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This week we are talking about the very serious issue of play in the workplace! I'm joined by an expert on the topic - Jeff Harry, founder of Rediscover Your Play.In this episode, you'll learn:How your inner child influences your adult selfWhy it's essential to incorporate an element of fun into the recruiting processWhy the future will be won by the most fun and adaptive companiesJeff's book recommendations:The Cure For Stupidity - Eric BaileyBig Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear - Elizabeth GilbertNine Lies About Work - Marcus BuckinghamJeff Harry shows individuals and companies how to tap into their true selves, to feel their happiest and most fulfilled — all by playing.Jeff has worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook, helping their staff to infuse more play into the day-to-day.Jeff was selected by Engagedly as one of the Top 100 HR Influencers of 2020 and one of the Top HR Influencers to Watch By BambooHR for his organizational development work around addressing toxicity in the workplace. His play work has been featured in the NY Times, AJ+, SoulPancake, the SF Chronicle, and CNN.

This week I sat down with Robine Stephenson, a Melbourne-based entrepreneur and co-founder of future-of-work marketplace, Ume.Robine shares her version for better careers and society as a whole. We get into:Guiding people on the path to entrepreneurship, or notHer foundation focused on the dignity of workHow the current "black elephant" event will impact careers and work over the next five yearsRobine's reading recommendations:Energising Leadership - Nita CherryWho Do We Choose To Be? - Margaret WheatleyRethinking Strategy - Steven TigheRobine is Co-Founder of Ume, a new marketplace and community for all types of professionals, business owners & entrepreneurs looking for real support and insights as they start, launch, sustain and grow their ventures. Ume connects and amplifies the work, products and services of small business and workers to each other. Ume's mission is to nurture ongoing sustainable cycles of opportunities, collaborations and partnerships on a local, national and global scale. They believe that small business is beautiful and sustainable prosperity is possible for all of us and doesn’t have to be at the cost of our planet or community.

Today I'm joined by Rob Dunderdale, a Sydney-based HR and tech executive who shares his perspective on how COVID is changing the recruiting function. In this insightful episode, we dive in to:- the new era of internal mobility- how executives should be thinking about creating candidates rather than attracting candidates- the role of L&D in the talent management processRob's recommended content: Jonah & David Stillman, talking about the best way to connect with Gen Z.Rob spent 12 years at PwC both in the UK and Australia. His last role was the firm's Head of Talent Acquisition responsible for Experience Hire, Graduate, Contingent, Global Mobility and Employer Brand. With a background in HR and Technology change transformation, Rob now works with senior executives combining these backgrounds to provide commercial outcomes aligned to HR priorities focused on the experience of the people they touch. He is recognised as an innovative and energetic leader with a passion for the joint success of the team. 

What a great way to start the week! I sat down with Paul Wolfe, SVP of Human Resources at Indeed, the number one job site in the world. Paul shares his perspective on:Why the recruiting process is not that different from the dating processHow remote work actually provides a more human view of employeesWhy skills development should never stopWhy AI won't replace humans in the recruiting processPaul Wolfe serves as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Indeed, with a focus on growing, developing and engaging Indeed’s talent and nurturing the company culture. In this role, Paul oversees a multi-disciplined HR group that includes HR Business Partners, Talent Attraction, Employee Development, Total Rewards, Inclusion, HR Analytics, HR Operations and Employee Experience. Paul sets the talent strategy at Indeed to ensure all current and future business needs are met. He is passionate about creating an environment where the business can thrive and where employees can be their true, authentic selves each day.Prior to Indeed, Paul served as a vice president and senior vice president of a number of well-known companies, including Match.com, Orbitz, Conde Nast and Ticketmaster. Paul holds a bachelor’s degree from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. He lives with his husband and their dogs in New York.

Really enjoyed kicking off the week with Matt Thomas from RWWA live from Perth, Western Australia! In this episode, we discuss:What tools he's currently using in his recruiting processHow AI enhances the experience of both employers and candidatesWhat companies need to consider when introducing AI into their recruiting workflowMatt's recent people + work reading:The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni2020 Global Talent Trends from MercerOver the past 20 years Matthew has accumulated a wealth of experience in senior HR positions, working across all facets, and within different industries. In his current role of General Manager- People & Culture, as part of his Executive team, Matthew has been leading the people and culture transformation journey over the past 7 years. Driving digital HR transformation and employee experience within the workplace have been the catalysts in influencing positive change and engagement, culminating in being a finalist the past two years through the Australian HR Institute National Awards and HR National Awards for ‘Best use of technology’.

This week I'm joined by Mallory West from Hunter SF, a San Francisco-based group focused on recruiting top-level talent into venture capital firms.In this episode, we take a dive into the recruiting process for VC, and cover off:What makes an ideal candidate for venture?Do candidates from "non-traditional" background have a chance?Advice for aspiring graduates looking for a VC careerMallory's go-to books on career advice:You Are A Badass by Jen SinceroDesigning Your Life by Bill Burnett & Dave EvansWhat Color is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson BollesMallory is Partner and Co-Founder of Hunter SF where her team recruits for top Venture Capital, Private Equity, Hedge Funds & Investment Banks as well as Fortune 100 companies & early stage start-ups who are looking to grow their finance teams. Prior to recruitment, Mallory was a political finance consultant where she has successfully raised capital for political campaigns ranging from gubernatorial, congressional, state legislative races and PAC's. Mallory led efforts to achieve record-breaking fundraising goals for many of the nation’s top targeted Congressional races. After five years in the political arena, Mallory aimed to combine her political network with her finance contacts and made a seamless transition into financial recruitment. She has enjoyed it ever since, thus bringing her to co-found Hunter SF. Originally from a small town above Lake Tahoe - Graeagle, California, Mallory earned a Bachelor of Arts from UC Santa Barbara majoring in Sociology and History and attended the Universita degli Studi di Siena in Italy.Mallory is actively involved with non-profit organizations and in her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, Pilates, fundraising, consulting and spending time with family and friends. 

It was an absolute pleasure speaking with Nell Hardie, head of talent at Australian corporate VC Reinventure.We talk about venture capital and startup-related talent issues, including:Why VCs should have a talent functionCommon hiring mistakes made by startupsWhat can be done about skill shortages in areas that are vital to early stage companiesNell is a pioneer of the VC people space in Australia and is Reinventure’s first Head of Talent. She has a passion for working with the brightest entrepreneurs, early stage technology companies and helping them scale from a talent perspective. Nell has an Executive Search background in technology, she works as a strategic partner to appoint c-suite and high impact technology leadership into our high growth ventures. Nell also acts in an advisory capacity assisting them with ‘all things talent’, from organisation design, to recruitment best practices, interview process, employer branding, candidate experience, compensation and culture/values to help them in a highly competitive market for talent.She is hugely passionate about talent, technology, innovation and elevating the profile of Australia’s startup ecosystem. She also runs global talent initiatives to attract skilled expats and Australian’s returning home.Nell holds a Bachelor degree in Applied Sports Science from the University of Edinburgh. When not obsessing over people, culture and human led growth, she spends her time on the water, sailing. 

Great to have Mikhail Tuzov from ManpowerGroup on the show this week, sharing his perspective on some of the hot button topics in people and the economy right now.We take a look at:Why COVID isn't a game changer, but a "game intensifier"How functional teams can be born remote using new toolsWhy building organizational resilience is critical in times like theseMikhail is currently responsible for ManpowerGroup Russia & CIS corporate MS Power BI based business intelligence system development and deployment. He's multilingual business analysis professional with 28 years experience in B2B services, international trade, industrial R&D. He specializes in reducing time and providing a clear visualization for strategic and operational decision making by effective data harness and massage to maximize company’s productivity and profitability.

This episode features Steve Lucas, CEO of iCIMS, the world's leading HR cloud platform for recruiting. We discuss:how the candidate experience is evolving with technologywhy and how companies need to develop a talent ecosystemif it's possible for companies to be born remotewhy the definition of work is profoundly changingSteve Lucas joined iCIMS in 2020 as the chief executive officer, bringing 25 years of extensive leadership experience in enterprise software. Lucas is leading the vision and plans for iCIMS into its next phase of growth with product innovation and strategic acquisitions. He is focused on solidifying iCIMS’ position as the world’s leading HR cloud platform for recruiting that proudly enables companies, including nearly 30% of Fortune 100 companies, to hire more than four million people globally every year.As a customer-centric leader, Lucas is elevating the company’s commitment to building an end-to-end recruiting platform that integrates with leading HCM systems to enable iCIMS’ 2+ million global users to scale their companies with more power and fewer barriers.He is leading the vision and strategic plans for iCIMS as it empowers companies across the globe to build their winning workforce.

In this episode, I'm joined by Curious Thing's Yasaman Motazedi to talk about some of the science behind AI in recruiting.We learn about what led Yasaman to be interested in the field of natural language processing, the benefits for using AI for both employers and candidates, and what's next in the field of computational linguistics.Yasaman holds a PhD in computational linguistics and machine learning with her research strongly focuses on Natural Language Processing, Natural Language Understanding, and Natural Language Generation using various ML and statistical graphical models. She has built multiple advanced conversational Ai products in her career in large corporates and startups including Macquarie bank and MyAdvisor which was acquired by MYOB. As the lead data scientist at Curious Thing, she leads R&D endeavours.  

The term "culture fit" has been prevalent in the recruiting process since the 1980s. In this episode I talk with Angie Bergner about culture fit and why it doesn't contribute to diversity, what the alternative approaches are, and the importance of employee engagement in a remote-first world.Angie is the Head of People Operations for Ivy Research Council; a research consulting firm based in Washington DC specializing in best-practice research for early talent and university recruitment leaders within Fortune 1000 organizations. Angie's primary mission at IRC is to build and foster a best-in-class company culture through inclusive practices that focus on the learning and development of all team members. Prior to IRC, Angie was a Career Coach and the Head of People Operations for a global experiential internship program for college students. 

In this episode, I sit down with Jody Smith from Career Stuff, a new career coaching service based in Melbourne. She gives us the recruiter's perspective on resumes and cover letters, and we have a bit of fun trying to decode some job ad doublespeak!Jody has been in the recruitment industry for 10 years, most recently in leadership positions within the Victorian Government. She's always coached people on the side of her day job as a hobby, and decided to make it official and launched Career Stuff.She loves to play and have fun at work and in life thinks it's super healthy to have hobbies, interests, and rest time outside of work. She plays basketball, loves to eat, and is obsessed with her adopted greyhound Eric. Jody has been studying Human Centered Design in her spare time during isolation, while building a following for Career Stuff. 

Attention people geeks! It's my absolute pleasure to have Raleen Gagnon as this week's guest. Raleen and I talk about the big picture issues that talent executives are facing right now, such as:how remote work is the new currency when it comes to recruitingwhy labor isn't getting any cheaper in the COVID era, despite record unemployment how employers should rethink childcare and flexible work now that offices are reopening As Vice President, Global Market Intelligence at ManpowerGroup, Talent Solutions, Raleen Gagnon oversees a team that is responsible for market, business, and competitive intelligence for workforce analysis, including the collection and analysis of trends related to the availability, cost, regulation, and productivity of workforce skills/resources across 80 countries globally. In this role, Raleen is responsible for the delivery of Global and Regional Quarterly Market Reports, the development of the Total Workforce Index, a cutting-edge global insights portal and other market intelligence solutions. Her team provides consulting services to clients seeking insight into market trends, compensation strategy, and workforce alignment. Raleen was previously the Director of Strategic Marketing at Monster Worldwide, where she collaborated with sales leadership to develop strategic programs and initiatives for the Staffing Industry, Global Sales and Public Sector. She has a background in consulting and previously served as Research Director and Practice Lead at Fuld & Company, managing consulting engagements for Fortune 50 clients. Raleen has a marketing degree from Bentley University and teaches certification courses for the Academy of Competitive Intelligence in Cambridge, Miami, and London.

In this week's episode, I'm joined by Shardé Heim, who tells us how she's fostering the company culture at Curious Thing, why culture is good for business and the secrets of building culture in a remote-first world.Shardé is the UX and UI designer at Curious Thing as well as Culture Ambassador. She holds a bachelor's degree in Information Technology with a major in human computer interaction.  Originally working as a front-end developer in the early years of her career, she transitioned into the UX and product space. As the UX/UI designer at Curious thing, Shardé's job is to create an amazing and effortless experience for our users.

This week I sit down with Mike Fitzsimmons, a leader in the human intelligence space who's doing some great things with his company Crosschq.We talk about why it's important for society to match the right talent with the right opportunity, whether it's possible to eliminate bias with technology and how boards are starting to look at their payrolls as a potential liability. Mike is CEO of GGV and Bessemer backed startup Crosschq, a technology platform that uses human intelligence to help companies source, hire and retain the best talent through proprietary software and science.  Mike is a long time entrepreneur and industry thought leader who has been featured on CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg as well as in publications NY Times, WSJ and Forbes. 

May is mental health awareness month in the US. 1 in 5 of us will experience a mental health issue in our lifetimes, and during stressful times like these, all of us should focus on our mental wellbeing. This week I’m joined by Dr Tony Florio, a clinical psychologist and cognitive computer scientist. Tony has a PhD in Medicine from the University of New South Wales and has decades of experience in clinical psychology and research into intellectual disabilities. You'll learn the important benefits of work beyond a paycheck, how to avoid catastrophizing when dealing with big life events , and why alcohol isn't the best strategy for dealing with stress.

In this episode I talk with Sam about how humans and AI are smart in different ways, how recruiting is both art and science, and what will change in the hiring process over the next five years.Sam Zheng is CEO and co-founder of Curious Thing, a Sydney-based conversational AI company building digital interviewer solutions powered by state-of-the-art Machine Learning and NLP technologies.

In this episode I talk with Sutton Kauss about her work with Getro.org, how remote hiring requires the right mindset from companies, and how the recruiting process works at BCG.Sutton is a People leader who loves to question the status quo and get curious about the root problems companies really need to solve. She considers herself a bit of an HR rebel,  perhaps the first “beg forgiveness, don’t ask permission” HR leader you’ve ever met! Sutton has held People roles at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Axiom, BlackRock and most recently as Head of People at Conversocial. Her strategic HR partnerships span across recruiting, organizational design, change management, talent development, and leadership coaching. She’s most passionate about partnering with leaders to help solve their toughest business problems through a people lens.

In this episode, I talk to Los Angeles-based recruiter, Ana Kasmer, on the role video resumes can play in the hiring process, how COVID-19 has impacted her business, and the increased role of staffing agencies in a post-pandemic world.

In this episode, Christie Hartbarger tells us what's wrong with resumes, why salespeople can be actors, and how the world of work will be reset post-COVID.Christie is VP of Talent and Growth at Strategy Source, a provider of holistic talent and growth solutions to companies.  Their end-to-end suite of services includes M&A and funding, consulting, interim leadership and retained and contingent search.  If you've got questions or comments, please contact me at mark@curiousthing.io.