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 Sm ..read more

In this episode of Start Smart, the TAtech podcast that focuses on maximizing the ROI you derive from technology by beginning with its effective implementation, Peter’s guest is Oliver Feakins, Founder & CEO of TrackFive, a company that manages job boards in healthcare, transportation and other fields. The acquisition of new technology is often justified by the assumption that “it will free recruiters up to do what they do best.”  Oliver and I discuss just what skills that activity encompasses – in recruiters performing at their peak – and the thorny question of whether they’re prepar ..read more

In today's episode, we have a very special guest, Mona Tawakali, the Chief Strategy Officer at Recruitics. Join us as Mona shares invaluable insights and strategies for successfully implementing technology in talent acquisition. We'll explore the importance of user adoption and satisfaction, the role of technology within organizations, and the key factors that lead to successful implementations.  From user-centric design to addressing feedback and gaining buy-in from stakeholders, Mona will guide us through the intricate process of integrating technology in a way that maximizes its potent ..read more

In this episode, we delve into the facts and findings from the 2023 Talent Acquisition Research Report by Symphony Talent.  Based on a survey of 300+ individuals in large employers (2,000+ employees), it explored their process and practice challenges and needs as they deal with the shifting expectations and behaviors among job seekers.  The report organized the findings into two sections: The current state of talent acquisition (which, based on the report, definitely needs some improvement) and talent acquisition technology and services (with respondents indicating a strong commitmen ..read more

In this episode of the podcast, we took a look at the recent report by Sapient Insights Group that presents the results of their 25th Annual HR Systems Survey.  As its title indicates, the research covers the entire HR systems field, so we focused on the findings related to talent technology.  The data were collected from 2,515 organizations in 65 countries.  Those organizations represented industries ranging from professional services and healthcare to manufacturing and retail/wholesale, with better than half of them (59%) employing 500 or more workers. As we usually do, we pul ..read more

A recent whitepaper published by AMS entitled “Exploding Digital Myths in Talent Acquisition” grabbed our attention as it sets out to debunk some of the most common misperceptions found among today’s recruiters.  Shelia and I focused on the first of five myths the company will eventually address: ‘Talent technology will replace the need for recruiters and sourcers.’  It’s a concern that, like the cockroach, never seems to be finally and forever squashed. Our discussion looked at both some of the issues embedded in the myth and the views that are feeding it.  AMS reports, for exa ..read more

TA organizations large and small are constantly being stretched and pulled by the new and always morphing expectations and behaviors of candidates.  In response, some and perhaps many of those organizations are now looking to reset the model with which they establish their functional capabilities and the mix of roles and skills required to execute them.  In this episode of the podcast, we take a look at one such model, a paradigm that was developed by WorkTech and described in its report entitled “Future Proof Your Talent Acquisition Strategy: The New Model for Talent Acquisition Lea ..read more

Shelia was unable to be here for this episode of the podcast, but we were very fortunate to have Thad Price, CEO of Talroo, join the conversation.  Our topic was flexibility at work and a report by McKinsey & Company entitled Americans are embracing flexible work—and they want more of it.  The report was based on a survey of 25,000 Americans, so the findings are limited to their view of this workforce trend.  Nevertheless and as is apparent from the report’s title, McKinsey concludes that flexible work is no longer a temporary pandemic response, but rather is now an enduring ..read more

Driven by shifts in candidate behaviors and expectations, the war for talent is now much more than a competition among employers for new hires.  It also encompasses changes in process, technology, and culture in recruiting teams and in the greater priority they are accorded by the c-suite.  The reset is not universal, to be sure, but it is widespread enough to be reshaping what it takes to succeed in talent acquisition, today and into the future. That’s just one of the topics we discuss in this episode of Start Smart.  Stephen O’Donnell, the CGO at TAtech, joins us in our review ..read more

Go to most HR conferences and you’ll quickly sense the prominent role that HR tech plays in modern talent acquisition.  It’s not an inappropriate position, of course – HR tech products for compensation and benefits administration, human capital management, HRIS, and learning and development are definitely important and helpful, but there is a caveat. When it comes to cutting edge technologies, today’s HR tech can’t match the contribution TA tech is making to recruitment. In this episode of the Start Smart podcast, we take a look at Gartner’s whitepaper entitled “Six Emerging HR Technology ..read more