HR Interviews Playlist Evergreen Podcasts

This week we interview Recruitics CEO Adam Stafford in front of live audience at TATech. We cover a lot!

Adam Stafford shares his diverse background, including roles as a product manager, restaurateur, and DOD supply chain specialist.

Recruitics is known for pioneering programmatic job advertising.

Launch of AI-powered conversational analytics tool Brion.

Recruitics Brion helps non-technical users access recruitment data insights quickly.

Discussion on the future of recruitment tech involving more AI and predictive analytics.

The industry current challenges include fraud and the volume of AI-generated applicants.

Emphasis on meeting candidates where they are and improving matching processes.

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When we talk about employers becoming more inclusive, the focus is often on big strategic thinking and a long process of organizational change. However, companies can often make significant progress by taking small steps in important areas.

The quality of the candidate's experience is the critical first step in an organization's inclusivity, and recent data indicates that quality has been dramatically deteriorating over the last 18 months.

So, what practical and immediate steps can employers take to be more inclusive with their recruiting?

My guest this week is Advita Patel from Comms Rebel. Advita is a communication and workplace culture strategist who helps organizations cultivate a culture of inclusion. In our conversation, she shares practical, pragmatic advice on how employers can build inclusive candidate experience by improving the quality of their communication.

In the interview, we discuss:

The importance of inclusive communication

Being a comms rebel

How can the recruiting process be more inclusive?

Job descriptions and degrees

Recognizing bias

Taking micro-steps 

The impact of poor communication on candidates

What can employers and individual recruiters do to improve the candidate experience?

The dangers of overly generic AI-generated language

Candidates calling out employers in public

Changing expectations of work and the importance of belonging

Will AI make things better or worse?


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It's been clear for a long time that the way we traditionally think about skills and expertise is out of step with our fast-changing and volatile world. This issue runs through the education system in many countries and also influences how employers attract and upskill talent.

So, what are the innovative approaches that could solve this problem?

My guest this week is Ed Fidoe, co-founder and CEO of the London Interdisciplinary School (LIS). LIS has been described as the most radical new university to open in decades. It offers degrees that use an interdisciplinary approach to solving some of the complex problems that business and society face. There are interesting lessons for employers here around the concept of interactional expertise.

In the interview, we discuss:

What is LIS, and why was it founded?

Building networks of knowledge

Connecting academic learning to the workplace

Enhancing employability by addressing the current mismatch of expertise between college and the workplace

Intellectual curiosity and problem-solving

Cultivating diversity of thought through diversity of background

The power of interactional expertise in the knowledge economy 

What future skills will be needed in an AI-driven world?

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Think the time you've put in at your current employer is impressive? Well, let us introduce you to Matt Lavery, Global Director of Sourcing, Hiring and Onboarding at UPS ... since 1997. That's right, while you were listening to Radiohead's OK Computer, Matt was cutting his teeth in the competitive business of global package delivery. Needless to say, he's seen a lot, and he's droppin' all kinds of knowledge bombs on listeners of all ages on this episode. From changes in tech to the ebbs and flows of labor unions to what it's like hiring for 200 countries and territories, this has it all. Shoot, we even throw in some healthy banter on the upcoming NFL season and why Chicago Bears fans should be as optimistic as they were in 1985. Da Bears, indeed.

If you listened to the TA Leader interviews in Episode 619, you'd know that Recruiting Future recently collaborated with The Chad & Cheese podcast to host two face-to-face unconference-style events in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

On the day between the two events, we decided to combine podcast recording with tourism. What better way to do this than to use a campervan as a mobile recording studio and drive around the southeast of Scotland, taking in some of its world-famous coastal views? Well, that was the plan anyway.

Our plans took an unexpected turn as the weather had other ideas. But this led to some exciting impromptu discussions on AI and the future of work, sparked by a tour of a two-hundred-year-old whisky distillery, a flying visit to a seven-hundred-year-old castle, and a trip to the beach.

In this episode, we discuss:

Is the resume dead?

What's going on with skills-based hiring

The differences and similarities between talent acquisition in Scotland and talent acquisition in the US

Attitudes to risk

The tricky balance between robots and humans

What does the long-term future look like

Do we have the right attitude towards the future as an industry?

AI is already taking TA jobs.

Why smaller employers may have an advantage

What happens when AI is just baked into everything?

What is going to change in the next three years


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The shortening shelf life of skills, shifting business priorities, and the surge in AI-driven job applications are compelling many employers to rethink their candidate assessment and selection processes. This shift towards skills-based thinking is fostering greater integration between talent acquisition and talent management. By combining data on soft skills, hard skills, and career aspirations, employers can leverage a unified dataset to gain a comprehensive view throughout the entire employee lifecycle.

So how can this be done, and what advantages can it bring?

My guest this week is Jason Putnam, the CRO at Plum. Jason has been driving the charge around the scientific assessment of soft skills for a while and has recently incorporated data on hard skills into their methodology. Jason has some important insights to share on the future of assessment and the implementation of skills-based hiring.

In the interview, we discuss:

How the market is evolving

The changing balance between talent acquisition and talent management

TA's responsibility for retention

Combining hard skills and soft skills

Pace paradox versus business latency

Focusing on the skills you need rather than the skills you have

The evolution of the recruiting process

Building alignment between talent acquisition, talent management, and hiring managers

The importance of one universal dataset

The role of AI


Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts.