Listening to Joel Lalgee’s latest episode, he asked: If we all agree hiring is broken, what does hiring fixed look like? As a former CHRO, I’ve lived both sides of this question. My view: hiring fixed is when… ✅ Candidates feel heard and respected. ✅ Recruiters are freed from admin to focus on human connection. ✅ Every interaction builds intelligence we can use to make better people decisions. It’s not utopia. It’s possible. But only if we’re brave enough to rebuild the system.

Here we go, been buzzing for this one for a while! Dominic Joyce (Senior Talent Acquisition Lead at Bauer Media Group) stepped into the recording studio sharing his mantra (and the title of the episode) 'Automate the mundane, Humanise the experience' with me for this weeks Tea Time with Talent Acquisition! Within the discussion we cover: 🔵 Why recruiters should see AI as their co-pilot, not their replacement. 🔵 How to free up time from admin-heavy tasks and reinvest it in conversations with candidates and stakeholders. 🔵 Practical ways AI can improve intake meetings, job adverts, and candidate communications. 🔵 Why human empathy, storytelling, and credibility will always sit at the heart of great recruiting. Big thank you to Dominic Joyce for joining me and to Jen Hulme for making the connection! Check it out below 👇 Spotify – https://lnkd.in/eyuBGy_j  Apple – https://lnkd.in/e88842_9  YouTube - https://lnkd.in/ehPkMHVb

One of the best parts and the worst parts of being a manager is hiring. It is great because it means your team is growing and you get to bring on new talent. It is awful because being a hiring manager sucks. It takes tons of time. The process is overwhelming. We all wish there was a better way. Well, maybe, just maybe, there is a better way. Not just for hiring managers but for recruiters and candidates as well. Maybe the chaos of AI in hiring is going to usher in a new age that empowers candidates and flips the script on how we hire people. At least, that is what this week's guest on the Leadership Launchpad, Tom Kelly thinks might happen. Tom is the Co-founder of EVONA, a recruiting agency focused on the space industry. From his role he is seeing the latest and greatest on what is happening within recruiting and what might be happening in the future. In this episode we talk about the state of talent within the space industry, the current status of recruiting, and what might be happening in the near future. Make sure to listen in on the whole episode here: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/42pOm6G Apple: https://bit.ly/4jpVyGY

The psychology of meaning at work is underrated. Most people still choose jobs for the wrong reasons. And most companies still hire talent for the wrong reasons. 🚨 Churn is at an all-time high — not because of salary, or lack of kombucha in the office… but because of the lack of meaning. When your work feels disconnected from what matters, it slowly drains your energy, clarity, and motivation. And the data backs it. Employees who feel their work is meaningful... → Perform better → Stay longer → Burn out less That’s why real impact companies do it differently. They embed purpose at the core, and they report on it, not just talk about it. Because purpose isn’t the opposite of profit. It’s the engine behind it. 💬 Curious how impact companies are doing this? Check out our channel to learn more. Youtube: https://lnkd.in/dAHyJ_Ba Substack: https://lnkd.in/dMdFTxWb

One day you look around and realize your company doesn’t feel the same. The people you’ve hired don’t carry the same ownership, the same hunger, or the same fight that you did in the early days. This episode tells the story of how culture dilutes layer by layer, with each new wave of hiring. What gets passed down isn’t your desired culture — it’s just diluted with new hires' old habits from past jobs... and a lot of "fill in the blanks."

High-performance cultures aren’t for everyone, and that’s the point. At 1Password, we’ve learned that scaling from B2C to enterprise B2B demands more than just adding new roles. It requires evolving the very core competencies of the team, and being brutally honest about what it really takes to succeed here. On the Talk Talent to Me podcast with Rob Stevenson, I shared what this really looks like in practice: 🔹 Why moving upmarket changes the core competencies we look for, not just the roles we hire. 🔹 How being direct at every stage of the employee lifecycle—from job descriptions to interviews to regular 1:1s—helps us attract the right candidates and drive stronger retention. 🔹 How to design interview loops that test candidates for ambiguity tolerance, curiosity, and specificity.  🔹 Why I liken scaling a company to a long train ride: some people come along on the entire journey and others join for a chapter and disembark at a later station, but both are vital in a high-growth environment. 🔗 Find the episode linked in the comments section. I’d love to hear your take: What do you think it really takes to thrive in a high-performance culture? #TalkTalentToMe #FutureOfWork #HighPerformance #ScalingCulture

Many companies build budgets by taking last year's numbers and adding a bit for growth. But according to Travis Grundy, that's the fastest way to build a plan that no one believes in and no one uses. In this episode of CFO Weekly, Travis breaks down how he approaches forecasting with early-stage companies: 👉 Start with unit economics 👉 Build revenue goals and hiring plans 👉 Review every vendor and every tool for duplication 👉 Socialize the budget across every team that touches spend or sales If you're tired of budgeting that's disconnected from the business, this is your playbook. 🎧 Listen now & read the blog: https://hubs.la/Q03LvyDD0 #cfoweekly #financialforecasting #businessbudgeting Apple: https://hubs.la/Q03LvC3Y0 Spotify: https://hubs.la/Q03LvyBL0 YouTube: https://hubs.la/Q03LvBLr0

I’ve been working with Reagan Kofi Marfo on Unscripted with Raygan for almost a year now, and I just realized something I had always overlooked. The unseen part of the podcast is when the guests first arrive. Reagan always shares a good round of pleasanties before we even hit “record.” At first, I thought, maybe he already knows these guests. But when Henry Nii Dottey, APR, BA, MBA, walked in, I knew Reagan had never even met him before. Still, within minutes, they were talking like old schoolmates. Watching that made me pause, so THIS is what HR really means when they say, “we need people with strong interpersonal skills.” I also learnt a lot from Henry (the said things and the unsaid ), which I’ll share in my subsequent posts. But for now, Reagan’s interpersonal skills really stood out. It’s not just about communication. It’s about creating comfort, trust, and connection, fast. And for almost every job opening I’ve seen, especially in marketing roles, it is emphasized. Two quick questions for hiring managers and HR leaders: 💭 Do you see interpersonal skills as something you can train for, or are they a non-negotiable at the hiring stage? 💭 And if you had to choose between a technically brilliant candidate with weak interpersonal skills and a moderately skilled candidate with strong interpersonal skills, who gets the job? And oh — if you haven’t watched the episode with Henry, you should! Here’s the link: https://lnkd.in/eKcYic2j

The hiring landscape has changed—and not in your favor. In this week’s episode of The Escape & Empower, Pete and Dave unpack the massive power shift happening in the job market—and why executives must act now to protect their future. They break down the 5 reasons the leverage has swung back to employers: - Economic uncertainty means more excuses to cut headcount - Restructuring and AI are collapsing management layers - Remote work widens the talent pool—you’re competing with the world - Corporate loyalty is dead (and ageism is very real) - Automation is replacing decision-making roles at the top 👉 Few people know this market better than Pete & Dave—who’ve placed more executives into franchise ownership in the past decade than anyone else in the U.S. The message? If you're a senior-level executive, waiting it out is no longer a strategy. It's time to future-proof your career by building something of your own. They also lay out 6 powerful reasons to become an entrepreneur now—from income control to flexibility, wealth building, and diversification. 🎧 Listen Now: Apple: https://lnkd.in/gagjB4ZU Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gc4R-xcz Watch us on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gZ6Gpdmg #JobMarketShift #FranchiseOwnership #ExecutiveTransition #EscapeEmpower

The balance of power has shifted, from employees to employers. In this Escape & Empower episode, Dave and I break down the five forces reshaping today’s job market: economic uncertainty, corporate downsizing, remote work competition, fading loyalty, and AI-driven restructuring. If you’re a senior executive, the question is simple: will you wait to be changed, or will you take control and hire yourself? 🎧 Listen here: Apple: https://lnkd.in/eY7TJ64f Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eTCcriHi #ExecutiveLeadership #CareerTransition #FranchiseOwnership #EscapeEmpower