Talk Talent To Me Rob Stevenson: Recruiting, Employer Branding, and Career Growth Expert.

In today’s episode, I sit down with Gordon Patterson to discuss his mission of fostering relationships and championing individual empowerment. Gordon is the Director of Talent Acquisition at LKQ Corporation, a leading provider of alternative and specialty parts to repair and accessorize automobiles and other vehicles. In our conversation, Gordon tells us about LKQ, the changes the company is currently going through, and the different markets it serves. Hear about his role at the company, the ways he pushes the envelope in recruiting, and the value of brand recognition for finding talent. Discover the different organizations LKQ leverages for recruiting, how it retains employees, and details of its “Your Voice Matters” survey. Find out how Gordon overcame the tech hesitation hurdle, his approach to creating referrals, LKQ’s people process technology (PPT) framework, and what “sweat equity” is. Gain insights into the role of leaders in the recruitment process, the secret sauce to retaining talent, what he has planned for the future, and more. Tune in now!
 
Key Points From This Episode:
 
History about the LKQ Corporation and what makes it unique.
His role at the company and what he is currently working on.
Gordon shares his approach to finding top talent for LKQ.
How national and local partnerships help for networking.
Hear how many hires LKQ has each year and its employee turnover.
Exciting programs the company offers employees, such as scholarships.
Taking feedback from employees and turning it into policy.
The challenge of slow adoption of technology in the sector.
Learn about the type of technologies LQK has invested in.
Relying on non-technological tools for talent acquisition. 
Discover the red flags he noticed in the company’s staffing process.
Why CRM (candidate relationship management) software is essential.
 
Quotes:
 
“It has been really fun to see, in my two years [at the company], how talent acquisition has evolved to impact the business.” — Gordon Patterson [0:05:51]
 
“At LKQ, we have been very fortunate, even with all the acquisitions and movement, that a lot of our front-line associates have been with the company for twenty-plus years.” — Gordon Patterson [0:11:20]
 
“The technology that [LKQ] has invested in on the [talent acquisition] side has worked really well.” — Gordon Patterson [0:17:28]
 
“When you see the business going to contractors or temporary talent or however you want to call it; where there is smoke, there is fire.” — Gordon Patterson [0:22:28]
 
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
 
Gordon Patterson on LinkedIn
LKQ Corporation
Talk Talent to Me
 

Are you curious about the evolving landscape of recruitment and the secrets behind successful talent acquisition strategies? In today’s episode, I sit down with Kelsey Sorensen, Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition at Black Crow AI, to discuss the dynamics of recruitment in both traditional and startup environments. With a career spanning over a decade in recruitment, Kelsey has honed her expertise in sourcing, candidate assessment, and strategic human resource planning. Her commitment to fostering authentic connections and her ability to create impactful interactions have earned her recognition as a top performer in the field. Black Crow AI is a company that specializes in providing real-time machine-learning predictions without the need for coding. In our conversation, we discuss the how and why of her recruitment journey, her experience in the agency approach to recruiting, and her memorable career moments. Explore how her current role differs from her previous roles and why she prefers a relationship-centric approach to recruitment. Discover why career stability has become critical to candidates, the pros and cons of working for a startup, and hear Kelsey unpack the concept of career stability. Gain insights into the benefits of being a generalist in the recruitment space, the value of stepping outside of the traditional HR role, why you need to love the product or service to take the job, and much more. 
 
Key Points From This Episode:
 
Background about Kelsey and how she knew recruiting was the career for her.
We delve into the pros and cons of the agency approach recruitment.
Details about her current role at Black Crow AI and what she enjoys about it.
Unpack the concept of job stability and why candidates are seeking it.
How marketing can be utilized to enhance recruitment strategies.
Ways that Kelsey incorporates marketing aspects in her approach to recruitment.
Explore how to sell the vision of the company to future employees.
The benefits of working in a startup environment.
Her methods for building the recruitment pipeline at Black Crow AI.
What she has planned for her future career trajectory.
She shares advice and recommendations for fellow recruiters. 
 
Quotes:
 
“Just, ‘Smile and dial’ is what we used to say in the agency days.” — Kelsey Sorensen [0:06:01]
 
“I hate to break it to you but no job is permanent.” — Kelsey Sorensen [0:08:01]
 
“I don’t think [career] stability means the same thing for every single person.” — Kelsey Sorensen [0:09:06]
 
“I have my hands in all different areas of the organization which allows me to paint a clear picture of what we are building and developing [at Black Crow AI] to candidates.” — Kelsey Sorensen [0:17:26]
 
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
 
Kelsey Sorensen on LinkedIn
Black Crow AI
Talk Talent to Me
Hired
 

Modern talent acquisition is more than just making the right hires. Onboarding, mobility, and retention are just a few of the many new responsibilities that TA’s have to consider (and often, they aren’t even in the TA’s title). Today’s guest, Lavonne Monroe, explains how she became the Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition and Onboarding at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and what her role entails. We learn about HPE’s trustworthy DEI policy, how the TA role has evolved over the years, how our guest views employee churn, and the full scope of HPE’s talent team. We also discuss HPE’s recruitment strategy, what Lavonne and her team are currently working on, how she manages her team, and why TA’s are required to have a holistic comprehensive of their organizations. 
 
Key Points From This Episode:
 
Lavonne Monroe describes her role as VP of Global TA and Onboarding at HPE.
Why she trusts HPE to walk the talk as it relates to equality and economic justice. 
Modern additions to the role of talent acquisition.
How Lavonne views regrettable and non-regrettable churn.
The scope of HPE’s talent team, and how they use skip-level meetings. 
What Lavonne and her team are currently working on. 
HPE’s recruitment strategy and current workforce. 
More specifics on our guest’s role at her organization.  
How she acquired the speech of a business leader, and how this fueled her success at HPE. 
A closer examination of how she manages her team. 
Why understanding sales (and the whole business in general) matters for a TA team. 
 
Quotes:
 
“We are winning awards around the work that we’re doing but we’re not doing the work to win the awards, we’re doing the work because it is the right thing to do.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:05:00]
 
“For me, the acquiring part, that’s almost the easy part. It’s the retention; it’s the mobility; it’s the onboarding – it’s so much bigger than just the acquisition.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:08:29]
 
“Lead generation all the way to retirement, that’s the focus of our team.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:12:40]
 
“My team, we’re never satisfied. We’re always looking to, ‘How can we get better? How can we continue to improve?’ – we’ll continue to push the envelope.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:18:47]
 
“I’m really big on finding out what people are really good at, and then putting them in the [right] position to be great.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:20:42]
 
“We can’t survive without TA.” — Lavonne Monroe [0:26:30]
 
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
 
Lavonne Monroe on LinkedIn
Hewlett Packard Enterprise 
Talk Talent to Me
Hired
 

 
There’s a saying that goes “Nothing grows in the comfort zone” and our guest today is a formidable example of success outside of comfort! We are thrilled to welcome to the Talk Talent to Me podcast, Nicolette Jackson, Head of Talent over at Zephyr. Nicolette shares more about what they do at Zephyr and her journey to becoming the Head of Talent. We dive into her inspiring and forward approach to negotiating her job offer at Zephyr, and she highlights what prompted her confidence to (always) ask for more! We then delve into the different facts of her mentor/mentee relationship with Lorraine Buhannic, and much more. 
 
Key Points From This Episode:
 
The Nicolette of it all. More about Zephyr and Nicolette’s background and journey.
Viewing another Chief People Officer’s visible role at the table: how it was apparent to Nicolette.
She elaborates on the different types of things the board asked Lorraine (the CPO).
The sparks that influenced Nicolette’s Chief People Officer aspirations.
Nicolette delves into her approach toward negotiating her job offer at Zephyr.
The inspiration that prompted her confidence to ask for more (from her job offer).
Nicolette sheds light on various facets of her mentorship dynamic with Lorraine.
She shares Lorraine’s anti-imposter syndrome pep-talk/ concept.
Painting her own data journey and the impact it has had on her confidence. 
She explains the different ways she is currently quantifying the role.
Why owning your expertise is a beautiful thing to do for a business.
 
Quotes:
 
“When I realized that recruiting was — one side bringing people in but then also how to grow them and make them happy while they were there was the whole other side of the spectrum. And to truly be happy in recruiting — I feel like I also wanted a say-so on how people were treated once they were in the door.” — Nicolette Jackson [0:08:40]



“Who gets the oil? The squeaky wheel, honestly the people that ask for the things they want.” — Nicolette Jackson [0:14:44]
 
“Nothing that I’ve done in this life that has made me successful was ever comfortable. It’s always been uncomfortable. It’s always been a challenge.” — Nicolette Jackson [0:25:20]
 
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
 
Nicolette Jackson on LinkedIn
Zephyr
Hippo Insurance
Lorraine Buhannic on LinkedIn
Episode: Juxtapose Head of Talent Lorraine Buhannic
Juxtapose
Talk Talent to Me
Hired
 

 
Sometimes, life is all about taking leaps of faith. And when it comes to talent and talent management, a leap of faith can open doors that you never even considered walking through. Today we are joined by Kara Hughes, the VP, HR Business Partner of Tech & Digital, as well as the Head of Workforce Planning, People Insights, and Analytics at Northwestern Mutual – a financial firm focused on making their clients feel more confident and secure so that they can sleep better, breathe easier, and feel happier. Kara begins the conversation by answering an important recruiting question from one of Rob’s friends about how to approach problematic intake interviews. Then, we get to know more about Kara: how she ended up at Northwestern Mutual and what her job entails. We also discuss the importance of workforce planning, the departments that are responsible for it, and the role of recruiters in becoming part of business strategy and workforce planning conversations. To close off, we explore how the evolution of HR has added to the pains of the industry. Be sure to listen until the very end for some helpful advice on how to send an email in French. 
 
Key Points From This Episode:
 
Welcoming Kara Hughes as she answers a recruiting question from one of Rob’s friends.
Advice for candidates on how to approach intake interviews. 
The leaps of faith that led Kara to Northwestern Mutual and what her title and role entails.  
Exploring the role of recruiters in workforce planning. 
The departments that initiate and prioritize workforce planning, according to Kara. 
How recruiters can involve themselves in business strategy and planning conversations. 
Why many people (incorrectly) believe that HR should not have a seat at the strategy table.
How the evolution of HR helps to explain the modern challenges of the role. 
Some multicultural advice to end today’s episode. 
 
Quotes:
 
“Recruiters and hiring managers, you hope they have a really good intake meeting and are really, really clear on requirements but signals get crossed. So, advocate for yourself and cover all those important bases at the outset and don’t feel bad about doing it.” — Kara Hughes [0:03:51]
 
“Show gratitude and know who has gotten you to where you are and who’s helped you along the way because if you really sit back and take stock, [you’ll realize that] it’s many, many people.” — Kara Hughes [0:09:49]
 
“There’s been such a radical shift in the value that [HR] is expected to provide.” — Kara Hughes [0:28:28]
 
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
 
Kara Hughes on LinkedIn
Northwestern Mutual 
Talk Talent to Me
Hired
 

In this episode, you will hear about Frank’s wealth of experience, recruiting for SeatGeek and the challenges it has brought, and their amazing finance and HR business partner team We then delve into what Frank is currently working on at SeatGeek before discussing the importance of foresight and being proactive when bringing talent into a large company. Finally, our guest shares advice for anyone in the talent recruitment space who is looking to move into bigger roles. You don’t want to miss this so be sure to tune in now! 
 
Key Points From This Episode:
 
A brief overview of Frank’s career and a bit about SeatGeek. 
Overseeing the recruitment period at SeatGeek during COVID and the challenges it brought. 
Frank tells us about their new finance team and HR business partner team. 
Why they place focus on planning in their business while remaining agile. 
How Frank’s experience has helped him participate in the moving parts within SeatGeek.  What Frank is working on right now at SeatGeek. 
The importance of being proactive about bringing talent into a large company. 
Frank shares advice for anyone wanting to climb the talent recruitment ladder. 
 
Quotes:
 
“As you – become a more mature and bigger organization, you have to have better foresight just because there are a lot more moving parts.” — Frank Cebek [0:10:46]
 
“Always try to bring value to the company you’re working at.” — Frank Cebek [0:26:04]
 
“At the end of the day, recruiting is a support function.” — Frank Cebek [0:26:19]
 
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
 
Frank Cebek on LinkedIn
Frank Cebek on Instagram
SeatGeek
Talk Talent to Me
Hired