Episodes

  • #HRTechChat: Steven O’Brien on Building High-Performing Teams Through Strategic Role Design

    #HRTechChat: Steven O’Brien on Building High-Performing Teams Through Strategic Role Design
    Dec 16 2024
    Steven O’Brien, Senior Vice President of People Solutions at Syneos Health, joins Dylan Teggart for this episode of #HRTechChat. With over 20 years of experience in HR and talent acquisition, Steven shares his transformative approach to building high-performing teams by emphasizing the critical role of organizational design, culture, and team dynamics. From his unique experiences at IBM to his insights on avoiding the pitfalls of “top talent” myths, Steven discusses how autonomy, task variety, and feedback are essential ingredients for unlocking potential. He also explores the impact of generative AI and modern assessment tools on enhancing productivity and fostering workplace innovation.
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    38 mins
  • #HRTechChat: John Sumser on Compensation, Pay Transparency, and the Future of Work

    #HRTechChat: John Sumser on Compensation, Pay Transparency, and the Future of Work
    Nov 25 2024
    John Sumser, VP of Marketing at Salary.com and a seasoned industry analyst with over 30 years of experience, joins Dylan Teggart for this episode of #HRTechChat. Together, they explore the shifting landscape of compensation and the profound ways pay transparency and AI are shaping the future of work. From his beginnings analyzing the job board industry at the dawn of the internet, John offers a wealth of knowledge on HR technology and the critical role compensation plays in business strategy. In this episode, John shares his unique perspective on key trends transforming the workforce, from navigating an aging labor market to the challenges of integrating vast amounts of data into actionable insights. With a thoughtful approach to ethics, technology, and innovation, John provides listeners with a deeper understanding of how organizations can adapt to thrive in an evolving workplace.
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    33 mins
  • #HRTechChat: Unlocking Behavioral Insights Through AI with Ben Mones of FAMA

    #HRTechChat: Unlocking Behavioral Insights Through AI with Ben Mones of FAMA
    Nov 22 2024
    Ben Mones, CEO and Founder of FAMA, joins Dylan Teggart for this episode of #HRTechChat to discuss the evolving landscape of AI in HR technology and talent assessment. With over a decade of experience leading FAMA, a company dedicated to providing behavioral insights through digital footprints, Ben shares his journey from launching FAMA via an accelerator program to becoming a leader in the field. He recounts the company's origin story, inspired by an incident of workplace misconduct, and discusses FAMA's role in helping employers identify potential risks through online behavior analysis. Ben and Dylan explore the broader trends shaping HR tech, including the increasing sophistication of AI procurement processes, the impact of societal movements on hiring practices, and the challenges of integrating AI into decision-making frameworks. Ben also highlights Fama’s approach to empowering HR professionals with actionable insights while maintaining ethical and legal standards. This conversation sheds light on the interplay between AI, workplace culture, and the future of hiring, making it a must-listen for HR leaders and technology enthusiasts alike.
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    38 mins
  • People Tech with Mark Feffer and Opal Wagnac on Navigating AI’s Impact on HR

    People Tech with Mark Feffer and Opal Wagnac on Navigating AI’s Impact on HR
    Nov 21 2024
    This guest podcast, originally aired on People Tech, features Mark Feffer in conversation with Opal Wagnac, Senior Vice President of Market and Product Strategy at isolved. Together, they unpack the state of AI in HR, exploring how leaders can distinguish between AI solutions that deliver real value and those that are mere hype. In this episode, Opal discusses the challenges of AI adoption in the workplace, the evolution of tools like retention predictors and recruiting automation, and the growing alignment between human intuition and machine learning. She highlights practical AI applications in recruiting, payroll, and employee learning, while shedding light on how AI is transforming HR tasks to focus on connection, empathy, and strategic innovation. Opal also delves into the art of the possible, offering a vision of how AI can empower HR professionals to reimagine their roles and elevate the employee experience.
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    24 mins
  • People Tech with Mark Feffer and Pragya Gupta on AI’s Role in HR

    People Tech with Mark Feffer and Pragya Gupta on AI’s Role in HR
    Nov 12 2024
    This guest podcast, originally aired on People Tech, features Mark Feffer and Pragya Gupta, Chief Product and Technology Officer at isolved, as they explore AI's growing impact on HR. In this episode, they discuss shadow AI, automation, and the ethical considerations shaping today’s AI applications in HR. Pragya shares insights on how AI is transforming daily HR tasks, enhancing personalization, and streamlining strategic decisions across organizations.
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    21 mins
  • #HRTechChat: Four Harsh Truths and Finding Your Brilliance

    #HRTechChat: Four Harsh Truths and Finding Your Brilliance
    Sep 5 2024
    Welcome to Podcast 6 of The Five Talents that Really Matter. Over the last 5 podcasts, I have wondered -- "What happens if you do not possess the talents that really matter?" It goes without saying that there are people in leadership positions today that do not possess those talents. So, we arrive at the Four harsh Truths: 1. Not everyone is or can be a leader. If you go into any organization, you can quickly see those that are leaders versus those in leadership positions that do not have the natural talents to effectively lead. In earlier podcasts, we talked about the fact that talents are innate. They are consistent over time and resistant to change. They are pervasive—present in our daily work and personal lives. In a world of nature versus nurture—innate talents are nature. Barry makes the point in this episode that organizations must stop lying to their employees and telling them that everyone can be a leader. Everyone has their level – and people can still make significant contributions to their organization without occupying a leadership role that doesn’t suit their natural dispositions. 2. We might never solve the lack of workplace diversity. Organizations have disproportionately hired in favor of a privileged group. We know that the biases that cause discriminatory hiring do not change through training programs. Your organization does not need a Chief Diversity Officer to take the right actions, but you should be well-versed in psychometric assessment as an important step toward mitigating unchecked biases that disadvantage talented candidates. 3. Leadership characteristics are hard to develop. Leadership cannot be taught to those who do not possess the natural talents to succeed. Barry and Sarah remind us that if everyone could learn leadership, we would not see such a dearth of Talent at the top of companies. 4. Personalities and Talents aren’t the same thing. Here is the takeaway that is significant—If you want to use assessments that matter, predictability is the key—results should be stable over time, and they should be valid predictors of performance. Talent assessments are not the same thing as a personality inventory. Talent assessments that are built to measure potential and predict success are more reliable, valid, and fair. Join Barry Conchie and Sarah Dalton for the discussion on the Four Harsh Truths—and learn about how you can be brilliant and contribute even if you do not possess the Five Talents that Matter.
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    27 mins
  • #HRTechChat: Unpacking Skills Transformation with James Griffin

    #HRTechChat: Unpacking Skills Transformation with James Griffin
    Sep 3 2024
    James Griffin is a Principal Consultant at the UK-based Skills Collective. His work focuses on skills, enterprise SaaS (Software as a Service), talent transformation, and consulting, all of which revolve around the customer. His deep expertise lies in reimagining talent transformation strategies and understanding how to begin implementing skills-based approaches within organizations. He has positively impacted several SaaS organizations, including Degreed and Elevate Direct. With Principal Analyst Dylan Teggart, they discuss the shift from traditional job-based hiring to skills-based hiring, driven by the need for more tailored employee selection. James highlights the growing confusion in the software market, urging organizations to focus on tools that demonstrate clear value and align with corporate strategies.
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    32 mins
  • #HRTechChat: Looking at Talents of Harnessing Energy, Exerting Pressure, and Increasing Connectivity

    #HRTechChat: Looking at Talents of Harnessing Energy, Exerting Pressure, and Increasing Connectivity
    Aug 29 2024
    In this podcast, our authors, Barry Conchie and Sarah Dalton, take us through the last three Talents in this series. Our conversation is organic moving between Harnessing Energy, Exerting Pressure, and Increasing Connectivity. Here are high level ideas around these talents: Harnessing energy: Every organization needs energy to function. Leaders need energy to power themselves, as well as power others. The authors offer a great metaphor, that of being the manager of a power plant. Without energy, things do not get done. Energy drives performance and commitment. People are drawn to high energy organizations and high energy leaders. Exerting Pressure: What I love about this discussion in the book is that we learn the nuance of how inspiring others to action and effective influencing helps leaders meet the expectations they have set. Increasing connectivity: It would be impossible to move an organization forward without focusing on relationships. Here are three critical issues for leaders that help build relationships that matter. High performing leaders display elevated self-awareness and the ability to read others. The best leaders build close relationships and invest in their high performers. High Performing leaders are accountable for the overall integrity of the organizational network. They hold themselves and others to the highest ethical standards. Join in listening to this podcast to gain the insights that shape how these Talents drive personal and organizational success. Learn what Barry and Sarah discovered in their research, and why these Talents drive leadership success.
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    28 mins