Category Archives: General

3 People Leaders Share Frontline Employee Engagement Secrets

“One of the things that a lot of our industry struggled with was trying to regulate employees and not let them have their phone in their hand, but we actually encourage it. We ask them to help us do TikToks. Everybody gets involved. It really brings in a sense of camaraderie. We’re not constantly saying, ‘Get off your phone. Get off your phone. Get off your phone.’ We’re encouraging them: get on your phone, take the pictures, take the videos, promote the brand.”

Michele Corkins, Senior Manager, People Solutions, Hawaiian Bros Island Grill

We’re Only Human — Episode 162

Think about this research stat: One out of every two frontline workers thinks they aren’t treated equitably with corporate staff. In our 2022 Frontline Worker Study that covered thousands of frontline staff around the world, we found so many different insights that are helpful for understanding how to build an employee experience that supports, connects, and engages these critical employees. Today’s podcast episode is a replay of a conversation between Ben and three HR leaders at frontline employers:

  • Michele Corkins of Hawaiian Bros Island Grill
  • Gemma Elay of Hawksmoor
  • Ana Ledesma of Just Salad

Listen in to hear what tools they use to support their people, what resources they think are more relevant to frontline staff, and more. Thanks to Harri for connecting us!

Show Notes

Listening to the Needs of 1700 People at Once at Getty Images

“We have 1700 people at our company. That’s 1700 different opinions, needs, journeys. So at Getty Images we create and we measure and we monitor engagement opportunities to strengthen a work culture where people belong and they can do their best work.”

Marie Potter, Senior Director, Culture & Development, Getty Images

We’re Only Human — Episode 161

 

Defining the problem is a big step towards finding a solution. But what do you do when the problem or challenge is so broad and varied that it’s hard to pinpoint what solution might work? That’s the difficulty that arises daily for HR leaders looking at how to support the needs of every person in the workforce. In this episode of We’re Only Human, Ben talks with Marie Potter from Getty Images about how she and her team are able to listen, identify, and support the needs of their workforce at scale. 

Show Notes

 

Case Study: How to Automate Hundreds of Hours of Onboarding Tasks

“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

Talent Intelligence is the Future of Hiring

“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

 

 

 

Recruitment Process Outsourcing Research: Value and Impact

“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. 

From Talent Transformation to L&D Fundamentals with Mike Trusty of Fannie Mae

“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

When Training Isn’t the Answer with Delta Dental’s Head of Learning

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