A Hire Future: Recent Episodes
interviewIA
Named to the Top 60 Future of Work Podcasts list by Feedspot: https://blog.feedspot.com/future_of_work_podcasts/
How can one small tech company set out to transform the way we help each other reach a more meaningful and impactful Future of Work?
Hosted by interviewIA’s very own UB Ciminieri (co-founder & CMO), with the occasional guest co-host, this podcast will focus on the journey and the mission of people from all walks of life who see the Future of Work and who are pushing us forward every day to make sustainable and meaningful work for everyone a reality.
We’ll talk with these experts, thought leaders, and HR, Talent, and DEI Leaders from various industries about their failures and successes in building toward a better Future of Work in their organizations. We’ll dig into the neuroscience of bias and behavior and why any effort to reach a more meaningful Future of Work by focusing solely on technology and not the human, will fail. And we’ll provide tactical and practical takeaways that everyone can use to start to build toward a better Future of Work.
with Ben Wiederholt and Dave Brooks, discussing the culture of healthcare organizations and how to build better teams with greater quality of care while balancing financial responsibilities.
with Karen Conway and Michael Isaacs, discussing equitable healthcare access and how healthcare organizations can balance business interests with social responsibility while looking for talent who align with both.
with Dave Brooks and Michael Isaacs, discussing reskilling and cross-training of healthcare workers as a way to address the workforce shortage, but more importantly, to plan for long-term career trajectory and hiring success.
with Karen Conway and Dave Brooks, discussing the market forces that require healthcare to rapidly adapt in order to maintain care, and which strategies and technologies should be considered to help.
with Karen Conway and Dave Brooks, discussing the market forces that require healthcare to rapidly adapt in order to maintain care, and which strategies and technologies should be considered to help.
with Ben Wiederholt and Michael Isaacs, hosted by Joe Thurman, CEO of IIA Healthcare, discussing the importance of trust, technology, and diversity in delivering quality care to patients.
Peter Voss (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vosspeter/) and his fellow colleagues coined the term "AGI" or Artificial General Intelligence, as they worked to create a natural language intelligence engine that can actually think, learn, and reason - unlike what most AI is today, Narrow AI, which basically just does as it's coded.
We talk about how AI is really just trendy and often misrepresented through marketing speak, which is why most people and organizations fail to understand its impact on processes like hiring, where it often postpones or introduces bias because that's what was coded into it.
Sheila Stafford (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-stafford-451976b/) and TeamSense have focused their mission on helping the largest part of the workforce, hourly workers, get the support that generally has been focused on the smaller part of the workforce, salaried, in-office employees.
The pandemic shifted that focus away from in-office employees, who now can work from home, to those non-desk workers who are required to go back to work outside of the home, generally. How does this shift company culture? Do we need to redefine our evaluation and hiring of these types of workers based on the shift of support?
If you haven't noticed, the last almost two years have really changed a lot of circumstances and a lot of people, some in good ways, some in not so good ways. For example, middle-aged women started drinking 5-6x more now because of the pandemic. Gregory Silva entered the world of substance abuse and recovery because of a very personal reason. And now his mission is to help people who are struggling and to help companies help their employees who are struggling.
If you or someone you know needs help, call 833-244-5900. Greg and his team will help.
Arthur Woods is no stranger to leading the way for change in the DEI space, having founded Out in Tech, authored a bestseller called Hiring for Diversity, and co-founded Mathison, which is a fellow technology in the space of empowering companies to improve their hiring efforts, like interviewIA.
We talk about how everyone can start to influence their teams and the growth of their companies to create a groundswell - and you don't need HR or anyone's permission to do it.
Corey Smith (https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-b-smith/) brings the world of luxury into the future of work conversation, specifically the impact the pandemic has had on the luxury industry as a whole, not just from buying luxury items, but fostering inclusion in an organization and an industry that sometimes feels exclusive.
Lorraine Heber-Brause (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorraine-heber-brause-b43876b/) joins us on this episode to talk about the new skills we need to foster more open dialogue in this new future of work marked by virtual versus in-person connection.
Lorraine encourages curious conversations to talk about people and problems, and to assess people in a way that brings in our own perspectives/beliefs but also helps us to understand others in a way that we haven't done before, especially when we're interviewing them. We need to explore more layers of a candidate and reveal the right information to help them get the right job.
Michael Reddington, CFI (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelreddingtoncfi/) joins the podcast to talk about the correlations between interrogation and general workplace conversations with employees, or interviews with candidates. There are similar psychological behaviors at play and we talk about understanding those parallels to help create a better workplace.
Without having an honest and ethical place to work, and by having a hiring process focused on keyword search instead of key people search, employees may soon find themselves on a path to damaging a company's brand because of how they've been treated. That takes the shape of many actions: stealing, negative reviews, even workplace shootings.
Anthony Ianni (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-ianni-8a418965/), the first Division 1 basketball player diagnosed with autism (he played for Michigan State University from 2009 until 2012), joins the podcast to talk about his journey from first being told he wouldn't achieve much to now being a motivational speaker and author of the book "Centered".
He travels the country to let everyone know that every person deserves the opportunity to chase their dreams, work hard, and thrive, just as he has.
Adrian Taylor, CDP (https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-taylor-cdp-a157b313/) joins the podcast to break down why management style and process before the pandemic is outdated - the old way of managing will just not work anymore in this new future of work.
It's all about helping the management layer in our organizations learn to better create a more inclusive and equitable place of work, to learn how to lead more diverse teams, because the younger generations are demanding it.
David Nour (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnour/), who goes by his last name because, as he puts it, there are many Davids out there, brings his thought leadership about realigning our relationships as the key to our future of work, to the podcast.
Having grown up in Iran, learning the true value of relationships, and then coming here where business is not really based on relationships, Nour has taken up the task of helping all of us, particularly in response to COVID and our virtual interactions with each other, build and nurture relationships to not only build better workplaces, but to help us grow and thrive together.
Glenn E. Newman, Jr. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-e-newman-jr/) breaks down the difference between equity and equality and how those can play out in the interview process and in the employee lifecycle.
Shawn Herring (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnherring/) joins the podcast for a future-of-work discussion about how some technologies gained prominence and adapted to truly help us adapt to the massive and often jarring changes brought on by the pandemic.
Fardad Zabetian (https://www.linkedin.com/in/fardadz/) joins the podcast to talk about a future of work that amplifies the power of technology to connect people, no matter where they are.
Everett Harper (https://www.linkedin.com/in/everettharper/) joins UB and Nicole to talk about their efforts and successes at Truss in hiring and adding more diversity to their team.
The resulting theme: Modern great leaders need to keep making decisions even when the world changes very rapidly (as it does these days). Many leaders are tempted to take on a heroic role, pushing hard at the edge of knowledge. Heroism isn't sustainable. Instead, it's exhausting to the leader and everyone else.
When you think of the name Covey, you think about those 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. You also think about TRUST, and that's because of the work Stephen M.R. Covey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-m-r-covey-6400191a5/) has done since he was 7 when his dad, Stephen R. Covey, trusted him to take care of their lawn.
Now he's the author of many books including The Speed of Trust (https://www.speedoftrust.com/) and the upcoming Trust and Inspire (coming out in March 2022), and this is exactly what we talked about on this episode, trust in the workplace, trust in your interview process, building high-trust cultures in a new future of work to grow and succeed.
We're switching things up a bit and talking about interviewing better, getting technology into the hands of every interviewer that helps them deliver equitable interviews every time, and the changing landscape of the future of work that will challenge companies to do better.
Dionna Smith (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionnasmithgphr/) has found a role that gives her the opportunity to impact not only her fellow teammates, but the community of people Thumbtack is supporting and the community of customers using Thumbtack. Her mission: to create inclusion for absolutely everyone.
The resulting theme: Compared to just a decade ago, the new world we live in doesn't require a college degree. Tradespeople and entrepreneurs are making a comeback in ways that haven't been seen since the 1900s. This marks increased optimism for closing the wealth gap.
Terese Lam (https://www.linkedin.com/in/terese-lam/) brings her expertise to the show to talk about the ever-changing work styles she's experienced and how she navigated those as a people leader to keep the eye on diversity, inclusion, and the vision of the company, even in extreme times like the pandemic.
The resulting theme: Being hesitant about change isn't about whether the new way or the old way is better. It's about making the transition itself. We were reluctant to go into a work-from-home environment and now that the pandemic has forced us to do it, we don't want to go back into the office.
Hannah Williams (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-williams-experience-consultant/) opens our eyes to the youngest generation entering the workforce, Gen-Z, as a Gen-Zer herself who closed her first sales deal at the age of 12.
The resulting theme: Gen-Z's have always lived in a world with the internet. They didn't all get natural crazy computer skills, though. Instead, they innately picked up the ability and motivation to build their own personal brand identity. Companies have to take this personal brand into account when recruiting members of Gen-Z.
Also, take Hannah's free "Pulse Check" to see where you stand as a leader and an organization in regards to your understanding of Gen Z: https://www.hannahgwilliams.com/hirefuture. You can also preorder her book!
Today we talk about the lack of training that interviewers receive when asked to take on the often added responsibility of interviewing and hiring, often as a result of a promotion. We'll finish this particular discussion in our next episode with some actionable ways to manage interviewer training.
In today's episode, Joe and UB talk about the growing diversity of the global candidate pool and how companies can finally tap into successfully building a more diverse workforce by focusing on the equal evaluation of those candidates for their open roles.
interviewIA's co-founders Joe and UB talk about the opportunity that has taken the spotlight post-pandemic - the ability to truly open up where you look for new talent to grow your companies with the remote, work-from-jhome, and hybrid models of going back to work seemingly here to stay.
Chelsea Kim (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-k-9142887/) "stopped by" to talk about banking and empathy, and just approaching business with more love for customers and teammates alike.
The resulting theme: Understanding transferable skills is critical to modern hiring. With technology moving as fast as it does, it's impossible to hire people who have direct experience in most cases. You have to think bigger.
interviewIA co-founders UB Ciminieri and Joe Thurman talk about how companies can be more strategic in how they navigate laws like the Colorado Equal Pay Act. Please sign up for Spotify Greenroom to join the conversation.
David Katz (https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-katz-4b66178/) is a steward of the earth and a champion for the poor. We had an amazing and powerful discussion chatting about the times he’s needed to apply mental toughness in his life.
The resulting theme: When you face the worst things in your life and feel the pain associated with it, you become free to engage with anyone about anything going on in their lives. Alternatively, avoid your own pain, and you'll have to avoid others too. This is critical advice for leaders who want to connect deeply with their teammates.
For our inaugural Spotify Greenroom show, interviewIA co-founders UB Ciminieri and Joe Thurman talk about the Colorado Equal Pay Act and its potential impacts on businesses in Colorado and outside of Colorado.
Michelle Natalya Moore (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellenmoore/) joins us today to talk about organizational attention. Today we're all about distractions on our phones and screens, which cuts our productivity down significantly. How can organizations focus their attention to accomplish goals in half the time? Can we do things like hire better with less distraction?
The resulting theme: Companies need to start valuing their employees’ attention as much as they value revenue. A company’s competitors are not just other companies that sell similar products. Competitors are also like Facebook, Netflix, and other attention-grabbing entities that distract employees.
Tom Beakbane (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tombeakbane-author-consilience/) wrote a book called "How to Understand Everything" with the sub-heading “Consilience: A New Way to See the World” and we (I mean Nicole) really got to geek out about a read that is illuminating, packs so much, and might take a few reads to really "understand everything." But once you get there, you will see the world in a new light, and in particular, how we interact with each other. Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N8CSRG6?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420
The resulting theme: Tribalism (the human motivation to bond with others like ourselves) is not going to go away. We have to be conscious of that part of human nature while being humble enough to recognize that it's impossible to judge or evaluate someone who is nothing like yourself.
Daisy Auger-Dominguez (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daisyaugerdominguez/) helps us reach our 20th episode with an impactful conversation about how a global company with employees all over the world, in different cultures, can create a true environment of inclusion for all as we journey into a future of work that is changing everything for companies.
The resulting theme: As we go back to the office in a hybrid way, those in power need to make room for those who have been marginalized. Those who have been marginalized have a responsibility now to fill that space, to step up, and to make their valuable voices heard. The result will be a beautiful working environment that works for everyone.
Meredith Bell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithmbell/) brings her experience in team communication and peer coaching to the show for a truly insightful conversation about how companies can chart a more successful and connected path for their employees into the future of work. Check out https://growstrongleaders.com/hirefuture/ to take a free "interaction" quiz and learn more.
The resulting theme: Employee engagement sounds like a lot of work and leaders often believe they don't have time for this. Proactively engaging employees is not what leaders think. In fact, it's about letting the employee do the thinking! It takes only seconds for a leader to let an employee think for themselves.
Alykhan Rehmatullah (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alykhan-rehmatullah-5658ba40/) joins the podcast to talk about the power of video to share the stories of your employees to attract and build trust and loyalty with your candidates.
The resulting theme: Companies can think about recruiting talent differently. Candidates are "shopping" for their next employment experience. How do you get someone to buy? Start by earning their trust. Give candidates access to people like them - other employees. Then let those employees share, authentically, what their employment experience is like. It's unsurprising that this works. Two magic ingredients: reduced uncertainty and increased trust.
Bob Pulver (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobpulver/) joined UB and Nicole to talk about his experience in IBM Research, witnessing the birth of Watson, to his work at NBCUniversal, to his experience now as a candidate looking for his next adventure. Throughout all of this experience, Bob has focused on helping organizations really figure out the best way to utilize talent.
The resulting theme: Accurately evaluating people who are different from yourself (like we must often do in a job interview) is almost impossible without external help. Data and augmented intelligence (AI) can help. The most accurate method of evaluating people right now might just be behavior and personality assessments.
Dan Downs (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dandownsculturecurator/) joined us to talk about diversity and inclusion efforts in a very traditional and stodgy industry, the legal industry, and the work it takes to make the right changes.
The resulting theme: Employers can purposefully expand who and how they hire, even in industries that have long and unvaried career paths that have traditionally been dominated by white males, like the legal field. Hiring people into HR, administrative roles, and other support roles from outside the industry can help increase diversity and start changing the culture immediately. This will help create a culture that can attract different kinds of people.
Scott Case (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tscottcase/), former founding CTO of Priceline.com and now co-founder and CEO of Upside Business Travel, and Genevieve Rafla (https://www.linkedin.com/in/genevieveholmes/), Director of Communications at Upside Business Travel, joined Nicole and UB to talk about the future of business travel, as well as the resulting themes of surviving global crises.
The resulting theme: Jobs are created by entrepreneurs who build technologies into companies that hire employees. But it's not an easy road. Entrepreneurs suffer from isolation even during non-pandemic years - often because the people around them don't understand what they are trying to do with their lives. The future of work will be paved, in part, by companies that don't exist yet. We have to support the people who will build those companies.
Sam Berthoud (https://www.linkedin.com/in/samberthoud/) joins us from "across the pond" in a small seaside town just outside of London. We talk about the HR and Talent tech space and events in the time of a pandemic.
The resulting theme of this episode: The online element of recruiting is here to stay and along with it, data analysis. What does that mean for the job seeker? Listen to find out.
Brad Feld (http://www.feld.com/) joins us for a conversation about entrepreneurship in the aftermath of a pandemic, mental health, and navigating a new future of work. We even bring a little Nietzsche into the conversation.
The resulting theme of this episode: Mental health is a topic that had a significant stigma especially at work. The pandemic has forced the issue of anxiety and depression into all of our lives. The future of work includes an understanding that the human worker is made of chemicals that have material effects on the way that workers show up every day.
Helen Young Hayes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-young-hayes-86717327/) joins the show to talk about the future of talent from truly underrepresented communities being the future of work for companies, particularly those looking for tech talent in a time when 1 Million tech jobs need to be filled.
The resulting theme of this episode: Helen shares insights about employees at the poverty line. The lesson here is that serving these workers with professional coaching and upskilling isn't charity. It's actually the easiest solution to fixing the employee shortages that companies are desperate to solve.
Nicole Craine (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolecraine/) is our guest on this episode talking about the future of work in the apprenticeship model for helping underrepresented people find success in technology jobs.
The resulting theme: Education requirements are changing. Employers are starting to realize that a 4-year degree isn't necessary for a lot of jobs - especially technology and coding jobs. Learn how Techtonic (https://techtonic.com/) prepares the new generation of coders.
Aleta Jeffress (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aletajeffress/) joins UB and Nicole for a discussion about the impact of the COVID pandemic on our organizations and our cities as they adjust to new behavioral patterns of their employees and citizens.
The resulting theme: We are in a year-long in-between. In between the old way and the new way. The pandemic changed things, and going back to the office in the post-pandemic world will not be like the before times. Get ready for something entirely new.
Kelsey Witmer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsey-witmer-she-her-51950985/) joins us to talk about her role as Sr. Lead of Employee Experience, a relatively new and rising role with Human Resources, particularly in light of the pandemic and its impact on employees.
The resulting theme of this episode: The future of work holds a stronger degree of attention on physical health, mental health, and creating an intentional culture that can support employees whoever and wherever they are. Companies that don't update their values in these three areas will likely lag behind the companies that do.
Todd Rose (https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-rose-94700367/), the author of one of interviewIA's biggest inspirations, "The End of Average," is also the President of Populace, a think tank dedicated to transforming how we learn, work, and live so that all people have the opportunity to live fulfilling lives in a free and thriving society. We talk about the Jaggedness and Pathways Principles from his book, as well as how the future of work needs to fundamentally change beyond just working remotely, and what all this means for inclusion.
The resulting theme for this episode: The future of work includes eradication of Fredrick Taylor's outdated principles of efficiency in business especially when used to evaluate people. Good business no longer means standardizing everything, including people. If this ever was true, it's certainly not true now.
Today's episode with Jeff Vargas (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyvargasceo/) is focused on the five generations of people in the workforce and the importance of understanding the unique motivators of each generation in order to navigate to a Future of Work that works for everyone.
Jonathan "Jon" Hicks (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-hicks-b219006/) joins your hosts UB and Nicole, as well as guest co-host Joe Thurman, CEO of interviewIA, to talk about the Future of Work from a legal perspective.
The resulting theme: Culture is the real driver of action. Laws just set up the framework for the culture to enact its will. We are witnessing a huge shift in corporate culture right now. In the past, there was a high risk for companies to speak out about social inequities. Now, the risk has shifted. Companies are seeing a high cost of remaining silent.
Katherine McCord (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-mccord-093bb343/) joins us on today's episode to talk about the change needed in how we recruit, evaluate, and hire talent, the whole reason she built Titan ATS. This new kind of Applicant Tracking System helps organizations see and use the information necessary for really knowing if a candidate is going to be a great fit or not.
The resulting theme of this episode: Technology can allow for a more human touch in hiring. However, there are some parts of the hiring process where technology simply doesn’t belong. To stay at the forefront of hiring, you’ll have to understand where to use technology and where to use direct human attention.
Caroline (pronounced care - o - line) Stokes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ocarolinestokes/) is known as the "The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter" - she even has a podcast with the same name. Check out some resources she's been kind enough to share with our audience:
Workplace EQ Diagnostic
Workplace EQ Thinkbook
The resulting theme of this episode: The Pandemic created an opportunity for companies to make dramatic changes to standard operating procedures. Companies can take this opportunity to redesign their hiring process to acknowledge the fact that candidates (even when they aren't hired) may return as customers and vice versa. Companies can start treating every individual as though that relationship between the individual and the company will persist over time.
Bennie Fowler (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennie-fowler-a43027173/), who was part of our very own Denver Broncos Super Bowl 50 winning team and now plays for the New Orleans Saints, has taken his experience playing sports and what he's learned from great leaders such as Peyton Manning and started helping organizations and leaders create a better Future of Work for their employees as a Results and Leadership Coach.
The resulting theme of this episode: Resilience, bouncing back from adversity and leveraging it to grow, as a life skill that employers can help encourage employees to learn.
Michael Hess (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hess-9a4a826/) is the blind Executive Director of The Blind Institute of Technology, or BIT (http://www.blindinstituteoftechnology.org/). The Future of Work for Mike is helping companies all over the world overcome their fear or loss aversion to hiring people with disabilities. The momentum has shifted with COVID and working from home and conversations about systemic inequalities, in favor of 1 out of 7 people globally, who have a disability, finding meaningful work. So how does your company tap into this untapped resource to realize a Future of Work for everyone?
The resulting theme of this episode: The Pandemic has encouraged companies to allow work from home using digital aids like Zoom, which in turn makes it easy for people with a disability to work completely unencumbered.
Your hosts, UB Ciminieri (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ubciminieri/) and Dr. Nicole Gravagna (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolegravagna/) introduce you to A Hire Future and what you can expect as they explore the Future of Work with guests who see that future and who are figuring out how to get us there.