backchannel: the executive talent partner podcast: Recent Episodes
Thrive TRM
VC and PE firms are starting to realize the value of the talent partner role, but the function is still new. Like, you're-lucky-to-have-a-job-description new.
And that's why we created backchannel, a podcast designed to help practitioners define the role and level up their skills.
Each episode is a deep dive into the secret sauce of the talent partners helping the fastest growing companies build their leadership teams. Together, we’ll learn where the best in the biz spend their time, how they structure their teams, and discuss real-world solutions to the challenges of executive recruiting.
Ali's DE&I journey began early in her career, and she's been learning and applying new techniques and strategies in her roles ever since.
In this episode of backchannel, Ali tells us about PE's diversity problem and how she's trying to fix it, shares her strategies for dealing with the new normal for candidate behavior, and gives her tips on how to reduce job hopping for raises.
Click here to see the video version of this episode.
Here are some highlights from the conversation:
- Overview of Ali’s role (0:34)
- Strategies for dealing with new candidate behaviors that have become the norm (1:36)
- How to look at compensation and compete for great talent (5:10)
- Ali's DE&I journey and current trends she's noticing (10:40)
- How she's bringing DE&I to portcos and her firm (14:56)
- Leveraging HR and People functions to track and measure effectiveness of your DE&I efforts (17:28)
- The importance of balancing talent acquisition with retention (20:36)
- The key to reducing job hopping for raises (24:45)
- The two recruiting practices Ali thinks should stop today (29:46)
As the Talent Partner role gets more visibility for the value it provides, more firms are beginning to add Talent to their platform offerings. But with so much opportunity for impact and because the role is still young, many new Talent Partners are left to figure out their priorities and offerings on their own.
We sat down with Jim Conti, Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, to talk about what a firm should do before hiring a Talent Partner, how he brought clarity to his own role, and how Hyde Park has cultivated success without being a coastal VC.
Click here to see the video version of this episode.
Here are some highlights from the conversation:
- Overview of Jim’s company and role (0:26)
- Why Jim chose to move from in-house to a VC (2:32)
- What a firm needs to do before hiring a Talent Partner (4:28)
- Questions a firm should answer to bring clarity to the role (6:06)
- Should Talent Partners be responsible for both HR and talent acquisition? (7:45)
- How to use community as a differentiator (8:59)
- The importance of finding a candidate’s “why” (12:15)
- The recruiting practice Jim thinks should stop today (14:06)
The current job market has forced companies to rethink their hiring processes. Velocity is the name of the game, but how do you make sure you're still running a comprehensive search and hiring the best person for the job?
In this episode, Steven Berman, Accel-KKR's Director of Executive Search, talks about how he approaches the issue, how he actionizes his firm's network, and why he's not concerned about getting candidates to say yes to a job.
Click here if you want to see the video version of this episode.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:31 - Steven’s role at Accel-KKR
02:25 - How Steven prepares for a search
03:39 - Defining what success looks like
05:06 - How to actionize your firm’s existing network
07:26 - How to balance speed with running a comprehensive search process
08:29 - Steven’s top challenge right now 09:46 - How he’s addressing the challenge
10:22 - Becoming a steward for executives and their career
11:52 - Why he doesn’t worry about getting candidates to say yes
12:47 - Competencies vs experience
14:06 - Rethinking the unwritten rules of building a career
15:43 - Thrive roundtables
According to Sam Jakola from Craft Ventures, talent is a top-2 reason companies succeed or fail—and boy is it competitive out there right now.
In our first ever episode of backchannel, Sam gives us his take on why the VC talent partner role is blowing up, walks us through the ways he's adding value to Craft's portfolio companies, and gives us a peek behind the curtain to explain how he's helping them win the war for talent.
If you want to see the video version of this podcast, click here.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Sam's background
02:07 - Sam's role at Craft
02:50 - Working with portfolio companies
04:39 - Why VCs are embracing the talent partner role
06:26 - The biggest challenge right now
08:17 - Michael Scott joke
08:35 - Ways to combat the current challenges
10:39 - Why founders are looking to talent partners earlier
11:12 - How to be more proactive
14:44 - Hardest roles to place right now
15:59 - Advice to founders when vetting search firms