05:09 Key take-aways from transitioning into a people ops role 7:11 The power of combining talent acquisition and people operations 10:04 Short tenure is no longer an issue 15:15 The nuances of employee tenure at startups vs large enterprise companies 21:45 We are in a new era of interviewing 26:13 Culture add vs culture fit 31:35 The 5 H’s 32:05 Wrap up
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| 29 Aug 2022 | EP 33: The rising costs of talent acquisition w/ Sarah Peck | 00:42:42 | |
Sarah Peck, Head of Talent Acquisition at AEVEX, joins host James Mackey to discuss best practices to navigate market contractions, salary transparency, the challenges with salary negotiations, talent acquisition costs, and much more! Episode Chapters: 00:15 Who is Sarah Peck? 01:25 What can talent acquisition leaders do to insulate themselves from recessions? 04:23 LinkedIn content doesn’t have to go viral to be impactful for your brand 06:15 The value of working for a company that understands what you do 7:21 Not every company sees talent acquisition as an equal partner at the table 09:22 Predictive metrics for talent acquisition 11:42 Talent acquisition has become very expensive 17:36 Working with recruitment agencies 19:34 Vendor experience is important 22:13 The importance of being kind in business 25:47 Salary transparency 31:45 When to have the salary expectation conversation in the recruitment process 33:32 Hiring managers time should be included in cost per hire 34:35 Transparency is a two-way street 38:45 How to think about salary negotiation 40:14 Wrap up
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| 06 Sep 2022 | EP 34: Dealing with job candidates that are inconsistent and out of touch w/John Shreve | 00:36:30 | |
John Shreve, Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition at Airspace, joins host James Mackey to discuss the challenges with candidates being inconsistent, the importance of presenting data from your ATS, how talent acquisition needs to evolve when going from 50 to 500 employees, and much more! 00:15 Who is John Shreve? 02:43 Challenges with candidates being inconsistent with what they want throughout the recruitment process 06:49 Junior-level talent can have misplaced confidence when it comes to the interview process 10:38 How a talent acquisition department evolves from 50 total company employees to over 500 total company employees 13:22 Gathering data from an ATS can help you convince executives to make changes in the talent acquisition process 18:12 Nuances with recruiting candidates from Europe 19:49 The 4-day work week 22:13 Dress codes 25:43 When leaders create terrible work culture and experiences 30:35 San Diego job market 33:50 Wrap up
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| 08 Sep 2022 | EP 35: Modernizing the recruitment industry w/ James Hornick, Partner and CRO at Hirewell | 00:40:57 | |
James Hornick, Partner and CRO at Hirewell, joins host James Mackey to discuss how most recruitment firms are not adopting modern tactics when it comes to marketing, talent attraction and retention, branding, talent evaluation, and more! Episode Chapters: 00:21 Who is James Hornick? 02:42 Most recruiting agencies are not adopting modern marketing channels 08:03 The importance of branding 11:45 Diversification can help make you recession proof 13:49 Client retention strategies 15:15 Specialist recruiter vs generalist recruiter 19:05 Modernizing talent attraction and retention in the recruitment industry 23:05 Getting the best people is the most important thing 23:45 Why recruiter submittal goals don’t make sense 29:10 Hiring tactics companies need to implement for today’s market 35:35 The issues with contingency recruitment firms 38:30 Wrap up
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| 08 Sep 2022 | EP 36: Recruiting in the insurance industry w/ Brent Davis | 00:38:41 | |
Brent Davis, Vice President of Sales Talent Acquisition at Leavitt Group, joins host James Mackey to discuss how to hire and retain top sales talent, when to dig deeper during the interview process, onboarding, and a lot more! Episode Chapters 00:23 Who is Brent Davis? 02:19 Overview of Leavitt Group; insurance company with 2,600+ employees 04:47 What makes a good sales professional? 07:45 Hiring for experience vs aptitude 11:54 Optimizing the interview process for sales hiring 15:35 You have to dig deeper during the interview process and ask follow up questions 17:30 Giving the book answer doesn’t work well 21:15 The importance of a candidate asking intelligent questions 24:43 What does onboarding look like 28:15 Revenue vs activity metrics 30:24 Challenges with hiring top sales talent in the current market 34:04 Benefits of co-ownership 35:15 Wrap up
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| 22 Sep 2022 | EP 37: Removing interview bias and reducing attrition w/ Ashleigh Anderson - VP, Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Credit Karma | 00:43:03 | |
Ashleigh Anderson, VP, Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Credit Karma, joins host James Mackey to discuss how structured interviews can get rid of bias, improving stakeholder engagement with talent acquisition, best practices for reducing attrition and more! Episode Chapters: 00:25 Who is Ashleigh Anderson? 01:25 What is Credit Karma? 01:59 Where are Credit Karma employees located? 02:36 Structured interviews can get rid of bias 05:11 The evolution of structured interviews to apply to every open role 07:55 How to improve stakeholder engagement with talent acquisition 10:02 How prioritization can impact talent acquisition outcomes 13:45 Integrating talent acquisition process into technology to generate data to prove impact 16:01 Talent acquisition needs to be data-driven 17:15 The importance of having talent acquisition at the table 18:22 What Credit Karma’s talent acquisition team is responsible for 24:14 What does success look like for Credit Karma’s recruiting efforts? 25:15 Quality of hire at scale is hard to maintain 28:23 The impact of prioritizing people over profits 30:15 Salary equity as a tool for internal mobility 33:10 Best practices for reducing attrition to less than 10% 36:12 Creating career frameworks 39:04 Mistakes of having an annual review cycle 40:15 Wrap up
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| 26 Sep 2022 | EP 38: The future of getting paid and how it will impact talent acquisition w/ Brian Brinkley | 00:34:46 | |
Brian Brinkley, CEO at QRails, joins host James Mackey to discuss earned wage access, how earned wage access is impacting talent acquisition, the future of getting paid and a lot more! Episode Chapters 00:28 Who is Brian Brinkley? 00:56 What is earned-wage access? 04:10 Bringing earned-wage access to non-gig employees 11:10 Integrating with the PEO community 12:45 Scaling from series a to series b 15:01 How can HR teams implement earned-wage access 16:40 How earned-wage access can help talent attraction and retention 21:35 Does earned-wage access impact financial operations? 26:03 What is the future of employment when it comes to getting paid? 31:52 Wrap up
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| 29 Sep 2022 | EP 39: Breaking down talent acquisition ops w/ Jared Long, Director of Talent Acquisition Operations at Duolingo | 00:43:38 | |
Jared Long, Director of Talent Acquisition Operations at Duolingo, joins host James Mackey to discuss what the talent acquisition and recruiting operations landscape looks like, applicant tracking systems, how to use events to create inbound demand, and more!
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| 04 Oct 2022 | EP 40: Tools and technology to help achieve your DE&I goals w/ Eric Tagarel | 00:39:55 | |
Eric Tagarel, Manager of Talent Acquisition and Programs for MCG Health (former AWS, Microsoft, Oracle), joins host James Mackey to discuss the importance of recruiting coordinators, tools and technology to help with your DE&I goals, working at a stable company vs high-growth company and more! Episode Chapters 00:20 Who is Eric Tagarel? 01:45 Working at a stable company vs high-growth company 06:35 Experiences working in talent acquisition w/ Oracle 07:51 The emotional ups and downs of being a recruiter 09:02 Experiences working in talent acquisition w/ Amazon 09:52 How to think about scaling a talent acquisition org 12:31 Recruiting technology, like Greenhouse, changes fast 13:30 Job description of a recruiting coordinator 17:55 Breaking down the ideal talent acquisition team 23:47 The importance of talent acquisition process 25:34 Talent acquisition tech stack (Greenhouse, Indeed, LinkedIn) 26:45 How to optimize Indeed 30:25 Tools and tactics to help achieve DE&I goals (remove bias from job descriptions w/Textio, DiversityJobs.com integration w/ GreenHouse) 37:05 Wrap up
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| 12 Oct 2022 | EP 41: Employee experience is everything w/ Jim Burns, Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care | 00:47:22 | |
Jim Burns, Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care, joins host James Mackey to discuss the challenges with hiring top talent when you don't have high salaries to offer, ways to provide a great employee experience to build a talent referral network, the cultural challenges with merging teams after an acquisition, and more!
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| 24 Oct 2022 | EP 42: Return to office is creating a power struggle between employee and employer w/ Jessica Mayo | 00:33:35 | |
Jessica Mayo, Regional Vice President, Talent Acquisition - North America at RGP, joins host James Mackey to discuss the controversies with returning to office, the power struggle between employee and employer, employees are starting to gravitate towards more meaningful work opposed to big-name companies and more! Episode Chapters:
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| 10 Nov 2022 | EP 43: Diversity strategies, transparency in hiring, quarterly reviews & more w/ Rocki Howard | 00:41:47 | |
Rocki Howard, Chief People and Equity Officer at The Mom Project, joins host James Mackey to discuss how to implement diversity strategies in a hyper-growth environment for growth-stage companies, the complexity and evolution of a business, why it’s crucial to hire experienced leaders and more!
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| 15 Nov 2022 | EP 44: Why SaaS companies and VCs need to consider embedded recruitment with SecureVision's CEO James Mackey | 00:12:07 | |
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| 18 Nov 2022 | EP 45: The importance of having a culture of L&D within the company w Elena Agaragimova | 00:38:25 | |
Elena Agaragimova, Head of Talent Acquisition and Development at Horizon Industries, Limited joins host James Mackey to discuss what L&D looks like for growth-stage organizations, how to motivate people to get excited about learning, how many people are disengaged in a workplace & more!
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| 25 Nov 2022 | EP 46: Recruiting for part-time roles, Glassdoor reviews and leveraging your database w Katie Zotos | 00:40:19 | |
Katie Zotos, Talent Acquisition Manager at Supporting Strategies, joins host James Mackey to discuss the nuances of recruiting for part-time roles, what’s needed to overcome Glassdoor reviews, the importance of offering a good candidate experience, and more!
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| 29 Nov 2022 | EP 47: The importance of executive leadership buy-in and what it really means w David Marshall | 00:44:26 | |
David Marshall, Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition at Medalogix joins host James Mackey to discuss about how important it is to get buy-in from the leadership team, the importance of having the right data and documentation in the hiring process, performance metrics, and more!
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| 06 Dec 2022 | EP 48: Onboarding & retention, career mapping, and trends in healthcare recruitment w Jaylyn Sanchez | 00:35:32 | |
Jaylyn Sanchez, Talent Acquisition Lead at Prolucent Health joins host James Mackey to discuss why onboarding is so important and why the transition from candidate stage to employee should be smooth, building quality relationships with the employees, and more!
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| 09 Dec 2022 | EP 49: Changing the future for people with autism in the workplace w Josh Scofield. | 00:28:49 | |
Josh Scofield, Talent Acquisition Manager at MBX Systems joins host James Mackey to discuss how to create pipelines for individuals on the spectrum to transition into the workforce, what’s the biggest gap in how to help individuals enter the workforce, how the labor market has changed over the last few years, and more!
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| 14 Dec 2022 | EP 50: Running talent acquisition like a revenue org w Brandon Metcalf | 00:55:49 | |
In this episode host James Mackey and Brandon Metcalf, CEO & 4x Founder, break down integrating tech stacks, leveraging salesforce functionality, measuring candidate engagement, custom pipeline buckets, stage tracking, and more.
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| 21 Dec 2022 | EP 51: The role personalized benefits play in the future of work w Rob Whalen | 00:39:17 | |
Rob Whalen, the Founder & CEO of PTO Exchange, shares how his company is enabling clients to personalize benefits to align with top talents' expectations and the future of work.
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| 04 Jan 2023 | EP 52: The importance of making psychological safety a priority. And the ROI of psychological safety w Jessa Messina | 01:01:03 | |
We can agree that investing in psychological safety in the workplace is the right thing to do.
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| 11 Jan 2023 | EP 53: Hitting hiring targets in hyper-growth. Scaling talent acquisition like a revenue org w Rahul Yodh | 00:47:10 | |
Rahul Yodh, Vice President of Talent Acquisition, shares how New Western hit their hiring plan while doubling the size of the company. How he implemented an optimized revenue approach to talent acquisition. New Western was just recognized by Glassdoor as a 2023 Best Place to Work.
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| 17 Jan 2023 | EP 54: The current state of the tech industry's labor market. Talent acquisition strategies for 2023 w Asad Zaman | 00:55:22 | |
Asad Zaman, CEO of Sales Talent Agency, Inc. joins host James Mackey to discuss the state of the labor market, the impact on demand vs. supply of talent, hiring in a tough market, & more.
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| 24 Jan 2023 | EP 55 Panel: Elon's Twitter layoffs. Is it ok for big tech to hire while doing mass layoffs? The current labor market w Andreea Florescu & Julia Arpag | 00:40:00 | |
Andreea Florescu, Vice President of Operations at SecureVision, and Julia Arpag, Talent Team Lead at SecureVision, join host James Mackey to discuss:
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| 31 Jan 2023 | EP 56: Implementation of new technology. Challenges and common pitfalls w Julie Macaluso | 00:36:41 | |
Julie Macaluso, Manager, Talent Acquisition & Development at Community Coffee, joins host James Mackey to discuss:
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| 07 Feb 2023 | EP 57: State of the employment market for startups and growth-stage tech. Hiring junior talent and career transitioners w Corey Kossack | 00:49:38 | |
Join Corey Kossack, Founder & CEO at Aspireship, and host James Mackey as they delve into the complexities of the employment market for startups and growth-stage tech companies.
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| 08 Feb 2023 | EP 58: Embracing Africa’s Talent: Exploring the Benefits, Best Sources, and Impact on the Global Talent Economy w Valerie Bowden | 00:36:33 | |
Valerie Bowden, Founder, and Director at CRDLE, joins host James Mackey to dive into the exciting world of African talent. Discover the benefits that African talent brings to the table and why more companies are embracing it. Explore the best countries in Africa to source talent from and the various types of talent available. Get insights into how the global talent economy is changing and the impact it has on the cost of hiring.
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| 09 Feb 2023 | EP 59:The evolving role of TA leadership. Aligning hiring targets to North Star Metrics w Michael Salamey | 01:00:41 | |
Join host James Mackey as he sits down with Michael Salamey, Chief People Officer at ID Plans, to discuss the evolving role of TA leaders. Salamey shares his unique perspective as a CPO and delves with our host into how TA leaders need to align recruitment outcomes with North Star metrics set by the CEO. They discuss the impact of hybrid remote vs. in-office work and what is the number one predictor of job success today.
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| 14 Feb 2023 | EP 60 Panel: TechTalk: Layoffs and Benioff’s statements. Chat GPT and its impact on TA and beyond. | 00:48:51 | |
In this informative episode, host James Mackey and our guest panelists (TA executives) delve into the current state of the talent acquisition market, the sensitive topic of the negative effects of publicly labeling laid-off employees as “low performers”, the motivations behind layoffs, as well as job security in the rapidly changing tech industry.
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| 21 Feb 2023 | EP 61: Maximizing Employee Engagement During Economic Downturns: Strategies for Valuing and Retaining Talent w Raluca Mackey | 00:33:01 | |
Raluca Mackey, Director of Talent at Vertex Ventures, joins host James Mackey to discuss the topic of employee engagement in light of the current economic downturn.
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| 28 Feb 2023 | EP 62: The Rise of Skill-Based Hiring: Addressing Bias, Labor Supply, and The Changing Nature of Work with Josh Millet | 00:46:28 | |
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| 07 Mar 2023 | EP 63: Why most companies fail at hiring the right people. How hiring the best fit people impacts business success and the bottom line with Meqa Smith. | 01:04:56 | |
Meqa Smith, Founder of The Unforgettable Agency joins host James Mackey in our latest episode. Our guest speaker shares insights into the critical factors that contribute to hiring success, including leadership alignment, understanding the purpose of the business, and defining the right skills needed for the role. They discuss the challenges of identifying the factors that truly contribute to success in a particular environment and explore the concept of the halo effect. Our guest provides practical strategies for attracting the right talent, viewing jobs as products and candidates as customers, and creating a compelling landing page for candidates to apply. Meqa emphasizes the importance of balancing heads and hands with hearts and minds and shares examples of what documents to put in place of a traditional job description and suggests strategies for attracting the right talent.
Wall Street Journal article here
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| 14 Mar 2023 | EP 64 Panel: The Ripple Effect: Analyzing How SVB’s Collapse Will Impact the Tech Market and Hiring Landscape | 00:51:17 | |
In this must-listen episode, our host James Mackey delves into the recent collapse of SVB, and what impact it will have on the tech community and the hiring landscape.
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| 21 Mar 2023 | EP 65: How to build a talent acquisition department from scratch while in hyper-growth: Lessons Learned and Best Practices w Lance Tripp | 01:00:48 | |
In this episode, host James Mackey and Lance Tripp, Global Head of Talent at Enable dive into the world of talent acquisition, exploring the challenges and strategies involved in building a successful department from scratch while experiencing hyper-growth.
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| 28 Mar 2023 | EP 66: How to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities succeed in the workplace w Alex Buckles | 00:21:39 | |
Join host James Mackey and Alexander Buckles, CEO of Pathways for Autism. They are partnering in a new segment within our podcast that discusses how to support individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities in the workplace. In this intro podcast, they'll explore the skills needed to succeed in the workplace and how companies are managing autism today. They'll also dive into specific examples of roles that could be a fit and success stories of companies that have incorporated individuals on the spectrum into their workforce, as well as the best ways to do it through third-party services or program management. Tune in to learn how you can make a difference in the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities by creating a more inclusive workplace.
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| 29 Mar 2023 | EP 67: Having a retention strategy isn't enough, you need an attrition strategy. Hiring may be cyclical but investing in recruiting tech and process shouldn't be. | 00:04:14 | |
One of the biggest mistakes startup and growth-stage leaders make is not building recruitment process playbooks.
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| 30 Mar 2023 | EP 68: How job boards are shifting to programmatic performance-based advertising. TikTok Demand Creation vs. Website Capture w Steven Rothberg | 00:45:27 | |
In this episode James Mackey and our guest Steven Rothberg, Founder of College Recruiter, share insights on the future of job boards. James and Steven explore how job boards are evolving to programmatic performance-based advertising and debate the effectiveness of TikTok demand creation versus website capture. They also discuss the importance of quality in a conversion rate approach, understanding the sources of your ads, and evaluating the effectiveness of popular job boards in the tech industry.
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| 31 Mar 2023 | EP 69: 2023 Comp Strategy. Salaries aren't going down. Inflation is "right-sizing" salaries back to the golden mean. Why you shouldn't be the top bidder for talent. | 00:09:09 | |
Many tech CEOs are asking how the further constriction of the capital markets may impact salary ranges. Particularly now with the news of Silicon Valley bank crashing. Some CEOs are asking if they can offer lower salaries to new hires. I remind them that they don’t need to artificially lower salary ranges because of the high inflation rate that we have experienced over the past couple of years. By salaries staying in a similar range in a high-inflation environment, the economy is healing, and salaries are returning to a healthy median. The good news for folks in tech is that the median has shifted upward over the past few years, and people are still making more money in tech, even when factoring in inflation. There’s still a talent pool shortage in tech that will continue to provide salary growth. The days of insane valuations and salary jumps of 50-100K within a year that we saw in 2021 are over. It wasn’t sustainable or an accurate representation of the value being delivered. The good news for employers is that they can stay competitive with salaries by staying in a similar range as last year. To the extent possible, as the market stabilizes, companies need to consider sustainable salary increases for existing staff. But it’s important to note that most companies cannot provide moderate salary increases and have similar constrictions. We are all in the same boat, so this will not likely negatively impact companies. Companies shouldn’t attempt to be the highest bidder for top talent. I recommend companies target being around the 75% percentile for salary ranges. Here’s why: 1. FAANG could go through a hiring surge and outbid you by 50%. 2. A startup may raise a large round and throw money at people at an unsustainable rate. They will likely need to go through layoffs in the future, but there’s nothing you can do about leaders choosing to run their business in an irresponsible way. Companies that offer the top end of the range are more likely to make deep cuts in a correction and may need to cut people providing significant value to customers. Employees must consider that accepting an offer from the highest bidder isn’t always an intelligent decision. They will be more likely to be cut in a downturn. And earlier in a downturn, which increases the likelihood of a longer period of unemployment. It’s important to remember that companies aren’t committing to a salary on an annual period. They are committing to a salary for the next payroll cycle. So if an employee is offered 200K but is laid off after 6 months at the beginning of a correction, and therefore, is less likely to find another role for, let’s say 6 months, they are making less money than someone making 120K a year, who was able to keep their job because they have a sustainable salary.
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| 04 Apr 2023 | EP 70: How companies fall into the trap of hiring unqualified VPs. The hidden conflict of interest with the contingent recruitment agency business model. | 00:34:33 | |
Our host, James Mackey, shares his insights based on advising 150+ VC-backed tech companies and speaking with 100s of Founder CEOs and TA leaders every year. Including several common mistakes founders, executive teams, hiring managers, and talent acquisition departments make in recruitment and talent strategy. These mistakes include struggling to articulate their vision and not creating a compelling data-backed story, assuming recruiting for their startup will be as easy as it is for big tech companies, not having a concrete benefits package, relying on contingent recruitment agencies without a robust interview process, lacking clear role descriptions, giving unqualified candidates VP titles, placing too much emphasis on personality tests, hiring just one sales rep without benchmarks, and underestimating the nuances of building a GTM motion and hiring plan in the US market. James warns about the inherent conflict of interest in engaging a contingent recruitment agency that provides low base salaries and high commissions to their recruiters. And how you can have successful partnerships with agency recruiters.
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| 11 Apr 2023 | EP 71: Eric Ly, the Co-Founder of LinkedIn, shares his story of building LinkedIn and his opinion on how technology such as ChatGPT will impact talent acquisition and the role of recruiters. | 00:43:38 | |
In this episode, our host James Mackey sits down with Eric Ly, the Co-Founder of LinkedIn and Co-Founder & CEO of KarmaCheck, to discuss his experiences building the professional networking platform and how the platform has evolved over the years. They explore KarmaCheck's focus on specific verticals and how KarmaCheck helps companies hire more efficiently and allows anybody to own and understand their digital identities. They also discuss the future role of recruiters in the age of AI and tackle whether deep learning will genuinely change how business is done. Don't miss this insightful interview with an industry expert!
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| 13 Apr 2023 | EP 72: Panel Part I: Is the US market trending toward a recession? How a potential TikTok ban in the US could impact the recruitment market | 00:30:08 | |
In the first part of this episode, our host James Mackey and guest panelists (TA executives) discuss the current economic climate and its impact on hiring.
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| 18 Apr 2023 | EP 73: Panel Part 2: We asked ChatGPT how it will change hiring and riffed on the quality of its answers. Then ChatGPT helped us create ridiculous sourcing templates. | 00:38:00 | |
Join our panel for an insightful and entertaining discussion as the panel grills ChatGPT on its capacity to change how we hire.
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| 20 Apr 2023 | EP 74: How to connect business outcomes with people strategy and drive alignment in the CEO and CPO relationship | 00:37:22 | |
In this episode, our host James Mackey and his guest, Yogi Panjabi, Co-Founder at PeopleLens, explore the crucial relationship between the CEO and CPO, and how to drive alignment between them. They delve into the missed opportunities that can arise when the people strategy, hiring strategy, and other key aspects of the operation are not aligned with the Northstar metrics that companies aim to hit and the analytics and data used to drive talent strategy and business outcomes. James and Yogi explore the employee journey and discuss the benefits of providing individual rep analytics rather than relying solely on companywide dashboards. Additionally, they delve into the integration of generative AI within the concept of employee experience.
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| 25 Apr 2023 | EP 75: Creating a thriving & diverse culture. Diversity Sprints. Aligning performance reviews with talent development and discovering superpowers. | 00:48:51 | |
Our host, James Mackey, is joined by Sandy Gould, the CPO of Pinwheel, who has held people/hr leadership roles at Disney, ABC, and oversaw the integration of 3 organizations post Verizon’s acquisitions of Yahoo and AOL. 20:30 Diversity sprints and how to implement them 23:55 Three things to do first when joining a company as a CPO 31:30 The purpose of performance reviews 33:28 Performance amplification: improving conversations and process
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| 27 Apr 2023 | EP 76: How to make sure you don't hire the wrong people. High leverage tactics to improve hiring outcomes for startups, growth-stage, hyper-growth, and strategic hiring. | 00:28:42 | |
In this episode, our host James Mackey delves into the current state of the economy, particularly in the tech industry, and the impact it's having on hiring and layoffs. 7:18 How companies can avoid hiring the wrong people 15:16 How to decide which roles to prioritize in tier one 16:57 How to stand out from a talent acquisition perspective
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| 28 Apr 2023 | Best of Season One: Make your talent acquisition process unforgettable by understanding how marketing, talent acquisition, and core human needs converge w Meqa Smith | 00:49:42 | |
We're thrilled to be celebrating one of our most popular episodes from Season 1. This episode really captured the attention of our listeners, and we couldn't be happier to revisit it and share it with new listeners too! Episode Chapters 00:19 Who is Meqa Smith? 04:01 The similarities between marketing and talent acquisition 05:45 How can companies optimize talent attraction 07:45 The human operating system 09:55 What every human needs 11:12 Understanding what you’re actually offering employees 14:24 How do you package up and promote jobs using the seeking system 17:25 A company needs a clear mission and value proposition infused into it’s talent acquisition messaging to candidates 21:45 Don’t make a job description a job ad 25:02 Create a brand that stands for something 26:40 The key to talent attraction is having a brand and mission people can buy in to 30:02 Tactical steps to changing your company’s mission and purpose to align with human needs 35:33 The similarities between recruitment and dating 39:50 Using a human voice in job descriptions 43:30 You need to have 3-5 distinct values you can operationalize
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| 02 May 2023 | EP 77: The unbundling of Linkedin: How to hire through communities and hiring for partnership teams with Christopher Samila. | 00:48:20 | |
In this episode, our host James Mackey, and Christopher Samila, Co-Founder, Chief Partner Officer at Partnership Leaders discuss the evolving landscape of communities and how to build partnership teams properly for the organization to ensure they can thrive and succeed. They dive into the different types of communities emerging in the tech industry and the importance of community as an internal asset for startups and growth companies. 14:59 Considering community as an internal asset for startups and growth companies 22:59 How to get your brand in front of the right people in your community 31:53 What a modern partnership program looks like and how it differs from traditional channel sales
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| 04 May 2023 | EP 78, Part I: Adding to the social fabric: How to attract the right people and building a cohesive team w Janine Yancey | 00:41:46 | |
Join our host James Mackey and his guest, Janine Yancey, Founder & CEO at Emtrain as they delve into the key lessons learned on how to attract the right people and help them to become valuable contributors to the organization.
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| 09 May 2023 | EP 79, Part 2: How misalignment between the employee’s title and competency can result in inefficiencies, inadequate decision-making, and impact organizational success | 00:18:30 | |
In segment 2 of our podcast, James and our guest Janine Yancey, CEO at Emtrain, dive into the world of leadership and share some valuable lessons learned along the way.
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| 11 May 2023 | EP 80: Panel Part I: How sci-fi movies and AI could change how we hire. We discuss how quickly AI will disrupt jobs and what we can do to prepare. | 00:27:51 | |
In this provocative episode, our host James Mackey and guest panelists (TA executives) are debating the future of jobs, exploring the latest report of the World Economic Forum. They delve into the report's findings, including the prediction that approximately 23% of jobs could be disrupted within the next five years, and the factors behind this disruption with a particular focus on the advancement of AI technology. They also discuss the impact of AI on the economy with a highlight on the potential impact of AI on both blue-collar and white-collar economies. 2:35 What’s going on with the future of jobs? World Economic Forum’s latest report 6:38 What are retraining programs 9:02 The impact of AI on the economy 16:07 What would need to happen for AI to become self-aware? Are sci-fi movies preparing the human race for the future to come? 18:21 The need for personal responsibility 21:11 How to advance technology to the point of replicating the complexity of human brains
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| 16 May 2023 | EP 81: Panel Part 2: Writer's strike. When CEO's fumble on bonus conversations. Layoffs vs. pay cuts. Recession pricing strategies. | 01:08:28 | |
In this episode, host James Mackey and his guests dive into the complex issue of the ongoing writer's strike, examining its causes, implications, and potential outcomes. The conversation begins with an overview of the writer's strike and the main concerns driving it, including the impact of inflation and the decline in residuals from streaming platforms. The conversation touches upon the billions of dollars lost in the economy due to halted productions, impacting writers and various production teams. The parallel between the writer's strike and American Airlines employees' recent approval of a strike is also examined, highlighting the correlation between high-inflation environments and worker strikes. 5:54 The correlation between high inflation and strikes 11:29 American Airlines strike 12:17 Andi Owen, CEO of MillerKnoll faces backlash for denying bonuses to her team 21:50 The importance of alignment and compensation in the workplace 29:41 Why companies have had to go through mass layoffs 32:53 How to invest in employee satisfaction in leaner times 35:49 Pay cuts vs layoffs. Are layoffs a better option than reducing pay? 43:13 How do you make a decision when you have several unfavorable options 53:18 How do you balance the need for profitability with the need to retain staff 59:34 What are some of the metrics of success that companies need to consider
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| 18 May 2023 | EP 82: How to avoid catfish tech candidates. Promoting vs. hiring leaders. ChatGPT's impact on software development. | 00:50:57 | |
In this episode, our host James Mackey and his guest Joseph Rose, President at JBS Custom Software Solutions, explore the world of technical hiring and leadership. Lastly, they discuss the influence that ChatGPT will have on technical roles. 3:12 How to hire top tech talent 4:46 How to optimize the conversion rate of candidates 7:42 How to avoid catfish tech candidates 15:32 What are some of the red flags that you should look for when hiring new employees 20:37 Promoting vs. hiring leaders 31:48 The importance of transparency in attracting talent 40:37 How do you scale a business if you have more demand 43:20 ChatGPT's impact on software development.
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| 23 May 2023 | EP 83: How to build a healthy startup culture and the challenges of hiring talent. The hidden costs associated with hiring the wrong people. | 00:57:26 | |
Join our host James Mackey and his guest Connor Swalm, CEO at Phin Security for an insightful episode as they dive into the world of startups, focusing on the challenges and strategies involved in hiring talent, scaling teams, and fostering a strong company culture. 3:45 Lessons learned from hiring talent as a startup. 6:28 Why culture fit is crucial in startups 11:30 Why high-growth companies need to be transparent about challenges 16:40 The hidden cost of hiring the wrong people 28:30 Onboarding and collaboration 40:09 What skillsets will be required in cybersecurity over the next years 42:37 What is Insurtech 45:57 What are the risks and rewards of cyber insurance? 51:16 Why cybercrime is so popular in foreign countries
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| 25 May 2023 | EP 84: How AI will impact recruitment, HR, and the employee journey. | 00:45:17 | |
In this episode, host James Mackey and his guest Jason Radisson, CEO at Movo, delve into the evolving landscape of AI and its impact on software companies, particularly in the realms of recruitment and HR. They explore the deeper implications and discuss how it will shape the future of talent acquisition and organizational dynamics. They navigate the intricate balance between harnessing AI's capabilities while preserving the irreplaceable human connections. 4:47 Presenting Movo company - the AI-powered all-in-one platform for high-volume HR 9:20 Will software companies develop their own in-house AI products? 10:28 What’s going to happen in the future of generative decision-making 16:34 Resistance to AI and automation 24:43 The impact of AI on startups and big companies 34:49 The future of technical talent 38:07 What role regulation is going to play in slowing down AI efficiencies
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| 30 May 2023 | EP 85: Learn why understanding philosophical and psychological concepts are critical to effective leadership, hiring, and developing talent | 00:58:02 | |
Join host James Mackey and special guest Sandy Gould as they delve into the intricate relationship between philosophy, psychology, and leadership.
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| 01 Jun 2023 | EP 86: Optimizing your employee value proposition. A data-driven approach to hiring with the former Head of TA at Robinhood, Boris Epstein. | 00:47:30 | |
Join host James Mackey on this value-packed episode as he sits down with Boris Epstein, Founder of Binc and former Head of TA at Robinhood, a well-known expert in recruiting and building talent-first organizations.
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| 06 Jun 2023 | EP 87: How to master headcount planning through optimizing FP&A and operations. | 00:54:12 | |
Join host James Mackey and Julio Martinez, Co-Founder & CEO at Abacum, in a dynamic conversation about mastering financial planning and forecasting. James and Julio engage in a comparison of planning in spreadsheets versus utilizing a centralized platform. They highlight the importance of a single source of truth by emphasizing how it improves accuracy and streamlines processes.
4:08 Headcount planning breakdowns 8:05 Northstar metrics and executive leadership 10:41 Budgeting breakdowns and areas for improvement 14:20 What is a structured hiring process and how does it work 19:37 How to make planning more data driven for headcount data 25:50 Rolling forecasts for larger companies 31:59 What is the impact of having more clarity around planning and forecasting on banking relationships 41:47 How to effectively lead a company in the right direction when you have a bigger variance 47:44 The importance of process playbooks for every part of the business
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| 08 Jun 2023 | EP 88: Introducing The Breakthrough Hiring Show | 00:03:40 | |
Formerly known as The Hiring Success Show, we are rebranding ourselves as The Breakthrough Hiring Show. This shift is to better reflect our mission to help leaders make hiring a competitive advantage.
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| 08 Jun 2023 | EP 89: Leadership and talent development lessons learned from working in a boxing gym. | 00:18:05 | |
Join our host James Mackey as he explores the parallels between success in boxing and the psychology behind it, uncovering the surprising influence of mindset in achieving victory. He delves into the significance of positive psychology and how individuals' responses to stressful events can shape their professional endeavors.
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| 13 Jun 2023 | EP 90: Daniel Chait, the Co-founder & CEO of Greenhouse, shares lessons learned from helping 1000s of companies hire top talent. | 00:51:49 | |
Daniel joins us to discuss his book, Talent Makers, and provides a masterclass on how companies can move from chaotic to strategic hiring. The conversation flows from Daniel's Greenhouse founding story to the benefits of a structured hiring process and the ROI of making hiring your superpower.
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| 15 Jun 2023 | EP 91: How to make culture a competitive advantage by thinking long-term. Strategies for attracting and retaining top talent. | 00:36:52 | |
In this episode, host James Mackey and Sheba Lasley, Founder of Total Success, share their insights on creating a strong company culture that attracts and retains top talent.
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| 20 Jun 2023 | EP 92: How to increase your hiring batting average by implementing predictive indexing and structured interviews. | 00:47:38 | |
Join host James Mackey and our guest Jeremy Ruch, Founder and CEO at Bandalier, to discover how companies can significantly improve their hiring success rate and increase their batting average by implementing predictive indexing and establishing a framework for structured interviews. Don't miss out on this thought-provoking discussion, filled with practical strategies and actionable advice! 3:29 How to increase the batting average for hiring 9:58 Mapping interview format and process to performance reviews 19:31 The importance of structured interview questions 25:35 The impact of an efficient onboarding program 29:53 The importance of understanding the cost of talent acquisition 33:51 Collecting data during training 40:40 The importance of having a structured interview and hiring process
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| 27 Jun 2023 | EP 94: Panel Part 2: Generative AI news and applications for people orgs. CNN's CEO ousted and the impact on culture and earnings. | 00:49:49 | |
0:21 Generative AI news
Gartner Experts Answer the Top Generative AI Questions
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| 28 Jun 2023 | EP 95: Best of: How to build a talent acquisition department from scratch while in hyper-growth: Lessons Learned and Best Practices w Lance Tripp | 01:00:46 | |
We're thrilled to be celebrating one of our most popular episodes. This episode really captured the attention of our listeners, and we couldn't be happier to revisit it and share it with new listeners too!
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| 28 Jun 2023 | EP 96: Hiring a VP of People early on is a game changer. The best People Ops execs are strong operators and are analytical. Neuroplasticity. Culture at scale. | 00:48:56 | |
Join host James Mackey and guests Austin Ogilvie, Founder at Thoropass, and Joe Bast, VP, of People & Operations at Thoropass. 7:54 How to test neuroplasticity in an interview 12:18 The impact of hiring experienced leaders early-stage 21:50 Culture is important 31:03 Importance of conducting employee surveys and gathering feedback 37:10 Adopting the mindset of treating employees as customers
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| 30 Jun 2023 | EP 97: Hiring as a team sport. Aligning hiring strategies with the company's North Star metrics. | 00:20:12 | |
In this episode, our host James Mackey discusses the importance of a people-first culture and how it can be achieved through a team-oriented approach to hiring. While data and evidence are crucial, he emphasizes the need for executive buy-in and the ability to prove ROI when implementing people initiatives. 5:20 Structured interview process and outbound recruitment strategy 11:26 The approval process should have several steps 13:33 The qualities to look for in recruiters
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| 04 Jul 2023 | EP 98: Navigating ROI, performance management, and Gen Z recruiting strategies with Anthony Onesto, CPO of Suzy. | 00:54:48 | |
Join host James Mackey and his guest Anthony Onesto, Chief People Officer at Suzy, and gain valuable insights into measuring return on investment and understanding opportunity costs. Dive into the innovative concept of viewing budgets as products and learn how this perspective can revolutionize your approach to resource allocation. 11:33 Maximizing ROI and addressing objections 22:31 Rethinking performance reviews 28:16 The problems with performance improvement plans 36:24 Learners vs Guides 42:42 Recruiting strategies for Gen Z
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| 11 Jul 2023 | EP 100: Shauna Geraghty, SVP & Global Head of People & Talent at Talkdesk. Masterclass: quality of hire, predictive algorithms, the magic number to measure success. | 00:47:33 | |
We are thrilled to announce that we are celebrating a monumental milestone: the 100th episode of our podcast! You don’t want to miss this one.
7:04 Quality over quantity in hiring 8:27 Optimizing quality of hire 13:30 How to coach hiring managers 16:59 Ideal candidate profile comparison to ideal customer profile 22:45 Predictive validity of the algorithm 26:03 Performance measurement and alignment in hiring 31:25 Improve hiring and performance reviews 33:02 V2M2: vision, value, methods, and metrics 39:22 The magic number metric: candidate quality score multiply it by candidate difficulty score
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| 06 Jul 2023 | EP 99: How to leverage behavioral assessments for effective hiring. Employee engagement and retention. Early growth-stage focus. | 00:46:16 | |
Join host James Mackey and guest Erick Gydesen, COO at GG Homes, as they explore a revolutionary approach to talent acquisition and its impact on hiring success.
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