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The “Human Capitalist”: AKA Your most critical roles
By Tom McGuire | December 14, 2024
Who They Are, Why Your Business Depends on Them, and How to Win Them
An HR Budget Plan That Showcases HR as an Investment, Not a Cost
By Tom McGuire | December 12, 2024
It's hard to look like an investment when you act like a cost. Budget season is on the horizon and a lot of HR leaders are already hunkering down to deal with the same old loop of requests and denials. After all, “costs” typically get cut in version one of your budget draft, but you can change this dynamic up by putting yourself in the place of an investor.
Strategic Human Resource Management: Not All Roles Are Equal
By Linda Brenner | December 11, 2024
In the last few years, McKinsey, Corporate Executive Board, PwC and others have concluded that HR still has "far to go" until it reaches the status of a true business enabler. While the tone of these studies might be different and the "pile on"...
Our November ‘23 Newsletter: Chock Full of Talent News
By Linda Brenner | December 08, 2024
In case you missed it, here's our November 2023 newsletter . . . talent insights that have a long shelf life.
How to Use a Req Load Calculator for Recruiters
By Linda Brenner | October 16, 2024
The number of reqs a recruiter works has a direct impact on the speed, cost and quality of their hiring outcomes. Too many hiring reqs results in poor quality - skipped intake meetings, little or no sourcing of candidates, short-shrifting the...
In-Box Dash: AI-Powered Simulation for Selecting, Training and Developing Recruiting Professionals
By Linda Brenner | September 26, 2024
A one-of-a-kind, AI-powered simulated exercise to help HR and TA leaders select, assess and develop their team.
Interviewing Isn’t Enough: The Best Way to Hire Recruiters Now
By Linda Brenner | September 24, 2024
Struggling to hire recruiters who excel beyond the interview? Old school style interviews don’t cut it when it comes to assessing critical TA skills like prioritization, judgment, and influencing others. Discover In-Box Dash, an AI-powered solution that simulates real-world recruiting challenges, providing you with a fast, accurate way to assess and develop your team. A fast, accurate and cost-effective way to elevate your talent acquisition game, brought to you by TGA.
Our June ‘24 Newsletter: Chock Full of Talent News
By Linda Brenner | July 02, 2024
In case you missed it, here's our June '24 newsletter . . . talent insights that have a long shelf life.
DIY: 3 Steps to Doing Your Own Talent Acquisition Audit
By Linda Brenner | June 12, 2024
Why is now the best time to evaluate and improve hiring in your organization? Because waiting for the perfect moment is futile. The talent marketplace evolves unpredictably, with some skills becoming increasingly scarce (AI, data analytics) while others are more abundant than ever (cashiers, call center rep, sales agents). Hiring leaders demand swift, high-quality hiring, and senior leaders are reluctant to fund more recruiters. Continuing to rely largely (or solely) on job postings is ineffective in today's changing landscape. Read on to discover strategies to take charge, assess your talent acquisition function, and prioritize improvements to make hiring faster and better.
Simplifying Workforce Planning: Practical Tips for HR Leaders
By Linda Brenner | April 01, 2024
In today's data-rich landscape, workforce planning is essential for HR leaders to identify talent-related priorities and investments. While tools like Visier and Tableau provide instant and slick access to data, the challenge lies in ensuring its accuracy, deciphering its true meaning and turning it into actionable plans. By focusing on key metrics such as attrition rates and tenure distributions, HR leaders can create directionally-accurate workforce plans that can evolve over time to enable their organizations navigate the most complex talent marketplace we've ever known. This article details a roadmap that will help HR leaders build a simple workforce plan that will allow them to address the most important people-related trends in their organization, now and in the future.
4 Great Questions to Ask HR Leader Candidates, and the Answers to Look For
By Linda Brenner | March 01, 2024
HR, Talent and TA professionals are generally very good at being interviewed. But that ability doesn’t correlate with true talent management, recruiting or leadership skills. *Your* skills as an interviewer are key to getting beyond showmanship and...
Hot Tip: That ChatBot on Your Apply Process Isn’t AI
By Linda Brenner | January 26, 2024
In almost every case, your ChatBot is actually repelling - rather than attracting - talent. Prove me wrong.
Let’s Modernize Talent Acquisition Before Jumping on the AI Train
By Linda Brenner | January 15, 2024
HR and Talent Acquisition teams often lack the necessary foundation to make AI truly effective because of undefined processes, ambiguous roles and unclear goals. So before delving into AI-driven solutions, TA needs to build its foundation: clear strategies, well-defined and differentiated processes, supporting org design and data-based measures of success. Only then it can be determined where AI can add the most value.
The Most Important Recruitment Metric: Quality of Hire
By Linda Brenner | January 09, 2024
At the end of the day, Talent Acquisition is only as good as the people they hire.
Our Dec ‘23 Newsletter: Chock Full of Talent News
By Linda Brenner | December 20, 2023
In case you missed it, here's our December 2023 newsletter . . . talent insights that have a long shelf life.
Hiring Manager Satisfaction Surveys: The Worst Thing to (Still) Happen to Talent Acquisition
By Linda Brenner | November 20, 2023
Hiring managers rating recruiters on how well they filled their job does nothing but reinforce arcane and counter-productive behaviors. Rather than asking: "Do you like us? Were we responsive and pleasant? Did you like our candidates?", Talent Acquisition teams should be measured on hiring speed and quality. Note: by "quality" we mean how well did new hires stay in the role and how well did they perform. Because, like it or not, if TA isn't hiring people who stay and perform, something is amiss. Hiring managers, in turn, will *really* like recruiters if they hire top talent who stay longer than their predecessors. But, if you just can't let these surveys go, read on for tips for best positioning these surveys.
Where the Talent Went and What To Do About It
By Linda Brenner | November 07, 2023
Despite the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hiring and retention remain a significant challenge for businesses. Factors contributing to this shortage include demographic shifts, declining birthrates, and lower labor force participation rates. Here are four strategies to address this issue. And do it now, because it's not going to get easier anytime soon.
9 Reasons Why Changing Your HR Org Structure Won’t Fix Your HR Issues
By Linda Brenner | August 22, 2023
Changing the organizational design within HR may seem like a logical step to address issues and pursue a transformative HR strategy, but moving boxes on a chart rarely improves measurable outcomes. This article outlines why simply altering the HR org design won't fix underlying issues or transform anything, much less your HR strategy.
HR Strategy = Talent Strategy: It’s All About Build, Borrow or Buy
By Linda Brenner | July 15, 2023
The creation of value in companies is primarily linked to intellectual capital driving cash flow, constituting over 80% of average market value. Companies like Apple, Visa, and Microsoft derive nearly all their value from intellectual assets rather...
The Data Dilemma: Navigating Challenges to Becoming a Data-Driven HR Function
By Linda Brenner | June 19, 2023
In today's fast-paced business environment, HR teams are increasingly turning to data and analytics to drive informed decision-making. The concept of data-driven HR has gained significant traction, with organizations leveraging data to optimize talent acquisition and talent management, and connect HR efforts and outcomes to business results. However, despite the potential benefits, many HR teams face significant challenges when it comes to obtaining and effectively analyzing data. This column explores the underlying challenges, why data acquisition is difficult, the conflict between being "customer-focused" and data-driven, and the struggle to utilize data for outcomes that align with critical business operations.
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Not All Employees Are Equal: The Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management
Read ThisOur Bloggers
Linda Brenner
Linda is an industry vet with keen observations and a knack for calling it like it is.
Tom McGuire
Tom brings the unlikely blend of Finance & HR to the practice, illuminating readers with the link between talent and business value.