The Changing State of Talent Acquisition

Change State is thrilled to introduce a new recurring “mini” feature on the Changing State of Talent Acquisition podcast. In “Change State Method and Practices”, we’ll periodically share practical tips, frameworks, tools, and strategies we rely on to help our clients build world-class talent brands and recruitment marketing strategies. What is Methods & Practices? We launched the podcast five years ago with a focus on education: how do we engage with, promote, and elevate the most interesting voices in our industry? This has led to fascinating conversations with nearly 60 leaders in and around the talent acquisition space. As our listener base has grown, some questions keep popping up from our fans: What is Change State, anyway? How do we help clients? How can I take a similar approach in my organization? Methods & Practices is one part of our answer. Staying true to our educational mission, these mini episodes provide a quick “behind the scenes” look at our approaches to solving common problems in the TA space. And while we love the opportunity to partner with new clients, we created these, like all of our episodes, to be helpful whether you ever become a Change State Client. Have a topic or guest suggestion? We love to hear from our fans! Shoot us an email at podcast@changestate.io Topics include: The definition of employer brand, how an employer brand differs from an employee value proposition, perception vs. reality in branding, the connection between a consumer or master brand and an employer brand, key dimensions of strong employer brands, stakeholder groups involved with an EVP project, and the top considerations when designing an employee survey.

This week we welcome William Sims to the podcast. Before joining Lightcast as SVP of Professional Services, Williams held a number of leadership positions in talent acquisition and sales at Qualtrics, Jani-King Gulf Coast, and Career Builder, where he served as Director of Global Solutions Architects. Topics include: the current state of the labor market, the connection between the labor market and interest rates, the role of the Fed, the near and far term prognosis of the labor market, the concept of workforce readiness, Gen Z attitudes towards employment, the trend towards “quick quits”, novel approaches to talent retention, the growth and evolution of people analytics roles in senior leadership, reactive vs. proactive mindsets, how public-private partnerships are attempting to address the skills gap, and the future of universities in a world where college degrees are becoming less valuable in the labor market William Sims SVP Professional Services, Lightcast LinkedIn

This week we welcome Susan LeMotte to the podcast. Before starting exaqueo, Susan held a number of leadership positions in talent acquisition and employer branding, including as an HR consultant for Home Depot, Director of Talent Acquisition at Ritz Carlton, and Senior Director of Global Employer Branding and Marketing at Marriott. Topics include: the evolution of and current state of employer brand as an industry, reactive employer branding vs. strategic employer branding, why employer brand should “live” under HR instead of marketing, the concept of recruitment marketing as a subset of employer branding activities, transactional vs. communal relationships in marketing, post-hire employer brand touchpoints, the limits of consumer marketing when applied to employer branding, the differences between competition for talent and competition for products and services, how early career and hourly jobs can be more than transactional, the current state of the candidate experience, and why large organizations are sometimes the worst offenders in terms of offering poor candidate experiences Susan LaMotte CEO, exaqueo LinkedIn

This week we welcome Heather Tenuto to the podcast. Before taking on her current role as CEO of The Muse Group (owners of The Muse and Fairygodboss), Heather spent her early career as a public school teacher before pivoting to a range of sales enablement and revenue growth roles, including VP of Channels at ShoreTel, VP of Sales (SMB Services) at Office Depot, and Chief Revenue Officer of Zift Solutions. Topics include: employer brand as a strategy vs. tactic, employer brand ambassadors, how to identify and activate employer brand ambassadors, the importance of incorporating regular employee feedback into employer brand management, DEI beyond gender and ethnic identity, and the value and power of introverts to an organization. Heather Tenuto CEO, The Muse Group LinkedIn

This week we welcome Ben Zweig to the podcast. With a Ph.D. in Economics, Ben currently teaches a course on “the Future of Work” at NYU’s Stern School of Business, and serves as CEO of Revelio Labs, a workforce intelligence consultancy he founded in 2018. Topics include: economics, the basic definition of “work,” the value of viewing jobs as a bundle of work activities and people as bundles of skills, the trouble with understanding jobs as collections of skills, the difficulty of quantifying the output or profitability of individual employees, the forces shaping the future of work, the difference between workforce intelligence and talent intelligence, the variety of available external data sources, why social profiles are foundational to workforce analytics, choosing the right benchmarks vs. choosing the right metrics, and approaches to evaluating the quality of external data sources, and generative AI and the future of recruiting Ben Zweig CEO, Revelio Labs Adjunct Professor, NYU Stern School of Business LinkedIN

This week we welcome Rachel Gulley to the podcast. Rachel started as a recruiter at staffing agencies before taking on a variety of recruiting operations management roles at WilsonHCG, Asurion, and FanDuel, where she currently serves as Director of Talent Acquisition Operations. Topics include: organizational culture, core values, how core values can serve as a “framework” for effective decision-making, using product-development frameworks to optimize recruiting operations, the value of iterative approaches in driving organizational alignment and buy-in, how to get “people” people to embrace data and analytics, the concept of recruiter enablement, and generative AI and the future of recruiting Rachel Gulley Director, Talent Acquisition Operations at FanDuel LinkedIn

This week we welcome Carina Clingman to the podcast. With a PhD in biochemistry, Carina’s early experiences looking for jobs in the biotech space led her to start Recruitomics, a TA consulting group that helps small and startup biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies find and retain top talent. Topics include: the advantages (and disadvantages) of having recruiters with deep subject-matter expertise, why hiring the wrong person can be particularly costly for startups, the inherent tension between the speed and quality of hires, how the lens of “NOT hiring” can lead to better outcomes for early stage startups, the emerging concept of “fractional” hires, the difference between “fractional” hires and freelancers and consultants, the pros and cons of fractional positions from the candidate’s perspective, and the impact of AI on biotech and the jobs of the future Carina Clingman Founder & CEO, Recruitomics Biotalent Consulting LinkedIn Building Biotechs Podcast Startup Resource Guide

This week we welcome Heather Dunn to the podcast. Passionate about HR from an early age (16!), Heather brings more than 15 years of experience has an HR leader in technology companies, having held senior roles at Microsoft and Dropbox before joining Gem, where she currently serves at Chief People Officer. Topics include: how HR can be a “lonely” role in an organization, the similarities between HR and therapy, the importance of having “truth tellers,” the prevalence of open technical roles in non-technical companies, how non-technical companies can leverage their talent brands to compete with tech juggernauts like Amazon and Meta, the importance of career pathing to tech talent, how to foster efficiency within the recruiting process, the value of transparency to tech workers, how to leverage employee “personas” in talent attraction, the delta between employer messaging and employee perceptions, employee engagement scores, candidate nurturing, the interaction between remote work and “belonging”, and the role and value of employee resource groups (ERG’s). Heather Dunn Chief People Officer, Gem LinkedIn Chief Chat: Heather Dunn My company pays ERG leaders $10K in equity per year. Here’s why How startups and non-tech firms can better attract laid-off Big Tech talent

This week we welcome Gretchen Huestis to the podcast. Passionate about human potential and purpose-led change, Gretchen has more than 20 years of experience as a management consultant and holder of senior HR leadership roles. She honed her skills at Towers Perrin, Pitney Bowes, SABMiller, and HSBC before assuming her current position at Siegel+Gale, where she serves at Group Director of Brand-led Change. Topics include: building bridges between HR and marketing, the persistence of silos within an organization, aligning an EVP with an organization’s wider purpose, the concept of brand champions, how to identify and nurture brand champions, the intersection of brand understanding and brand passion, “wild cards” vs “spectators,” and the importance of maintaining promises to employees in times of change. Gretchen Heustis Group Director of Brand-led Change, Siegel+Gale LinkedIn Times May Be Changing, But the Promises You Make to Employees Never Should

This week we welcome Jay Denton to the podcast. An expert in labor market analytics, Jay spent time at Bell Partners and Axiometrics before joining LaborIQ as Chief Analytics Officer. Topics include: the current status of the labor market, layoffs vs. new job creation, inflation, skills-based hiring and industry switching, pay equity, approaches to setting compensation for remote roles, employees as “free agents,” and how generational demographic shifts are impacting the labor market Jay Denton Chief Analytics Officer, LaborIQ LinkedIn

This week we welcome Adam Godson to the podcast. An HR technology veteran, Adam spent more than eight years at Cielo Talent before assuming his current role as President & Chief Product Officer at Paradox, a conversational AI platform for talent. Topics include: the growth of quick apply frameworks, the challenges of communicating an EVP in a quick apply context, how quick apply frameworks help and hinder recruiters, job seeker traffic and job board incentives, SMS and high volume recruiting, interview scheduling and the importance of speed-to-candidate, “human” touchpoints as an indicator of value, ChatGPT, how large language models will affect the future of recruiting Adam Godson President & Chief Product Officer, Paradox LinkedIn Twitter

This week we welcome Becky Chung to the podcast. Passionate about HR, organizational design, and workforce development, Becky honed her skills in a range of industries, including health care, financial services, and software, before assuming her current role as Vice President of Talent Development at Cielo Talent. Topics include: skills-based recruiting, workforce development, the role of compensation in job hopping, how upskilling can support employee retention efforts, the impact of technology and innovation on the durability of skills, how the current talent shortage is shifting productivity and growth expectations, immigration policy and the labor market, the effect of remote work on organizational culture, work-life balance and employee productivity, control vs. trust in performance management, the importance of diversity of thought in building high-performing teams, how authenticity during the hiring process leads to better outcomes, and the ROI of employee upskilling investments. Becky Chung Vice President, Talent Development Cielo Talent LinkedIn

Co-hosts Graham and Marty return for The Changing State of Talent Acquisition Season 3 debut. They share how the agency business has evolved in the past year and discuss key trends that will shape the talent acquisition landscape in 2023 and beyond. Topics include: Skills-based hiring, how automation can improve the hiring process, approaches to measuring the ROI of an employer brand, how strong employer brands create efficiencies in recruiting, the rising importance of retention in a tight labor market, and how organizations are utilizing AI to make layoff decisions Articles Referenced AI Is Starting To Pick Who Gets Laid Off Aptitude Research: 2023 HR Technology Trends and Predictions

This week we welcome Chandan Golla to the podcast. Chandan is Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer for Included.ai, a DEI-first people analytics platform. Prior to co-founding Included.ai, Chandan spent more than 20 years delivering compelling experiences powered by data, having led product teams at eBay, OneTrust, and Integris Software. Topics include: the “touchy feely” nature of DEI efforts historically, DEI as a catalyst for the HR data revolution, closing the gap between DEI awareness and small actions that improve outcomes, the backwards-looking nature of most dashboards, the value of “live” DEI data, the challenge of setting realistic DEI goals, corporate accountability and the public sharing of DEI metrics, the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in supporting DEI initiatives, how AI uncovers hidden DEI insights, the use of segmentation to deliver tailored benefits and services to underrepresented sub-groups, and the connection between segmentation and intersectionality.

This week we welcome Adam Jackson to the podcast. Adam is a serial entrepreneur (Dr. On Demand, DriverSide.com, MarketSquare.com), startup advisor, and technology investor (Cambrian Asset Management). Adam’s most recent venture, Braintrust, is the first and largest decentralized talent network completely controlled by its users. Topics include: the distinction between user-owned networks and corporate-owned networks, the concept of a “rake” as it relates to talent networks, why middlemen tend to extract an increasing amount of value over time, the case of DoorDash and stolen driver tips, how blockchain tokens help keep rakes low (or negative), the role of governments in regulating the gig economy, the historical purpose of corporations and the coming “unbundling” of labor, how elastic workforces benefit employers and workers alike, the likelihood of finding job security in the gig economy, the question of who “owns” a freelancer’s work history, and how the Braintrust token serves as both an incentive mechanism and a governance system for the Braintrust network.

This week we welcome Delfina Stabile and Xavi Martinez Salcedo to the podcast. Delfina began her career in Buenos Aires, where she worked as a Recruiting Analyst for Michael Page, before joining Uber—first out of Mexico City, and currently out of San Francisco, where she serves as Talent Attraction Manager. Prior to joining Uber, where he currently serves as Head of Global Strategic Initiatives, Talent Attraction, Xavi served as Program Manager, Executive Search and Talent Management for Philips and Manager of People Technology for TomTom. Topics include: how the labor shortage is intensifying the war for tech talent, what matters to tech talent beyond salary, the importance of closing the feedback loop when conducting employee surveys, the tradeoffs associated with different organizational structures and the employer brand function, strategies for bridge building between employer branding and consumer branding teams, the importance of creating action plans prior to launching employee engagement surveys, how connecting an employer’s EVP to the company’s broader mission creates a stronger brand, how to measure ROI of employer brand initiatives, the value of discovering what doesn’t work, talent acquisition as a cost center vs. revenue creator, and how organizations are navigating the post-COVID return to office.

This week we welcome Amit Parmar to the podcast. With more than 16 years of experience in technology and human capital management, Amit spent time at IBM, Deloitte, and Unisys before founding Cliquify, an AI-powered content marketing platform that drives equity in recruitment. Topics include: the fourth industrial revolution, how AI makes the current revolution more “sophisticated” than previous industrial revolutions, the plummeting cost of data analysis and processing, how automation stands to eliminate (and create) jobs, the likelihood of universal basic income becoming a reality in our lifetime, the concept of employees as “customers” of HR, time versus money as “currencies” in talent attraction, the question of where employer brand sits (and should sit) within an organization, how the labor shortage has elevated the stature of talent acquisition and employer brand, NPS as a measure of employee “stickiness”, how employee referral bonuses can cloud the meaning of NPS scores, and how employee referral programs can impede diversity and inclusion efforts.

Episode Description This week we welcome Jeffrey Spector to the podcast. Jeffrey spent more than six years at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he served as Chief of Staff to Melinda Gates, before co-founding Karat, a service that helps CTO’s and CHRO’s make technical interviewing a customer-centric experience. Topics include: the surging demand for software engineers, the parallels between training effective teachers and training effective interviewers, why interviewing can be a lonely craft, the notion of a professional interviewer, soft vs. hard skills often found in professional interviewers, the importance of offering “redo” interviews, the concept of a “false negative” as applied to candidate interviews, how candidate interviews can be leveraged post-hire, the meaning of the “access gap,” why many well-intentioned DE&I efforts are ineffective, how democratizing information about interview processes supports diversity efforts, and alternate education paths for technical roles.

This week we welcome Lindsay Witcher to the podcast. As a member of Randstad RiseSmart's global leadership team, Lindsay guides the development of solutions that empower talent leaders to successfully manage mobility within their organizations. We sat down to discuss her recent article, “DeBunking 4 Myths About Reskilling Your Workforce.” Topics include: the connection between the current labor shortage and skills mismatches, how the pandemic has changed employee expectations, the shortening half-life of skills, the declining value of college degrees in the labor market, alternative approaches to post-secondary education, skills-based hiring and the limitations of current application tracking systems, the issue of newly upskilled workers leaving an organization for other opportunities, how to weigh the cost of a significant pay increase vs. replacing a lost employee, why entry-level employees are less likely to be offered upskilling opportunities, how company ‘eco-systems’ can lead to mutually beneficial talent pools, and the distinction between attrition and regrettable loss.

This week we welcome Ali Hackett to the podcast. After starting her career in the agency world, Ali spent more than 15 years as a talent acquisition and employer brand consultant before co-founding Meet & Engage, an award winning candidate experience technology. We sat down to discuss virtual hiring events in a post-pandemic recruiting landscape. Topics include: how the pandemic has accelerated adoption of live virtual events, the challenge of standing out in a world characterized by “screen fatigue,” social mobility and the democratization of information, the use of talent personas to create personalized experiences, how positive candidate experiences lead to employer brand advocacy, key considerations when evaluating virtual event platforms, how to measure ROI of virtual event platform investments, the future of chatbots in recruiting, chatbot use cases and limitations, the importance of “humanizing” chatbot interactions, and how to create “social style” candidate experiences.