The Breakthrough Hiring Show: Recruiting and Talent Acquisition Conversations

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.James and Chris also discuss how communities will continue to change the game in terms of revenue generation, professional development, networking, and hiring.They also define what a modern partnership program looks like and how it differs from traditional channel sales.3:03 Different types of communities that are emerging in the tech industry14:59 Considering community as an internal asset for startups and growth companies22:59 How to get your brand in front of the right people in your community31:53 What a modern partnership program looks like and how it differs from traditional channel sales Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

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!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 Chapters00:19 Who is Meqa Smith?04:01 The similarities between marketing and talent acquisition05:45 How can companies optimize talent attraction07:45 The human operating system09:55 What every human needs11:12 Understanding what you’re actually offering employees14:24 How do you package up and promote jobs using the seeking system17:25 A company needs a clear mission and value proposition infused into it’s talent acquisition messaging to candidates21:45 Don’t make a job description a job ad25:02 Create a brand that stands for something26:40 The key to talent attraction is having a brand and mission people can buy in to30:02 Tactical steps to changing your company’s mission and purpose to align with human needs35:33 The similarities between recruitment and dating39:50 Using a human voice in job descriptions43:30 You need to have 3-5 distinct values you can operationalize Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

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. He delves into the reasons why companies often fail at hiring the right talent and provides invaluable insights into how companies can avoid hiring the wrong people. James also provides tips on how to build a talent acquisition department from scratch, and successfully navigate hiring plans during periods of hypergrowth. He also addresses the competitive landscape of recruitment, offering guidelines on how to stand out amongst other companies striving for the same talent.  4:11 How to build a talent acquisition department from scratch while in hypergrowth   7:18 How companies can avoid hiring the wrong people15:16 How to decide which roles to prioritize in tier one16:57 How to stand out from a talent acquisition perspective Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

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.Sandy’s thought leadership gives us a high-level philosophical view of people leadership and tactical steps to creating a diverse, high-performing, and profitable culture.Sandy shares how his personal origin story created his worldview that all of us have superpowers. And the goals of leadership teams is largely about uncovering and empowering folks to utilize their superpowers.Sandy shares his experience with diversity sprints and an unconventional approach to performance reviews and talent development. He explains the importance of segmenting performance reviews from performance improvement conversations to help people become the best version of themselves.   1:11 Sandy's experience and what he is currently working on20:30 Diversity sprints and how to implement them23:55 Three things to do first when joining a company as a CPO31:30 The purpose of performance reviews33:28 Performance amplification: improving conversations and process Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

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. Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

Join our panel for an insightful and entertaining discussion as the panel grills ChatGPT on its capacity to change how we hire. Our host James Mackey and guest panelists (TA executives) explore whether it can be a reliable compensation guide, how ChatGPT can offer onboarding support, and if we should leverage ChatGPT to create commission plans. They discuss if we should be skeptical when using this tool, some of the benefits, and why (at least for now) AI cannot replace human creativity.All of these topics are debated in this provocative episode. Tune in now!Guest Panel: Andreea Florescu, Bridget Tesler, Julia Arpag. Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

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. They share their insights and experiences on whether a recession is imminent and how the overall economy is faring in light of recent events. As the discussion progresses, they turn their attention to the potential ban on TikTok. They explore the potential implications of such a ban on the recruitment market, and how it would affect the tech job market if all US-based TikTok roles were eliminated.Guest Panel: Andreea Florescu, Bridget Tesler, Julia Arpag.Don't forget to tune in next Tuesday at 5 am EST for part II! Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

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 delve into KarmaCheck's recent State of Hiring and Recruiting study about how HR organizations and recruiters utilize technology. Eric shares his thoughts on chatbots, including chat GPT.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! Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

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. He also advises how to optimize recruiting tech, processes, reporting, and run the recruitment org like a revenue org.  Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

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. Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible!  Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/SecureVision: #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!