Talk Talent To Me

Joining us in conversation today is Rick Jordan, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition over at DICK'S Sporting Goods. You'll hear the story of how DICK'S was started and how Rick landed his current role with them with a background in hospitality and talent. DICK'S is a pandemic success story, and Rick tells us about the unexpected turn of events that resulted in the business thriving despite the restrictions. You'll also hear about the exciting projects that DICK'S is working on at the moment, and why, in the current market, we need to think more like marketers and less like human resource people. Key Points From This Episode: Meet today's guest, Rick Jordan, with DICK'S Sporting Goods. The story of how DICK'S started in New York before opening corporate campus in Pittsburgh. Why Pittsburgh is called the Steel City and how it has evolved over the last 15 years. Rick's background in hospitality and talent and how he ended up in his current role. Why nothing beats Resorts World Las Vegas. How DICK'S navigated the pandemic and what they are doing today to reach their goal of $15 million by 2025 (plus the role that talent plays). The natural upswing in interest in golf thanks to its natural social distancing. The new store where you can buy big brands: Going, Going, Gone! DICK'S House of Sport stores that have opened in Rochester and Knoxville. Why brick and mortar stores are far from dead. The leaders that Rick works with across his company and their team dynamic. The role of the TA Focus Project Manager Why we need to think more like marketers in the current market and less like HR people. The difference that having been funded to tell the story has made. Why Rick believes that the war on talent is over, and that talent won! Why people no longer settle for a job, but seek opportunities they are excited about. The mini war that is going on within HR talent and the power of investing in a strong team. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Rick Jordan on LinkedIn DICK'S Sporting Goods Talk Talent to Me Hired

Joining me today is the VP of talent acquisition at AvantStay, Uyen Hua. In today's conversation, you will hear about Uyen's unconventional professional journey which led to her current role at AvantStay, and the important lessons she learned along the way. We also discuss the limitations and benefits of working remotely, and why companies should be careful to force their employees back to the traditional office workspace. We learn about Uyen's pragmatic approach to developing her team to ensure the long-term needs of the organization. You will also learn about the difference between a specialist and generalist recruiter, the importance of personal relationships, how to have a constructive conversation with management, insider tips, and much more. Key Points From This Episode: What Uyen thinks going back to the office will involve for AvantStay. We discuss how remote working has altered employees perception of the office. The possible reasons why some companies are aggressively motivating people to go back to the office. How forcing employees' back to the office can backfire on a company. Issues for companies ensuring that in-person and remote workers are equitable. Other factors that may cause people to go back to the office full-time. Uyen's current role and details about her professional journey. The steps Uyen takes to reconcile the numbers needed to what is predicted. Approach that Uyen takes when having difficult conversations regarding recruiting needs. How to deal with individual roles once the long-term goals have been decided. Where Uyen starts when building her team. Whether Uyen prefers a specialized recruiter or a generalist. Limitations that are associated with a generalist recruiter. Problems that people face when seeking a career in talent acquisition and management. How Uyen thinks about development for herself and her team. Significance of personal connections in the recruitment industry. Finding a role that suits you and your future aspirations. Tweetables: "We don't need to be beholden to something that is essentially just moot or no longer relevant for our needs but let's make sure we're doing that sense check on a regular basis if nothing else." — Uyen Hua [0:17:04] "It is amazing in series A to have people who are pinch hitters and kind of can lead in anywhere and have the attitude and the ability to do that but you're really not doing yourself the company or them any favors by continuing to push for that mindset." — Uyen Hua [0:23:39] "As I'm scaling a team as I've done so many different times before, starting with a team of a couple of people who have kind of just put their blood, sweat and tears, it is really important to me as I build further on that organization, that one thing I am keeping in mind apart from the needs of the business itself is the passions of those respective recruiters." — Uyen Hua [0:27:09] "It's a relationship driven industry and role and so go where you feel that synergy and that connection and you won't be steered wrong." — Uyen Hua [0:29:15] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Uyen Hua on LinkedIn AvantStay Hired Talk Talent to Me

Joe Mullings is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of the world's leading search firm in the medical advice industry, the Mullings Group. Joe explains how long term investments in building a talent brand through rich content & storytelling is a crucial part of an effective hiring strategy,. Key Points From This Episode: Joe tells us what he is currently working on and what it's like to run several companies. Context about what the Mullings Group is and what their key offerings are. The shift Joe made to producing content as an additional service. The trends that Joe has noticed in the industry. The advantages of using media for recruitment of talent. Limitations of traditional recruitment strategies. How alternative recruitment methods allows access to the 'passive' market. What Joe regards as deficiency in job postings. Identifying who your employees will become in the long-term. The gaps between traditional recruitment strategies and effective content strategy. Example of an impactful recruitment campaign strategy. The difference between a hiring brand and hiring video. The importance of considering long-term recruitment strategies. Who should be responsible for the long-term recruitment strategies. Why prioritizing recruitments is important. Measuring the success of a recruitment program. Tweetables: "It's a series of demands and it has nothing to do with explaining to people who they might become when they went to work at your company." — @joemullings [0:05:21] "It's a chorus of efforts in order to access and constantly have on a slow drip, the best talent in your domain." — @joemullings [0:07:53] "Inability and incompetency is not a fair excuse and I do believe in the next 24 months, we'll have an enormous reckoning in those organizations that do not create an ongoing committed multimillion dollar per year hiring brand because conventional job postings and conventional recruiting do not work as effectively any longer." — @joemullings [0:23:13] "Your goal should be to that talent access producer who is going to be getting the best people showing up for you to interview." — @joemullings [0:27:44] "People will not shut you off because they won't feel like they're the product. They will feel like that they are learning or experiencing something from watching your content." — @joemullings [0:31:36] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Joe Mullings on LinkedIn Joe Mullings on Twitter Joe Mullings on Facebook Talk Talent to Me Hired The Mullings Group The Mullings Group on LinkedIn

Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of Talk Talent to Me, featuring Christine Redd, vice president of talent acquisition at AlertMedia. During today's conversation, she shares the story of how she learned the art of recruitment after getting her start in traditional HR. You'll learn how her HR background has enriched her knowledge of talent acquisition, and why she finds her work at Alert Media to be particularly meaningful. We explore what it means to work in high-growth spaces and why Christine prefers this kind of environment, before discussing the movement towards choosing a career path in recruitment rather than stumbling into it after working elsewhere. Her goal is to offer every candidate the ultimate experience, and she reveals why asking open-ended questions is such a beneficial tool. We talk about counter-offers and employee happiness, before Christine offers some practical advice to listeners who are interested in roles in high-growth companies. Thanks for listening! Key Points From This Episode: Meet today's guest, vice president of talent acquisition at Alert Media, Christine Redd. Why working remotely was not an adjustment for Christine: she had already been doing it! Finding peers online through networking and why it is necessary to be deliberate. Why you have to be willing to give back in order to get back. Christine's career background in hight-growth Saas, leading up to VP of talent acquisition. What makes Alert Media different: the work makes a difference! Why she believes that today's market enables you to choose work you believe in. What she loves about working in hight-growth spaces. How she has drawn on her HR background to understand elements of talent acquisition. The movement towards recognizing the art of recruitment as a career path. What sparked her movement from general HR to specializing in recruitment. Her focus on offering candidates the ultimate experience. Finding the balance between assessing a candidate and showing what you offer. Why asking open-ended questions is a powerful tool. Establishing the profile of what is needed to complete a team with career pathing in mind. What is meant by the counter-offer notion. How communication can resolve the issues that arise when employees become unhappy. Why it is so important to have regular touchpoints instead of having to do a counter-offer. What advice she would give to someone who is looking for a role in a hight-growth company. Tweetables: "I think it's a balance, if you give back, you get back." — Christine Redd [0:05:20] "Alert Media is doing important work. It's not just some random product, it's to save lives and minimize loss by facilitating that two-way communication when emergency situations threaten employee safety." — Christine Redd [0:07:10] "I want to do something that is impactful and I have always said I think that's why I enjoy working for hight-growth companies because your work is so impactful. When you're not there, people know this, right? The work that you do can be seen for years down the road." — Christine Redd [0:08:50] "Making people feel needed and wanted is super important and being genuine about that. People need to hear it, I just don't think they are hearing it enough. Even though their manager might feel that way, it is not being verbalized." — Christine Redd [0:34:00] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Alert Media Christine Redd on LinkedIn Talk Talent to Me Hired

Joining me today is Stephanie Maillet, who is not your typically trained human resources pro. Stephanie originally found her passion for working with people managing bands and musicians in the Boston area. Stephanie is currently based at Handsome as Head of People where she helps foster an inclusive, nurturing, and communicative environment for employees through career coaching. In today's episode we find out about Stephanie's diverse career background, what career coaching is, the difference career coaching can make to a company, challenges surrounding distributed workforces, and so much more. Key Points From This Episode: Details about Stephanie's career journey. What made Stephanie pursue a career in career coaching. Differences between traditional coaching and career coaching. How the changing work environment is leading to a need for career coaches. Stephanie and Rob discuss issues surrounding traditional management of the workforce. The first steps Stephanie takes when coaching someone. Homework for employees and what it entails. Experiences Stephanie has had working as a life coach. Homework assignments and how they are beneficial. The value that a life coach can make to your workforce. Company culture and why it is important. What Stephanie regards as the biggest challenge for remote-working. Examples of Stephanie's methods to ensure the mental well-being of employees. Stephanie tells us how to keep your workforce connected. Tweetables: "Retention is really important but I never want to feel like people are leaving because they didn't get the most out of the organization and that people feel supported and cared for in everything that we do." — @stephaniemz1 [0:21:29] "In a remote culture like the one that we have at Handsome, there isn't that, so you have to create your own rituals and we're working on ways in which to connect people to each other beyond the projects that they're on." — @stephaniemz1 [0:24:20] "Everything has to be so scheduled and if you are not careful, it can only be transactional. That is not as rewarding of an experience as people tend to want, whether they know they want it or not." — @stephaniemz1 [0:25:50] "We are also trying to find ways to get people together in person because I still don't know a better way to really get to know each other than actually meeting each other in person." — @stephaniemz1 [0:29:50] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Stephanie Maillet on LinkedIn Stephanie Maillet on Twitter Talk Talent to Me

Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Talend, Lance Sapera, shares the work of transforming the data space for talent acquisition to streamline processes and make it easier for businesses to find the people they need. Key Points From This Episode: Lance outlines the work Talend is involved in. We learn about Lance's professional journey. Details about the talent department at Talend. The approach Talend takes to talent acquisition. Lance clarifies what the "hiring manager plus one interview" is. Importance of company culture for retaining employees. Steps to start standardizing the talent acquisition process. One tool that Lance thinks would be a game-changer. The importance and frequency of updates on capacity. Lance's experience working with contract recruiters. Whether contract recruiters are suitable for established teams. How Lance ensures the talent department is respected. Some advice for people thinking about working in talent acquisition. Tweetables: " The competitiveness of the market I think is probably what's keeping everyone on at night now." — @LSapP3C [0:02:44] "I haven't verified it but the rumor is that there are more recruiter jobs on LinkedIn now than there are developer roles. That's how important hiring is across the globe." — @LSapP3C [0:15:27] "I think there is a real mix there and again, just like any team, the things you learn sometimes even unexpectedly from the mix of your team helps you move forward in a more effective way." — @LSapP3C [0:20:51] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Talk Talent to Me Lance Sapera on LinkedIn Lance Sapera on Twitter Talend

Joining me today is the Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield, Stephanie Browne. Stephanie is responsible for recruiting, retaining, and developing high-performing staff, as well as guiding diversity and inclusion strategies. Unique to Stephanie is her background in technology which has allowed her to streamline and automate processes regarding talent management and acquisition. In today's episode, we hear about Stephanie's background and discuss topics such as using technology in talent management processes, and diversity and inclusion goals. We also discuss her two roles in the company, how diversity is a strength, how technology can remove bias, what the pillar strategy is, and so much more. Key Points From This Episode: A background into Stephanie and her work at Blue Cross Blue Shield. How Stephanie's experience in technology has been benefitted her talent acquisition work. Examples of using technology for automation of talent acquisition processes. The removal of bias when sourcing processes are automated. The importance of sourcing from a wide candidate pool. Stephanie tells us more about her two roles in the company. The Pillar strategy regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion is explained. How building technology and services feed into overall diversity goals. Influence versus accountability regarding diversity and inclusion. Rob and Stephanie discuss the influence of a talent professional within an organization. What Stephanie enjoys most about her job. Highlights of Stephanie's experiences within talent acquisition. Tweetables: "Between the sourcing team and the interviewing strategy and the goal for my team to actually bring a diverse candidate pool to the table day one, we were able to begin to move the needle around increasing the diversity of our organization." — Stephanie Browne [0:08:04] "You just need to have that candidate pool be very wide and varied so that they can find that fit." — Stephanie Browne [0:10:46] "It's good to have different experiences at the table so that we can then, in turn, have a better innovative outcome on how we build those engagements and strategies." — Stephanie Browne [0:18:33] "I work with my peers across the organization to help them understand what their organizations look like, what do they need and how experiences can shape the outcomes of the work that they do." — Stephanie Browne [0:19:46] "You are very valuable but you're only as valuable as the relationships and the influence you have in those relationships." — Stephanie Browne [0:24:40] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Stephanie Browne on LinkedIn Talk Talent to Me Hired

Apple Musni, Chipotle's VP People partner, shares her experience with tech-enabled nurturing, purpose-driven employment, employee retention strategies and much more for Chipotle's vast retail workforce. Key Points From This Episode: Apple tells us about her background and how she ended up in her current role. The current focus of Apple's recruitment work. Differences in recruiting for the corporate and retail side of businesses. Why it is critical for tech-enabled nurturing of candidates for high-volume operations. Some of the tools that Apple uses for her tech-enabled nurturing, such as an AI powered hiring platform. The importance of understanding the next generation of work-force, for example millennials and Gen Z's. What effect the drop in labor participation rates has had on Chipotle. Definition of what purpose-driven work ethic is and how this translates to modern recruitment strategies. The resources that Apple thinks is important to make available to employees to ensure a nurturing environment and retention. What is a four-by-four question with some examples. The parallels that exist between corporate and retail recruiting. Apple explains how she deals with retention of employees for the retail side of the business. What the economic reality is of a long-term employee. Apple shares how one can get involved in her line of work and what to expect. Tweetables: "Experience has to be relevant, fast and simple but especially for the high-volume side of the house and so, making that experience automated and tech-enabled is really critical." — @AppleMusni [0:07:08] "I think it's, how do you ensure that although technology enables, when they engage with that technology and/or a human being that their experience is connecting to our purpose of cultivating a better world." — @AppleMusni [0:09:26] "It's understanding what that workforce needs today, whether it's from how we recruit them such as social media, how we retain them through our employee value proposition and then how we continue to grow them through our leadership programs." — @AppleMusni [0:11:15] "There is always a synergy between the workforces in the restaurant as well as the support center because of our values." — @AppleMusni [0:23:02] "I think it starts with hiring employees who believe in what we do and then our purpose and then engaging them along the way." — @AppleMusni [0:23:53] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Apple Musni on LinkedIn Apple Musni on Twitter Talk Talent to Me Hired

Joining us today is Adam Redlich, Vice President and Talent Acquisition at Octane. Adam shares the difference between time to fill and time to hire, why if a candidate is a maybe, they're a no, and why if a company pushes you to sign quickly, there's usually something they don't want you to find out. Key Points From This Episode: An introduction to today's guest, Adam Redlich, at Octane. The state of things at Octane, having moved from hybrid to remote working. Expectations and predictions on how the remote and hybrid systems will evolve. Adam's role at Octane and what the business focuses on within the Fintech space. How the growth they have experienced was not part of any particular plan. Why they have chosen to be conservative with growth. Distinguishing between when it is time to fill and when it is time to hire. Why he works according to the mantra that if somebody is a maybe, they are a no. What you should do as a candidate if an employer tries to keep you on the line. Why he believes that transparency is key to the hiring process. How working in a bigger more established company might not be the best place to start. Diversity inclusion at Octane and how Adam was involved in the process. How, if a company is pushing you to sign quickly, there is usually something they don't want you to find out. How upfront you should be with your current employer when you are looking for a new role. Tweetable: "One of the engineering leaders made the comment, if somebody is a maybe, they are no and for me, that's been a mantra that I've had since, because, especially at a growth stage company, we need to hire people that we're excited about." — Adam Redlich [0:13:28] "I believe that transparency is key throughout the process. I let candidates know, early on, during my very first conversation with them." — Adam Redlich [0:15:50] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Adam Redlich on LinkedIn Talk Talent to Me Hired

Dax Sardinha is a human resources expert and talent acquisition specialist who has been helping businesses recruit the most suitable talent for over 19 years. Dax is also director of talent at of Canada Life, which is Canada's largest insurance provider for groups and individuals across the country. In today's episode we hear about Dax's personal journey from talent expert to leader, and some of the most valuable lessons he learnt along the way. Our conversation also covers workplace culture, how to best manage your employees, and the importance of succession planning. Key Points From This Episode: Brief highlights about what Dax is currently working on. Dax tells us about his company, Canada Life, and his role in the company. The various types of roles within a company are discussed. Dax and Rob discuss the culture of constant promotion seeking. Why businesses should not promote certain personality types into leadership roles. Dax's personal journey from talent acquisition expert to a leadership role. What one should expect when working in a leadership role. The importance of empowering employees and allowing them not to 'burn-out'. Burn-out and other challenges that employees commonly face. How ensuring that your employees are tasked with balanced workloads leads to improved overall activity. Changes in work-life balance as a result of the COVID pandemic. The advantages of using technology for planning in the workplace. Dax tells us about succession planning, and why it is important for the productivity of a company. What the next generation of VP and C-level talent will look like. We find out if there are any additional skill sets Dan would like to learn in the future. Tweetables: "It's encouraging them to speak up, empowering them to really understand that you don't have to do that. You can work your regular shift, there will always be work, work will still come, there always be more." — Dax Sardinha [0:12:48] "I've never been a title chaser. For me, it's about the work itself. I love the ability to come in and I said this before is to be able to impact and influence an organization in a positive way." — Dax Sardinha [0:28:31] "As long as you're focusing on those values, on that development, you're going to find the job title and the role in the organization that fits you, ultimately at the end of the day." — Dax Sardinha [0:31:56] "If you're not passionate about the work that you're doing, you're never going to exceed, you're never going to excel, you'll just get bored and burn out and go somewhere else." — Dax Sardinha [0:32:23] Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Dax Sardinha Dax Sardinha on LinkedIn Hired Talk Talent to Me