“I was deleting 24 Google Calendar placeholders one day and manually copy/pasting new hire email addresses into the 17 ones we were going to keep. It was at least 30 minutes of hundreds of just mindless clicks. And I said, wait a minute. I’m gonna figure out how to do this [better]. So I looked at our Google Calendar integration, saw that I could both delete calendar events and add participants to calendar events. It worked so well. I took hundreds of clicks down to two clicks to complete those two actions, which is huge for me. And then I said, what else can I automate? So I just kept going from there.” 

Ashley Priebe Brown, Onboarding Manager, Zapier

We’re Only Human — Episode 160

Onboarding is one of the most critical moments in the employee experience. The latest data from Lighthouse Research & Advisory shows that two out of three new hires know if they will stay at a company within the first week on the job. But that’s not all. There are so many transactional, repetitive tasks that it’s easy to get bogged down as an HR leader. In this episode of We’re Only Human, Ashley Priebe Brown from Zapier talks about how she automated hundreds of hours of onboarding tasks, minimizing busy work and maximizing impact on their new hire cohorts. If you are looking for ideas on how to streamline your onboarding and make it more relevant and useful, this episode is for you. 

Show Notes

• Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn
• Check out our show archives and sign up for updates so you don’t miss an episode

“If I had to put a bet on the future, where we’re headed is about understanding potential future performance and what drives and drains people. I think that’s really where I see TA going longer term. We’ve seen success around using some of that psychometric data to really upskill folks into engineers that wouldn’t not necessarily have been on technical paths. So business analysts, old school project managers, and those technical analyst folks… Finding the ones that are really well suited to engineering thought and then upskilling them on the actual technology themselves.”

Travis Windling, Director Talent Acquisition Strategy & Insights, RBC

We’re Only Human — Episode 159

Hiring has changed tremendously in recent years, and one thing is for certain: things haven’t settled down yet. As Travis Windling believes, there are going to be big shifts in how employers understand and predict performance for both external and internal candidates. A big part of hiring well is predictability and quality, and unfortunately resumes just don’t get the job done there. In this episode Ben and Travis talk about data, analytics, hiring decisions, and more.

Show Notes

• Connect with Travis on LinkedIn
• Check out our show archives and sign up for updates so you don’t miss an episode

“And speaking of changing expectations and what’s socially acceptable, this challenge of ghosting is going through the roof, and I’ve got bad news for you.

It’s gonna get worse.

When we look at the data on ghosting, we see that it’s actually age correlated. So someone who is 25 is more likely than someone who’s 35, who’s more likely someone who’s 45, and so on. So the people who are 55 years old and older in the workplace are the least likely to ghost an employer. 

And guess what? They’re gonna steadily age out. And the ones who are doing it the most are gonna continue aging into the workforce.”

Ben Eubanks, Chief Research Officer, Lighthouse Research & Advisory
Excerpt from 2022 RPO Association Conference Keynote

We’re Only Human — Episode 158

In this rare solo episode, Ben shares a short portion of his 2022 keynote address at the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association Annual Conference in Chicago, unveiling some brand new research on how employers value RPO relationships, what gaps exist, and more. 

• To learn more about the conference: https://www.rpoassociation.org/event-5062642 
• To see the full RPO research report: https://rpoassociation.org/2022-RPO-Research-Report/
• Learn more about the RPOA: https://rpoassociation.org/ 

“It’s a big differentiator. And I think the organizations that figure it out–the organizations that get it right–are the ones that are gonna be able to attract people. And I think organizations that don’t are gonna have more of a struggle because that becomes more important as we think about just making conscious choices: how do we wanna spend our days? How do we wanna spend our working lives and what do we want to accomplish?

Mike Trusty, VP of Talent and Learning, Fannie Mae

We’re Only Human — Episode 157

Digital transformation isn’t a new concept, but it’s always interesting to hear how different employers approach the process, the challenge, and most importantly, the people side of the equation. In this episode of We’re Only Human, Ben Eubanks interviews Mike Trusty from Fannie Mae about his perspective on the organization’s transformation journey and what lessons it holds for other leaders on similar paths. Spoiler alert: Mike’s big recommendation: hold off on the flash and focus on the substance. The nuts and bolts. The key fundamentals. Without that foundation, most efforts will not succeed long-term. Want more? Dive into this episode and take notes!

Show Notes

• Connect with Mike on LinkedIn
• Check out HR Summer School, our biggest virtual livestream event of the year!
• Check out our show archives and sign up for updates so you don’t miss an episode

There’s certainly the opportunity cost that comes with assigning someone from your learning team or frankly finding anybody to work on this if it’s not gonna fix the problem. There’s also the frustration that comes with that. I’ve experienced that personally and as a leader of learning professionals. It is really frustrating to spend your time and effort doing something that you think is not gonna work.

Ben Sieke, Director of Talent Development and Learning, Delta Dental

We’re Only Human — Episode 156

When training is the answer to a problem, it can improve performance, satisfaction, and results. 

When it’s not the answer, it just increases frustration, drives down motivation, and increases unnecessary costs. 

In today’s episode of We’re Only Human, Ben talks with Ben Sieke from Delta Dental about when issues are training problems and when they aren’t. More importantly, Sieke shares insights as a learning executive for how to adapt and respond to the situations in a positive, productive way. If you’ve ever been told “it’s a training problem” and weren’t sure that assessment was correct, this episode is for you. 

Note: This episode is a replay from HR Summer School 2022. HRSS 2023 is now open for registration.

Show Notes

• Connect with Ben on LinkedIn
• Check out our show archives and sign up for updates so you don’t miss an episode

 ”So there’s a massive amount of insights coming from this. We measure things like net promoter score — we have an average NPS of around 73, which as we all know is pretty great. And a big one for me is that 41% of people we actually go on to hire actually have used the platform once or more than once. That’s a really big figure to show this is actually supporting employees to apply with us and attracting them to us and being successful in getting a role with us.”

Lisa Brignall, Head of Talent Acquisition GB at Coca Cola Europacific Partners

We’re Only Human — Episode 155

One of the things every company struggles with is sharing a realistic preview of the job with candidates. Job applicants expect recruiters and hiring managers to smooth over the rough edges, and it’s tough to have a transparent and honest conversation. But Lisa Brignall and the team at Coca Cola Europacific Partners have found a way to solve for this. They actually give candidates access to employee Insiders that are empowered to talk about the culture, work conditions, and other realities of employment. 

In this episode of We’re Only Human, Ben and Lisa talk about the program, how it’s set up, and what results and impact it has already demonstrated in a relatively short time. If your company is hiring and wants to create a more open dialogue with candidates, this episode is for you. 

Show Notes

• Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn
• Check out the recruitment marketing episode with Kelby Tansey from Southwest Airlines
• Check out the show archives and links to subscribe on Spotify, Google, Amazon, and more

 ”The joke is pilots get in the plane, they read their checklist, and they take off. They push the [autopilot] button and sit back and wait for the plane to land itself. But when something goes wrong, suddenly the pilot’s got to take control. And then everybody’s life’s in that pilot’s hands. I think autopilot turned off for compensation people 18 months ago.”

Bryan Briscoe, VP Global Compensation at Marriott International

We’re Only Human — Episode 154

There’s not a company in existence that hasn’t needed to take a fresh look at compensation in the last year. The general consensus? “Wages are up.”

But this conversation offers a deeper look for those that really want to dig into how compensation is changing. In today’s episode, Ben chats with Bryan Briscoe of Marriott International about critical trends in compensation like pay transparency requirements, how crowdsourced pay data compares to traditional salary survey data, and the biggest lesson Bryan recommends that other HR and compensation leaders follow if they want to be successful. 

Show Notes

Get a copy of Ben’s new book Talent Scarcity, a #1 bestseller on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3XbCFw4 

Connect with Bryan Briscoe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-briscoe-76584b5 

Listen to our show archives: https://lhra.io/were-only-human-podcast/