Celebrating 150 Episodes of Discovery & Growth on TXL

Thursday, August 10 marked the 150th episode of Talent Experience Live! Over the last four years, we experienced some pretty pivotal moments. Explore our most captivating stories, insightful discussions, "a-ha" revelations, and unforgettable experiences across HR in these top 12 episodes. If you missed the episode, stream it on demand here.

Getting Your Employee Value Proposition Right

A strong employee value proposition (EVP) is key to attracting right-fit talent and retaining employees. However, many companies fail to distinguish their EVP from their employer brand.

Michelle Sargent, VP of New Business and Partnerships at recruitment marketing agency Recruitics, discussed how companies can level up their EVP. “EVP is why come and work here. Your employer brand is the how and what it takes to work here. It’s the outside front,” she explained. In her opinion, some of the best EVPs center on culture. For example, Chewy’s EVP is all about “creating a place where you'll be empowered to build, grow, and unleash your fullest potential.”

The Power of Authentic Storytelling

When Eric Clemons, Senior Manager of Employment Brand Strategies, and his team kicked off a career site reboot at UScellular, they committed to using real stories from real employees to give candidates an authentic look at the company’s work life. “What makes a story great? You can project yourself into that story. That’s what keeps you hooked,” he said. “You can’t do that through stock photography.” Check out their full story here

What Is Skills Disruption?

Layla O’Kane, Research Manager at Lightcast, a global leader in labor market statistics, shared groundbreaking research on skills disruption in the workforce, and why it’s a game-changer for HR professionals. But what exactly is skills disruption? “If I were explaining it to your third-grader, I might say that they’ve been a student since they were in kindergarten, and they’re still a student, but their day looks really different now,” with different activities and expectations, O’Kane said.

In the professional realm, some job roles have remained the same while some have evolved to require radically new skill sets, like that of a web developer. Generative AI is one of today’s biggest skills disruptors.

Spotlight on Employee Well-Being

We caught up with, Mayra Ruiz-Castro, Sr. Lecturer at the University of Roehampton, UK, to talk all about the importance of supporting the well-being of each individual in your workforce. A rare silver lining of the pandemic? A heightened focus on employee well-being and work-life balance, as “temporary” remote work circumstances became an established norm at many companies.

“People now realize that work and life balance is not unattainable, a ‘nice to have,’ or some sort of privilege,” Castro said. “It is feasible…and there are alternatives to the way we were working before the pandemic.”

Ramping Up the HR Tech Stack

As companies scrambled to fill positions during the world’s gradual return to normal, it became clear that having a sophisticated digital approach was key to talent attraction. BMO’s Jeff Scott, Managing Director, Talent Acquisition Ops and Digitization, shared why in his view, the “Great Rehire” offered the perfect opportunity for HR organizations to make the case for digital innovation.

“That unrelenting focus on hiring gives you a springboard of support,” he said. “I look at the pressure of the Great Rehire as only opportunity for us.” Unlock the full story here

Why User-Generated Content Wins

In this episode, we dove into the benefits of using employee-generated video: it’s cost-effective, time-saving, and more engaging than professionally produced content.

Andrew Renschen described how using Phenom’s employee-generated video tool transformed his team’s TA video process: “In the past, it would take maybe two, three, or four weeks to get your content back. Now you send out a link [to employees] with guidelines … and you’re getting it back in one, two or three days,” he said. “And you get more natural and engaging content.”

The Power of Personalization in Talent Marketing

Fraser Donnell saw first-hand the power of targeting the right prospects with the right message at the right time: his team filled a niche role in record time by using the high-level personalization capabilities built into Phenom campaigns. “[The key is] staying away from generalization, and being a lot more direct and more relevant to that specific talent group. And then from there, using specialized, one-on-one campaigns.” Get the full story in this blog

Exploring the “B” in DEI&B

When the diversity, equity, and inclusion umbrella expanded to cover the idea of belonging, HR professionals had to get up to speed with what that meant in the context of the workplace.

DEI&B authority Kristina Kohl helped us better understand how to instill a sense of belonging for employees: “Belonging is the idea that we’re going to create an equitable culture, one that isn’t a single dominant culture, one that supports the needs of a variety of individuals, whatever they may be, and that you’re welcome to bring your true self to work,” she said. “It’s the idea that you show up, be your best self, do your best job, and we want to support you as an organization.”

The Evolution of Video Assessments

Using video assessments to streamline candidate screening and selection wasn’t new back in January of this year — but we had just released exciting innovations, and Kevin Binko, Product Marketing Manager at Phenom, joined us to break ‘em down. They included new language options, the added ability for hiring managers to record introductions and questions, and multiple question formats to choose from.

“[Phenom has] conducted over 150,000 assessments at this point, so there are a lot of lessons we’ve learned in terms of use cases and how it can help companies,” Binko said.

Why Video Is the New Cover Letter

Did video kill the cover letter?

Quite possibly, as Sebastian Niewohner, Senior Director, Product Management at Phenom, explained its value for hiring teams: “There’s no possibility to fake it…The impression you’d get from an onsite interview is what you immediately get when someone applies via video.”

And for job candidates: “You are not just one of 100 documents on the table or in the email inbox. You are the person you really are, and you can shine with motivation, qualifications, and personal fit.”

Why Gigs Are Great

Workplace gigs really started gaining traction a few years ago. According to Renee Robideau Sr. Manager of Talent Acquisition at Land O’Lakes, Inc., implementing Phenom Talent Marketplace and Gigs boosted agility in the short term – and served as a path to meeting long-term employee engagement and retention goals.

“We would like gigs to be a way for employees to gain exposure to other areas of the company, give them opportunities to develop their skills, and support the company on different projects,” she said. “And it gives managers a chance to learn about other employees and other talents across the organization.”

Misconceptions of AI

Today, as generative AI usage accelerates in a vast number of industries, you hear it often: “AI is going to take our jobs!” This fear has clouded the view of AI and its benefits for years. As a leader in applying AI to HR processes, Phenom has long worked to clear up misconceptions around this technology.

One of Phenom’s AI experts, Sean O’Donnell explained how investing a few minutes up front can save recruiters massive amounts of time on candidate selection. He also shared why HR and TA professionals have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by taking advantage of AI:

“The way we design our AI is to keep the human in the loop. It’s meant to augment the human processes, not replace them.”

Join Us for More Talent Experience Live

These 12 episodes only scratch the surface of our 150 episodes of learning, growing, and sharing on TXL. We look forward to 150 more, and thank all of our guests for sharing their time and expertise with us — we couldn’t have done it without you.

If you’re interested in being a featured guest on the show, reach out to our host, Devin Foster, on LinkedIn.

Don’t forget to join us for the next 150 episodes! Get notified of all upcoming TXL episodes here.

Kasey Lynch

Kasey is a content marketing writer, focused on highlighting the importance of positive experiences. She's passionate about SEO strategy, collaboration, and data analytics. In her free time, she enjoys camping, cooking, exercising, and spending time with her loved ones — including her dog, Rocky.