Navigating Challenging Stakeholders in the Workplace

In this episode, Matt Skiba, VP of Talent at Genies, discusses the dynamics of talent teams and the importance of candidate experiences. Skiba highlights several areas within the talent acquisition function, including team culture, accountability of hiring managers and placing emphasis on the best candidate experience. Additionally, Skiba shares about his company, Genies, an avatar technology company focusing on identity interoperability for the future state of consumer, social, and gaming technologies. He stresses the importance of brand image, empathy, human-factor and a personalized approach towards candidates. Towards the end, he touched upon hiring managers’ accountability in the hiring process and the idea of viewing recruitment from a marketing angle, considering the candidate journey similar to the customer journey.

Highlights:

02:26 Exploring Team Dynamics and Candidate Experience

05:33 The Role of Metrics in Talent Acquisition

06:30 The Shift in Hiring Goals and Strategies

10:13 The Importance of Candidate Experience

18:32 Reconsidering Rejected Candidates

23:15 The Role of Hiring Managers in Talent Acquisition

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Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Talent Tango, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.

Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com

Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?

Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

In this episode of the podcast, Brady Stevenson, the Head of Recruiting at Virta Health, discusses strategies related to branding and engagement within recruitment. Brady speaks about marketing strategies, managing budgets, measuring growth, and the importance of a strong mission to attract talent. He emphasizes the importance of recruiting being a company-wide initiative, not just a role for recruiters. Brady's team combines efforts with the company's marketing team to grow their LinkedIn following and build their talent community. They also survey their employee base to understand what they value in their work, which helps to improve Virta’s value proposition. Finally, Brady talks about the company's long-term vision, including the importance of investing in employer branding for long-term benefit, even during less competitive times in the talent market.

Highlights:

00:54 Understanding Virta Health and Its Mission

02:11 The Role of Employer Branding in Recruitment

03:22 Strategic Approach to Branding and Engagement

03:50 The Importance of Employee Value Proposition

06:46 Building and Nurturing Talent Communities

13:03 Balancing Recruiting and Marketing Efforts

20:47 The Impact of Market Changes on Recruitment

Guest:

In this podcast episode, Angelique Cuevas, the Director of Talent Acquisition at Exabeam, shares insights about her journey from an individual contributor role to a leadership position. Discussing her initial struggle with the shifting dynamics of peer relationships, Cuevas presents various strategic approaches and methods implemented to ensure smooth transitions within the company. She highlights the need to learn and unlearn in this ever-evolving professional landscape. She also emphasizes the role of communication, delegation, and understanding individual career growth paths in successful people management. 

Highlights:

01:19 Transitioning from Individual Contributor to Leader

02:22 Angelique's Journey to Leadership

04:39 Challenges of Becoming a People Leader

07:03 The Importance of Talent Acquisition

08:33 Navigating Relationship Dynamics as a New Manager

12:39 Learning from Mistakes and Adapting Strategy

18:36 Empowering Team Members and Facilitating Growth

Guest:

In this podcast episode, Sherri Manning, Chief People Officer at Olo, discusses cultural transformation and maintaining startup-like vitality while scaling up. She asserts the importance of understanding the 'why' of cultural signs and values as the company grows. Sherri introduces the idea of 'human capital technical debt', drawing parallels with the engineering concept of 'technical debt'. She talks about this debt as a backlog of challenges around decision-making and the need for its documentation to better prepare successors. Sherri also stresses involving stakeholders, retaining and rewarding desired behaviors, and viewing the people function as primarily a business problem-solving domain. 

Highlights:

02:56 Discussing Cultural Transformation in Companies

04:03 Balancing Company Growth and Maintaining Culture

07:18 Educating Stakeholders and Implementing Process Changes

20:37 Understanding the Concept of 'Technical Debt' in HR

27:18 Documenting Decisions and Understanding Their Context

Guest:

Sherri Manning brings over two decades of HR leadership experience to her role as Chief People Officer at Olo since 2023. Before Olo, she significantly contributed to BigCommerce's growth and IPO as Chief People Officer and managed HR functions and acquisition integrations at ECG Management Consultants. With a career spanning roles at Q2ebanking, IBM, UniversalPegasus International, Dell, and Colgate Palmolive, Sherri has developed expertise in strategic HR planning, talent acquisition, benefits management, and organizational effectiveness.

Sherri's educational background is equally impressive, holding a BA in Political Science from Phillips University (1985-1988), a JD from the University of Oklahoma College of Law (1989-1991), with a stint studying EU Legal Studies at the University of Oxford in 1990. She furthered her legal education with an LLM in international business law from Georgetown University Law Center in 1992.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrimanning/

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Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Talent Tango, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.

Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com

Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?

Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

On this episode, Amir Bormand interviews Stephen Chu, the Chief Legal and People Officer at InStride, about the impact of education on talent retention, attraction, and tenure. InStride partners with academic institutions to offer education programs for large enterprise companies, including high school degrees, college degrees, non-degree certificates, and coding courses. The goal is to provide a win-win-win situation for employees, employers, and academic institutions, as employees gain new skills, employers benefit from upskilled talent, and academic institutions gain more learners.

Highlights 

[00:00:04] Impact of education on talent.

[00:02:26] Importance of combined legal and HR role.

[00:05:30] Retention and Mobility.

[00:09:30] Facilitating professional growth opportunities.

[00:10:23] CEO buy-in and program success.

[00:13:44] Advanced professionals improving their skills.

[00:15:03] The importance of continuous learning.

[00:18:28] Education improves retention.

[00:21:42] Educational benefits and improvement.

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Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Talent Tango, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.

Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com

Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?

Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

In this episode, Laura Buckle, the Director of Global Recruitment and Talent at Skims, joins the podcast to discuss the challenges of finding the right people and scaling in a fast-growing company. Skims, founded by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, started as a shapewear company and has now expanded into a clothing brand focusing on body positivity and inclusivity. Laura shares insights on how Skims is navigating the scaling issues typically seen in software startups and the importance of raising the bar when hiring for critical roles. Please tune in to learn more about Skims' journey and their approach to finding the right talent.

Highlights

[00:00:41] Scaling and finding the right people.

[00:05:30] Hiring challenges and growth.

[00:08:28] Hiring manager preferences and team dynamics.

[00:11:05] Learning from hiring mistakes.

[00:15:25] The seven-day rule.

[00:21:08] Enticing engineers with progressive technology.

[00:24:07] Inclusivity in tech teams.

[00:27:14] Mental health in cybersecurity.

Guest: Laura Buckle, Sr Director of Global Recruitment and Talent at Skims: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurabuckle/

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Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Talent Tango, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.

Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com

Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?

Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

On this episode of the podcast, the Amir Bormand  interviews Madeline Minshew, the Vice President of Culture at True Ventures. They discuss the importance of hiring your first head of people and what to look for when taking a job as the first people leader hire. True Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in extraordinary founders and their innovative ideas. They are sector-agnostic and focus on backing exceptional individuals in various markets. This episode explores the characteristics of successful founders and the significance of building a strong team.

Highlights: 

[00:02:26] Characteristics of extraordinary founders.

[00:07:11] Letting go of control.

[00:09:25] Preserving culture while scaling.

[00:13:40] Building the right company.

[00:18:58] Questions for job seekers.

[00:24:14] HR's evolving role in organizations.

[00:27:21] Asking questions and viewing problems.

Guest:

As True’s VP of Culture, Madeline guides True Founders as they evolve as leaders, grow their teams, and intentionally build organizational cultures. She believes authentic, honest relationships that value trust, diversity of perspectives, and open feedback are the quintessential cornerstone of healthy, high-performing teams.

Above all, Madeline is a super-connector across the True Portfolio; she brings together founders, executives, and portfolio team members to create deeper synergy, build collective wisdom, and encourage a sense of belonging.

Prior to joining True, Madeline was the VP of people and talent at Handshake, a True Portfolio company that’s since grown into the leading career development network for college students and recent graduates. Before Handshake, Madeline focused on hiring high-performing talent and building strong, inclusive cultures at Cadre, Tumblr, and Google.

A San Francisco native, Madeline also speaks French and German fluently. Madeline graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University with a major in political science and a minor in French literature.

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Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Talent Tango, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.

Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com

Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?

Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

In this episode, host Amir interviews Brittany Mitlo, Duolingo's Director of University Recruiting. They discuss the unique aspects of university recruiting, including the in-person campus experience and the impact of the pandemic on recruitment strategies. They also delve into Duolingo's popular language learning app and its branding and marketing efforts. Tune in to learn more about Duolingo's approach to university recruiting and its global reach with over half a billion learners worldwide.

Highlights:

[00:00:53] University recruiting during the pandemic.

[00:05:25] Expanding reach to virtual events.

[00:09:07] IRL meetups and connection.

[00:13:37] TikTok presence and applications.

[00:15:51] Grassroots growth and word of mouth.

[00:19:25] Increasing representation of classes.

[00:22:29] Trust and Innovation.

Guest:

Brittany Mitlo is the Director of University Recruiting at Duolingo, which is home to the most downloaded education app worldwide. Brittany's primary focus is on building Duolingo’s University Recruiting strategy and best practices, and supporting her team of recruiters. Brittany has scaled the company from 70 to 700 employees since joining in 2017.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-mitlo/

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Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Talent Tango, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.

Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com

Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?

Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

In this episode, Amir Bormand interviews Alicia Kortmeyer, the head of people at Denim, a freight payment platform. Alicia shares her journey of transitioning into the head of people role and her unique challenges in managing a fully remote team across the country. The discussion also discusses the definition and responsibilities of a head of people role in different companies. Tune in to gain insights on leveling up in HR and developing a holistic viewpoint in people management. 

Highlights:

[00:01:18] Moving into a head of people role.

[00:03:26] Retaining top performers.

[00:07:05] Transitioning to head of people.

[00:11:30] Dealing with daily bumps.

[00:14:08] Evolving as a recruiter.

[00:19:18] Conflict resolution and communication.

[00:20:46] Career path moving forward.

[00:23:47] Leveling up during challenging times.

Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-molina-kortmeyer-16601011/

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Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Talent Tango, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.

Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com

Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?

Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

In this episode, host and guest Keshar Sheridan, Head of People at Grow Therapy, discusses the challenges of dealing with stakeholders in the workplace. They explore the different types of stakeholders and the implications of being a matrix component of the company. They also delve into biases and how to handle challenging stakeholders who go against HR policies. Kesha shares her stories and insights on navigating these situations. Tune in to gain valuable perspectives on managing stakeholders in the workplace.

Highlights

[00:01:30] Mental health care coverage.

[00:06:09] Challenges in talent acquisition.

[00:09:14] Tying process to specific outcomes.

[00:12:38] Retaining top employees and engagement.

[00:18:21] Challenging stakeholders pushing boundaries.

[00:21:55] Mitigating work conflicts effectively.

[00:27:17] Employees must wash hands.

[00:29:09] Disagree and commit.

Guest: