Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Talk Talent To Me

Rob sits down with Patricia Frost, EVP and Chief People and Places Officer at Seagate Technology, whose path to the C-suite ran through 32 years in the US Army, culminating as Director of Cyber Electronic Warfare and Information Operations. Patricia brings a framework for AI adoption that is military in its discipline and deeply human in its values: leave no one behind, train before you field, and let the people tell you where the friction is. The conversation covers how Seagate built a 400-person AI Forward Collective of certified champions, why HR, not IT, should own the AI transformation, how to measure impact beyond time saved, and what it looks like when a CPO uses AI to run her own week. This is one of the most operationally detailed AI adoption conversations the show has had.

Key takeaways

• The AI transformation is not a technology problem. It is a people problem. HR needs to own it alongside IT, not wait for IT to lead it.
• Seagate built an AI Forward Collective of 400 certified champions who went through rigorous training, built and deployed agents, and now mentor peers across the org. Peer trust moves faster than top-down mandates.
• Don't just measure time saved. Measure energy, enthusiasm, and whether people feel more or less burdened. Some of the most important AI outcomes can't be quantified.
• The military never fielded new equipment by just handing it out and saying figure it out. Neither should your company. Train first, build confidence, then change the workflows.
• AI adoption has to come from the bottom up. HR leaders don't know where the friction lives in daily workflows. The champions and the employees do.
  
  

  Patricia on LinkedIn

  A Soundbeam Studios Production

Settle in for one of the most operationally wild episodes in recent memory. Kim was employee number 11 at a resort that didn't have an offer letter template, an HR system, or a building that candidates could walk into. Eighteen months later, 6,500 people were through the doors on opening day. The conversation covers how Kim built the EVP from scratch to win back hospitality workers who left the industry after COVID, why they ripped and replaced their ATS six months into the build when it couldn't handle 300,000 expected applications, and how benefits like childcare stipends, pay transparency, and weekly pay became genuine competitive differentiators on the Strip. This is a masterclass in building talent infrastructure at speed and under pressure.

Key takeaways

• They planned for 80,000 applications and received 300,000. Scenario planning your recruitment capacity at multiple demand levels is not optional at scale.
• They ripped and replaced their ATS six months in when the vendor flagged the system might break under volume. The new one, Paradox, reduced application time from 20-30 minutes to 3-5 minutes via AI conversational chat.
• Benefits are a real differentiator when you deploy them intentionally. Childcare stipends, weekly pay, parental leave, and pay transparency were all firsts on the Strip and drove both attraction and retention.
• COVID wiped out a generation of hospitality workers who left permanently and felt like a number. Culture-first recruiting was the strategy to win them back, and belonging has been the competitive advantage ever since.
• AI handles screening, scheduling, and application triage. Humans make every hiring decision. Protecting that distinction freed the team to focus on the moments that actually require judgment.
• Don't fake it until you make it. Face it. Kim's advice for anyone building toward a senior people role: show up as yourself, surround yourself with the right people, and commit to staying curious about what's next.

Links:

Kim on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Rob welcomes back Colin Yasukochi, Executive Director of CBRE's Tech Insight Center, to walk through CBRE's annual Scoring Tech Talent report. Covering 50 markets and millions of data points, the report is the definitive map of where tech talent lives, moves, and works. This year's findings are striking: remote job postings in San Francisco have collapsed from 24% to 7%, New York has overtaken the Bay Area as the largest tech talent market in the US for the first time, and AI is simultaneously responsible for the biggest boom and the biggest cut in tech talent in recent history. Colin explains what is behind each of those headlines, which emerging markets are worth watching and why, and what it actually means to find tech talent when 60% of them don't work for tech companies at all.

Key takeaways

• Remote work is effectively over for AI companies. 
• Tech talent is defined by what you do, not where you work. 60% of tech talent works outside the tech industry entirely.
• New York overtook the Bay Area as the largest US tech talent market in 2026, driven by finance sector investment in AI while Bay Area headcounts contracted.
• AI talent grew 45% year over year to 751,000, while AI-attributed job cuts hit 102,000, or 22.9% of all cuts. 
• Emerging markets like Huntsville, Halifax, Colorado Springs, and Dayton are rising for specific reasons tied to local industry, not just cost or population.
• The 15 most VC-funded AI companies grew their combined workforce from 7,500 in 2020 to 56,000 today. The AI hiring boom is real, even if it runs alongside the cuts.
  
  
  

Links:

Colin on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Tracy St. Dic, Global Head of Talent at Zapier, built a quality of hire algorithm from scratch. What it yielded helped them measure their ability to get better at hiring over time, but it also taught them the five durable traits that actually predict top performance, why credentials are a weak proxy for ability, and Zapier's four-component AI fluency framework that every single candidate is now evaluated against. If you want a masterclass in what a modern, rigorous, data-backed talent strategy looks like, this is the episode.

Key takeaways

• Ability is equally distributed but opportunity is not. Credentials are a weak proxy for whether someone can actually do the job.
• Zapier's quality of hire algorithm tracked new hires across their entire first year and found the same five traits consistently predicted top performance: navigating ambiguity, proactive ownership, stakeholder communication, cross-functional collaboration, and fast on-ramp.
• Slope not snapshot. How fast someone is learning matters more than what they know on day one. Zapier measures this even within the hiring process itself.
• Manager and employee alignment on performance is more predictive of success than the actual performance rating. Misalignment is the real red flag, not a low score.
• Zapier's AI fluency framework has four components: mindset, strategy, builder skills, and accountability. 100% of candidates must meet a minimum threshold before an offer can go through.
• Not upskilling your team in AI fluency is management malpractice. TA leaders own this responsibility for their own teams, not just the broader org.

Links:

Tracy on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Show Notes:
Rob goes in-person for this one, recording live at Takkion HQ in Denver with CHRO Marie Wardenski. Takkion is a major player in clean energy with around 2,000 employees, 85% of whom are traveling wind technicians who never have the option to work from home, which makes the people function both critical and complex. Marie brings 20 years of HR experience across higher education, chemical distribution, oil and gas, and now renewables, and she has a lot to say about how HR earns its seat at the table, why the "policy police" reputation existed and how it gets dismantled, and what it actually takes to ascend to a CHRO role. This one is grounded, candid, and full of practical wisdom for anyone trying to build a career in people leadership.

Key Takeaways:

• HR metrics only land with senior leadership when they are already framed in terms of business goals, not HR goals
• The policy police reputation was earned, and dismantling it requires HR to be proactive, not reactive, and visibly tied to strategic outcomes
• If you have a computer problem, you call IT. If you have a people problem, you call HR. Every problem is ultimately a people problem
• Being in office requires just as much intentionality as being remote. Physical proximity does not automatically create collaboration
• Business acumen is not optional for senior HR leaders. You will need to build it deliberately outside of your day-to-day work
• Understand the business you are in. HR can work in any industry, but the leaders who rise are the ones who become genuine thought partners to operations, not just subject matter experts in their own function

Links:

Marie on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Selena is the Executive Director and Global Head of Talent Management at Cytokinetics, and brings a global perspective shaped by her upbringing in Beijing, a career that has wound through consulting, M&A integration at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and culture transformation at Gilead. The conversation covers how to lead people through business transformation rather than just announce it, why 360 feedback only works when the recipient is ready to receive it, the architect versus contractor framework for thinking about senior leadership, and why HR needs to stop defending legacy processes and start asking harder questions about whether they still work. This one is for HR and talent leaders who want to think more provocatively about the function and their own role in it.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• 360 feedback only works when the recipient is genuinely ready to receive it. Rolling it out org-wide without a readiness check is a waste of everyone's time.
• Feedback meant to vent and feedback meant to help are not the same thing and should not be weighed the same way.
• The architect sets the vision and the blueprint. The contractor executes the room. Organizations in transformation need leaders who can hold both, not just one.
• The 70-20-10 learning model says 70% of development happens on the job, yet most L&D budgets still go to the 10% classroom training bucket. Ask why before defending it.

🔗 Links

Selena on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Katie Rakusin, Director of Talent Acquisition at Merit America. has seen the AI hiring surge hit in real time: 33,000 applications in five months, 10,000 in May alone, and yes, the bots have officially arrived. The conversation covers how her team is restructuring its entire hiring process around the assumption that candidates are using AI, why stopping bot detection might actually be the smarter move, and how a real four-day work week gets built and protected at scale. Katie also makes a strong case for why human judgment should be the last thing you automate, and what early-career TA pros need to hear about staying relevant in a market that keeps changing underneath them.

Katie on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Key takeaways

• Stop trying to detect AI in applications. The detective work is exhausting, biased, and misses great candidates 
• It's not "did you use AI?" It's "can you defend and own what's on the page?"
• AI can surface and prioritize candidates, but a human must make every decision on whether someone moves forward. Surfacing is not the same as deciding.
• A four-day work week only works if leadership actually models it.
• Write your rubric before you turn on any AI screening tool, or you will just be scaling your existing biases across thousands of candidates.

Jim has held senior people roles at Hulu and Quibi, but he'll tell you this job is different: the stakes are higher. The episode digs into why employer-sponsored healthcare is broken, how health deserts across rural America make virtual care a necessity, and why recruiters are leaving one of the most powerful differentiators in any offer completely undersold. Jim also weighs in on AI in the healthcare context, why employees quietly using ChatGPT for health questions is a real risk employers are ignoring, and why the companies that laid people off in the name of AI efficiency are the ones now quietly backtracking. For HR, TA, and total rewards leaders, this one is a genuine perspective shift.

Key takeaways

• Healthcare is table stakes today but will soon be a true talent differentiator
• Health deserts in rural America mean virtual care is not a perk, it is the only path to timely, quality care for millions of employees.
• Recruiters routinely glaze over benefits in the offer conversation and are leaving a major differentiator on the table.
• Employees are already using ChatGPT for health decisions every night. Employers who ignore this are not protecting anyone.
• AI adoption is an evolution, not a revolution. The companies that treated it as the latter and cut headcount are the ones now backtracking.
• Do many different things early in your career. The broader your exposure before you specialize, the smarter and more strategic an HR leader you become.

Links

Jim on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Steve Cadigan, the first CHRO of LinkedIn and one of the most candid voices in the talent space, discusses where AI is genuinely helping organizations and where it is quietly doing damage. Steve challenges the assumption that replacing humans with AI is a strategy, makes the case that entry-level talent is the most AI-fluent generation in history and companies are cutting them at exactly the wrong moment, and shares what Prudential is doing with skills mapping that every organization should pay attention to. He also gets personal about why he walked away from the C-suite, what it actually takes to build a culture where experimentation is safe, and why the human skills of communication, conflict resolution, and influence matter more right now than any AI tool. If you lead people, hire people, or advise organizations on talent, this one is essential.


Key Takeaways:

• Most recruiting AI is solving a volume problem, not a quality one, and the candidate experience is paying the price.
• Cutting entry-level roles to save costs is a three-year recovery problem in the making.
• Prudential maps every new hire's skills to every job in the company on day one. Steve thinks every organization should be doing this.
• The consulting firms AI was supposed to replace are now being hired to manage AI adoption, because the real challenge is cultural, not technical.
• AI tools were built by tech companies and handed to the rest of us half-formed. We are the foster parents now.
• Conflict resolution, clear communication, and influence are the skills that win right now, more than any AI tool.

Links

Steve on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Quentin shares what it actually means to future-proof a workforce, introducing his the three box framework for simultaneously maintaining the present, abandoning the past, and building the future, and walks through a real case study from the SDN era when network engineers resisted upskilling into software roles, with consequences that still inform how he approaches change management today. The conversation digs into who owns career development, why network leadership across companies matters more than most HR functions realize, and the concrete steps Quentin is taking right now to audit skills gaps and redesign workflows with AI. This is essential listening for any HR or TA leader thinking about org design, leadership development, or how to get ahead of the next skills shift before it becomes a crisis.

Key takeaways

• The three box solution for future-proofing talent: Maintain the present, abandon the past, and build the future, all at once. Quentin breaks down how to identify the sacred cows holding your org back and the skills your business will need three to five years out.
• A real-world cautionary tale on resisted upskilling: During the rise of software-defined networking, network engineers who refused to learn Python and software development were eventually exited from the company. Quentin unpacks the identity risk and lack of "what's in it for me" framing that drove the resistance.
• Talent is not an HR lever, it's the lever: Quentin makes the case that systems, products, and strategy all execute through people, which means leadership development and org design belong to every leader, not just HR.
• Career ownership is a partnership, but the employee is the true owner: Companies are responsible for providing pathways, learning, and development programs. Employees are responsible for deciding what they actually want and pursuing it with intention.
• Skip the echo chamber, call your peers: Quentin pushes leaders to look outward across companies and industries rather than only inward, since the biggest blind spots often come from assuming everyone is solving the same problem the same way.
• A practical AI playbook, not a moonshot: Quentin's approach starts small: audit skills gaps, redesign one workflow with AI rather than trying to transform everything at once, and reinvest the time savings into building more strategic capabilities across the team.

Links

Quentin on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Show Notes

Rob reunites with Erin Wilson, Talent Lead at Rox and a returning champion from the very first episode of Talk Talent to Me. Erin breaks down the two things Rocks screens for in every conversation, conviction and crank, explains why he still writes his own outreach by hand despite being one of the most AI-enabled recruiters working today, and walks through the exact tools and workflows he has built inside Claude and Slack to run a world-class talent function as a team of one. If you want a ground-level view of where recruiting is headed and what separates the operators who thrive from the ones who get left behind, this episode delivers.

Key takeaways

• Screen for conviction and crank, not just credentials: Rox evaluates every candidate on two dimensions: do they genuinely want to be on this mission, and can they move fast and execute collaboratively? Pattern recognition and cross-functional fluency matter more than any single technical skill.
• AI can identify talent. It cannot build the relationship: Erin uses AI heavily for sourcing and archetype decomposition, but writes his own outreach, records personal video pitches with zero AI, and is hitting 60 to 66 percent response rates. The delivery is still human.
• Build where your stakeholders already live: Erin solved the eternal problem of getting hiring teams to log feedback into an ATS by routing everything through Slack. No behavior change required, and the ATS stays clean automatically. The best workflow is the one people actually use.
• The recruiter's real job is coaching hiring managers: As a team of one supporting 150 people, Erin's leverage comes from turning every hiring lead into a capable recruiter for their team. Scheduling and admin are automated so he can spend his time on the reps that actually build that capability.
• Continuous feedback loops beat static dashboards: Erin's Slack channels function as live learning loops, ingesting recruiter observations, candidate signals, and hiring team feedback in real time. His AI is never starting cold because it is always being fed fresh context.
• Speed and sustainability are not opposites: Erin is one of the fastest-moving recruiters in the market and is also present with his four kids every evening. The agents handle the admin while he is offline. Moving fast does not have to mean being always on.
  
  
  

Erin on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Rob welcomes back Joe Bast, now SVP of People Operations at Crisp, for a wide-ranging conversation that covers what it really takes to operate at the executive level, why AI is not the equalizer most people think it is, and how the definition of retention needs a complete overhaul. Joe brings 25 years of hard-won perspective on building high-performing people functions at growth-stage companies, and he does not hold back. From managing up to a CEO, to the slow erasure of entry-level talent pipelines, to why your critical talent should want for nothing, this episode is a masterclass for any HR or TA leader trying to do the job at the highest level.

Key Takeaways

• If the CEO keeps checking in, you do not have their trust: Joe's framework for earning executive confidence is simple: demonstrate competence, state your outcome, get quick wins, and let your results do the talking. Frequent check-ins are a warning sign, not a perk.
• AI is not making mediocre talent better:  B or C players with AI produce more output faster, but the quality problem does not go away. Joe makes the case that tolerating AI slop is on leaders as much as the people generating it.
• AI is eliminating the entry-level pipeline: When sourcing and screening roles are automated, junior talent never gets the reps they need to become senior. This is a five-to-eight year talent development crisis already in motion.
• Retention means something different now: Joe traces the evolution from voluntary vs. involuntary, to regrettable vs. non-regrettable, to what he argues is the only metric that matters: retention of critical talent. Everything else is noise, or actively harmful to hold onto.
• Your critical talent should want for nothing: High base, strong benefits, generous PTO. The only thing you want your best people thinking about is the work. If they are worrying about healthcare or comp, you have already lost focus where it counts most.
• Getting hired still comes down to who you know: With AI flooding inbound pipelines, referrals are the fastest path to a new role. Joe's playbook: activate your network immediately, ask who they know, and stack LinkedIn recommendations from every job you leave.

Links

Joe on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Donovan shares how he deliberately hires business leaders into HR, why TA and retention must operate as a single strategy, and how he's making the case to Millennial and Gen Z employees that staying at one company for a full career can be the best financial decision they make. If you lead a team or manage talent at any level, this episode is full of frameworks you can apply immediately.

Key takeaways

• Hire business leaders into HR: Top field leaders and MBAs with no HR background can elevate an HRBP team faster than traditional hiring. Business credibility is teachable on the HR side; leadership instincts are harder to develop from scratch.
• TA and retention are one strategy: Filling the top of the funnel while losing people out the back is a losing game. Breaking down silos between TA, L&D, and rewards is what closes the gap.
• Teamship over hierarchy: Donovan replaced a siloed COE structure with peer accountability across the full HR team. The result is a function that operates as one unit rather than five separate groups reporting up.
• The long-career argument is back: Employee ownership, long-term incentives, and genuine development investment can make staying at one company the smarter financial move, even for employees who have been told job-hopping pays more.
• HR lives in the gray: A real-world parental leave disclosure scenario illustrates how the best HR decisions require legal knowledge, business judgment, and employee empathy all at once. Black and white answers rarely exist.
• Never lose the human in HR: Donovan's advice for aspiring CHROs is simple: learn the business, but never let that come at the cost of kindness, empathy, and being a genuine employee advocate.

Links

Donovan on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Lisa is a seasoned CHRO with over 20 years in HR to explore what it looks like to intentionally pause, reflect, and reimagine your next career chapter. Lisa shares how she recognized the natural end of a mission-driven CHRO role, why she's now considering a move into consultancy and fractional work, and what that says about how senior HR professionals are rethinking their careers. The conversation moves into broader territory around the future of the people function: how HR can stop fighting for a seat at the table and just earn it, why the people agenda must be woven into the business strategy, and how AI is an opportunity for HR to finally demonstrate its highest-value work. Whether you're a CPO navigating an org transformation or an HR leader wondering how to stay relevant in an AI-accelerated world, this episode offers a grounded, practical perspective from someone who has lived it.

Key Takeaways

• Knowing when a mission is complete
• Consulting and fractional work as a career move
• The people agenda is not separate from business strategy
• Psychological safety and the "always-on" work culture
• AI as a liberator, not a threat
• Staying relevant means running toward change
  
  
  Links

Lisa on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Rachel Duran has spent nearly 15 years building her career at the intersection of marketing and talent acquisition, moving through ad agencies, RPOs, and major tech companies. Rob and Rachel cover how the flood of AI-generated applications is forcing a fundamental rethink of what "success" looks like in recruiting marketing, why the candidate experience has to meet consumer-grade expectations, and how employer brand practitioners can earn and keep their seat at the table.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• AI-driven mass applications have made quality of applicant the new priority over volume
• Top-of-funnel thinking is out. attracting the right candidates matters more than sheer inbound
• AI can help filter applicants, but it cannot be used to make employment decisions
• Mobile-optimized career sites and application flows are no longer optional
• CAPTCHAs and knockout questions remain practical tools for filtering bot-driven applications
• Employer brand perception increasingly influences B2B RFPs and vendor evaluations
• ROI conversations need to focus on cost savings: cost-per-hire, time-to-fill, reduced agency spend
• Sourcers make strong recruitment marketers, they already know candidates and how to find them
• Learning to use AI tools, even personally, is now a core career development priority
  
  🔗 Links

  Rachel Duran on LinkedIn

  LHH Recruitment Solutions 

  A Beautiful Working World

  A Soundbeam Studios Production

Kevin breaks down how HR leaders can drive real business impact by aligning talent strategy directly to company goals, with a focus on scaling coaching as a lever for workforce performance and development. He shares how listening to employee feedback and preparing for the next phase of growth led his team to invest in coaching at scale, enabled by new technology that makes it accessible beyond just executives. Kevin explains how coaching improves performance, engagement, and retention, how to measure its impact, and why it plays a critical role in developing future leaders in a skills-based economy. The conversation also explores how HR can balance internal development with external hiring, the evolving role of managers in an AI-driven workplace, and why building talent capability is essential for long-term competitiveness.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Coaching can now scale across organizations due to technology advancements
• Employee feedback is a key signal for where to invest in development
• Coaching improves performance, engagement, and retention
• High performers are more likely to opt into development programs
• Managers must shift from knowledge sharing to talent development in an AI-driven world
• Internal talent development should focus on core business competencies
• Strong organizations build talent pipelines and become talent exporters

🔗 Links

Kevin Bohan on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

📝 Episode Summary

Maura explains why investing in early talent remains a high-impact, data-backed strategy despite growing narratives around AI replacing entry-level roles. She shares how Liberty Mutual has built a long-term pipeline that drives retention, accelerates promotion, and produces global leaders, while also evolving programs to align with shifting skill demands. The conversation explores how Gen Z brings new expectations around purpose, flexibility, and development, why career paths are becoming more dynamic and non-linear, and how organizations must balance technical skill-building with human capabilities like communication and adaptability in an AI-driven workplace.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Early talent programs drive higher retention, faster promotion, and long-term leadership outcomes
• AI will not replace entry-level talent, it will amplify those who can use it effectively
• Gen Z prioritizes purpose, flexibility, and development over traditional career incentives
• Technical skills are becoming easier to teach, human skills are increasing in value
• Career paths are shifting from linear ladders to flexible, cross-functional movement
• Talent development is critical for both attracting and retaining top candidates
  
  

🔗 Links

Maura Quinn on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Episode Summary

Ilona explains what it takes to transform talent acquisition at a 300,000-person organization. From consolidating a sprawling, decentralized TA function into a unified operating model to simplifying a bloated tech stack and driving global process adoption, Ilona shares how her team moved from fragmentation to focus. The conversation explores the difference between operational busy-ness and strategic impact, why process discipline must come before innovation, and how talent leaders can elevate their influence with the C-suite by telling a smarter story with data. Ilona also reflects on career growth, embracing discomfort, and the power of saying yes to unexpected opportunities.

Key Takeaways

1. Decentralization Creates Duplication
PepsiCo's TA teams were spread across dozens of reporting lines globally, leading to inconsistent processes, unclear ownership, and change fatigue. Consolidation created clarity, agility, and shared priorities.

2. Process Before AI
You can't layer automation or AI onto chaos. The team prioritized process adherence, data quality, and recruiter capability building before pursuing more advanced innovation.

3. Simplify the Tech Stack
Replacing multiple point solutions with a unified ATS ecosystem reduced complexity and enabled cleaner reporting, better adoption, and stronger governance.

4. Operational Metrics Aren't Enough
Time-to-fill and offer acceptance rates matter, but executives want insight. Strategic scorecards now combine performance data with external market intelligence and competitive context.

5. Capability Building Is Strategic Work
Interviewing skills, recruitment strategy conversations, offer management, and stakeholder alignment are foundational competencies that elevate TA's business impact.

6. Change Management Requires Intentionality
Regular pulse checks, global town halls, leadership alignment, and engagement committees helped stabilize morale and improve adoption during transformation.

7. Career Growth Requires Discomfort
Ilona's advice: say yes to unclear opportunities, embrace uncertainty, and get comfortable being uncomfortable.

 

Links

Ilona Kremer on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

📝 Episode Summary 

Camye Mackey, EVP and Chief People, Diversity & Inclusion Officer for the Atlanta Hawks, joins Rob to talk about building culture inside one of the most community-connected brands in sports. From embedding inclusion into both workforce strategy and marketplace impact, to designing a "Talent Blueprint" that future-proofs the organization, Camye shares how HR can operate as a true business partner. The conversation explores generational diversity, AI adoption, workforce skill gaps, and why DEI remains a business imperative, not a buzzword. If you're thinking about how to architect a modern people strategy that reflects your community and scales with change, this episode offers a practical and inspiring roadmap.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• DEI Is a Business Imperative: Camye reframes diversity and inclusion as drivers of innovation and performance, not political talking points. Diverse perspectives fuel better decisions and stronger outcomes.
• Culture Must Be Lived, Not Framed: The Hawks operationalize values through behaviors (SMILE: Southern hospitality, Make a moment, Individuals matter, Listen & learn, Empowerment), turning principles into daily practice.
• HR Must Lead on Technology: AI and digital tools aren't side projects. HR is central to training, adoption, policy shifts, and workforce readiness.
• Workforce Planning Is Strategic: The "Talent Blueprint" approach connects business strategy to job design, compensation, competency development, and skill gap analysis.
• Generational Diversity Is Real: With five generations in the workplace, people strategy must flex to meet different needs and expectations.
• Curiosity Is Career Leverage: Camye's advice: stay close to the business, ask questions, be relentlessly curious, and position yourself as a solution partner.

  🔗 Links

Camye Mackey on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

📝 Episode Summary

Tim shares how he built (and scrapped) a multimillion-dollar AI interview scheduling bot, why we should rethink HR's "pecking order," and lessons from the front lines of automation. The conversation dives into digital assistants, digital workers, and why HR and IT must now operate as true partners. Tim also challenges the idea that transactional HR work is a necessary career stepping stone, arguing instead for a smarter, more strategic entry path into the profession. 

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Shared Services Is Strategic: The most frequent HR touchpoint for employees sits in operations, exactly where AI can drive real differentiation.

• Not Every AI Bet Pays Off: Tim shares a candid story of a failed, high-investment interview scheduling build and the lessons learned about build vs. buy.

• 80% Isn't Good Enough in High-Stakes Workflows: In areas like recruiting, partial automation can create more risk than value.

• Digital Workers Are Coming: HR and IT must think about AI agents like employees, onboarding, training, performance management included.

• Entry-Level HR Needs Rethinking: Transactional work shouldn't be the default gateway to the profession in an AI-augmented world.
  
  

  Tim Young on LinkedIn

  LHH Recruitment Solutions 

  A Beautiful Working World

  A Soundbeam Studios Production

Dr. Ekta Vyas, CHRO at Keck Medicine of USC, joins Rob to unpack what it really takes to lead transformation inside complex healthcare systems. Drawing on her background as a psychologist, scholar-practitioner, and longtime healthcare HR leader, Dr. Vyas shares how emotional intelligence, strategic business alignment, and disciplined measurement turn HR from a transactional function into a true enterprise driver. From integrating newly acquired hospitals to redesigning HR operating models and elevating employee experience, she explains why most transformations fail and what leaders must do differently. One hot take included: being "a people person" is not a qualification for HR.

📌 Key Takeaways

Strategic HR Requires Business Acumen: Dr. Vyas rejects the notion that being "a people person" is enough for success in HR. Strategic thinking and business alignment are essential.

Transformation Is Emotional: Change isn't just structural, it's deeply emotional. Leaders must manage resistance by understanding how change impacts people's daily work lives.

EQ Is Core to Change Management: Dr. Vyas uses emotional intelligence to lead through transformation, from listening tours to transparent communication with staff.

Academic + Industry Fusion: Her dual role as CHRO and adjunct faculty keeps her grounded in both current research and practical application, a powerful combination.

Measurement Matters: The Keck HR transformation tracked over 7,400 cases, implemented ServiceNow, and used metrics to improve efficiency, service, and employee experience.

Today's HR Is Tomorrow's Infrastructure: To support enterprise growth (including M&A), HR must evolve from a transactional function to a strategic enabler.

Lifelong Learning Drives Effective Leadership: Whether through teaching or leading, Dr. Vyas emphasizes the need to stay curious and continually develop.

Dr. Ekta Vyas on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Monica Marquez has held big titles at Google, EY, and Goldman Sachs, but now she's teaching companies how to ditch their outdated playbooks and embrace a new way of working with AI. In this episode, Monica and Rob unpack why the people team, not IT, needs to lead AI transformation, how to automate without losing the human touch, and what it really means to "unlearn" your way to better work. She shares how her team at Flipwork is helping organizations build adaptive, human-centered workflows and why leaders must create safe spaces for experimentation.

Also discussed: how to turn prompting into repeatable agents, the problem with "work slop," and why the best AI onboarding might come from a Clippy-inspired bot named Flippy.

📌 Key Takeaways

• AI transformation must be people-led, not tech-led

• Unlearning is the new competitive edge in a world moving faster than ever

• "Work slop" is real, and AI isn't to blameHigh-value work starts when you stop doing what AI can do faster

• The best use of AI is treating it like an intern, not an oracle

• Prompting is table stakes. Turning prompts into agents is the real differentiator

• Empowering people to automate their own workflows requires safe space and structure

• People teams must guide AI adoption to protect ROI and increase tool adoption

• AI should amplify your "authentic intelligence," not replace it

• A modern talent strategy must account for psychological safety, rapid experimentation, and clear permission to try new things

 

🔗 Links

¡Ay, Ay, Ay, AI! Newsletter

Monica Marquez on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

 

Tony Castellanos has seen recruiting from every angle: Google, Square, various startups, and now as Head of Compensation & Talent at Nextdoor. In this episode, Tony breaks down how his team is using AI to rethink recruiter training, eliminating the "practice on candidates" problem by simulating real conversations with virtual personas. He and Rob also dive into community-led recruiting, why values alignment trumps pedigree, and how automation should empower recruiters to be more human.

Also on the mic: the death of the "Apply Now" mentality, the future of AI interview agents, and why Nextdoor's most beloved teammate might be a benefits bot named Ben.

 

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• AI-driven training gives recruiters reps without risking candidate experience

• Recruiter excellence starts with values alignment and relationship building

• Referrals aren't just about "who do you know", they're part of a broader community activation strategy

• Recruiters should act like talent strategists, not inbox managers

• Tools like CodeSignal enable voice-to-voice interview simulations with real-time feedback

• Giving AI agents names and personalities makes adoption more natural and team-friendly

🔗 Links

Tony Castellanos on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

André Martin has been CLO at Nike, Mars, and Target, so when he talks about the cost of disengagement, we listen. In this episode, André joins Rob to talk about his new book Wrong Fit, Right Fit, why work feels broken for so many, and what leaders can do about it. From rewriting job descriptions to rethinking culture as a daily operating system instead of a poster, André lays out a blueprint for restoring energy, engagement, and trust inside modern organizations.

Also discussed: why climbing the ladder might take you further from your craft, how companies can stop catfishing candidates, and why your offsite might be a total waste of time.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Work is always happening, which is why companies must intentionally design for recovery and restoration

• Culture is not a value statement, it's how work actually gets done, shared, and socialized

• Disengagement is expensive; $9.6 trillion in lost productivity comes from people doing the wrong work in the wrong place

• Protective narratives are a red flag; rationalizing and blaming are signs of misalignment

• The best offsites are not packed with content, they are focused on building deep relationships and trust

• Promotions should not pull people away from their craft; getting better at your job should not always mean managing more people

• A more honest hiring process that includes how ideas are shared and decisions are made can reduce bad-fit attrition
  
  

🔗 Links

Wrong Fit, Right Fit: Why How We Work Matters More Than Ever

André Martin on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Tracy Layney has led HR at iconic brands like Levi's, Old Navy, and Shutterfly, so it's no surprise she's now training the next generation of CHROs at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Tracy joins Rob to unpack why HR's role is more complex (and powerful) than ever before, and how her coursework is helping senior people leaders develop the human capital strategies their companies desperately need. She breaks down the people-side of big moves—like Levi's exit from Russia—and shares the three-pillar framework she teaches for linking business goals to people strategy. Plus: why HR still doesn't speak the language of business, and how she's helping to change that

 

📌 Key Takeaways

• Tracy's journey from org strategy consulting to CHRO to professor

• Why executive HR education is finally getting the attention it deserves

• A behind-the-scenes look at Booth's program for future CHROs

• The people-side of major business decisions, like Levi's exit from Russia

• Why the CHRO role is more complex, and more influential, than ever

• The three-pillar framework for building a scalable human capital strategy

• How to tailor people strategy without reinventing the wheel

• Why HR still doesn't speak the language of business, and how to change it

• The disconnect between strategic frameworks and HR's day-to-day execution

• Tracy's take on lifelong learning, fractional work, and what's next in her career

 

🔗 Links

Tracey Layney on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Angela Briggs-Paige, Chief People Officer at Acelero Learning, joins Rob to share why HR is not your friend—and that's a good thing. Angela breaks down how she shows up as a business leader first and a people expert always. She shares how she earned her seat at the boardroom table, what it really takes to build employee-led career paths, and why performance reviews need a serious glow-up. Plus: Angela's approach to employee growth (spoiler alert: it involves passports), starting her own fractional CPO business, and never, ever being out-peopled.

📌 Key Takeaways

• Why HR isn't your friend

• How to speak "business" instead of "HR" to get heard in leadership rooms

• The courage it takes to challenge decisions in the boardroom

• "I will not be out-peopled": Angela's mantra for CPO credibility

• How Acelero is replacing performance reviews with employee-led "career passports"

• The mindset shift from "how do we keep people?" to "how do we make staying a meaningful choice?"

• Why enabling managers as coaches, not judges, is the key to performance development

• The case for giving employees homework before their 1:1s

• How expanding her portfolio beyond HR helped Angela grow as a business leader

• What her fractional CPO venture People Power is teaching her about right-sizing HR strategy for scale

 

🔗 Links

Angela Briggs-Paige on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Michelle Brooks, Chief People & Culture Officer at Security Compass, joins Rob to unpack what it really means to lead with "compassionate candor." She shares how feedback norms are shifting for Gen Z, how she built a truly strategic people function without a traditional HR background, and why HR's identity crisis is holding the industry back. Plus, Michelle gives a front-row look at how her team is driving AI adoption across the business—from launching an internal AI council to treating AI like the biggest change management initiative of the decade.

This episode is packed with spicy takes, real talk about feedback, and a blueprint for how HR and IT can actually partner to move AI from buzzword to business driver.

 

📌 Key Takeaways

• Why Gen Z wants more feedback, and how to deliver it with "compassionate candor"

• The problem with radical candor and how it's been quietly rebranded

• Why feedback is often withheld from leaders, and how Michelle invites it in

• The myth that HR needs permission to have a seat at the table

• How Michelle's background in sales and recruiting helped her avoid HR "learned helplessness"

• Why HR still suffers from an identity crisis

• How Security Compass is treating AI adoption as a company-wide change management initiative

• The structure and purpose of their internal AI council, governance committee, and AI champions program

• The growing alliance between HR and IT

• How to make the business case for leading AI adoption from the people function

🔗 Links

Michelle Brooks on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer at 1Password, joins Rob to unpack how the company scaled from a scrappy, consumer-first startup to a 1,400-person B2B security powerhouse. She shares why shifting from B2C to B2B hiring isn't just about adding new roles—it's about evolving core competencies. Katya also explains how her team uses "anti-recruiting" to scare off the wrong candidates, and how being brutally honest during the hiring process actually leads to better retention. Plus: why every company is a train ride, and you don't have to ride the whole way.

📌 Key Takeaways

• Why 1Password eliminated the "Apply Now" button—and what it means for candidate experience

• How hiring changed as the company shifted from B2C to enterprise B2B

• The buy-vs-build approach to talent in cybersecurity and SaaS

• Why "anti-recruiting" is a crucial part of high-growth hiring

• How to design an interview loop that screens for ambiguity tolerance

• The difference between relevant experience and transplanting culture

• Why some hires are "lifers" and others join for a chapter—and that's OK

• Katya's metaphor for growth: scaling a company is like a train ride

• Why strong employer branding should repel as much as it attracts

• How candidate curiosity and specificity signal long-term success

 

🔗 Links

Katya Laviolette on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Rob reconnects with longtime friend and HubSpot's VP of Talent Acquisition & Mobility, Becky McCullough, for a conversation that spans nearly a decade of growth, both personal and organizational. Becky shares how trust, flexibility, and curiosity have kept her at HubSpot for 10+ years, and why she encourages her team to take recruiter calls (really). They also dig into HubSpot's AI-first approach to hiring, performance, and engagement, including how they're assessing AI fluency without bias, and why "show your prompt" might be the new "show your work." Plus: Becky's spicy take on why direct reports shouldn't be part of hiring their boss.

 

📌 Key Takeaways

• Why Becky encourages her team to take phone screens with external recruiters—and how it builds trust

• HubSpot's shift from reactive HR to strategic workforce planning

• How AI fluency is becoming table stakes in hiring (and how to assess it equitably)

• The role of trust in employee engagement surveys—and why honesty is a signal

• Why Becky believes direct reports shouldn't help hire their boss

• How HubSpot uses Qualtrics and AI to synthesize feedback fast

• The balance between fast AI adoption and responsible implementation

• Why hiring is (still) a team sport—and TA shouldn't be "the hiring police"

🔗 Links

Becky McCullough on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

✍️ Episode Description 

Jessica Swank didn't set out to be a Chief People Officer—but when the opportunity found her, she said yes. Now CPO at Box, Jessica joins Rob to share her unconventional career journey and how she's helping lead the company into its next era as an AI-first organization. She explains why AI is more about change management than tech, what it means to build cross-functional partnerships that work, and why every Boxer (even the CEO) has to pass an AI quiz. Jessica also reveals how Box rolled out an internal AI agent that writes job descriptions in seconds, and why "return on time" is her new favorite metric. Plus: a cameo from Jeep, her 7-year-old's favorite GPT agent.

📌 Key Takeaways

• Jessica's journey from recruiter to Chief People Officer

• Why she nearly said no to the CPO role at Box

• What it's really like to lead HR during a global shutdown

• How Box is approaching AI as a cross-functional, people-first initiative

• Why HR should lead AI strategy—not just adoption

• Box's three-pillar framework for AI: Optimize, Elevate, Amplify

• The ROI of AI? Try ROT—Return on Time

• How Box built an AI agent that drafts JDs from intake calls

• Why every employee at Box is required to pass an AI enablement course

• How to grow with a company instead of being outgrown by it

• Why "get comfortable being uncomfortable" is still the best career advice

🔗 Links

Jessica Swank on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Jim Conti, Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, joins Rob to unpack what it really means to support startups from the VC side. He shares how his role has evolved from operator to advisor, why he often tells founders not to hire, and what makes a great first head of marketing hire. Jim also explains how talent leaders can earn influence without ownership, translate TA metrics into business outcomes, and become the first call when founders hit a crisis. Plus: the real reason boards don't care about your hiring speed.

📌 Key Takeaways:

• What a talent partner actually does at an early-stage VC

• How to support portfolio companies without getting embedded full-time

• Why hiring should be a last resort—not a first instinct

• The bowling bumper metaphor for talent advisory

• How to guide founders through hiring their first execs

• How to build trust and become the first phone call when things go sideways

• Why talent teams need to shift from "function" to "impact" when reporting to boards

• Common TA metrics boards don't care about—and what they do want instead

• Why talent leaders must stay curious about AI, automation, and tooling

• The evolution of recruiting from high-volume hiring to strategic headcount planning

 

🔗 Episode Links:

Jim Conti on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Delivery Hero's Chief People and Sustainability Officer, Ana Mitrasevic, joins Rob to challenge the status quo of performance management. Drawing on her experience in both HR and product, Ana makes the case for replacing rigid review cycles with tech-enabled, real-time performance enablement. She shares her vision of a two-sided internal talent marketplace, explains why traditional career ladders don't cut it anymore, and offers a smart hiring hack that both CFOs and CPOs can get behind. Plus, a friendly invite to watch high-drama basketball in Serbia.

 

Key Takeaways:

• Why performance enablement should replace traditional performance management

• How technology can identify real-time strengths and skill gaps without a manager's input

• Why annual reviews and rigid nine-box grids no longer serve high-performing teams

• How to build an internal talent marketplace that empowers nonlinear, skill-based career moves

• How to use "next-level-down" backfills to create internal mobility and reduce costs

• What HR can learn from product management: test, iterate, de-prioritize

• Why values and behaviors may matter more than skills in internal hiring

• How to scale talent discovery beyond one-off relationships and gut feeling
  
  

Ana Mitrasevic on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Tina Bright wasn't looking—but Inter-Con Security found her anyway. In this episode, Tina shares how a well-timed drink with the CPO turned a polite decline into a fast-tracked offer. She unpacks her playbook for entering a new org, from low-hanging fruit wins to tech stack audits, and explains why TA leaders should stay curious about the latest tools (even when they're not buying). Tina also reflects on evaluating career moves with intention—and why working for someone who gets TA can be a game-changer.

Key Takeaways:

• How a casual drink turned into a senior leadership role

• The importance of surveying stakeholders early in a new role

• Low-lift, high-impact wins to build credibility fast

• Evaluating ATS and CRM options that actually fit the business

• Why TA leaders should demo new tools—even without a buying need

• How to spot when a company is truly invested in talent acquisition

• Tina's three-question framework for evaluating new opportunities

• Why company culture (and who you report to) really matters
  
  

Tina Bright on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Ken Bouchard, VP of Talent Strategy at BJ's Wholesale Club, joins Rob to break down how he led a full-scale HR transformation—without losing sight of the business. From splitting strategic and ER functions, to killing off "HR vanity projects," Ken explains how he restructured his team to be faster, sharper, and more aligned to outcomes. Plus, he shares why some projects should be shelved even if they succeed, what HR can learn from restaurants, and how a little time in Iceland goes a long way for clarity.

Key Takeaways:

• Why BJ's split employee relations from strategic HR—and how it improved both

• How to kill off "HR vanity projects" (even the successful ones)

• A practical framework for aligning HR work to real business outcomes

• Why HR pros should treat internal teams like customers

• The value of front-of-house/back-of-house thinking in HR org design

• Why experience across multiple HR domains leads to better leadership

• How to grow your career in HR when key processes only happen once a year

• The importance of postmortems—even when things go well

 

Ken Bouchard on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Trisha Degg joins Rob to unpack her zigzagging path through sales, HR, venture capital, and back to the hiring trenches as Head of Global TA at Rush Street Interactive. She shares how "Googling her way through HR" (pre-AI!) made her a sharper TA leader, why she hired a former recruiter to wrangle ATS chaos, and how her team is using AI to reverse-engineer their best hires. From global hiring hurdles to cleaning up messy data, Trisha proves that building scalable talent processes is as much about grit as it is strategy—plus, there's tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes

Key takeaways:

• Why cross-functional experience makes for stronger talent leaders

• How to clean up and future-proof your ATS and headcount data

• The value of hiring scrappy, fast learners into ops roles

• Using AI to identify common traits among top performers

• Tips for globalizing recruiting processes across 20+ countries

• How to build a strong CPO relationship (and why it matters)

Trisha Degg on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

TTTM welcomes back Dom Farnan, who shares her journey from being the CEO of DotConnect to her current role as Head of Business Recruiting at Groq. Dom discusses the challenges and learnings from her transition, the importance of communication in leadership, and the need for a tailored recruiting process that aligns with the company's values. She emphasizes the significance of educating hiring managers about the recruitment process and the importance of choosing the right clients for successful partnerships. Dom also shares insights on assessing talent and the qualities that make a great recruiter, concluding with her thoughts on curiosity as a key value in recruitment.

Dom Farnan on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Show Notes & Key Takeaways Show Notes

EnterpriseDB CHRO Einav Lavi shares how she transformed from finance instructor to business-focused HR leader by speaking the language of executives—revenue, costs, and ROI. She details challenging a COVID-era 20% layoff mandate with data-driven alternatives that saved nearly $1M, leading company-wide AI implementation, and positioning HR as "builders of the business" rather than policy enforcers. The conversation covers earning executive credibility through commercial fluency, courage to challenge leadership decisions, and viewing HR as a strategic change management function.

Key Takeaways

• Speak business language: Translate HR initiatives into revenue impact, cost analysis, and ROI rather than engagement scores or time-to-fill
• Challenge with data: Respond to executive decisions with financial models and alternative cost analyses, not emotional appeals
• Earn credibility through commercial fluency: Understand revenue, margins, and business metrics to gain genuine executive partnership
• Lead cross-functional change: Position HR as change management experts who can spearhead company-wide initiatives like AI implementation
• Use HR as transformation pilot: Test new processes within your department first, document results, then scale across the organization
• Master the "why" in communication: Focus on explaining why changes benefit the business, not just what changes are happening
• Invest in business knowledge: Understand different departments' priorities to become a true business partner rather than order-taker
• Commit to continuous learning: Block dedicated time for market trends, financials, and industry developments that impact your company

 

Einav Lavi on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Show Notes

Lucia shares her unconventional career philosophy: choose companies over jobs. With experience at Yahoo, Patreon, and six years at Virta, she argues that job titles, managers, and compensation frequently change, but company mission remains stable. The conversation explores Virta's unique hiring challenge of needing 20-50 healthcare coaches and providers within weeks due to unpredictable patient enrollment. Their solution: a 4,500-person talent community (4x their workforce) maintained through regular communication, cohort-based hiring, and radical transparency to enable rapid deployment when demand spikes.

Key Takeaways

• Choose company over job details: Focus on company mission and ethos rather than specific titles, managers, or compensation—these change frequently while mission stays stable.

• You are the asset: View your skills as portable value that can be applied anywhere, not tied to a specific role or company.

• Mission alignment prevents burnout: Working for organizations whose purpose resonates with you provides emotional fuel during difficult periods.

• Build talent communities at scale: Virta maintains 4,500 people (4x workforce) with regular communication, enabling rapid hiring for unpredictable demand.

• Use cohort hiring for transparency: Set hiring dates reduce uncertainty and improve candidate communication about timing and expectations.

• Simplify your tech stack: Consolidating tools reduces complexity and costs while improving focus on relationships.

• Prioritize authentic recruiting: Transparent, anti-sales communication builds better candidate relationships than traditional "selling" approaches.

• Consider fractional work: Consulting and fractional roles offer flexibility to wait for aligned opportunities while maintaining income.

Links

Lucia Guillory LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Gianna Driver, a seasoned Chief People Officer shares her stance on eliminating cover letters and resumes, the mutual evaluation process during job searches, and the critical questions candidates should ask to assess company culture. Gianna emphasizes the importance of in-person interactions and offers valuable advice for job seekers navigating a challenging market.

 

Takeaways

• Should we eliminate cover letters and resumes?
• Job searches are a mutual evaluation process.
• Asking the right questions to gauge company culture.
• Tuning in to subtle cues during interviews.
• Knowing your worth independent of your employer.

Gianna Driver on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

Helen Burns, the Global Talent Director at Owkin, about her unique journey in talent acquisition. Helen shares her transition from freelance consulting to an in-house role, the importance of long-term talent strategies, and the challenges of building a talent team in a rapidly changing industry. They discuss the significance of employer value propositions, company culture, and navigating imposter syndrome in career growth. Helen emphasizes the need for clarity in attracting talent and the importance of being open to learning and adapting in a new
environment.

• The Global Talent Scout role emphasizes proactive recruitment strategies.
• Balancing immediate hiring needs with long-term talent strategies.
• Imposter syndrome can be overcome by reflecting on past achievements.
  
  

Helen Burns on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Summary

In this episode, Rob interviews Jonathan Graber, the head of talent at Gynger, discussing his journey from agency recruiting to in-house talent acquisition. They explore the challenges and rewards of transitioning roles, the importance of setting deadlines in hiring, and the diverse responsibilities that come with working in a startup environment. Jonathan shares insights on managing priorities, the significance of people operations, and how to navigate the complexities of talent acquisition in a fast-paced setting.

Takeaways

• The 10 80 10 rule illustrates how people respond to requests.
• Transitioning from agency to in-house recruiting
• Adding People Ops responsibilities
• Prioritizing recruitment based on urgency and revenue impact.
• Managing multiple roles in a startup requires effective triage.

 

Jonathan Graber on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

JP, Chief People Officer at Metropolis, emphasizes the need to reframe the return to office narrative, highlighting the irreplaceable value of human connection and collaboration that cannot be replicated through remote work alone. He shares insights on fostering a culture of access and the responsibilities that come with managing a large workforce post-acquisition. In this conversation, John-Paul Sukkar discusses the challenges and strategies involved in integrating a large organization after a significant acquisition. He emphasizes the importance of cultural shifts, change management, and the reevaluation of core values to foster innovation and ownership among employees. JP shares insights on balancing agility with necessary processes in a larger corporate environment and introduces a personal framework for decision-making that encourages long-term thinking and risk-taking.

Takeaways

In-person interactions foster serendipitous conversations that can unblock issues.
AI cannot replicate the nuances of human interactions in the workplace.
Return to office should be viewed as an opportunity, not a punishment.
Creating a culture of access encourages open communication and collaboration. 
Day one changes are crucial for signaling new directions.
Ownership mentality is essential for employee engagement.
Taking risks on oneself is vital for personal and professional growth.

 

Links

JP Sukkar on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Elizabeth explains how succession planning reveals far-reaching insights about the state of talent in an organization. As Director of Talent Management and Organizational Development at Cerence AI, Elizabeth has prioritized generating individual development plans (IDPs) for all employees. Elizabeth emphasizes that employees should take ownership of their careers and seek out opportunities for growth, while companies must create supportive environments to retain top talent. The conversation highlights the need for open communication, feedback mechanisms, and the role of managers in fostering a culture of development and engagement.
Takeaways:

• Why implementation of talent management strategies is crucial.
• How succession planning is essential for organizational growth.
• Every employee should have an Individual Development Plan (IDP).
• Companies must support their managers to retain talent.
• Employees should take ownership of their career paths.

 

Cerence AI

Elizabeth on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Mike Mroczka is an interview coach, author, software engineer, and consultant specializing in helping hiring organizations eliminate cheating in their interview processes. Mike shares the challenges posed by AI tools in coding interviews, the distinction between using resources and cheating, and the necessity of evaluating candidates' foundational knowledge. Mike shares insights on how organizations can design interviews to deter cheating and the tools available for monitoring candidates. The discussion concludes with a hopeful outlook on the future of technology in hiring, emphasizing the importance of adapting to new challenges while maintaining a focus on genuine skill assessment.   Episode Notes:

• AI is significantly influencing the interview process.
• Defining & evaluating "vibe coding" 
• Candidates often use AI tools to prepare for interviews, raising ethical questions.
• How Companies are adapting their interview processes to account for AI usage.
• Maintaining a balance between technology and traditional interviewing methods.
• There must be an unimpeachable understanding at the base of professional skills.
• Interviews are becoming more challenging due to AI tools.
• Candidates are using AI, which complicates the assessment process.
• Cheating in interviews is not solely AI-based; leaks can occur.
• In-person interviews do not guarantee the absence of cheating.
• There are services that help candidates cheat during interviews.
• Interview design must evolve to prevent cheating effectively.
• Bad actors are increasingly infiltrating the hiring process.
• Monitoring tools can help detect cheating but are not foolproof.
• Awareness and training can significantly improve the hiring process.

Links:

Mike Mroczka on LinkedIn

Mike Mroczka on Twitter

Mike Mroczka Website

Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production

 

Lia Economos discusses the evolution of interview processes, particularly in the context of integrating AI tools and adapting to the changing landscape of technical interviews. She emphasizes the importance of structured interviews as companies grow and the need to design interview questions that challenge candidates beyond the capabilities of AI. The discussion also touches on the ethical implications of over-employment and the necessity for candidates to network effectively during their job search.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

• A brief overview of her background and what brought her to Replicate. 

• Lia tells us about the 18-month hiatus that she took between jobs. 

• The importance of practicing interview skills even when you aren't seeking a job. 

• How to help candidates who haven't interviewed in a while prepare for interviews.

• Lia tells us about her interview process with Replicate and the recent one she conducted. 

• When companies need to consider creating a structured interview process. 

• How she sees AI tools being used in candidates' interviews. 

• Why AI can make technical screenings less effective. 

• How Lia would handle finding out if an employee was lying about having multiple jobs. 

• Lia shares advice for people reentering their careers after a hiatus. 

 

Quotes:

 

"If you're hiring for a team and you're hiring more than one person, you have to create structured interviews around [the] principles that you're looking for." — @liaeconomix [19:22]

 

"There are so many tools right now that exist for technical candidates to use AI without the interviewer knowing that you have to redesign your interviews to make sure that you're allowing for and working around these tools." — @liaeconomix [22:44]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Lia Economos on LinkedIn

Lia Economos on X

Replicate

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

 

In today's fast-paced world where candidates are always looking for the next opportunity, it's rare to find someone dedicated to growing within one organization. As today's guest Lani Montoya demonstrates, internal growth may be the best way to develop exceptional people leaders. Lani is the Chief People Officer at Pernod Ricard, the world leader in premium international wines and spirits, and she begins by explaining her path to joining the company and why she chose to grow in it instead of seeking opportunities elsewhere. We discuss how to rise above workplace complacency, the value of persistence and commitment, whether a work-life balance is real or myth, and the role of modern people leaders. Lani also describes how she makes new hires, how she helps others realize their people-leadership potential, what Pernod Ricard has cooking in leadership development, and her advice for choosing between staying at a company and pursuing other avenues.   

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

• Lani describes Pernod Ricard and how she became its Chief People Officer.

• Why she chose to grow within the organization instead of looking elsewhere. 

• How to stay at a company without becoming complacent (and still adding value).

• What Lani is busy working on today, and what she still hopes to achieve at the company.  

• Why she believes in balance as a whole but not in work-life balance.

• Understanding what's expected of modern people leaders.

• How Pernod Ricard prepares its people to become the type of leaders it needs. 

• Lani's process for helping others embrace and explore their people-leadership potential.

• Whether leadership and career growth go hand-in-hand 

• Unpacking Pernod Ricard's leadership development platform. 

• Pernod Ricard's strategy for becoming known as a skills-based organization.

• Lani's advice for deciding whether to leave or stay at a company for personal growth. 

 

Quotes:

 

"I always found the work I did [at Pernod Ricard] very interesting. I love the trust, the independence that I had, and I always felt like I was making a difference." — Lani Montoya [11:41]

 

"I'm not so sure that I believe in work-life balance, but I do believe in balance." — Lani Montoya [14:57]

 

"Strengthening the role of the people leader is a big opportunity for driving engagement, driving results, and driving our culture." — Lani Montoya [22:39]

 

"Being a people leader is as much an art as it is a science." — Lani Montoya [25:05]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Lani Montoya on LinkedIn

Learning & Development | Pernod Ricard

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

 

What does it take to build a people-first hiring culture from the ground up, without sacrificing speed or scale? In this episode of Talk Talent to Me, returning guest Anna Chalon, Head of People at Runway, shares how she intentionally navigated her career from startup to acquisition and back again, fueled by a love for building and a clear sense of purpose. She unpacks her criteria for choosing the right company, the power of gut instinct balanced with measurable data, and how candidate experience can be both human and scalable. Anna also offers insights into how she assesses founders during interviews and why speed and thoughtfulness in hiring are good indicators of long-term cultural alignment. Tune in to learn how to build resilient, high-trust recruiting processes and make smarter career decisions rooted in self-awareness and intention!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

• An overview of Anna's journey from Frame.io to Adobe to Runway.

• How she used Adobe's acquisition of Frame.io as a career checkpoint.

• The importance of being clear about the size and pace of the company you want.

• Values over industry: the creative culture and visionary founders that drew Anna to Runway.

• Founder responsiveness as a hiring signal (and what to look for in the first interview).

• Reflecting on hiring wins and misses as opportunities to learn and improve.

• Blending data and intuition to ensure that a role truly excites you.

• Building scalable, human-centered hiring from scratch with speed, structure, and soul.

• The impact of timely check-ins, personal touches, and radical hiring transparency.

• Starting lean but thinking long-term: balancing agility with a premium candidate experience.

• The power of seeking out quick wins to add value in the short term.

• A simple strengths-enjoyment framework for informed career decisions.

 

Quotes:

 

"Even though I'm not going to be using the product every day, the company culture is still shaped by the type of tool you create." — Anna Chalon [08:15]

 

"[Hiring] is not a perfect science. All these things are still human-based decisions at the end of the day. You do the best with the information you have." — Anna Chalon [14:44]

 

"My goal when I'm building these foundations is: how do we have enough structure and repeatability that we could hire 100 people – if we need to but every single candidate [also feels] like they're alone in the process?" — Anna Chalon [19:14]

 

"Any kind of communication is better than ghosting. – When people are looking for a job, anxiously waiting to get a response, it's just not the right thing to do." — Anna Chalon [26:24]

 

"What am I good at? What do I like? What is the overlap? And how does that apply to work?" — Anna Chalon [37:52]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Anna Chalon on LinkedIn

Runway

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

 

What do the Sunday scaries have to do with how happy you are at work? Today we sit down with Molly Minczeski, the Director of Talent Acquisition & Employer Brand at MANSCAPED, the global men's lifestyle consumer brand and male grooming category creator trusted by over 12 million men worldwide. Molly unpacks what the Sunday scaries really mean and why work-life balance looks different for everyone. She takes us inside MANSCAPED's thriving remote culture, shares her journey into talent acquisition, and explains how she positions herself as a strategic business partner. Plus, she offers expert insights on how candidates can respectfully challenge hiring managers and assess how a company truly values them. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

• The correlation between job satisfaction and the Sunday scaries. 

• Why it's vital to understand that the work-life balance looks different for everyone. 

• Exploring MANSCAPED's office setup and how it keeps its remote employees connected.

• Molly's professional history and how she ended up in her current role. 

• What her day-to-day looks like and what she's most passionate about at work today.

• How she goes beyond her job title to contribute to the business at a fundamental level. 

• Why candidates should challenge hiring managers (and how to go about it). 

• What Molly is looking for when she asks candidates specific questions.  

•  

Quotes:

 

"There might be a correlation between job satisfaction and where on the [Sunday scaries scale] you fall." — Molly Minczeski [03:04]

 

"Every company is finding a rhythm that works for them. [MANSCAPED has] found that productivity has not slowed with everyone working fully from home." — Molly Minczeski [09:36]

 

"I'm a fan of transparency in any opportunity that I can find. [By calling] the elephant out in the room, you can just get so much more done that way." — Molly Minczeski [26:13]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Molly Minczeski on LinkedIn

MANSCAPED

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

 

 

Kenzie discusses her tansition from big tech to an AI startup, and how positive hiring manager relationships are more important than specific AI upskilling. 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

• Welcoming Kenzie (Keller) Hoelscher to the show.

• Kenzie tells us about herself and how she got into recruitment. 

• A little bit about Kenzie's fascinating career. 

• The importance of building relationships with your hiring managers. 

• The role AI is going to play in recruiting in the future. 

• How she landed up at AssemblyAI and what it's like working there.

• The kinds of questions she asks hiring managers when sourcing. 

• How Kenzie filters resumes to narrow down her search. 

• Kenzie shares some advice for anyone who wants to get into AI. 

 

Quotes:

 

"With any role while you're recruiting, as long as you're having those conversations with your hiring manager and understanding what those main skillsets are, I do think it's easy to go out there and source for them." — Kenzie (Keller) Hoelscher [22:48]

 

"There's definitely risks to being in a startup but I think now we're seeing that there's risks at being at bigger companies as well so why not take the risk?" — Kenzie (Keller) Hoelscher [30:40]

 

"AI is a booming industry [and] there's a lot of energy around it right now." — Kenzie (Keller) Hoelscher [31:24]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Kenzie (Keller) Hoelscher on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions

A Beautiful Working World

 

 

Referrals are an active, internal marketing campaign that recruitment leaders need to leverage alongside their external marketing campaigns. Today, global talent leader Neeti Upreti joins the show to discuss the power and importance of referrals in the recruitment industry. Hear all about Neeti's incredible career, why recruiting isn't only a push but also a pull, the importance of senior leadership roles in recruitment, handling referrals, and so much more! Neeti's experience in various industries has helped her identify the dos and don'ts of recruiting and in this conversation, she delves into some of the best ways to increase referrals before talking about when to encourage employees to make referrals. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

• Welcoming today's guest, Neeti Upreti. 

• Neeti shares her career journey and how she ended up where she is today. 

• The push and pull of recruiting: why there needs to be a buy-in from both ends. 

• Neeti outlines the imperative role of senior leadership in recruitment. 

• Balancing hiring referrals with the best-qualified candidate. 

• A few of the best ways to increase referrals within your company. 

• Why employees should be encouraged to make referrals from onboarding. 

• The importance of bringing an element of fun into recruitment. 

• Why Neeti is so excited about transformation in the industry.

 

Quotes:

 

"Behind everybody's success, there are leaders who lean in to provide that development opportunity." — Neeti Upreti [5:48]

 

"The reason why I think that [senior leadership roles are] important and why I still enjoy it is because I feel like you really need to be close to a problem in order to be able to find the solution." — Neeti Upreti [8:01]

 

"We should – be working on an internal campaign to see how [we can] network with our internal employees to find – talent." — Neeti Upreti [22:42]

 

"When you drive fun into a process, you get more engagement." — Neeti Upreti [28:55]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Neeti Upreti on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions

A Beautiful Working World