The POZCAST: Career & Life Journeys with Adam Posner

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com TAKEAWAYS:  1. Same Tools, Same Results — You Have to Rebuild the Engine The insight at the heart of Pin: giving AI the same Boolean search infrastructure that human recruiters use produces the same mediocre results, just faster. The only way to get genuinely better outcomes is to rebuild the search engine itself so that AI can operate on a fundamentally different foundation. That's what Pin did — and why the results look different. 2. The Best Candidate Should Be First, Not on Page Seven The clearest signal that a recruiting search tool is working: the most qualified candidate for a role appears at the top of results, not buried deep in a list that requires manual excavation. For recruiters who've spent years digging through pages of search results, seeing the right person in slot one is a genuinely disorienting experience — in the best way. 3. Natural Language Filtering Closes the Gap Between Search and Judgment Standard filtering tools handle objective criteria — location, tenure, title. Pin's natural language feature handles the subjective judgment calls that used to require hours of resume scanning: the specific details that determine whether a candidate is actually worth a call. Resolving those questions in two questions or fewer is a meaningful time return for high-volume recruiters. 4. Pattern Recognition Learns Even Without Feedback — But Feedback Makes It Faster Pin's algorithm doesn't require explicit feedback to improve — it reads behavioral patterns in what recruiters accept and reject and adjusts accordingly. But providing reasons for rejections accelerates the learning dramatically. The system is watching, learning, and tuning, whether or not you tell it why. 5. The Curveball Candidate Is a Feature, Not a Bug Periodically surfacing a candidate who sits just outside the current search parameters isn't an error — it's deliberate calibration. When a recruiter declines that candidate, Pin learns where the line actually lies, resulting in increasingly precise results over time. The tool is always running a low-stakes experiment to get better. 6. A Visual Pipeline Changes How You Manage a Search Pin's upcoming Kanban board — drag-and-drop stages from interested through offer made — addresses one of the most persistent frustrations in recruiting: knowing at a glance where every candidate stands without digging through notes or spreadsheets. Pipeline visibility is a workflow problem as much as a sourcing one. 7. MCP + Claude Desktop = Autonomous Sourcing The MCP Server integration is the most forward-looking announcement in this episode: the ability for Claude Desktop to run Pin autonomously, without manual recruiter input, using Claude's broad knowledge base to execute searches and surface candidates. For business development and high-volume sourcing, this is autopilot for the top of the funnel. 8. The Second Company Is Easier Because the Team Already Knows How to Build Together Steven's team story is a blueprint for founder-led companies: seven people from his first venture joined him at Pin, bringing a shared language, shared trust, and a shared understanding of what works and what doesn't. The result is what Steven calls "life on easy mode" — not because the work is easier, but because the team already knows how to do it together. 9. Always Give Feedback to Your AI Tools Every rejection is a data point. Every accept is a signal. The recruiters getting the best results from AI-powered search tools are the ones who treat the interface as a two-way conversation — providing context, reasons, and reactions that train the system toward increasingly precise output. Passive use gets passive results.   CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Day 9: The Return of Steven Lu Adam, on day 9 of 10 at Transform, welcomes back Steven Lu — a returning guest and the founder of Pin, the recruiting AI tool Adam uses every day. 02:00 – Why Giving AI Boolean Tools Gets You Boolean Results The core problem Pin was built to solve: if you give AI the same search tools as a human recruiter, you get the same results. Pin rebuilt the search engine itself so AI could actually deliver better outcomes. 04:30 – The Aha Moment: Best Candidate, Slot Number One What clients experience when they switch to Pin: the best candidate for the role appears first — not buried on page seven. 06:30 – Natural Language Questions That Answer the Hard Stuff How Pin's natural language feature goes beyond standard filters — answering the nuanced, make-or-break questions about a candidate in two questions or less. 09:00 – Pattern Recognition: Learning From Every Rejection Pin's behind-the-scenes intelligence: even without explicit feedback, the platform picks up on recruiter behavior patterns and adjusts results automatically. 12:00 – The Curveball Candidates Why Pin intentionally surfaces occasional outlier candidates — to test parameters, refine the algorithm, and deliver increasingly precise results over time. 14:30 – Alpha Drop: The Kanban Pipeline Board Feature 1 in development: a visual Kanban board for tracking candidates through the hiring pipeline with full drag-and-drop functionality. 17:00 – Alpha Drop: MCP Server + Claude Desktop Integration The bigger announcement: Pin is building an MCP Server integration that allows Claude Desktop to run Pin autonomously — putting AI-powered sourcing on autopilot. 20:00 – The Team Behind Pin: Seven People Who Followed Him Seven employees from Steven's first company joined him for Pin — and that shared experience is what makes the second company feel like "life on easy mode." 22:30 – Real Results: Fees Collected, Offers Made The feedback that hits hardest: fee emails arriving up to 20 a day, and Adam's live proof point — three Pin-sourced candidates getting offers by end of the week. 24:30 – Where to Find Pin A direct listener recommendation: try pin.com, mention Adam and Steven, and see what a rebuilt search engine actually delivers.  

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com TAKEAWAYS:  1. Build Three Distinct Support Communities Before You Need Them Angel's framework for navigating crisis — professional or personal — is built on three tiers: the emotional inner circle (family, closest friends, real-time updates), the logistics home team (practical help, appointments, WhatsApp coordination), and the extended internet community (prayers, encouragement, distant support). Knowing who belongs in each circle saves energy and deepens each relationship. 2. Learning to Receive Is as Important as Learning to Give When you're in crisis, people want to help — sometimes financially, sometimes practically, sometimes emotionally. Angel's experience is that the resistance to accepting generosity is real and deeply wired. Working through that resistance isn't weakness; it's a survival skill. 3. Deep Empathy for Yourself Comes Before Your Resume The most common job search mistake: starting with the resume. Angel's framework starts with a more foundational question — who are you right now, in this exact moment of your life? Your family situation, your financial runway, your emotional state, your real needs. You cannot build a purposeful job search without that honest baseline. 4. Purpose Is Not the Same as Empathy — But You Can't Get There Without It Deep empathy gives you the foundation. Purpose builds on it — it's your current state, your trajectory, your story. It's the answer to "tell me about yourself" that is honest, specific, and actually compelling. Most people skip empathy and land on a purpose that doesn't feel real — because it isn't. 5. Your Old Resume Is Actively Working Against You The resume you built for the Obama administration — or even five years ago — is not your resume today. Angel's advice: start from scratch with a modern platform that parses your actual capabilities, competencies, and skills. Don't update the old document; replace it entirely. 6. LinkedIn Is a Brand, Not a Job Board Most people treat LinkedIn as a passive repository. Angel treats it as a living brand. The formula: 24 words for role, 36 words for quantified impact, a current professional photo, a Canva-designed header, and active storytelling. Dormant profiles don't get found. Active brands do. 7. The Career Prayer Is the Most Powerful Networking Tool Available A LinkedIn post that blends personal humanity (here's where I am in my life right now), professional context (here's what I built and who I built it with), and authentic future direction (here's what I'm looking for) activates dormant networks faster than any cold outreach campaign. If it reads like AI wrote it, it won't work. If it reads like you, it will. 8. Use AI to Identify Who to Reach Out to First Download your full LinkedIn contact list. Feed it into AI along with your resume, LinkedIn profile, and clarity on what you're looking for. Ask it to identify the 20 most relevant people to reach out to — and why. This turns a vague networking intention into a targeted, prioritized outreach list in minutes. 9. The 1-4/14: Plan for 14 Months and 14 Years Simultaneously Angel's framework for living with a terminal diagnosis is a masterclass in holding two truths at once: get your affairs in order (14 months — directives, will, trustees) and commit to building a life and a legacy (14 years — purpose, impact, the people you're fighting for). Both are necessary. Neither cancels the other out. 10. Showing Up Is Its Own Act of Leadership Angel came to Transform 2026 with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, a 2-3% five-year survival median, and more energy and generosity than almost anyone else in the building. His presence — and his willingness to share his journey publicly — is itself a form of re-inspiration for anyone going through their own version of impossible. CHAPTERS:  00:00 – Day 3 Opens With Angel Adam opens his first interview of day three with Angel Cruzado — a LinkedIn connection turned in-person meeting — and the conversation immediately goes somewhere real. 02:00 – Living With Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer Angel shares where he is on his cancer journey, what it's like to navigate a conference when you're fighting for your life, and why he showed up anyway. 04:30 – Building Your Community for the Hard Times How a cancer diagnosis forced Angel to build three distinct support communities: the emotional inner circle, the logistics home team, and the extended internet family. 08:00 – Learning to Accept Generosity One of the most vulnerable moments in the series: Angel talks about the resistance to receiving support — financial and otherwise — and how he learned to accept it as part of surviving. 10:30 – Meet Respiros: Career Transitions with Heart Angel introduces his company — an outplacement and career transition services firm that CHROs hire to re-inspire employees through layoffs, treating them as individuals rather than headcount. 13:00 – The Job Market Right Now: Real Talk An honest assessment of the current talent market: companies have their pick, not everyone is an A player, and struggling candidates need something more than a refreshed resume. 15:30 – Step 1: Deep Empathy for Yourself Before you touch your resume, understand where you truly are as a human being. Your baseline context shapes everything that follows. 18:00 – Step 2: Purpose — Who You Are and Where You're Going The second layer: purpose. Not the same as empathy. It's your current state, your trajectory, and the story that actually means something when someone asks "tell me about yourself." 20:30 – Step 3: Build the Right Resume From Scratch Why your 8-year-old resume is working against you and the case for starting completely fresh with a modern platform. 23:00 – Step 4: LinkedIn as a Living Brand How most people are using LinkedIn wrong — and the precise framework Angel uses: 24 words for role, 36 words for quantified impact. 26:00 – The Career Prayer: Storytelling That Activates Dormant Networks Angel's most memorable concept: a LinkedIn post format that blends personal authenticity, professional context, and genuine humanity — and why it generates real job leads in ways job applications never do. 30:00 – The AI Hack for Network Activation Download your full LinkedIn contacts, feed them into AI with your resume and profile, and ask it to identify the 20 people you should reach out to first — and why. 33:00 – How to Reach Out After Years of Silence The right way to re-engage a dormant contact: not a cold ask, but a genuine, story-led post that gives people a reason to respond on their own terms. 36:00 – The 1-4/14: His Framework for Living Plan for 14 months — medical directives, will, trustees — and simultaneously plan to live for 14 years. Both are necessary. Both are acts of hope. 39:00 – His North Star: His 11-Year-Old's High School Graduation The moment that grounds everything: Angel's goal of making it to his son's graduation when the median 5-year survival rate for Stage 4 pancreatic cancer is 2-3%. 41:00 – Re-Inspiring Others Through His Own Transition Angel closes with the mission: if people who are struggling and hurting can see him still showing up, still building, maybe that re-inspires them to do the same.  

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com TAKEAWAYS:  1. Post-COVID Candidates Are Evaluating Life Satisfaction, Not Just Salary The candidate conversation has fundamentally changed. Compensation is still important, but Natalie has watched the evaluation criteria expand significantly post-COVID: wellbeing, flexibility, and organizational investment in the whole person are now equally weighted factors in how candidates choose between offers. 2. Share Benefits in the First Round Interview — Not at the Offer Stage thredUP's approach to benefits transparency is a model for the industry: they share the full value proposition starting in the very first interview. Candidates who know what they're getting before they're deep in the process make better decisions — and are more bought-in when they accept. 3. The 4-Day Workweek Works Because of Trust, Not Policy thredUP's Monday-through-Thursday schedule isn't about fewer hours — it's about output over hours and treating employees like adults. The model evolved from an existing maker day culture where meeting-free, work-from-anywhere days were already the norm. The shift to a 4-day work week was less a policy change and more a natural extension of a values-based operating model. 4. Employees Will Trade Compensation for Flexibility Natalie cites research that employees will accept lower compensation in exchange for genuine flexibility — and thredUP's 4-day workweek is living proof. In a talent market where differentiating on salary alone is expensive and unsustainable, flexibility is one of the highest- leverage benefits a company can offer. 5. Peripheral Benefits Are No Longer Peripheral Elder care navigation, childcare support, family-forming benefits, sabbaticals — what used to be considered nice-to-have additions are increasingly the primary evaluation criteria for candidates and employees. Natalie's view: investing in the whole person is no longer a differentiator. It's the expectation. 6. The 4-Day Week Is Also an Elder Care Benefit One of the sharpest reframes in the series: Natalie points out that for employees in the sandwich generation — managing both kids and aging parents — Friday isn't just a day off. It's the day to take Mom to the doctor, handle a care appointment, or just be present for a parent who needs support. The 4-day model makes that possible without burning vacation time. 7. Use the Benefit Yourself First — Then Sell It Natalie's playbook for introducing a new benefit to an organization: use it yourself, let it solve a real personal problem, and lead with that story when you bring it to leadership. Her personal experience finding a therapist for her daughter through a concierge service became the most compelling business case she could have made — because it was real. 8. Real Stories Drive Adoption. Bullet Points Don't. The most actionable framework in this episode: benefits adoption isn't driven by onboarding decks or open enrollment emails. It's driven by one person telling another person what happened when they actually used something. Find your early adopters, capture their stories, and let those stories do the selling. One team member's Spain trip planned through a concierge benefit became the most memorable proof point in thredUP's entire rollout. 9. ROI Lives in Adoption Rate and Retention Conversations Natalie's two-metric framework for measuring the impact of lifestyle benefits: first, are people actually using it? Second, when employees who stay long-term are asked why they stay, does this benefit show up in the answer? If the answer to both is yes, the benefit is earning its place in the package. 10. AI Is a Catalyst, Not a Threat — If You Frame It Right Natalie's closing message reflects the broader optimism she's hearing among her peer group: the most energizing AI conversation isn't about job loss, it's about what becomes possible when people are freed from the work that machines can do better. That reframe — AI as an enabler of human potential — is how the best people leaders are bringing their organizations along.   CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Introduction & Lucky Number 10 Adam welcomes Natalie Breece as the final interview of Transform day one, and Natalie introduces thredUP — one of the world's largest online consignment platforms for women's and kids' apparel. 02:30 – How thredUP Works (and Why Adam Needs to Use It) A quick detour into how the Clean Out Kit model works, why buying kids' clothes at 80% off retail is a game changer, and what's been sitting in Adam's garage for too long. 05:00 – An Intentional Path Into HR Unlike most people leaders, Natalie didn't fall into HR — she studied organizational psychology, built her career in talent acquisition, and made a deliberate move into the full HR suite. 07:30 – 10 Years, 5 Companies Worth of Experience What's kept Natalie at thredUP for a decade: the company has never let her feel bored. From private to public, acquisition to divestiture, 500 to 2,500 employees — she's had the experience of five companies in one. 10:00 – The Employment Compact: Mutual Investment Natalie's framework for what a healthy employment relationship looks like — a genuine two-way commitment where the employee gives their expertise and the employer invests in both their professional and personal growth. 12:30 – Pre-COVID vs. Post-COVID Candidates The sharpest shift Natalie has seen in 10 years: before COVID, candidates asked about promotion speed and compensation. After COVID, they're equally asking about life satisfaction, wellbeing, and flexibility. 15:00 – Benefits Transparency from Day One thredUP shares its full benefits value proposition starting in the first round interview. No waiting until the offer stage — candidates deserve to know the full picture early. 17:30 – The 4-Day Workweek — How It Actually Works thredUP runs Monday through Thursday, with Friday off company-wide. Natalie explains the output-over-hours philosophy behind it and why it was a surprisingly easy sell to leadership. 21:00 – How Powerful Is the 4-Day Workweek as a Recruiting Tool? Natalie's direct answer: massive. Studies show employees will accept lower compensation for flexibility — and thredUP's 4-day model is one of the most powerful differentiators in their talent attraction arsenal. 24:00 – Peripheral Benefits Are the New Primary Benefits Learning and development, wellbeing, family-forming, elder care, childcare navigation — what used to be considered ancillary is now central to what employees evaluate when choosing a company. 26:30 – The Sandwich Generation & What Benefits Can Actually Do A candid conversation about the dual caregiving pressure — raising kids while supporting aging parents — and how thredUP's 4-day model and sabbatical give employees the time and space to handle both. 29:00 – Natalie's Personal Story: Finding a Therapist for Her Daughter The most personal moment in the episode: Natalie shares how she used a concierge benefits service to find a therapist for her teenage daughter, got a thorough provider list within days, and became an instant believer. 33:00 – Selling It to the Executive Team How Natalie turned her personal experience into a business case: she led with her own story, cited the value and price point, and watched the executive team become early adopters and then evangelists. 36:00 – The Snowball Effect: How Real Stories Drive Adoption Natalie's benefits rollout playbook: share the benefit, lead with real use cases, find early adopters, and let their stories do the selling. One person's trip to Spain became the most unexpected success story. 39:00 – Measuring ROI: Adoption Rate & Retention How thredUP tracks the impact of concierge and lifestyle benefits: adoption rate first, then whether the benefit shows up in retention conversations as a reason employees cite for staying. 41:30 – What's Lighting Natalie Up: AI as an Enabler Natalie closes with her take on AI: the conversation among her peers isn't about job replacement — it's about enabling people to work faster, smarter, and do more than ever before.

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com TAKEAWAYS: 1. Great Benefits Nobody Knows About Are Wasted Benefits The biggest failure in corporate benefits isn't a weak package — it's a strong package that employees can't find or don't understand. Navigation is the missing layer. If an employee can't get a real-time answer to "my knee hurts, what do I do," they'll go to the emergency room, every time. 2. Healthcare Navigation Is the Next Essential Platform Layer Jon's view from 20 years in-house: the employers who are winning aren't just offering more benefits, they're offering smarter access to what they already have. A platform that speaks plain English, routes employees to the right care, and answers questions in real time is increasingly non-negotiable. 3. Site-of-Care Redirection Saves Real Money for Everyone Emergency room copays for an ear infection versus urgent care or telemedicine — the difference is significant for both the employee and the employer. Navigation platforms that help employees understand their options and redirect care appropriately are one of the clearest ROI plays in the benefits stack. 4. ROI Models Don't Always Capture the Full Picture Jon's GLP-1 example is a sharp one: the short-term cost data on weight-loss medications looks difficult, but the downstream impact on joint health, blood pressure, cholesterol, and energy is real and compounding. Sometimes the right benefits decision requires setting the spreadsheet aside and taking a bigger picture view of what it means to help someone get healthier. 5. Stop Keeping Your Benefits a Secret For years, many employers treated their benefits as proprietary information — worried that competitors would copy them. That era is ending. The companies winning on talent are putting their lifestyle support benefits front and center in offer letters, career pages, and recruitment conversations. If you spent the money, get the credit. 6. Real Stories Drive Benefits Utilization More Than Bullet Points Jon's open enrollment philosophy from nearly two decades of in-house experience: the most effective benefits communication isn't a list of what you offer — it's a real story of how someone used it. Personal examples create emotional connection and drive employees to actually take advantage of what's available to them. 7. Caregiving Benefits Reach Further Than the Employee Jon's story about using a caregiving support benefit to help his mother through a terminal illness illustrates a point that's easy to miss: when a company helps an employee navigate elder care, legal planning, or family crisis, the benefit extends to the whole family. And when families feel taken care of, employees stay. 8. On-Demand Pediatric Telemedicine Is One of the Most Underappreciated Benefits A 2 AM croup episode that stayed out of the emergency room because of a telemedicine call is worth more to a parent than almost any other benefit in the package. If you're offering this and not talking about it constantly, you're leaving impact on the table. 9. Claims-Based Personalization Is the Most Exciting AI Development in Benefits AI that proactively nudges employees toward preventive care — based on their own claims data — is moving from concept to reality. Annual physicals, colonoscopies, mammograms: catching things before they escalate is better for the employee, cheaper for the employer, and the kind of thing that makes people feel like their company genuinely cares about their health. 10. An Ounce of Prevention Is Still the Best Benefits ROI The math hasn't changed: early detection and preventive care cost a fraction of late-stage treatment. The technology has finally caught up to make personalized preventive nudges possible at scale. The employers investing here now are building a healthier, more productive workforce — and a more defensible benefits budget.   CHAPTERS:   00:00 – Dad Talk: Presence Over Everything Jon and Adam open with a candid conversation about working parenthood, FaceTime at 4 AM, coaching Little League, and what it means to be truly present for the moments that matter. 03:00 – Meet Jon & The Alterity Group Jon introduces himself and The Alterity Group — a third-party benefits and HR tech advisory firm helping large employers find the right vendors and maximize those relationships across their full HR technology stack. 05:30 – Where to Start: Evaluating a Benefits Package Jon's first move when assessing a company's benefits competitiveness: understand who the client is and what they're actually trying to accomplish — because retention goals look different from recruitment goals, and blue-collar needs look different from financial services. 08:00 – Total Rewards Is More Than a Salary Number How the right HR technology helps companies communicate total rewards — base, bonus, equity, benefits, and employer healthcare contributions — clearly to both candidates and current employees. 10:30 – The Utilization Problem: Great Benefits Nobody Knows About Jon's diagnosis of the biggest waste in corporate benefits: employers spend significant money on programs that employees never use, simply because nobody told them it existed. The fix isn't more benefits — it's better navigation. 13:00 – Healthcare Navigation: The One-Stop Shop The case for navigation platforms that guide employees to the right care in plain English — whether that's a musculoskeletal app for a sore knee or telemedicine for an ear infection — and why real-time answers drive better outcomes for everyone. 16:00 – Site-of-Care Redirection: The Hidden Cost Saver Why sending an employee to urgent care instead of the emergency room for an ear infection saves money for both the employer and the employee — and how navigation platforms are making smarter care routing the norm, not the exception. 19:00 – Rethinking Benefits ROI Beyond the Numbers Jon's honest take on GLP-1 benefits: the short-term cost data looks scary, but helping an employee lose 50 pounds, lower their blood pressure, and reduce joint pain is a win that doesn't always show up in a 12-month ROI model. Sometimes you have to take the bigger picture view. 22:00 – Why Companies Used to Hide Their Benefits — and Why That's Changing Jon traces the shift from employers keeping their benefits close to the vest to the current moment where leading companies are putting lifestyle support benefits front and center in offer letters and recruitment materials. 25:00 – Tell the Stories. Use Real Examples. Jon's open enrollment philosophy from 19 years of in-house experience: the most effective benefits communication uses real employee stories — not bullet points on a flyer. 27:30 – A Caregiving Benefit That Helped His Family Jon's most personal moment: how a caregiving support benefit helped his mother navigate will preparation, power of attorney, and advanced directives during a family member's terminal illness. 31:00 – The 2 AM Pediatrician Call A vivid story about the power of on-demand pediatric telemedicine: Jon's croup-prone infant, a 2 AM barking cough, and a provider who talked him through treatment — avoiding an emergency room trip entirely. 34:00 – Claims-Based Personalization: The AI Frontier in Benefits Jon's optimistic take on what's coming: AI that mines claims data to proactively nudge employees toward preventive care — annual physicals, colonoscopies, mammograms — catching things early before they become expensive and life-altering. 37:00 – An Ounce of Prevention Jon closes with the simple math behind preventive care investment: catching something early is almost always cheaper and better for the employee than treating it late.

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com TAKEAWAYS: 1. Global Benefits Require Local Listening There is no universal benefits playbook. What matters to an employee in Bangalore — where the daily commute can be a two-hour ordeal — is fundamentally different from what matters to someone in Austin or Cork. Companies with global teams need to engage local employees to understand what's actually meaningful, rather than exporting the US benefits model everywhere. 2. Transportation Is an Underrated Global Benefit In cities like Bangalore and Manila, commuter benefits can have a more meaningful daily impact than gym memberships or wellness stipends. Dave's team is actively exploring cab subsidies and transportation allowances as targeted benefits for teams in markets where commuting is genuinely burdensome. 3. Mental Health Benefits Only Work If Confidentiality Is Real and Communicated On-demand therapy platforms drive adoption when employees genuinely believe their sessions are private. People leaders need to actively and repeatedly communicate that they have zero access to individual usage data — because the fear that HR is watching is a real barrier to utilization, even for platforms that are genuinely confidential. 4. Aggregate Mental Health Data Is a Strategic Signal Even without individual visibility, the top themes surfaced by a mental health platform — stress, burnout, anxiety — give people leaders actionable intelligence about where the organization needs to go deeper. That's qualitative data that should be feeding benefits strategy and manager training. 5. What Candidates Care About Depends on Where They Are in Life Junior employees ask about food and gym benefits. Senior employees want to know about 401(k) match and parental leave. But across every level and every geography, candidates are asking to see the benefits package — and those conversations are happening on par with base salary discussions. 6. Elder Care Is the Next Major Benefits Frontier — and It's Personal for Dave Dave went through the elder care journey for both parents with nothing from his employer to help navigate it. That experience led him to advise an elder care platform and made him one of the most vocal advocates for this benefit category. His message: companies that don't build something here in the next few years will lose the sandwich generation employees who need it most. 7. The Elderly Population Is About to Eclipse the Child Population in the US The demographic shift is imminent. The sandwich generation — employees simultaneously raising children and caring for aging parents — is about to become the dominant workforce cohort. People leaders who are not designing benefits for this reality are already behind. 8. Concierge Benefits Address the Real Cost of Being Away The most relatable benefit Dave wishes he had: someone to handle real-life logistics when you're traveling for work. A fallen tree, a lawn that needs cutting, a home emergency — the mental load of worrying about what's happening at home while you're on the road is a real productivity drain that concierge services can address. 9. HR Needs a Purposeful AI Design — Not a Default One Dave's key insight from Transform 2026: the most important AI conversation in HR isn't about what AI can do — it's about what you want it to do. Mapping capabilities and making deliberate decisions about where AI takes over and where human judgment is protected is the strategic work that separates thoughtful people organizations from reactive ones. CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Introduction Adam welcomes Dave Hanrahan from SolarWinds, fresh off a panel session, and sets up a conversation about global people leadership and benefits. 02:00 – Meet SolarWinds & Dave's Role Dave describes SolarWinds — a B2B IT observability platform — and his role as SVP of People, including joining two weeks before an acquisition and managing a team spanning six countries. 04:30 – Managing a Global Workforce Up Close Why Dave prioritizes getting out to international offices in person, and what you can only understand about site culture when you're actually there. 07:00 – How Benefits Work Around the World A rarely discussed topic: how benefits are structured differently by country, why one-size-fits-all doesn't work globally, and what SolarWinds is learning about meeting employees where they are in each market. 10:00 – Transportation Benefits in Bangalore & Manila The standout benefit conversation: why commuter subsidies matter more than gym memberships for teams in some of the world's most congested cities — and how SolarWinds is working with local teams to figure out the right solution. 13:00 – Mental Health Benefits & the Confidentiality Challenge How SolarWinds approaches global on-demand therapy benefits, why anonymity is the key to adoption, and what aggregate data from the platform tells Dave as a people leader about workforce stress trends. 16:30 – How Benefits Are Priced & Structured A practical breakdown: per-employee session allotments, how utilization is tracked, when the company raises session limits, and how group sessions expand access across the organization. 19:00 – What Candidates Actually Ask About in Total Comp Dave's generational breakdown: junior employees ask about food and gym benefits; senior employees go straight to 401(k) match and parental leave. And across the board, every candidate asks to see the benefits flyer. 22:00 – The Elder Care Gap — Dave's Personal Story Dave's most personal moment in the episode: going through elder care for both parents with zero company support, becoming an advisor to an elder care benefits platform, and why he believes this is the next major benefits frontier. 26:00 – The Sandwich Generation Is Here The data point that stops the conversation: the US elderly population is about to eclipse the child population. Dave and Adam get real about what that means for employees caught in the middle — raising kids while caring for aging parents. 29:30 – Concierge Benefits & the Value of Peace of Mind What Dave wishes he had as an employee traveling for work: concierge services that handle real-life logistics — the lawn, the fallen tree, the home emergency — so employees can focus on the job. 32:00 – Mapping AI to HR: What to Automate, What to Protect Dave's aha moment from Transform 2026: the importance of purposefully mapping which HR functions should become agentic versus where human judgment — on hiring, promotions, compensation, feedback — must be retained. 35:00 – Keeping the Human at the Center Dave's words of optimism: at this conference, HR leaders are pushing back on the narrative that AI should replace human judgment. The energy at Transform is about keeping people at the heart of the most important decisions.

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com About:  Nancy Hauge , Chief People Experience Officer  Nancy oversees all "people" functions worldwide at Automation Anywhere, including talent acquisition, communication, total rewards, learning and development, engagement, DEI, and Social Impact. She brings more than 30 years of experience in senior leadership and management consulting roles. Prior to joining Automation Anywhere, she was the chief people officer at HotChalk, where she was responsible for all people functions, legal, and facilities. Before that, Nancy served as the SVP of global human resources and facilities at Silicon Image through its 2015 acquisition, and as SVP of human resources for K12 Inc. (STRIDE) through its 2007 IPO. She also has executive experience at Ruckus Network, Noah's New York Bagels, Gymboree Corporation and Sun Microsystems.  She was recognized by HRO Today as CHRO of the Year 2023, for Innovation.  Additional recognition includes being named by HR Leadership as one of the Top 100 HR Tech Influencers for 2021, by HRO Today as a Leader of Distinction in North America in 2019. She is also a recipient of the "Stevie Awards" for women in high tech and was named by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of the "100 Women of Influence" in Silicon Valley both in 2015. Nancy has served on the Board of Regents for Holy Names College and the Board of Advisors to The Cameron School of Business at The University of North Carolina, Wilmington.  What you didn't know: Nancy started her career in comedy. Writing and performing. Of course, Nancy admits that she is lucky she wasn't very good at that or she would not be here today. Key Takeaways: 1. People Are the Most Unpredictable — and That's the Point Nancy's reason for still loving HR after 45 years: no two days are ever the same, because people will always surprise you. That unpredictability isn't a bug in the people function — it's what makes it the most creative, human-centered role in any organization. 2. AI Agents Should Do the Work Humans Shouldn't Have to Do The real promise of AI in HR isn't efficiency for its own sake — it's freeing humans to do what humans are actually best at. Reviewing resumes, scheduling interviews, and answering repetitive benefit questions should be automated. Creativity, judgment, and connection should not. 3. The Referral Agent Changes How Jobs Get Designed Automation Anywhere's referral agent is a glimpse at the future of workforce planning: as a new job description is written, AI maps it to existing tools in the catalog and recommends what else needs to be built. Jobs are no longer just roles — they're a design challenge. 4. The Future of Benefits Is Bespoke, Not Bulk Volume-purchased, one-size-fits-many benefits packages are a legacy model. Millennials and Gen Z expect benefits that match their actual life — their family structure, their life stage, their specific needs. Companies that don't move toward personalization will lose the talent war to those that do. 5. Benefits Are How You Reach Into the Family Nancy's reframe: benefits aren't just a compensation component — they're the one place a company can make an employee's family a partner in retention. When a company helps with a night nurse, fertility support, or postpartum care, the family notices. And families influence career decisions. 6. The Night Nurse Benefit Generated the Most Emotional Response of Nancy's Career Of all the benefits Nancy has implemented across 45 years, a night nurse support service for new parents produced the most extraordinary emotional response she has ever received from employees. It's a reminder that the highest-impact benefits often aren't the most expensive — they're the most human. 7. AI Agents Can Surface Benefits at the Exact Moment They're Needed The awareness and adoption problem in benefits is real: employees don't think about benefits until they need them. AI agents that detect life changes — a new dependent added to insurance, a leave request filed — and proactively surface relevant benefits solve this problem at scale, without requiring HR to monitor or manage it manually. 8. People Share More With Agents Than With HR — and That's a Feature Employees are more willing to disclose sensitive, personal information to an AI agent than to a human HR representative, because there's no fear of judgment or career consequences. That confidentiality drives benefit utilization and gives companies a more accurate picture of what employees actually need. 9. Great Alumni Are Part of the Benefits ROI Nancy's two-vector framework for benefits ROI — retention and human wellness — includes something most people skip: the alumni experience. The goal isn't just to keep employees as long as possible. It's to make them feel so well-cared-for that when they leave, they become ambassadors. That has real, lasting value. CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Introduction: Adam welcomes Nancy Hauge — whose favorite color is puce — and sets up a conversation with one of the most experienced people leaders in the series. 02:00 – Meet Nancy & Automation Anywhere Nancy introduces herself as Chief People Experience Officer and describes Automation Anywhere's AI agent platform — built to help enterprises manage agentic solutions across their entire tech stack. 04:00 – Why 45 Years in HR Never Gets Old Nancy's answer to what keeps her energized after four-plus decades: people are the least predictable thing in the world, which makes HR the most creative function in any business. 06:30 – The Greatest Innovation in HR Tech Nancy's take on the biggest recent leap: AI agents that remove human bias from processes, hand repetitive work back to machines, and free people to do what they're actually best at — creativity and problem solving. 09:00 – The Referral Agent: AI Redesigning Job Descriptions A specific innovation at Automation Anywhere: an AI agent that, as a job description is written, maps it to existing agents in the catalog and recommends new ones to build — fundamentally changing how work gets designed. 12:00 – The Future of Benefits Is Bespoke Nancy's bold prediction: one-size-fits-many benefits are on the way out. The next generation of workers — Millennials and Gen Z — expect à la carte, concierge-level solutions tailored to their life and their family, not volume-purchased packages. 15:00 – Benefits Reach Into the Family A reframe that changes how you think about total rewards: benefits are the one place a company can reach into an employee's family and make them partners in retention. That's a responsibility — and an opportunity. 17:30 – The Night Nurse Benefit The benefit that generated the most emotional response Nancy has ever seen in her career — a post-birth night nurse support service — and why the reaction from employees was extraordinary. 21:00 – AI Agents Driving Benefits Awareness How Automation Anywhere uses AI agents to proactively surface the right benefits at the right moment — detecting life changes like a new baby on insurance and prompting employees with relevant support before they even think to ask. 24:00 – Confidentiality & the Trust Factor Why employees are more likely to share vulnerable, personal information with an AI agent than with HR — no judgment, no performance review implications, no office gossip. And why does that drive benefit utilization? 26:30 – Justifying Benefits ROI on Two Vectors Nancy's framework: retention is one vector, human wellness and happiness is the other. And the goal isn't just keeping people — it's creating great alumni who leave saying the company genuinely cared about them. 29:00 – The 5-Year Century Nancy previews her upcoming book, co-authored with Automation Anywhere's CEO, publishing May 19th via Wiley — about how rapidly everything is changing and how AI agents are going to help humanity tackle its biggest challenges.

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com   ABOUT: Lucia is a Chief People Officer working at the intersection of talent, technology, and strategy, helping organizations navigate transformation and scale intentionally. Over the past decade, she has partnered with leadership teams at public and high-growth companies to build operating models that support distributed work, enable durable growth, and strengthen resilience. At Virta Health, she built and scaled a fully remote organization recognized by Inc. as a Best Place to Work during a period of rapid expansion. At Patreon, she led the team through hypergrowth, M&A integration, and cultural evolution. Earlier in her career at Yahoo, Lucia designed and implemented analytics and decision-making infrastructure across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas. She holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Stanford GSB and brings a systems-driven approach to how organizations operate and evolve at scale.  Takeaways: 1. Honesty Is the Most Underrated Employee Benefit Lucia's diagnosis of broken cultures is blunt: a lack of honesty. In an era defined by uncertainty — AI, economic volatility, global instability — employees want leaders and organizations that will be straight with them. Transparency isn't a communication strategy; it's a cultural foundation. 2. Bring Your Customers Into Your Culture Virta Health keeps honesty alive by bringing its patients — the people receiving its treatment — into all-hands meetings, offsites, and board meetings. It's a radical form of accountability that makes it impossible to lose sight of what the organization is actually for. 3. Remote Done Right Is About Trust, Not Tools Flexibility is a genuine benefit — but only if it comes with trust, clear expectations, and a genuine output-over-hours mentality. Lucia's philosophy: I hired you to do a job from anywhere. Get it done. The moment you start monitoring screen time or sending 3 AM emails, you've broken the contract. 4. Know Your Population Before You Design Your Benefits Virta's benefits strategy starts with a simple question: who are our people and what do they need? Their workforce is majority women in their 30s — so fertility benefits aren't a nice-to- have, they're a core part of the value proposition. Benefits designed without demographic insight don't land. 5. Compensation Comes First — Then Benefits Can Differentiate You cannot win a talent war on benefits alone. Market-rate base, bonus, and long-term incentives have to be in place first. Once they are, benefits become the layer that signals culture and meets employees where they are in their lives. 6. Engagement Is the Proxy Metric for Peace of Mind How do you quantify something as qualitative as peace of mind? Lucia's answer: Track engagement before and after benefits changes. Employees who feel supported show up more connected to the organization. That connection is measurable — and it ties directly to retention and performance. 7. The Attrition Argument Wins the Benefits Budget Conversation When employees are in a high-stakes life phase — fertility, family planning, caregiving — and the company doesn't meet them there, they leave. The cost of replacing them is almost always higher than the cost of the benefit. Lucia builds her ROI case on that math, and it works. 8. AI Is Forcing Leaders to Lead With Meaning As AI automates the transactional parts of management, leaders are left with the one thing AI can't provide: genuine human connection and meaning. Lucia sees this as a cause for optimism — organizations that were coasting on process are now being pushed to actually invest in their people. 9. 3 AM Emails Are a Leadership Failure, Not a Work Ethic Signal Managers who send late-night or weekend messages aren't demonstrating dedication — they're demonstrating poor planning and setting a cultural expectation that others shouldn't have to absorb. If urgency is manufactured, the fix is upstream, not a Sunday Slack message. CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Introduction Adam welcomes Lucia Guillory, CPO at Virta Health, and gets a quick overview of what the company does — including their recent breakthrough linking their treatment to extended survival in pancreatic cancer patients. 02:00 – From Isolation to PhD: How Lucia Got Into People Lucia traces her path into organizational behavior through a personal lens — growing up dyslexic and with ADHD, studying people as a way to understand belonging, and ultimately earning a PhD to drive change in organizations. 05:00 – What's Most Broken in Bad Cultures Lucia's direct answer: a lack of honesty. In a world of tariffs, AI anxiety, and geopolitical turbulence, employees want authenticity and transparency above everything else — and it's rarer than it should be. 07:30 – How Virta Bakes Transparency In Virta's unusual approach to keeping honesty at the forefront: bringing patients (members) into all-hands meetings, offsites, and even board meetings — making it impossible to hide what's working and what isn't. 10:30 – Remote Done Right What it actually means to be a fully remote organization: output over hours, trust over monitoring, flexibility as a genuine benefit, and clear communication as the operating system that holds it all together. 13:30 – The 3 AM Email Problem Lucia's take on managers who send emails at 3 AM or on weekends: it's a leadership failure, not a badge of honor — and employees have to vote with their feet if that's the culture. 16:00 – Total Comp: Where Benefits Fit In You can't win on benefits alone — market compensation has to be there first. But once it is, benefits become the differentiator. Lucia's framework: know your population and design accordingly. 18:30 – Fertility Benefits & Knowing Your Workforce Why Virta chose Carrot as their fertility benefits platform — and how understanding that their workforce is majority women in their 30s made this an obvious, high-impact investment across the full spectrum of family planning. 21:30 – Measuring the ROI of Peace of Mind How do you put a number on peace of mind? Lucia's answer: track engagement. Benefits that reduce stress and meet employees where they are show up directly in engagement scores — and engagement ties to retention and performance. 24:00 – Linking Benefits to Attrition The business case Lucia makes to finance: when employees are in a critical life phase — fertility, family planning, caregiving — failing to meet them there drives attrition. The cost of that attrition is measurable. The cost of the benefit usually isn't. 26:30 – What's Lighting Lucia Up: AI & the Return of Meaning Lucia's optimistic take on the AI moment: as transactional management gets automated away, leaders are being forced to show up with something AI can't provide — meaning, connection, and genuine investment in their people.    

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com   Key Topics: - Toxicity recognition and avoidance - Self-awareness and personal growth - Building positive relationships and boundaries   Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Guest Credibility 01:12 Celebrating Milestones and Self-Care 01:43 Origin of the Book Title and Advice from Lee Steinberg 03:07 Marketing the Book and Its Impact 04:17 Why Now is the Right Time for This Message 05:22 Lessons Learned from Writing the Book 07:32 Personal Story of Loss and Spiritual Growth 08:36 Recognizing Toxicity and Patterns Early 12:09 The Role of Gratitude and Forgiveness 14:37 Responding to Fear and Resistance 16:45 The Power of Taking a Pause and Recenter 17:49 Why People Tolerate Toxic Relationships 19:32 Creating a Filter for Choosing the Right People 21:35 Protecting Your Time and Energy 23:27 Aligning Past, Present, and Future for Success 26:34 Defining Success as the Pursuit of Potential 27:30 Offering Resources and Final Words of Wisdom

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com About:  Kyle Forrest is the Future of HR Leader for Deloitte Consulting LLP. The Future of HR team advises, implements, and helps business and HR leaders drive business and workforce outcomes through Deloitte's knowledge and practical understanding of HR operating models, processes, AI and automation capabilities, HR technology and vendor partner strategies, and evolving HR skills and capabilities. Forrest also serves as the dean of Deloitte's Next Generation CHRO Academy, bringing together senior HR leaders aspiring for the CHRO role to advance their careers. Takeaways:  1. The AI Conversation Has Moved On — and That's a Good Thing A year ago, every conference session was about AI features. In 2026, the more important question has taken center stage: what should humans be doing? Organizations that are answering that question well are investing in the uniquely human capabilities — creativity, presence, novel thinking, relationship-building — that AI cannot replicate. 2. No Generation Is Primarily Motivated by Pay Alone Deloitte's research across all four workforce generations is consistent: salary is table stakes, not a differentiator. Purpose, mental wellbeing, financial wellness, and a sense that the company cares about the whole person are what actually move the needle on attraction and retention. 3. Mental Wellbeing Benefits Are Now a Business Outcome, Not a Perk The link between employee stress and productivity is well-documented. Organizations that invest in mental health benefits aren't just being compassionate — they're protecting output, engagement, and retention. Gen Z's comfort with this dialogue has accelerated adoption across the board. 4. The Sandwich Generation Is the Next Big Benefits Frontier A growing number of employees are simultaneously raising children and caring for aging parents. This dual caregiving burden creates stress, distraction, and leave risk that compounds over time. Benefits that help employees navigate elder care — not just time off, but actual guidance and support — are going to become a significant differentiator in the next few years. 5. Women's Health Benefits Have an Underserved Second Chapter The fertility benefits conversation has expanded — but Kyle points to a significant gap: supporting mothers through recovery, healing, and the early transition to parenthood after birth. There is growing investment in this space, and the companies that get ahead of it will have a meaningful advantage. 6. How a Company Handles Pregnancy Loss Is Now Part of Its Employer Brand Word travels fast — especially on social media. How an organization supports an employee through the loss of a pregnancy or a failed IVF cycle is the kind of story that gets shared widely. It's become a visible signal of company culture and values that candidates and current employees pay attention to. 7. Benefits ROI Lives in Attrition and Time-to-Hire Data Kyle's framework for building the business case: calculate the cost of slow hiring and high attrition, then show how the right benefits mix moves those numbers. Unfilled roles have a direct revenue impact — and retaining the right people means not missing out on sales, delivery, or growth. 8. Performance Psychology Coaching Is the Most Interesting New Benefits Category Drawing on decades of research in elite sports, performance psychology coaching helps employees handle high-pressure moments, navigate stress, and show up at their best — consistently. It's distinct from traditional mental health services and addresses a different, underserved need in the workforce. 9. Asynchronous Interviewing Is Democratizing the Candidate Pipeline Tools that let candidates complete interviews and skills assessments on their own time — at 5:30 AM before work or after putting the kids to bed — are surfacing qualified candidates who would have otherwise been filtered out by scheduling friction. Companies using these tools are finding people they would have missed. 10. Modern HR's Job Is Strategy, Not Inquiry The more benefits navigation and routine HR questions can be handled through technology and concierge services, the more HR professionals can focus on what actually moves the business: partnering with leaders to personalize benefits for their specific workforce mix, build better teams, and make smarter people decisions. CHAPTERS:  00:00 – Welcome Back, Kyle Adam welcomes Kyle Forrest back for his third appearance and sets up what's different about Transform 2026 compared to previous years. 02:00 – The Shift: From AI Features to Human Value Kyle's big observation from the conference circuit: last year was about AI products; this year is about what work should remain human — and why that's the more important conversation. 04:30 – What AI Still Can't Do The uniquely human capabilities that no model can replace: being present in the room, generating novel ideas, building real relationships, and innovating in ways that go beyond the existing body of human knowledge. 07:00 – Four Generations, One Workforce, Zero Agreement on Pay Deloitte's generational research shows that across Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers, salary alone is not the primary motivator — and what that means for how companies structure total comp. 09:30 – Mental Wellbeing as a Business Outcome How Gen Z's comfort with mental health dialogue has pushed organizations to take wellness benefits more seriously — and the research linking stress reduction directly to productivity and engagement. 12:00 – The Sandwich Generation Problem A growing segment of the workforce is simultaneously caring for kids and aging parents. Kyle makes the case for why navigation benefits for elder care aren't just nice to have — they're becoming critical. 15:00 – Benefits That Remove Burden from HR How smart benefits design reduces the volume of questions HR has to field — freeing people professionals to spend time with business leaders on strategic workforce decisions instead. 17:30 – The Modern Role of HR Kyle's take on how the HR profession has evolved over nearly 100 years — and where it needs to go next: less inquiry-answering, more personalized workforce strategy in partnership with business leaders. 20:00 – Fertility Benefits and the Overlooked Healing Journey The growing investment in women's health benefits — and the often-missed opportunity to support mothers not just through the fertility journey, but through recovery, healing, and the transition to parenthood. 23:00 – Supporting Loss in the Workplace A candid moment: how companies show up for employees who experience pregnancy loss or failed IVF is becoming a visible differentiator — and word spreads fast, in both directions. 25:30 – The ROI Case for Benefits Investment Kyle's framework for justifying benefits spend: tie it to time-to-hire, attrition rates, and the measurable revenue impact of unfilled roles and disengaged employees. 28:00 – Performance Psychology Coaching One of the most interesting emerging benefits: coaching that applies lessons from elite sports psychology to help employees navigate stress, pressure, and high-stakes moments at work. 30:30 – TA Tech Innovation: Interviewing on Your Time The candidate experience innovation Kyle is most excited about: asynchronous interview and skills assessment tools that let candidates go through the process at 5:30 AM or after bedtime — and the pipeline results companies are seeing. 33:00 – Where to Find Kyle & Deloitte's Research Kyle points listeners to Deloitte's Insights to Action platform and his LinkedIn for the latest research and workforce intelligence.

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com TANYA E. MOORE As Chief People Officer, Tanya drives initiatives that empower West Monroe's employees and foster a high-performing, supportive culture. Tanya partners with leadership to develop the next generation of leaders, ensuring our people are fulfilled and our employee experience remains a key differentiator. Before joining West Monroe in 2023, Tanya was Chief People Officer at M.C. Dean and spent two decades with IBM, where she led award-winning programs that shaped the company's transformation. She holds an MBA in organizational development from the College of William and Mary. Outside of work, she serves on several advisory boards, including The Conference Board's CHRO Council, the William and Mary Consulting Board of Directors, and the She-Suite Board of Advisors. She is also a sought-after speaker on topics such as workforce transformation, the evolving role of HR, and leveraging AI to advance people and organizational transformation. Key Takeaways 1. Senior Candidates Should Run a Due Diligence Process, Not Just an Interview Tanya's 18-interview process wasn't excessive — it was intelligence gathering. She was evaluating CEO relationship dynamics, board influence, team readiness, and organizational appetite for change. Candidates at any level should approach interviews as a two-way assessment. 2. Know What You're Actually Looking For Before You Start As Tanya put it: smart, kind, humble people. Work she enjoys. Some fun. The clearer you are about your non-negotiables before you start a job search, the better your decision-making will be when offers come in. 3. Employee Ownership Changes the Employment Relationship With 74% of West Monroe employees holding equity in the company, the ownership mindset isn't a metaphor — it's structural. This is a genuine differentiator in total rewards and shapes how employees engage with the business and with clients. 4. Benefits Signal Culture, Not Just Compensation Tanya's view: the specific benefits matter less than what they reveal about a company's values. Organizations that invest in comprehensive, thoughtful benefits are signaling that they see employees as whole people — and that signal is what candidates are actually responding to. 5. COVID Permanently Raised the Floor on Benefits Expectations The pandemic gave people permission to stop and ask what actually matters. Flexibility, mental health support, and personalized benefits have moved from nice-to-have to expected — and companies that haven't caught up are losing candidates to those that have. 6. Open Roles Are a Hidden Employee Retention Risk Every unfilled position means someone else on the team is absorbing that work. The longer a role stays open, the more likely you are to lose another employee as a result. Time to fill is a culture and retention metric, not just a talent acquisition metric. 7. AI in Recruiting Should Eliminate Low-Value Steps, Not Human Connection West Monroe's approach to AI was surgical: identify every step in the recruiting process where technology could add value, and use it there — so recruiters can spend more time on the high- touch, high-judgment work that actually moves candidates. Automated scheduling and AI- assisted interview feedback are the easy wins. 8. Feedback Loops Are the Biggest Bottleneck in Consulting Firm Hiring Getting busy managers to interview isn't the hard part — it's getting their structured feedback afterward. Tools like BrightHire that record interviews (with consent) and auto-generate notes and scoring against the job description are solving a real, expensive problem. 9. Burnout Needs Programmatic Solutions, Not Just Resources Pointing employees to an EAP or mental health benefit isn't enough when burnout is systemic. West Monroe is exploring more customized, structured support for employees who are struggling — moving from reactive to proactive people care. 10. AI Is the Internet — Embrace It or Fall Behind Tanya's optimism about AI isn't naive — it's grounded in historical perspective. Just as nobody predicted what the internet would become, nobody fully knows where AI is going. Her advice: use it, test it, let it make you smarter. "F around and find out."   00:00 – Introduction Adam introduces Tanya Moore, CPO at West Monroe, and sets up a conversation about benefits, candidate experience, and the modern people function. 01:30 – Meet West Monroe & Tanya Tanya describes West Monroe's differentiators — quality, speed to value, client NPS — and traces her career from 20 years at IBM to her current CPO role. 04:00 – Being the Candidate: 18 Interviews Tanya shares what it was like to go through 18 interviews as a senior exec, why she didn't quit, and what she was actually evaluating along the way. 07:00 – What Senior Candidates Should Really Ask The questions Tanya asked that most candidates don't: CEO relationship dynamics, board influence and hands-on vs. hands-off style, team readiness, and what really happens when things go wrong. 10:00 – Modernizing People Ops at West Monroe, walking into an org with no succession planning and no workforce planning, and the systematic approach Tanya took to rebuild people functions from the ground up. 13:00 – Redesigning the Candidate Experience How West Monroe overhauled its recruiting workflows after adopting Greenhouse, dramatically improving time to hire, reducing cost, and elevating both candidate and manager experience. 16:00 – Time to Fill as an Employee Retention Metric Why open roles aren't just a talent problem — they're a burnout and satisfaction risk for the employees left picking up the slack. 18:30 – Employee Ownership as a Total Rewards Differentiator How West Monroe's half employee-owned model and 74% equity participation rate changes how people show up — and how it's positioned as a benefit in the recruiting process. 21:00 – Benefits Beyond the Basics From childcare and dog walking to expanded mental health support, Tanya breaks down what West Monroe offers and why COVID permanently shifted candidate expectations around benefits. 24:00 – Flex Benefits & the Future of Personalization Tanya's vision for benefits that let employees choose what matters to them — gym memberships, yoga, wellness stipends — rather than a one-size-fits-all package. 26:30 – Tackling Burnout Proactively West Monroe's evolving approach to burnout: moving beyond standard mental health appointments toward more customized, programmatic support for employees who need it most. 29:00 – AI in Recruiting: Where It's Actually Working From automated interview scheduling to BrightHire's AI-powered feedback tools, Tanya walks through specific efficiency gains that are giving recruiters more time for high-value human work. 32:00 – Getting Feedback from Busy Hiring Managers The real bottleneck in consulting firm recruiting isn't getting managers to show up — it's getting their feedback afterward. How BrightHire is solving that. 34:30 – An Optimist's Take on AI & the Future of Work Tanya closes with her big-picture view on AI — likening it to the early internet — and her direct advice to anyone still on the fence: "F around and find out."

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com   CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Introduction & Origin Story Adam and Allie reconnect on camera, sharing how they both landed at Onward Search and what drew them into the world of recruiting. 02:30 – Finding Safety & Belonging at Work Allie opens up about leaving a workplace where she didn't feel safe as a newly out queer person, and how Onward Search welcomed her as she was. 05:00 – Following Your Passion Outside of Work Allie's advice on finding fulfillment outside your day job — and how volunteering for Sofar Sounds led directly to her in-house career at a music company. 07:30 – Agency to In-House: Making the Leap Why going from agency recruiting to in-house felt natural for Allie, and why she believes the agency world is actually the harder direction to go. 10:00 – Output Over Hours: The Remote Work Philosophy A discussion on trust, flexibility, and why giving employees autonomy tends to produce better results — with honest acknowledgment of when it doesn't work. 12:30 – What a VP of People & Culture Actually Does Allie breaks down her remit at SoundCloud: change management, leadership training, org structure, policies, and bridging the gap between managers and the talent team. 15:00 – Building Real Company Values (Not Poster Values) How SoundCloud is approaching values creation from scratch — starting with executive buy-in, pressure-testing with culture keepers, and rolling out with a real adoption plan. 18:30 – Transparency as a Cultural North Star Why Allie believes in a "culture of no surprises" and how leadership transparency — even when imperfect — builds trust across the organization. 21:00 – Personalizing the Candidate & Benefits Experience How great recruiters match candidates to the right benefits by listening carefully during the process — and why benefits like learning stipends, pet insurance, and life concierge services can close competitive offers. 24:00 – SoundCloud's $1,600 L&D Benefit A spotlight on SoundCloud's annual learning and development stipend and why investing in employees' growth pays dividends for the company. 26:30 – Do Recruiters Miss the High of Placing Candidates? Allie and Adam get nostalgic about the rush of closing a deal — and why the feeling of giving someone their dream job never gets old. 29:00 – Navigating Transform 2026 as a First-Timer Allie shares her experience at her first Transform conference and Adam offers tips for making the most of big industry events. 31:00 – What's on Your Playlist? The episode wraps with a music moment — Wet Leg, Alabama Shakes, Chance the Rapper, Fred Again, and a surprise Luke Combs convert. Key Takeaways: 1. Culture of No Surprises Is the Highest Form of Employer Trust The biggest damage to candidate and employee trust comes from being sold a version of a company that doesn't match reality. Allie's north star is radical transparency — leaders sharing hard truths when they can, so employees are never blindsided. 2. Company Values Must Be Built, Not Announced Values that stick don't come from a poster or a company-wide email. They require executive sponsorship, employee pressure-testing, phased rollout, and genuine adoption planning. Anything less is performative — and people know it. 3. Agency Recruiting Is a Training Ground That Makes You Better The discipline of hitting numbers, showing up every day, and working in a high-accountability environment gives agency recruiters a foundation that in-house roles rarely replicate. Allie credits that grind for making her the people leader she is today. 4. Follow Your Passion Outside of Work — It Might Become Your Career Allie's move to SoundCloud started with volunteering for Sofar Sounds on evenings and weekends. Pursuing what you love outside your day job builds relationships, skills, and opportunities you can't manufacture inside an office. 5. Output Over Hours Is the Right Framework — With Guardrails Giving employees trust and flexibility tends to produce exceptional results. But it requires clear expectations, strong manager relationships, and a willingness to coach (or exit) people who aren't built for autonomous work environments. 6. Personalize the Benefits Conversation — Don't Just List the Package The best recruiters listen for what matters to each candidate and connect it to the right benefits. A pet owner lights up when you mention pet insurance. A candidate navigating a same-sex partnership in a complicated state wants to hear about legal concierge support. Benefits close competitive offers when they're presented personally, not generically. 7. L&D Investment Is a Signal of Company Values, Not Just a Perk SoundCloud's $1,600 annual learning and development stipend tells employees: we're invested in your growth, not just your output. For candidates choosing between comparable offers, this kind of benefit signals a culture that takes development seriously. 8. VP of People Is a Bridge Role — Between Managers, Talent, and Leadership Allie's job isn't to recruit or to set policy in a vacuum — it's to sit at the intersection of what managers need, what the talent team is finding, and what leadership is trying to build. The best people leaders are connectors and translators across all three. 9. Feeling Safe at Work Is Non-Negotiable — And Companies That Get It Win Allie's story of leaving a role where she didn't feel safe as a queer person — and finding belonging at Onward Search — is a reminder that psychological safety isn't a soft metric. It's a talent retention and acquisition advantage.    

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Key Takeaways 1. There Is No Business Outcome That Doesn't Involve People Revenue, innovation, customer experience, strategy execution — all of it runs through people. Angela's foundational belief is that HR, positioned correctly, is directly tied to every business result an organization needs. That framing changes everything about how the function shows up. 2. HR Started as Process — and Forgot About Influence Angela's diagnosis of how HR lost its seat at the table: the function got very good at processing and forgot about influencing. The path back is showing up with data, tying recommendations to business outcomes, and being part of the conversation rather than behind it. 3. Policy Should Be a Guideline, Not a Wall One of the most powerful lessons from Angela's early career: following policy to the letter can harm the very people HR is supposed to protect. The best people leaders ask "what else can we do?" before defaulting to what the handbook says. 4. Benefits Have Three Layers — and the Order Matters Layer 1: Foundations — comprehensive, affordable health, dental, and vision. Layer 2: Flexibility — in how, when, and where people work. Layer 3: Growth and recognition — opportunities to stretch, develop, and feel valued. Companies that skip to Layer 3 without nailing Layer 1 are building on sand. 5. Caregiver Benefits Are the Most Underrated Tool in Total Rewards Employees don't leave their home lives at the door. Sick parents, sick kids, and pets in need of care are constant sources of distraction and stress. Caregiver benefits that address these realities don't just help employees — they protect productivity and demonstrate that a company sees the whole person. 6. The Aging Parent Crisis Is Coming — Companies Aren't Ready As Baby Boomers age, a growing portion of the workforce will face elder care responsibilities that compete directly with their work. Companies that build caregiver support into their benefits now will be better positioned to retain experienced employees through one of the most stressful seasons of their lives. 7. Presenteeism Costs More Than Most Companies Realize Being at work — physically or virtually — is not the same as being engaged and productive. Angela's point on presenteeism is a sharp one: an employee who is worried about an aging parent, a sick child, or a personal crisis may be clocked in but effectively absent. That has a dollar value, and it belongs in the benefits ROI conversation. 8. Here's How to Pitch a CFO on Life Concierge Benefits Pull absence data. Calculate the cost of leave tied to caregiving responsibilities. Layer in the cost of replacing an employee who left because they didn't have the right support. Then present the cost of the benefit against those numbers. It's not a soft sell — it's a hard business case. 9. "My Company Took Care of Me" Is the Most Powerful Recruiting Tool You Have Word of mouth from employees who feel genuinely supported travels far. When people tell friends, former colleagues, and their networks that their company stepped up for them during a hard time, that's employer brand you can't manufacture with a marketing budget. CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Introduction Adam welcomes Angela Briggs-Paige, CPO and founder of People Power, and sets up a conversation about what modern HR leadership really looks like. 01:30 – From Pre-Med to People Leader Angela traces her unexpected path from biology major and aspiring doctor to discovering HR through a work-study job — and never looking back. 04:00 – Redefining What HR Is For Angela's core belief: there is no business outcome that doesn't involve people. How she flips the script on HR as a compliance function and positions it as a business driver. 06:30 – The Mentor Who Pushed Her The manager who challenged Angela to stop saying yes and start asking "what does this mean for the business?" — and how that changed her entire approach to the function. 09:00 – A Story She Wishes She Could Take Back Angela gets vulnerable about an early-career mistake: terminating an employee for exceeding their leave allotment instead of asking what else could be done — and what that taught her about the difference between policy and people. 12:30 – Policy as Guideline, Not Gospel How that experience shifted Angela's thinking on flexibility — and why the best people leaders treat policy as a framework to work within, not a wall to hide behind. 15:00 – The 3 Layers of Benefits That Actually Matter Angela's framework: Layer 1 is foundations (affordable health, dental, vision). Layer 2 is flexibility. Layer 3 is growth and recognition. Why the order matters as much as the content. 18:00 – The Case for Caregiver Benefits Why caregiver benefits — covering aging parents, sick kids, and pets — are among the most impactful and underutilized tools in total rewards, and what happens when employees don't have them. 21:00 – The Aging Parent Problem No One's Talking About Baby Boomers are aging. The workforce is about to face a caregiving crisis. Angela makes the case for why companies need to get ahead of it now — and what benefits can actually help. 23:30 – Peace of Mind as an ROI You can't buy peace of mind — but a company can offer it. How life concierge benefits reduce distraction, improve focus, and make employees feel genuinely cared for. 26:00 – Presenteeism: The Hidden Cost Nobody Measures One of the sharpest moments in the episode: Angela introduces presenteeism — being at work but mentally absent — and explains why it may cost more than absenteeism. 28:30 – How to Pitch a CFO on Life Concierge Benefits Angela's step-by-step framework: pull absence data, calculate leave costs, layer in retention math, and build a cost-benefit case that speaks the CFO's language. 31:00 – What's Lighting Angela Up Angela closes with what's giving her energy at Transform 2026: being surrounded by people leaders who genuinely care about making workplaces better.    

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls What if your employees had one central hub to handle real life? Meet Overalls. A smarter way to support your team, combining expert human LifeConcierges™ with AI to solve everyday challenges across healthcare, caregiving, benefits, insurance, finances, life admin, and more. From start to finish, Overalls handles the details — using existing benefits where they fit, and filling in the gaps where they don't. So employees save time, reduce stress, and stay focused at work, while employers boost engagement and get more value from their benefits. Overalls is redefining how work supports life, helping employee teams from Reddit, Patreon, BeatBox, and more cross pesky to-dos off their lists every day. Learn more at https://getoveralls.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=pozcast Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer at 1Password  Katya Laviolette is the Chief People Officer at 1Password, where she's grown a fully remote team to 1,400+ across five countries and achieved a 93% offer-to-acceptance rate. A strategic, globally-minded HR leader, Katya drives business innovation through talent and organizational development. Previously, Katya held executive roles at SSENSE, TC Transcontinental, CBC/Radio-Canada, Rio Tinto, Bombardier Aerospace, and Canadian National Railway. Katya is a Board Director at Sanimax and Solotech, and a founding member of Transform Montreal. She's also an ORHRI member, certified Integral Coaching Canada coach, and actively involved in Pour 3 Points, Governance au Féminin, and Monday Girl. 00:00 – Introduction Adam Poser welcomes Katya Laviolette live from Transform 2026 and sets the stage for the conversation. 01:15 – Meet 1Password & Katya Katya introduces herself and 1Password — an identity security company, fully remote for 20 years, now protecting both humans and AI agents. 03:30 – Evaluating Total Comp as a Candidate Breaking down what candidates should actually consider beyond base salary: bonus, equity, and especially benefits — including what employers contribute to healthcare. 06:45 – Table Stakes vs. Standout Benefits What every company must offer vs. what sets 1Password apart: pet telemedicine, 25 days PTO, 4 company-wide wellness days, and robust family planning benefits. 10:30 – Wellness Days Explained Katya unpacks what a "wellness day" actually looks like at 1Password — full company shutdowns so employees can recharge without guilt. 12:00 – Benefits ROI & Utilization How 1Password justifies the cost of premium benefits through utilization data, focus groups, and productivity metrics — and why cutting benefits should be the last resort. 15:00 – The Onboarding Edge: Starting on Wednesday 1Password's unconventional onboarding approach: all new hires start on Wednesdays so managers are ready, systems are prepped, and new employees get 3 days of company-led onboarding before meeting their team. 18:30 – Staying Connected in a Remote Company How 1Password keeps culture alive across 6 countries: city-by-city executive meetups, all-hands sessions, employee resource groups, and intentional cross-functional collaboration. 22:00 – Being Honest in the Interview Process Katya's approach to radical transparency — telling candidates "1Password might not be the place for you" — and why managing expectations is a competitive advantage. 25:30 – Remote Work Isn't for Everyone A candid conversation about the real challenges of remote work, what it takes to thrive in it, and how 1Password supports employees who may be struggling. 28:00 – AI, Fraud & the Future of Recruiting How 1Password is navigating AI-generated applications, over-embellished resumes, and fraudulent candidates — including mandatory in-person finalist interviews for senior roles. 31:00 – What's Exciting Katya Right Now Katya shares what energizes her most: the curiosity of 1Password's workforce and the chance to be part of a genuinely game-changing mission in AI and identity security.   Key Takeaways 1. Benefits Are a Recruiting and Retention Weapon Katya emphasizes that benefits extend far beyond table stakes like dental and disability. Standout offerings — family planning, pet telemedicine, wellness days, and generous PTO — are central to 1Password's employer brand and a real differentiator in a competitive talent market. 2. Employer Healthcare Contributions Matter More Than Most Candidates Realize The portion a company pays toward employee healthcare can represent thousands of dollars in annual value. Katya urges candidates to factor this into their true compensation comparison — not just base salary. 3. Benefits Only Work If Employees Know About Them and Use Them 1Password achieves high utilization through proactive education, easy administration, annual focus groups by country, and renewal-time communications that show employees the dollar value of their benefits package. 4. Start New Hires on a Wednesday — Not a Monday By onboarding all new employees on Wednesdays, 1Password ensures managers are focused and ready, systems are set up, and new hires get 3 days of company-led orientation before their team ramps up. It's a simple change with an outsized impact on first impressions. 5. Radical Transparency Reduces Mis-Hires Rather than selling every candidate on the company, Katya actively explains the challenges of remote work and the intensity of 1Password's mission. The company even includes language in offer materials saying "1Password might not be the place for you." This honest framing reduces early attrition. 6. Remote Culture Requires Intentional Design Staying connected across time zones doesn't happen by accident. 1Password invests in city-by- city in-person gatherings, structured all-hands, manager training on relationship-building over Zoom, and employee resource groups to keep culture alive. 7. AI Is Reshaping Recruiting — And Security-First Companies Are Ahead of the Curve 1Password has implemented fraud detection tools at the top of the application funnel, trained interviewers to identify AI-generated content, and instituted multi-stage interview loops with mandatory in-person finalists for senior hires. 8. Don't Cut Benefits When Things Get Tight Benefits are foundational to culture and trust. Katya argues that benefits should be among the last things cut in a cost-reduction scenario — the ROI from retention, productivity, and employer brand far outweighs the savings. 9. Time Is Currency for Employees Whether it's concierge benefits that handle personal logistics, flexible scheduling for a remote lifestyle, or wellness days that give genuine mental recharge time — giving employees their time back is one of the highest-ROI investments a company can make.  

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com   Takeaways: - The future of hiring is defined by speed. Not as a luxury—but as a competitive necessity. - Agentic AI is shifting recruiting from task-based workflows to outcome-based execution. Instead of clicking through systems, recruiters will define goals—and the software will handle the path to get there. - Candidates are already adapting faster than companies. When given the choice, most prefer instant, flexible AI interviews over waiting for human scheduling. Convenience is winning. - Automation doesn't eliminate the human role—it sharpens it. The best teams are using AI to handle volume while focusing their people on high-impact, human moments. - The biggest barrier to AI adoption isn't technology. It's resistance in the middle—managers who are hesitant to change how they work. - And perhaps most importantly, the companies that hire fastest aren't just filling roles quicker—they're landing better talent. CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Live from Transform: Setting the stage02:10 – Why Pete joined Fountain and the power of following great leaders05:00 – What makes Fountain different in a crowded hiring tech space08:15 – The shift from generative AI to agentic AI12:00 – Why speed is becoming the ultimate competitive advantage15:30 – Candidate experience: why instant AI interviews are winning19:10 – Meeting candidates where they are (and when they're available)22:45 – From application to offer in under 6 minutes26:30 – Where the human touch still matters in the funnel30:00 – How AI is augmenting—not replacing—recruiters34:20 – Why speed correlates directly with quality of hire37:40 – Compliance, regulation, and avoiding “AI snake oil”41:00 – The biggest blocker to AI adoption (it's not who you think)45:10 – What hiring will look like in the next 2 years

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Key Takeaways:  - Culture doesn't fail because of bad intentions. It fails because of poorly designed systems. - Abi's SERN framework reframes organizations as ecosystems, not machines. If the roots are toxic—lack of trust, poor leadership behaviors, invisible power dynamics—nothing built on top will thrive. - Psychological safety isn't about being agreeable. It's about creating an environment where honesty isn't punished, and where leaders are willing to admit they don't have all the answers. - Most organizations don't lack diverse perspectives—they lack the structures to surface them. The same voices dominate because the system rewards them. - Leaders looking for change don't need a massive initiative. They need to start by asking a simple question: who's not in the room, and why? - Finally, culture isn't owned by HR or leadership alone. It's shaped by every interaction, every decision, and every behavior that gets reinforced—or ignored. CHAPTERS:  00:00 – Live from Transform: Setting the stage for real talk on culture02:30 – Why organizations treat people like a monolith (and why it fails)06:10 – The SERN framework: Soil, Exposure, Roots, Nutrients10:45 – Diagnosing culture problems: It's not surface-level—it's in the roots14:20 – The hidden systems that quietly undermine inclusion18:05 – Psychological safety, stripped of the buzzword22:30 – Reframing failure as experimentation25:10 – Why “confidence” is often misunderstood (and misused)30:00 – Why you keep hearing the same voices in meetings34:15 – Simple, immediate fixes leaders can make tomorrow38:40 – Why culture is everyone's responsibility—not just leadership42:10 – Transparency, authenticity, and the truth leaders avoid46:00 – Equity vs equality: a simple but critical distinction49:30 – The risk of losing the human element in an AI-driven world52:00 – Final reflections: where culture is heading next

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Unleash 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com About: Maribel R. Diz is the Head of People for Latin America and the Caribbean Region at Visa. She is responsible for developing and executing people strategies in support of the overall business plan and direction in the region. She is also a strategic business advisor to the Visa Latin America and Caribbean leadership team regarding talent needs and plans for the region, including Miami, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. She has also served as the global People Champion, serving as the Chief People Officer's advisor, enabling her to work closely with the global People community in meeting the strategic priorities of the function. Maribel has more than 25 years of experience with Visa, and has a proven track record of working very closely across functions and geographies, providing leadership and driving change in the organization, while also promoting the Visa culture and leadership principles with diversity and inclusion across the region. She specializes in transformational work focusing on creating high performing leadership teams. Maribel has a Masters of Science in Human Resources Management from Florida International University and an undergraduate degree in Business from Nova Southeastern University. She also holds a Doctoral in Business Administration with distinction at Florida International University. She sits on the Center of International Business Education and Research, and Masters in Human Resources advisory boards at FIU, and was recently appointed as a Co-chairperson of the Doctoral in Business Administration Advisory Council. She is an active role model for HISPA (Hispanics Inspiring Student's Performance and Achievement) speaking to high school students inspiring them to stay in school and follow their dreams. She is a published author and accomplished speaker on all things leadership and gender inclusion, and is also specialized in the different workplace generations. CHAPTERS 00:00 Opening + final interview from UNLEASH01:00 Intro to Maribel Diz (Visa HR Leader)02:30 30-year career at Visa: why she stayed04:30 Career growth, promotions & confidence06:00 Generational shifts in the workforce08:30 Gen X vs Millennials vs Gen Z dynamics10:30 Why Gen Z is misunderstood12:00 What Gen Z actually needs from leaders14:00 Leadership strategies for younger talent16:00 Remote work vs in-office debate18:00 “If you want a career, come into the office”20:00 The value of proximity, visibility & relationships22:00 Hybrid work realities across global teams24:00 HR tech & AI: what's actually exciting26:00 Using AI to remove tactical work28:00 The future of HR as a strategic function30:00 Leading with personalization (not one-size-fits-all)32:00 What truly motivates Gen Z and millennials34:00 Research insights: how Gen Z processes information36:00 Attention myths vs reality38:00 Motivation vs inspiration in leadership40:00 Preparing for the future workforce42:00 Final advice for leaders and organizations43:30 Closing + where to connect KEY TAKEAWAYS Gen Z is not entitled—they are highly capable but require guidance and context Leadership must shift from one-size-fits-all to personalized development Remote work offers flexibility, but in-person work accelerates career growth Relationship building and visibility remain critical for long-term success AI will remove tactical HR work and elevate the importance of strategic leadership Motivation is internal—but inspiration must come from leadership Generational differences are less about conflict and more about understanding The future of work requires meeting employees halfway while maintaining standards

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com   In this episode of #thePOZcast, Adam Posner interviews Jay Delsing, a former professional golfer and broadcaster. They discuss Jay's journey from growing up in a sports family to achieving success on the PGA Tour. Jay shares memorable experiences with golf legends, the challenges of professional golf, and the lessons he's learned along the way. He reflects on his memoir, the importance of integrity in golf, and the sport's positive impact on communities. The conversation highlights the significance of authenticity and resilience in both golf and life. Takeaways: - Jay Delsing's journey from a sports family to professional golf. - The importance of obsession and dedication in achieving success. - Golf as a metaphor for life, teaching patience and resilience. - Memorable moments with legends like Arnold Palmer. - The significance of integrity and accountability in sports. - Lessons learned from failures and how they shape success. - The impact of golf on community and charity. - Writing a memoir as a reflection of one's life experiences. - The future of golf and engaging younger audiences. - Defining success through authenticity and legacy. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Jay Delsing's Journey 02:58 The Early Years: Growing Up in a Sports Family 05:56 The Transition to Professional Golf 08:50 The Challenges of the PGA Tour 11:47 First Tour Win: A Dream Realized 14:55 Lessons from the Golf Course 17:57 Memorable Moments with Golf Legends 21:02 The Impact of Arnold Palmer 24:06 Writing the Memoir: Reflections on Life 27:00 Lessons for Young Athletes 29:51 The Future of Golf: Innovations and Engagement 32:58 Integrity and Accountability in Golf 36:04 Defining Success: Authenticity and Legacy        

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Unleash 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Jess Von Bank is a globally recognized voice on the future of work, AI, and workforce transformation, advising enterprise leaders on how to responsibly integrate AI and emerging technologies into the fabric of work. With more than 23 years in talent and HR technology, Jess has spent her career at the intersection of business strategy, digital transformation, and human experience. She is known for translating complex technology trends into plainspoken insight that leaders can actually use. A sought-after voice in the future of work, Jess challenges organizations to move beyond AI hype toward agency, accountability, and human-centered design. Her perspective is rooted not only in enterprise transformation but in lived experience as a mother of daughters, a nonprofit leader, and an advocate for women's leadership and equitable, human systems in which everyone can thrive.   TAKEAWAYS: AI doesn't transform work—it scales existing systems (good or bad) Most companies are optimizing old workflows instead of reimagining new ones True transformation requires new thinking, not just new tools Institutional knowledge and human judgment remain critical differentiators Resistance to AI is often less about capability and more about forced adoption The future of work conversation is bigger than recruiting—it's societal AI is accelerating necessary disruption in education, workforce development, and economic models The biggest opportunity right now is not efficiency—it's redesign   01:00 Intro to Jess Von Bank02:30 Early recruiting days (pre-LinkedIn sourcing)05:00 “Old school” recruiting vs modern tools07:30 The art of understanding candidate motivation10:00 Technology in recruiting: good, bad, and ugly12:00 The biggest mistake with AI today14:00 “AI scales what you put it on” explained16:00 Automation vs true transformation18:00 Why “faster” doesn't mean “better”20:00 Rethinking workflows instead of optimizing them22:00 Institutional knowledge vs AI capabilities24:00 Teaching experienced professionals new ways of working26:00 Generational perspectives on AI adoption28:00 Psychological reactance and resistance to change30:00 The “AI will take jobs” debate32:00 “We're building the Titanic in plain sight”35:00 The real risks vs the hype37:00 What AI is actually breaking (and why that's good)39:00 Rethinking education and workforce development41:00 Optimism: what's moving in the right direction43:00 Closing thoughts + where to connect

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Unleash 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com About: Suzan Vulaj is a seasoned talent acquisition leader with a proven track record in global recruitment strategies. Currently serving as the Senior Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition at NBCUniversal, Suzan has been instrumental in creating exceptional candidate experiences through innovative problem-solving for over 20 years. Her expertise spans various industries, including media, technology, and commerce. Before joining NBCUniversal, Suzan held key roles such as Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Pitney Bowes and Senior Talent Manager for Internal Mobility at McGraw-Hill Financial. She also contributed her skills as an HR Manager at Standard & Poor's and a Staffing Consultant at Google. Suzan's academic foundation includes a degree from Pace University's Lubin School of Business. Her leadership style embodies a dynamic blend of collaboration, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Beyond this, Suzan is a champion of innovation, always seeking creative solutions to enhance organizational culture and attract top talent. Her ability to inspire teams and foster growth makes her a transformative force in any professional setting. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Opening + UNLEASH floor energy01:10 Intro to Suzan Vulaj (NBCUniversal TA Leader)02:30 From marketing to recruiting: Suzan's journey04:30 Leading a 100+ person global TA team06:00 What makes a great recruiter today08:30 Recruiters as brand ambassadors + influencers10:30 Why hiring managers must be fully engaged12:30 Fixing broken intake & expectation setting14:30 TA tech stack: building around the ATS16:30 AI fear vs reality inside recruiting teams18:30 How to train recruiters through change (safe spaces)20:30 The return to “old school” recruiting22:30 The problem with 8,000 applicants per role24:30 Candidate fraud + AI-generated applications26:30 Shortlisting & cutting through the noise28:30 The emotional toll of recruiting (constant rejection)30:30 Managing recruiter mindset & engagement32:00 Re-engaging silver medalists (“for your consideration”)34:00 Pipelining talent before roles open36:00 What messages actually get a recruiter's attention38:00 The 10-second resume scan reality40:00 Conference insights: failure, change & adaptability42:00 Reframing failure as experimentation44:00 Advice for job seekers today45:30 Closing + where to connect

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Unleash 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Chapters 00:00 – Cold open: UNLEASH vs. Transform event dynamics01:10 – Meet Mary Jo Charbonneau and Kyndryl02:00 – Why AI is redefining HR transformation03:15 – HR's shift to the center of business strategy04:30 – Why HR leaders must think beyond HR (customer impact)05:45 – How AI is used on the customer delivery side07:00 – Translating business demand into skills with AI08:15 – Matching the right talent to the right work09:30 – The power of workforce data and skills visibility10:45 – Internal mobility: finding hidden talent within12:00 – Real-world use cases of repositioning underperforming employees13:30 – “Make yourself discoverable” in the age of AI14:30 – The future of skills-based organizations Key Takeaways 1. AI is pulling HR into the center of the business Not as support—but as a strategic driver tied directly to how work gets done and delivered to customers. 2. The real power of AI is translating work into skills Understanding what skills are needed—and matching them dynamically—is becoming HR's most critical capability. 3. Skills data unlocks internal mobility at scale Organizations already have the talent—they just haven't had the visibility to deploy it effectively. 4. “Make yourself discoverable” is the new career mandate Employees must actively surface their skills and capabilities in AI-driven environments or risk being overlooked. 5. AI enables a more human approach to talent decisions Instead of writing people off, organizations can identify where individuals will actually thrive. 6. HR needs to think beyond HR The biggest missed opportunity: not connecting AI in HR to how the business serves customers. 7. Transformation is no longer optional—it's continuous AI isn't a project. It's an ongoing shift in how organizations operate, hire, and grow talent.    

Paul Rubenstein is Chief Evangelist at Visier, where he partners with CHROs and senior executives to connect talent strategy to business outcomes. He helps organizations move beyond traditional HR to build functions that are commercially minded, data-driven, and aligned to how the business actually runs. With more than two decades of experience across consulting and executive roles, including Chief People Officer and Chief Customer Officer at Visier, Paul brings a unique perspective on how HR can drive real business performance. His mission is simple: unlock the untapped potential of HR and make work better. These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Unleash 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Cold open: conference chaos and “no one eats lunch”01:10 – Meet Paul Rubenstein and his HR journey02:30 – From consulting to HR leadership to evangelist04:00 – Why connecting talent to business outcomes matters05:30 – The dual role of HR: business driver + function optimizer07:00 – The evolution of HR: industrial → personnel → strategic09:30 – The rise of systems: PeopleSoft, scale, and efficiency11:30 – Engagement, sentiment, and the human side of HR13:00 – Globalization and the modern HR operating model14:30 – Why AI is a true inflection point—not just hype16:00 – The problem with siloed HR tech stacks17:30 – Orchestration layers and systems talking to systems19:00 – Democratization of data and decision-making20:30 – The importance of data quality in the AI era22:00 – The dark side: speed, skills gaps, and misuse of AI24:00 – Human + machine optimization (Toyota analogy)26:00 – Why rethinking work is the real challenge27:30 – How HR leaders (and everyone) must evolve29:00 – Why empathy still matters—and won't be replaced

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Takeaways - Dularii's entrepreneurial roots were influenced by her parents' businesses. - She transitioned from a desire to be a fashion designer to a career in advertising. - Launching Phenomenon was driven by a desire for independence and creativity. - Navigating business partnerships requires alignment on vision and respect for each other's strengths. - Exits are emotionally complex and often involve difficult decisions. - Transitioning to venture capital allowed Delari to support founders with operational advice. - Common mistakes in startups include poor cash management and hiring the wrong people. - Scaling challenges were highlighted through Delari's experience with Q Health. - Hiring should focus on cultural fit and the ability to adapt to change. - Diversity in leadership leads to better decision-making and risk management.   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Delari Amin 01:29 Delari's Entrepreneurial Roots 03:12 The Journey from Fashion to Advertising 05:33 Launching Phenomenon: The Birth of an Agency 11:07 Navigating Business Partnerships 12:16 The Emotional Complexity of Exits 15:50 Transitioning to Venture Capital 18:23 Common Operational Mistakes in Startups 20:18 Scaling Challenges: Lessons from Q Health 23:25 Hiring vs. Systems: Balancing Growth 26:54 Interviewing for Culture and Fit 30:02 Diversity and Inclusion in Leadership 34:37 Investor Insights: Identifying Founders Built for Scale 37:10 Future Trends in CPG and Health 40:01 Defining Success: A Personal Perspective      

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Unleash 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Here's a clean, podcast-ready package you can drop into your show notes, plus chapters and sharp takeaways.

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Unleash 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com   What You'll Learn * How enterprise HR leaders think about hiring, structure, and strategy at scale * Why most hiring challenges are actually business alignment problems * How to build proactive talent pipelines instead of reacting to openings * Where AI is actually delivering value in recruiting today * What separates average recruiters from truly impactful ones   Chapters: 00:00 Opening + UNLEASH 2026 floor energy01:15 Intro to Jason Desentz (CHRO, Toshiba Americas)02:10 Scale of Toshiba: 6,000 employees + HR org structure03:30 From automotive to CHRO: Jason's career journey05:00 Blimp hiring story (and why niche recruiting matters)07:10 Should Talent Acquisition sit under HR?09:00 Why HR leaders must understand the business10:30 The rise of the HR Business Partner mindset12:00 How to train HR teams to think like the business13:45 Why most companies fail at role intake & calibration16:00 Small talent pools & “purple squirrel” expectations18:00 Workforce planning: why hiring starts before the role opens20:30 Retention risk, succession planning & talent intelligence23:00 The compensation gap problem (champagne taste, beer budget)25:00 Creative comp strategies to close candidates26:30 What candidates actually value today (and what's losing impact)28:30 Toshiba's sourcing strategy: where hiring really starts30:00 The power of elite sourcers (and why networks win)32:00 AI in recruiting: what actually matters vs hype34:00 Automation vs human connection in hiring36:00 Why scheduling is the biggest bottleneck in recruiting37:30 Adaptability: the #1 trait in great recruiters39:00 Fraudulent candidates, AI cheating & interview risks41:30 Protecting IP in a high-risk hiring environment43:00 Metrics that matter (and ones that don't)45:00 Candidate experience & onboarding accountability47:00 Advice for job seekers in a competitive market49:00 “Always Be Hustling” mindset for career growth51:00 Final advice: Listen, Learn, Lead52:00 Closing + Vegas survival tips I

These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Unleash 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at PIN. AI recruiting tools that automate candidate sourcing, screening, and scheduling across 850M+ profiles. Built for recruiters, agencies, and hiring teams. Learn more and check out a demo:  https://www.pin.com/book-a-demo?via=adam-posner Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Matt Charney is a prominent voice in the recruiting, talent acquisition, and HR technology space. As Principal Analyst for Industry and Markets at Kyle & Co, he covers startups, M&A, the TA ecosystem, strategic partnerships, and capital markets, providing deep analysis on HR tech funding, market strategy, and industry dynamics. He also serves as Executive Editor at Mediabistro and as an Editor at ERE Media, where he produces sharp, insightful content on the future of work, AI in hiring, recruitment marketing, and emerging trends, served with a side of snark.  With over 15 years of experience, Matt has held leadership roles including Editor in Chief and CMO at Recruiter.com, partner and Managing Editor at Recruiting Daily (which he helped grow into a leading HR media brand), Chief Content Officer at Allegis Global Solutions, and Head of Industry & Product Marketing at SmartRecruiters. He began his career as a corporate recruiter for companies like Walt Disney and Warner Bros. A graduate of the George Lucas School for Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, Matt also advises a variety of high growth HR Technology companies, including Humanly, Joveo, Dalia, Hiring Branch, HeyHire, Perfect Hire, Boon, Textio and Noota. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Vegas banter & setting the stage Light opening, personality, and rapport—setting the tone for an unfiltered conversation. 02:00 – “What do you actually do?” Charney on connecting startups with capital—and “trolling” the industry as a side effect. 04:30 – From screenwriting to recruiting A non-traditional path from Hollywood to corporate recruiting leadership. 08:00 – Why recruiting is still the best job in the world The overlooked impact: changing lives through employment. 11:00 – Has recruiting actually changed? Spoiler: not really. The goal is still making hires—everything else is layered complexity. 14:00 – The truth about AI in TA tech AI as the latest buzzword cycle, echoing past trends like social recruiting and big data. 18:00 – The “AI anxiety” problem in HR Why TA leaders feel behind—and why no one is actually ahead. 21:00 – Should recruiters become AI experts? Charney pushes back: focus on business outcomes, not technical cosplay. 25:00 – Where AI actually works today High-volume hiring as the strongest real-world use case. 28:00 – Where AI breaks down Knowledge work, personalization, and the limits of automation. 31:00 – Tools that actually impress (Gamma, workflows, experimentation) Practical use cases that genuinely save time and effort. 35:00 – LinkedIn, data control, and the real business model Why LinkedIn doesn't need to “win” recruiting—and why it won't disappear. 40:00 – Why most new HR tech ideas fail Recycled concepts, inherent bias, and “Chatroulette for jobs.” 44:00 – The next disruption: consolidation & enterprise integration The future isn't more tools—it's fewer, integrated systems. 48:00 – VC, PE, and the business of HR tech Private equity driving consolidation while startups chase valuation. 52:00 – Buzzword bingo & industry frustrations AI, “human-centered,” and the marketing clichés that need to die. 55:00 – The 3 questions every vendor must answer How do you make recruiting easier? What do you do differently? How do you make money? 58:00 – Final thoughts: stop chasing trends Focus on outcomes, not tools. Recruiting is still about people.

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Takeaways - Greg Selkoe's journey reflects the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. - Cultural influences play a significant role in shaping business ideas. - Karma Loop was a pioneer in streetwear and e-commerce. - Navigating growth requires learning from mistakes and adapting. - The collapse of Karma Loop taught valuable lessons about resilience. - XSET aims to redefine gaming culture and community engagement. - Authenticity in branding is crucial in today's market. - Hiring for cultural fit is as important as skills and experience. - Success is defined by happiness and meaningful experiences, not just money. - The importance of self-awareness and managing stress in business. It's important to balance personal commitments with professional responsibilities. - Financial strategies are crucial when dealing with large investments. - Effective event planning requires clear communication and coordination. - Marketing partnerships can significantly enhance brand visibility. - Live streaming offers unique opportunities for audience engagement. - Collaboration within a team is essential for success. - Final preparations are critical to ensure a smooth launch. - Understanding audience dynamics can drive attendance and participation. - Post-event reflections can inform future strategies. - Maintaining strong relationships with partners is key to ongoing success.   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Greg Selkoe and His Journey 09:21 The Birth of Karma Loop 18:07 The Collapse of Karma Loop and Personal Reflection 25:25 Building XSET: A New Era in Gaming and Culture 33:40 Hiring for Values and Culture

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Takeaways - Jay Paterno emphasizes the importance of accountability in leadership. - The influence of Joe Paterno shaped Jay's views on leadership and responsibility. - Coaches must set clear expectations and standards for accountability. - Lessons learned from coaching experiences can be applied to leadership in various fields. - The NIL era has changed the dynamics of college sports significantly. - Mental health is a growing concern for both players and coaches in college sports. - Building a strong team culture is essential for success. - Empathy and discipline must be balanced in coaching. - Writing 'Blitz' provided insights into the challenges of modern college football. - Corruption and accountability issues are prevalent in college sports. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Jay Paterno and His Legacy 02:24 The Influence of Joe Paterno on Leadership 04:23 Accountability in Leadership 06:02 Core Values and Team Dynamics 08:06 Lessons from Early Coaching Experiences 10:00 The Pressures of Modern College Football 11:57 NIL and Its Impact on College Sports 12:53 Mental Health and Performance Pressure 13:51 The Role of Coaches in Player Development 15:29 The Business Model of College Football 16:15 Potential Course Corrections in College Sports 18:07 Leadership Under Pressure in Sports and Beyond 21:57 Identifying Cultural Signals in Sports and Business 25:16 The Balance of Empathy and Discipline in Coaching 26:42 Navigating Gender Equity in Sports 29:23 The Importance of Mental Health in Leadership 31:10 Addressing Corruption and Accountability in College Sports 34:33 Defining Success and Excellence in Leadership    

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com    Chapters:   2:48 - Life and Career before becoming a professional 4:06 - High School era and Tattoo inspiration 4:51 - Travel Experience 8:06 - Stay in China and culture difference 9:45 - First taste of Exotic Food 10:51 - Understanding the travel moments / The Aha Moment 12:51 - GeoBreeze - the origin 13:04 - Learning from Corporate America 13:56 - Overall Point Strategy 15:42 - Travel points Hack 16:54 - Value of points and transfers 18:25 - Earning vs Burning Ratio 19:36 - Getting a Better Deal 22:32 - Common Traveling Mistakes 24:17 - Favorite transfer sites 25:27 - Hidden fees 26:18 - Best Airline with Status update potential 27:49 - Airport Lounge situation 28:41 - Secret Auxiliary benefits 31:09 - Secret Reservations 31:57 - Wrong Information out there 33:37 - Massive Brilliant point redemption experience 36:10 - Exciting challenges in business 38:30 - Percentage Savings / Pragmatic Approach 39:45 - Next Travel destination on wishlist 41:03 - Best and Worst Airlines 42:39 - Message for people stuck in 9-5 jobs 44:00 - Julia's Super power 45:00 - Julia's North Star

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Takeaways - Grief is a universal experience that transcends individual circumstances. - Love and connection are essential in navigating loss and grief. - Vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness, especially for men. - Community support plays a crucial role in healing and resilience. - Awareness and open conversations about mental health can save lives. - The journey of grief can lead to profound personal growth and transformation. - Finding purpose in pain can create a legacy that honors lost loved ones. - It's important to recognize and address the signs of mental health struggles in others. - Creating safe spaces for dialogue about mental health is vital for youth. - The power of storytelling can foster connection and understanding in communities.   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Grief and Purpose 01:14 Navigating Loss and Finding Grace 05:52 The Complexity of Grief 09:56 Living with Duality: Joy and Pain 12:49 The Role of Community in Healing 18:09 Faith and the Power of Connection 23:46 The Journey of Giving and Receiving 30:20 Creating a Legacy from Loss 32:58 Navigating Parenthood Through Adversity 40:51 The Birth of a Movement: Endurance 47:41 Sacred Transformation: Beyond Survival 50:30 Enduring with Love: Finding Strength in Vulnerability 56:31 Understanding the Signs: Preventing Tragedy 01:00:16 Messages of Hope: Honoring Anthony's Legacy      

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com    Takeaways - Ashley Heard emphasizes the importance of proper training for first-time managers. - Promoting strong individual contributors to management roles can lead to failure without support. - Management styles can be categorized into 'tight jeans' and 'cozy joggers' to illustrate different approaches. - The Pause, Consider, Act framework helps managers make thoughtful decisions under pressure. - Intentional leadership is crucial for fostering a positive team environment. - Leadership development should be an ongoing process, not a one-time event. - AI can enhance leadership by providing tools for better decision-making and communication. - Cultural sensitivity is essential for effective management in diverse teams. - Success in leadership is defined by passion for work and a balanced life. - The Manager Method book provides practical frameworks for effective management.   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Leadership Development 02:54 The Journey to Law and Corporate Life 05:59 The Challenges of Promoting Managers 09:00 Management Styles: Tight Jeans vs. Cozy Joggers 11:46 The Pause, Consider, Act Framework 15:02 Navigating Toxic Management 18:02 The Manager Method Book Launch 20:36 Self-Discovery Through Writing 22:22 The Importance of Continuous Leadership Development 23:38 AI: A Tool for Human Connection 26:57 Using AI to Enhance Team Dynamics 29:14 The Human Element in Performance Reviews 32:07 Evolving as a People Leader 34:44 The Positive Side of HR 35:54 Navigating the Future of Work 37:43 The Journey of Entrepreneurship 39:16 Defining Success in Work and Life

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Takeaways "We don't take the time to think about if we like our therapist." "Words have power; we speak them into existence." "You should feel like you like them; it's pretty comfortable." "We often give our partners the least energy, love, and support." "You have to consider whether you'd go to them for advice; if not, don't take their feedback." "Control gives us a sense of safety, but we can only control ourselves." "Healing is not a straight line; it's two steps forward, one step back." "Be curious, not judgmental, about your process." "Relationships are everything to me; if I'm not supporting them, something's wrong." "You have to unlearn the patterns that are no longer serving you."   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Kati Morton 01:07 The Importance of Mental Health 06:59 Navigating Therapy: Finding the Right Fit 10:06 The Power of Language in Mental Health 16:39 Understanding Eldest Daughter Syndrome 20:39 Patterns in Love and Attraction 28:39 Recognizing Love Bombing and Red Flags 32:38 Control, Anxiety, and Burnout 38:05 The Journey of Healing and Self-Trust 39:48 Kati's New Book: Why Do I Keep Doing This? 46:00 Kati's North Star: The Importance of Connection      

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Takeaways- Creativity is a skill, not a personality trait.- In-person collaboration enhances creativity and problem-solving.- Complaining is seductive but unproductive; focus on solutions instead.- The fear of being wrong stifles innovation; embrace mistakes as learning opportunities.- Old-school skills are becoming the new techniques for success.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Nir Bashan and His Journey05:08 The State of Creativity in Advertising10:07 The Importance of In-Person Collaboration15:00 Reframing Creativity as a Skill19:47 Shifting from Complaining to Creating24:56 The Cost of Ignoring Creativity

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Takeaways- Curiosity drives success in marketing and leadership.- Eating the frog means tackling the hardest tasks first.- Building relationships with finance is crucial for marketing leaders.- Organizational culture is defined by behaviors and values.- Experiential marketing is making a comeback in the digital age.- AI should enhance human engagement, not replace it.- Remote work requires new strategies for effective communication.- Marketing must focus on long-term value and customer lifetime.- Nonprofits need to communicate their impact effectively to engage donors.- The future of work will involve multi-generational collaboration.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Kim Storen and Her Journey02:50 The Impact of Early Experiences on Career Choices05:49 Curiosity and the Importance of Tackling Challenges08:57 Interviewing for Curiosity and Problem-Solving Skills12:10 Joining Zoom: A CMO's Perspective15:01 Building a Marketing Strategy at Zoom17:57 The Role of Finance in Marketing19:52 Defining Organizational Culture21:56 The Renaissance of Experiential Marketing24:52 The Cost of Community Engagement32:34 Navigating AI and Human Connection34:58 Adapting Marketing Strategies in a Hybrid World36:54 Measuring Experience Quality Beyond Attendance41:59 Shifting Focus from Presence to Progress45:11 Engaging Donors in a Hybrid Philanthropic Landscape48:32 The Future of Work and Multi-Generational Collaboration50:50 Defining Success and Career Advice 

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Takeaways- Jason Walker's journey into HR was influenced by his dyslexia and strong people skills.- Empathy is crucial in HR, especially for those who have faced challenges.- AI has disrupted traditional job searching methods, making networking more important.- Job seekers need to adopt a warrior mentality to compete in the current market.- Companies are hesitant to hire due to uncertainty about future needs.- AI tools can help streamline hiring processes but may lead to a competitive environment.- Job hugging reflects employees' fears of job security and market instability.- Hybrid work models present challenges for employee engagement and development.- HR leaders must focus on maintaining culture and employee appreciation during tough times.- Fractional HR services provide cost-effective solutions for companies needing specialized support. Chapters00:00 Introduction to Jason Walker and ThriveHR Consulting02:32 Jason's Journey into HR and Empathy Development05:01 The Changing Talent Landscape and AI's Impact11:14 The AI War: Job Seekers vs Employers12:18 Positive Uses of AI in Hiring Processes18:45 Understanding Job Hugging in Today's Market20:47 The Hybrid Work Model: Pros and Cons23:42 Culture, Burnout, and Compliance Risks in HR27:02 Practical AI Adoption in HR32:37 Fractional HR: A Growing Demand37:47 Actionable Advice for Job Seekers40:42 Optimism in the HR Landscape  

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Takeaways- Working hard, especially as a woman, we typically think if we can just outwork the men, then we'll get what we deserve.- Belief ingrained in me that you had to struggle and work hard and grind it out to be able to have success.- My life's work is really about teaching people that slowing down, getting more into the body, out of the head, into the body.- Listening to your intuition, you're your own biggest success strategy.  

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Takeaways- The biggest misconception is that most people are excited about transformation.- A small percentage of the workforce drives the majority of results.- The top 20% of employees contribute to 80% of outcomes.- The top 1% can drive a quarter of the results.- Most employees are tied to their current work methods.- Transformation may not feel significant to the majority.- Business leaders often assume support without engagement.- Engaging employees is crucial for successful transformation.- There is often an under-investment in change management.- Leaders must facilitate change rather than just declare it. 00:00 – Welcome & Jeff's Backstory in HR TransformationAdam kicks off the POZcast and introduces Jeff Williams, president and CFO at Aptia, walking through his career leading massive HR and business transformation efforts at Paychex, ADP, Alight, Aon and more.01:13 – Growing Up With a Self-Made FatherJeff shares his family story: born Canadian, raised American, youngest of eight, and the journey of his dad going from drafting apprentice to CEO at the same company over 33 years—and the lessons embedded in that.02:35 – Early Lessons: Hard Work, Humor & LossJeff reflects on what he learned from his father before losing him at 19: the value of hard work, eating fast at a crowded table, and keeping humor and lightness at the center of life and leadership.03:45 – From Telecom to the People Business (ADP Entry Point)Jeff explains how he moved from technology and telecom into human capital, taking on the role leading ADP's Canadian operations and discovering the power of the HR and benefits space.04:38 – Hiring at a High Bar: Talent, Drive & InstinctsAdam asks how Jeff hired to ADP's level. Jeff lays out his hiring philosophy: ambition beyond natural gifts, complementary skills, people better than him in key areas—and why he trusts his instincts on fit.06:25 – Real Leadership: Hiring People Better Than YouThey dig into succession, “making yourself dispensable,” and the idea that if you can't take a vacation without everything falling apart, that's a failure of leadership, not a badge of honor.07:30 – Pre-Email Days & The Human Side of WorkJeff remembers the 286/386 era and talks about how, before digital tools, people invested more in each other in person—inside and outside of work—and how that shaped deeper relationships.08:43 – Remote Work, COVID, and an Isolated WorkforceThey go deep on the pandemic: the rapid shift home, the early productivity spike, inflation pressures, relocation, and the rise of isolation and mental health issues as remote work took hold.11:10 – Young Workers, Office Longing & Loyalty ShiftsAdam shares what he's seeing with candidates who actually want to be in-office to learn through osmosis. Jeff talks about building the next generation of leaders and how in-person time rebuilds fabric and loyalty.13:32 – Mental Health, Home Setups & Productivity RealityThey unpack the assumption that everyone has an ideal home workspace—calling out caregiving, cramped spaces, kids, and distractions—and how that's quietly driving some people back to the office.14:51 – Why Jeff Bet on Aptia & the Move to BostonJeff explains what drew him to Aptia: the chance to build something differentiated and lasting, formalize his cross-border life, and finally live and work in the same country as his family.17:42 – The Big Vision: Building the Best Benefits Company in AmericaJeff outlines his ambition to build the best (not necessarily biggest) benefits services and administration company—one loved by clients, employees, and partners while supporting the communities they serve.19:04 – Benefits as a Talent Magnet: Total Rewards, Not Just SalaryThey talk about smart candidates, how benefits (health, financial, time off, ancillary) close offers, and why companies need to position total rewards early and clearly in the hiring process.21:13 – Closing the Benefits Understanding GapJeff shares the reality: most employees don't fully understand or appreciate their benefits. He talks about accessibility, education, and surfacing value in ways employees actually grasp.22:33 – Introducing Aptia One: Seamless, AI-Led Benefits ExperienceJeff breaks down Aptia One—how it's designed to create simple, AI-led, consumer-grade experiences for employees, employers, and partners across phone, web, and natural language interfaces.25:14 – How Jeff Is Personally Upskilling in AIJeff shares his approach to AI as a leader: consuming everything he can, learning from experts, applying lessons from previous waves of tech disruption, and staying hyper-relevant to where markets are heading.26:54 – Realistic AI: Simplicity, Accuracy & Avoiding AI-WashingThey discuss using AI to simplify journeys, NOT over-hyping capabilities, and why, in a business where you must be nearly 100% accurate on benefits, you must apply AI carefully and responsibly.28:43 – The Hard Truth About TransformationJeff calls out a big misconception: leaders assume everyone's excited about transformation. He explains why frontline employees often aren't enlisted as deeply as leaders think and why change enablement is under-invested.30:18 – Service, Soul & Corporate PhilanthropyThe conversation shifts to service: Jeff's history with DEI, United Way, and community work, and why doing something for others makes him feel more complete as a human and leader.31:25 – Why People Want Companies With a SoulJeff explains how corporate philanthropy, whether via one flagship cause or hyper-local initiatives, shapes belonging, engagement, and the desire to work for companies that care about more than profit.33:55 – Jeff's Son's Cancer Journey & Life Perspective ShiftsJeff shares the powerful story of his son Kevin's osteosarcoma diagnosis at 13, the grueling treatment, and how that battle reshaped his view on perseverance, priorities, and what really matters.36:26 – Adam's Own Cancer Battle & Shared PerspectiveAdam opens up about his recent Hodgkin's lymphoma remission, the physical and emotional toll, and how surviving cancer reframes life, work, and gratitude for both of them.40:04 – What Keeps Jeff Up at Night: Stewardship & FamilyJeff talks about being a “work in progress,” how life is now about his kids, his wife, and his responsibilities, and the ongoing chase to be a good steward for his family, business, and community.41:48 – Optimism About Humanity & The Future of BenefitsJeff shares a global perspective: wherever he goes, people want similar things for their families and communities. He then lays out the “big three” of benefits—health, wealth, and time off—as core holdings.43:26 – Designing Benefits Like a PortfolioThey dig into tailoring benefits to your population (e.g., menopause benefits, pet insurance, nonprofit-oriented perks), feeding what works, starving what doesn't, and iterating to truly serve your people.44:37 – Redefining Success: Energy for the Journey AheadIn closing, Jeff defines success not by titles or money, but by whether you still wake up excited for what's ahead—at work, at home, on the golf course, and in life overall.46:08 – Wrap-Up & Where to Find Jeff and AptiaAdam closes the episode, sharing where listeners can learn more about Aptia, connect with Jeff on LinkedIn, and reminding everyone to review, subscribe, and keep being good to themselves and better to others.

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Takeaways- Kelly's five rule philosophy empowers teams to perform at their best.- Self-awareness is crucial in identifying what you enjoy and excel at.- Leaders must differentiate between urgent and important tasks.- Hiring for values alignment is more important than cultural fit.- Mental marination is essential for strategic decision-making.- Work-life balance is a myth; harmony is the goal.- Trust is the foundation of effective leadership.- Ambition should be aligned with personal values and fulfillment.- Delegation is key to effective leadership and team empowerment.- Success is about leaving a positive legacy rather than just achieving titles. Chapters00:00 Introduction to Kelly McGinnis03:16 Early Influences and Career Path06:12 Lessons from Early Corporate Experiences11:18 Navigating Leadership and Management15:05 Hiring for Culture and Values18:11 The Myth of the 100-Hour Work Week20:46 Finding Harmony in Work and Life23:10 Building Trust for Sustainable Success24:35 Ambition vs. Alignment: Finding Fulfillment27:44 Mental Marination: The Key to Effective Leadership30:38 Balancing Urgency and Importance in Leadership34:51 The Art of Delegation and Trust in Teams38:51 Navigating Difficult Conversations: Letting People Go41:36 Redefining Success: Legacy and Happiness  

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Takeaways- Recruiting success is measured by a percentage of wins.- Personal experiences can profoundly influence professional motivations.- Life's challenges can provide clarity on what truly matters.- Caring about your work leads to emotional investment in outcomes.- Resilience is key in navigating the ups and downs of business.- Perspective shifts can arise from significant life events.- The importance of providing the right solutions in business.- Emotional roller coasters are part of the people business.- Understanding losses is crucial for growth in recruiting.- Finding meaning in work can stem from personal experiences.Chapters  [00:01] Welcome + Why We're Here — Adam tees up the POZcast mission and today's focus.[00:01] Guest Intro: Jordan Gasparri — From growing up in recruiting to founding Exclusent and winning an Inc. Power Partner Award.[01:16] Warming Up — Jordan joins; mutual respect and setting the table.[02:16] Growing Up with a Recruiter Dad — Early exposure, high-school internship, and falling in love with the craft.[03:21] Thrill of the Hunt — Why negotiation hooked Jordan and how recruiters drive real comp outcomes.[04:19] Old-School Lessons — Pre-LinkedIn fundamentals: presentability, first impressions, and context by role.[05:41] Art vs. Science — Motivation mapping, relationship foundations, and what tech can't replace.[06:37] Founding Exclusent After Loss — Channeling grief into purpose, betting on yourself, and early survival.[08:08] Agency vs. Solo — The leap from desk to founder, support systems, and the “eat what you kill” mindset.[10:17] ‘Unhireable' Bias — The corporate return dilemma for entrepreneurs and what hiring teams miss.[12:13] Taking Bigger Swings — Compounding courage, offices, gear, and managing the losses (baseball analogy).[14:11] Handling Failures Fast — Day-of fury, next-day reset; contingency realities and resilience.[16:47] AI + Authenticity — What Exclusent automates (sourcing, verification, notes) vs. what stays human (relationships).[18:19] Tools in the Stack — Sourcing evolution, AI interviews for access + fairness, caution on agentic outreach.[20:08] New Roles in TA — Vendor bets, process owners, and the rise of AI/TA SMEs.[22:36] Volume, Speed, and CX — Instant assessments, fewer ghosted candidates, smarter human time.[25:28] Negotiation Masterclass — Real-market intel over Glassdoor, lever trading (base, equity, PTO), and tough love.[27:17] Salary Bands & Candor — Setting expectations, transparency on caps, and why companies pay for value.[29:16] The Negotiation Room — Jordan's new series: real back-and-forths, 3-minute breakdowns, teachable plays.[31:41] Offer Horror Stories — Sunday-night reversals, bonus games, and ethics fails caught on Gong.[36:23] The Next 5 Years — A tight team of 10 great recruiters, sensible AI, and protecting service quality.[37:58] Advice to Younger Self — Calm down, ride the waves, keep shipping good work.[38:52] Never Lift Off the Gas — Consistency lessons from dry spells; content + practitioner balance.[40:10] What Keeps Him Up — Housing hunt, macro uncertainty, and waiting for clearer signals.[41:33] Defining Success — Peace of mind over vanity metrics; doing work you're proud of.[42:48] Wrap + Calls to Action — Where to find Jordan/Exclusent and how to support the show.

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Takeaways- Joe Nicchi organized an ice cream social to meet Bill Murray.- The event attracted the neighborhood and created excitement.- Bill Murray eventually showed up, making the event memorable. The story went viral on Reddit, gaining massive attention.- Media outlets like the Today Show covered the event.- Community engagement can lead to unexpected outcomes.- Celebrity encounters can create lasting memories.- The power of social media in amplifying local events and the dangers of it.- Creating unique experiences can draw people together.- Sometimes, all it takes is a simple idea to go viral.

1:08 - Project Kyzen2:57 - Challenges in moving forward3:34 - How are AR and AI different5:02 - Team and Mission6:27 - Toxicity on the Internet/Web 37:51 - Creative Side & Passion9:33 - What keeps Tom up at night?10:22 - Hot take on e-coins10:56 - Advice to a parent for a growth mindset for kids14:12 - Tough time in Community15:12 - Value Access in Kyzen15:57 - Nine Lessons in 17 Years18:13 - Lack of Communication22:34 - Struggle with relationships24:09 - The single greatest piece of advice

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  1:26 - Real Name3:32 - Most dangerous weapon6:03 - Sense of purpose7:30 - Support from mother9:22 - Early tough lessons as a Leader11:26 - Why Army?14:06 - Misconceptions about military19:18 - Mental Health21:25 - Entering into Corporate America25:09 - The Process/Mindset27:37 - Job Hunting29:04 - Impact of Thank you Letters31:24 - Tribute to success37:02 - Keep the Change38:30 - Women in life43:00 - Letter from Grandmother48:30 - Single greatest piece of advice49:20 - Perfecto's North Star

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.This episode is powered by WelcometoTimesSquare.com, the billboard where you can be a star for a day.” http://WelcometoTimesSquare.comThanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com SummaryIn this episode, Lindsey Scrase, COO of Checker, shares her journey from Google to a startup, discussing the importance of hiring for problem-solving abilities, assessing humility in interviews, and the mission of Checker in promoting fair chance hiring. The conversation also delves into the impact of AI on job security, the rise of AI fraud, and the significance of nurturing loyalty and trust within teams. Lindsay emphasizes the need for continuous learning and self-awareness in leadership, while also reflecting on the balance between personal and professional life.Takeaways- Lindsay spent 10 years at Google, focusing on scaling Google Cloud.- The interview process at Google involved problem-solving and logical thinking.- Hiring should focus on role-related knowledge and problem-solving abilities.- Assessing humility in candidates is crucial for team dynamics.- Transitioning from Google to Checker was driven by a desire for growth and impact.- Checker's mission includes fair chance hiring for individuals with criminal records.- The company invests in social causes and fair chance advocacy.AI is transforming the hiring landscape, but it also brings challenges like fraud.Continuous learning is essential for career growth in the age of AI.Success is defined by living a meaningful life, not just professional achievements.   

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.This episode is powered by WelcometoTimesSquare.com, the billboard where you can be a star for a day.” http://WelcometoTimesSquare.comThanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com SummaryIn this conversation, Matt Medved, co-founder and CEO of Now Media, shares his journey from human rights research to becoming a leading figure in Web3. He discusses the evolution of NFTs, the impact of AI on music, and the importance of storytelling in the digital age. Matt emphasizes the need for creators to find their unique voice and leverage technology to enhance their work. He also reflects on the challenges and opportunities within the rapidly changing landscape of digital culture and media.Takeaways- Matt Medved is a prominent figure in the Web3 space, known for his work with NFT Now and Now Media.- The evolution of NFTs and blockchain technology has transformed the creative landscape.- Human rights research experiences shaped Matt's perspective on storytelling and social impact.- Transitioning from journalism to technology was a natural progression for Matt, driven by his passion for innovation.- Building Billboard Dance was a pivotal moment in Matt's career, influencing the dance music scene.- AI is revolutionizing music creation, providing new tools for artists to enhance their creativity.- The NFT boom brought excitement but also challenges, leading to a market correction.- Now Media aims to cover the broader spectrum of digital culture beyond just NFTs.- Advice for young creators includes finding their unique voice and leveraging technology to enhance their work.- Matt's legacy will be defined by his commitment to empowering artists and telling important stories. Chapters00:00 Introduction to Matt Medved and Now Media01:57 The Evolution of NFTs and Blockchain Technology03:55 Matt's Background and Early Influences08:05 Human Rights Work and Its Impact on Matt's Career11:52 The Intersection of Music and Journalism14:43 Transitioning to Technology and Music Journalism18:58 Building Billboard Dance and Influencing the Genre22:44 The Rise of Bedroom Producers and Mental Health in Music26:43 Embracing Technology in Music Creation29:46 The Future of Digital Art and NFTs31:50 The Evolution of Bitcoin and NFTs34:56 The Impact of NFTs on the Music Industry38:55 Navigating the Challenges of Entrepreneurship41:52 Maintaining Journalistic Integrity in a Rapidly Changing Landscape45:21 The Shift from NFTs to Broader Digital Culture49:26 The Resurgence of Collectibles in a Digital Age51:16 AI's Role in Modern Dating and Creativity54:10 The Balance Between Innovation and Regulation01:00:31 Legacy and the Future of Digital Media01:02:20 Advice for Young Creators in a Digital World   

1:47 - Coaching and Dating advice4:47 - Getting into Podcast5:29 - Shows on dating7:30 - Moving to Corporate World9:36 - Early Influence as a Podcast Host13:12 - Preparation for a show15:00 - Pandemic Episode18:33 - Conspiracy Theory19:29 - Prediction and Future Trends23:11 - Russell Brand Show24:10 - #1 Guest26:53 - Star Struck27:50 - Pope Killing Episode29:56 - North Korea Episode33:14 - Favorite Episode34:12 - Great Piece of advice to new podcasters37:32 - Quick tp for Adam38:51 - Greatest Piece of Advice40:47 - Jordan's North Star 

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com SummaryIn this engaging conversation, Michelle "MACE" Curran, a combat veteran and former fighter pilot, shares her journey from a small town in Wisconsin to becoming one of the few women to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. She discusses the challenges of overcoming fear, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome, particularly as a woman in a male-dominated field. Michelle emphasizes the importance of accountability, resilience, and the power of perspective in achieving success. Her new book, 'Flipside,' aims to help others turn fear into fuel and embrace their potential. Chapters00:00 Introduction to Michelle Mays-Corinne02:22 Early Life and Influences04:46 The Journey to Becoming a Fighter Pilot08:10 Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt09:08 The Rigorous Path to Flight School11:49 First Solo Flight Experience12:57 Challenges of Being a Female Fighter Pilot15:42 Navigating Gender Dynamics in the Military18:32 Imposter Syndrome and Identity Crisis20:00 The Origin of the Call Sign 'MACE'28:03 Experiencing Active Combat29:49 Joining the Thunderbirds35:59 The Importance of Accountability37:40 Transitioning from the Military to Civilian Life40:07 The Purpose of 'Flipside' Book43:33 Practical Tools for Overcoming Fear45:48 Evolving Relationship with Fear48:11 Defining Success in Life49:57 Conclusion and Future Endeavors 

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Takeaways- Carlos's family background influenced his entrepreneurial spirit.- Being the first in his family to attend college was a significant milestone.- Internships helped Carlos realize what he didn't want in a career.- Transitioning from finance to a startup environment was a pivotal moment.- Quality and customer experience are central to Feast & Fettle's success.- Vertical integration allows for better control over the customer experience.- Smart growth is preferred over blitzscaling in business.- Employee care is crucial for retention and company culture.- Carlos aims to help others from non-traditional backgrounds succeed.- Success is about giving back and creating opportunities for others. Chapters00:00 Introduction to Carl Svetter Jr. and Feast & Fettle01:21 Early Influences and Family Background04:37 Lessons from Family Business06:39 The Journey to College and Its Significance09:53 Navigating the Corporate World11:55 Internship Insights and Realizations13:49 Transitioning to Consulting and Growth17:57 The Move to Deliveroo and Cultural Differences22:41 The Spark of Entrepreneurship31:24 Scaling and Strategic Expansion38:30 Building a Purpose-Driven Company41:54 Defining Hospitality and Leadership45:47 Success and Giving Back

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS00:00 – Welcome to RecFest Nashville 2025Adam sets the scene and kicks off day two of #thePOZcast live from the Juicebox.ai booth.00:28 – Guest 1: Steve Levy – The Elder Statesman of Recruiting WisdomSteve shares why RecFest stands apart, how it fosters real community, and why curiosity—not automation—keeps recruiters sharp.02:45 – Learning, Listening, and the Power of CuriositySteve drops classic Levy gems: “Two ears, one mouth—use them proportionally.” A masterclass in humility and experimentation.05:18 – Advice for Job Seekers in a Tough MarketSteve explains why teaching others what you've learned and practicing gratitude are secret weapons for staying visible and relevant.06:57 – Final Word: CommunityThe legendary recruiter sums up RecFest 2025 in one word: Community.08:13 – Guest 2: Brian Petroski (EXP)Director of TA shares insights on recruiting engineers at scale, sourcing tools that work (LinkedIn, HireEZ, Indeed), and standing in line for Nashville's best food truck.10:37 – Guest 3: Leslie Harrah & Kim Johnson (Fortified Health Security)Two powerhouse women in cybersecurity recruiting talk about connecting with people, building culture, and the beauty of the TA community.12:01 – Pivoting Careers & Finding New OpportunitiesAdam shares tactical advice for job seekers on leveraging certifications, curiosity, and career pivots into hot sectors like cybersecurity and clean tech.12:59 – Guest 4: Taylor Hunter (Gaylor Electric)Insights on ATS tools, recruiting high-level talent, and how scraping extensions and sourcing hacks make life easier for busy TA pros.15:23 – Guest 5: Carmen Scanlon (Belong HQ)On startup life, meaningful networking, and the simplicity and depth that make RecFest so special.17:26 – Closing: Gratitude from the FieldAdam wraps from the food trucks with final reflections on connection, learning, and community. 

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Chapter Breakdown00:00 – Welcome to RecFest Nashville 2025Adam sets the scene at the Juicebox.ai booth and kicks off #thePOZcast live from the field.00:28 – Guest 1: Omar Khateeb – The Power of Authentic Video ContentCEO of JobPixel on why “vibe is everything,” how authenticity wins in 2025, and why creators should stop chasing algorithms.02:24 – Survival Tips for RecFestHydrate, eat before noon, and network smarter — Omar's pro tips for surviving outdoor conferences.03:45 – Guest 2: Allyn Bailey – The Heart of Brand Experience at SmartRecruitersAlynn breaks down how storytelling and connection drive talent strategy post-acquisition — and why she proudly calls herself “the class mom” of HR tech.06:54 – Guest 3: Jamie Leonard – The RecFest Origin & Future VisionThe founder himself on why RecFest feels like summer camp for recruiters, the UK vs. US vibes, and what's next (spoiler: Ferris wheel?).10:50 – Guest 4: Vicky Lou – Inside Juicebox.ai's Series A RocketshipThe founding marketer shares what makes Juicebox's AI sourcing platform different, how startup life fuels creativity, and her secret to building high-performing teams.14:49 – Sticker Drop & Shoutout to Juicebox.aiAdam and Vicky unveil the ultra-rare holographic POZcast sticker and talk sponsor love.16:11 – Guest Panel: Nikki Russell, Dan Lockhart & Chantelle LubingerReal-world TA leaders on quality of slate, giving rejection with empathy, and why “we're humans first.”21:44 – Guest 7: John Ruffini – Old School Recruiting Wisdom Meets New TechThe VP of Professional Development at HealthTrust Workforce Solutions explains why recruiters have gotten lazy, how to bring back urgency, and the lost art of the phone call.28:16 – The AI Debate & Juicebox Agents in ActionAdam and John discuss how to use AI as a tool — not a crutch — and how it frees recruiters for the human side of the job.29:09 – Closing Thoughts: Stay Human, Stay HungryAdam wraps from the field with gratitude, laughter, and the promise that wisdom is forever.

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner.Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com SummaryIn this episode, Adam Posner interviews Jay Williams, founder of Freebird Southern Springwater, who shares his journey from a successful 25-year career in real estate to launching a beverage brand. Jay discusses the importance of authenticity, hard work, and building relationships in business. He reflects on the challenges of starting a new venture, the importance of giving back to the community, and the lessons he has learned from his experiences. The conversation highlights the importance of resilience, the impact of social media, and the value of crafting a brand with a soul that resonates with everyday Americans.Takeaways- Jay Williams transitioned from real estate to beverage with Freebird.- Authenticity and being true to oneself are key to success.- Building relationships is crucial in business.- Hard work can outpace talent in competitive fields.- Starting a business requires action over perfection.- Mistakes are valuable learning opportunities.- Resilience is essential for overcoming challenges.- Giving back to the community is a core value of Freebird.- Creating a brand with a soul resonates with consumers.- Networking and research are vital for new entrepreneurs.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Jay Williams and Freebird02:49 The Power of Authenticity and LinkedIn05:38 Lessons from Family and the Importance of Hard Work08:55 The Big Pivot: From Real Estate to Beverage11:01 The Aha Moment: Starting Freebird13:01 Finding a Niche in the Beverage Industry15:05 Navigating the Beverage Landscape19:24 Building a Team and Seeking Expertise20:01 Understanding Your Strengths and Weaknesses21:10 Finding the Right Partners22:36 The Unique Selling Proposition of Freebird24:02 Navigating Early Challenges25:41 Commitment to Community and Philanthropy27:15 Brand Growth and Market Positioning28:34 Building a Brand with Soul29:59 Future Aspirations for Freebird32:20 Advice for Mid-Career Reinvention33:53 Learning from Mistakes and Building Resilience36:16 Authenticity in Leadership 

Chapters / Timestamps00:00 – Intro / RecFest Kick-off00:30 – Guest #1 – Tijal Rives (Amazon)00:40 The power of speaking your truth & dealing with trolls01:45 Career path – from recruiting → product at Amazon02:45 Curiosity as a superpower (“the red-button” story)03:40 Inside Amazon's hiring process & the Bar Raiser05:50 Making the move from recruiting to product07:10 Curiosity & motivation in candidate conversations08:55 “How AI Can Change Recruiters' Lives” – conference preview10:30 Good / Bad / Ugly of AI tools for recruiters12:45 Candidates using AI – benefits vs pitfalls14:30 High-touch recruiting & AI limits15:30 Hot takes: AI in recruiting | Hot dog = not a sandwich 17:10 Advice for job seekers – burnout plans & mindset18:20 Open-to-Work banner debate (Helpful!)19:25 Motherhood & work-life harmony 20:05 – Head of TA @ Aubrey Cirillo (Custom Ink)20:10 From banking → sales → TA leadership21:40 Sales skills = recruiting superpower22:25 Mentorship & self-storytelling23:00 Aligning hiring with business goals (role clarity)24:05 Small team challenges & cross-functional recruiting25:10 Shadowing employees to improve storytelling26:10 Sourcing stack – LinkedIn, Gem & AI tips27:30 Balancing open jobs vs intentional hiring28:40 Using AI without losing the human touch29:30 Scaling hiring through ambassador programs30:50 Building trust with hiring managers (proactive 1:1s)31:45 Equity & accountability in hiring33:00 Protecting time & energy as a recruiter34:20 Hot takes: Open-to-Work, Sourcing vs Closing, AI Interviews, and Hot Dogs 35:10 – Guest #3 –Sr. Technical Recruiter @ Heather Colvin (Smart Data)35:15 Full-circle moment & intro36:05 Recruiting as a career of creativity (no ceiling )37:20 Bridging the trust gap with hiring managers38:10 Using ChatGPT to close knowledge gaps (trust then verify)39:00 Lean tech stack & HireEZ vs LinkedIn bias39:40 Algorithm bias and why you need multiple tools40:10 The 72-hour pipeline rule 41:00 Transparency with multi-firm searches41:45 Favorite tools & learning from candidates42:10 AI interviews = “No” without feedback loop42:30 Hot takes lightning round  & passion project “The Other 99 Athletes”43:20 – Guest #4 – Mike Piditto (Author, Content Creator)43:25 Career pivot from TA leader → creator & author44:10 Balancing authenticity vs relevance45:20 Handling trolls & mental health boundaries46:30 “Yes, You're Being Judged” – book story & purpose47:15 Behind the book: real emails, rejections & reflection48:10 Why candidate experience starts at the top49:15 Favorite tech & why “built-by-recruiters” matters50:00 Advice for creators – authenticity over algorithm50:40 Find Mike online & wrap-up

Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcastFor all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com  Chapters / TimestampsJoey Lee — Panda Restaurant Group00:40 – Joey Lee joins: falling into TA & purpose of helping people02:36 – Scale at Panda: ~3,000 store openings; ~100 corporate roles03:20 – Org design: corporate TA vs. field recruiters03:55 – Budget realities & operator-funded recruiting04:25 – Boots-on-the-ground sourcing: competitors, BOGO cards, observing service04:56 – Hiring recruiters: “Tell me your story” & entrepreneurial mindset05:45 – From transactional to transformational recruiters (driver's seat)06:40 – Culture & authenticity: show up as your true self07:20 – Purpose-driven, people-first candidate experience (white-glove basics)08:35 – Tech & AI: transactional roles will be automated; elevate or be replaced09:41 – Digital recruiter clones? Promise and fears10:15 – Hot Takes: Open-to-Work ✅ | Sourcing vs. Closing (closing) | Referrals ~60% | Hot dog = sandwich | Favorite Panda orderRachel Allen — 7-Eleven12:06 – Rachel Allen returns: AI hype, compliance “gray zone,” and lessons learned13:25 – Don't start with an “AI strategy”; start with a business problem14:40 – Store hiring: 95% automated; leaders own outcomes; AI as enabler15:40 – Keep the interview human; automate scheduling & access16:30 – 24/7 candidates: assistants engage at 3am (Paradox “Rita”)17:30 – Workforce planning: total work vs. workforce; assistants as a channel18:40 – Data signals: speed, quality of submissions, retention, QoH19:41 – Internal mobility: removed manager-permission barrier to apply20:44 – Turnover trending down amid broader initiatives21:20 – Hot Takes: Always-be-closing from first touch; favorite interview Q: “Greatest misconception about you?”22:29 – Being human as the differentiator; team shoutouts & North Star24:22 – Where to find Rachel / 7-Eleven CareersBrandon Davis — Champions Group (Skilled Trades)24:40 – What Champions Group does; 2,500 employees, 19 brands25:30 – TA structure: divisions; early-career training programs (300 hires)26:10 – Sourcing where trades talent actually is: schools, military, word-of-mouth27:40 – Tech adoption: reduce fear by showing efficiency gains28:15 – Practical AI for recruiters: notes, summaries, reverse-engineering avatars29:10 – Brandon's path into TA (ops → marketing → HR → TA leader)30:32 – From “more candidates” to “better candidates” in two years31:15 – Quality of submission > quality of hire (and where TA ownership ends)32:57 – What makes a great recruiter: personality, storytelling, fast hook34:35 – What keeps him up at night: channel ROI & data-driven decisions35:19 – Hot Takes: Open-to-Work ✅ | Closing > Sourcing | Least-favorite Q: “What motivates you?” | Hot dog = sandwich | Where to find BrandonGreg Russell — CoverGenius36:20 – Greg Russell joins: coaching recruiters, storytelling & mindset37:41 – Burnout & rejection: give feedback at scale; never ghost after contact39:45 – ATS automation basics: close the loop, even with templates41:20 – Offer feedback with boundaries; avoid the endless loop42:28 – “Signal”: richer debriefs, calibration, transcripts > vague notes44:20 – Tech stack: ATS with built-in note-taker (transcripts/video in profile)45:40 – Debriefs aren't a democracy: hiring manager owns the decision47:11 – The AI bloom: noisy market now, consolidation later — lean in49:00 – What Greg hires for: storytelling + growth mindset + tech curiosity51:20 – Pay transparency song-and-dance & expectation management52:10 – Best career advice: treat people like adults; trust cultures win53:29 – Outro & where to find Greg