The Start Smart podcast has a simple premise: The best way to succeed in talent acquisition is to begin by using the latest data to pinpoint the characteristics that matter in the workforce. So, what’s the key data point for today’s recruiters? It’s that Millennials are now the largest single cohort in the workforce. They make up more than one-third – 35 per cent, in fact – of all workers, and by 2030, just six years from now, they will comprise 75 per cent of the working population. Said another way, the policies, processes, practices and technology employers have used to recruit what used to be the largest workforce cohort – Boomers – must now be reconfigured for Millennials and GenZs.

In this episode of Start Smart, I am joined by Heather Tenuto, CEO of TheMuse.com and FairyGodBoss.com, two linked sites that focus on serving next-gen professionals and the employers that are actively recruiting them. We cover a broad range of social, cultural and workforce topics and hone in on why TheMuse has positioned itself as “the first values-based career platform” for net-gen workers and how employers can use “authentic employer brand storytelling” to connect with them. It’s a fascinating conversation, so listen in.

In one recent survey, over two-thirds of the respondents said they thought that AI would replace them on-the-job. Among many HR and Talent Acquisition professionals, there’s been a similar level of anxiety and sometimes even fear about the impact of the technology. So, what I wanted to explore in this episode of Start Smart is how recruiting teams can capture the benefits of AI without trashing recruiters in the process.

My guest for the show is Adam Godson, the President & Chief Product Officer at Paradox.ai.

We explored several aspects of the topic, including:

1. Are recruiters’ fears justified?
2. Should they worry about the impact of AI on their jobs?
3. What are the best ways for employers to acquire and implement the technology, so that it helps rather than harms recruiters?, and
4. What can individual recruiters do to make sure they’re on top of AI and not crushed by it?

It’s a fascinating conversation with a guy who’s been both a recruiter and a technologist, so his insights are on point and extremely helpful.

The Start Smart podcast with Peter Weddle

A recent survey found that only half of all business leaders use feedback loops to keep track of the changes among their customer base. If that’s true on the consumer side of a business, it’s probably also true in talent acquisition. And that’s problem. Talent technology is almost always acquired to improve KPIs – to see an upgrade in recruiter performance – and it’s next to impossible to reach that goal without the effective use of feedback loops. Happily, there’s no one more expert in applying feedback loops than my guest for this episode of Start Smart, Maury Hanigan, the CEO of SparcStart.

Maury and I crammed about two hours of discussion into our 30 minute show, so we covered everything from the difference between using a feedback loop when implementing talent technology and simply monitoring a new product’s introduction. We discussed who should be invited to participate in a feedback loop for a new technology-based tool and the steps involved in setting it up as well as the benefits that can accrue to both the recruiting team and the employer from doing so. It’s a conversation that explores both the strategic and tactical aspects of feedback loops and the challenges and opportunities that come from using them to implement talent technology. Take a listen!