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Dr. Jim Kanichirayil

VP of Growth, Product Evangelist at EngageRocket

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Helping Busy HR Teams Build Elite Organizations | Highlighting Innovation and DEIB in HRTech | Talent Strategy Nerd | Professional Megaphone | Researcher | Writer | Podcaster |

Available For: Advising, Authoring, Consulting, Influencing, Speaking
Travels From: Milwaukee
Speaking Topics: Sales and Marketing Effectiveness, Organizational Effectiveness, Talent Strategy, DEIB, Retention and Turnover

Dr. Jim Kanichirayil Points
Academic 0
Author 532
Influencer 101
Speaker 58
Entrepreneur 40
Total 731

Points based upon Thinkers360 patent-pending algorithm.

Thought Leader Profile

Portfolio Mix

Company Information

Company Type: Company
Business Unit: Sales/Marketing/Partnerships
Theatre: US
Minimum Project Size: $5,000+
Average Hourly Rate: $200-$300
Number of Employees: 11-50
Company Founded Date: Undisclosed

Areas of Expertise

Business Strategy 33.47
Coaching 30.99
Culture 31.38
Digital Transformation 30.04
Diversity and Inclusion 48.57
Emerging Technology 30.05
Entrepreneurship 32.45
Future of Work 30.26
Health and Wellness 30.08
HR 49.76
Innovation 30.07
Leadership 32.44
Management 33.50
Marketing 30.92
Sales 48.42
Social 31.22
Startups 30.63

Industry Experience

High Tech & Electronics
Higher Education & Research
Other
Professional Services

Publications

5 Author Newsletters
The Death of Selling as we Know it
LinkedIn
January 31, 2023
LinkedIn recently published their jobs on the rise report and there were some roles predicted to increase in demand for 2023 that I found curious. It makes sense that roles that require data analysis and building operational efficiencies would see increases.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Future of Work: Where We Are. How We Got Here. Where We Are Going
LinkedIn
January 23, 2023
We saw 2022 wrap up with approximately 120K tech sector workers laid off. That number ended up surpassing all of the tech layoffs in 2020. Understandably, many employees came into 2023 with a high level of anxiety.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Future of Work

Pre-Employment Personality Assessments Might be Killing Your Ability to Attract Talent
LinkedIn
January 16, 2023
Pre-employment personality assessments are sold as silver bullets for improving quality of hires. It makes sense that HR organizations would want to insure that the money spent on talent attraction would yield exceptional hires. Pre-employment assessment companies bank (literally) on this and offer their solutions to any organization that will listen.

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Tags: HR, Innovation

The Business Case for Normalizing Mental Health Conversations in the Workplace
LinkedIn
January 09, 2023
Should mental health conversations and support be a core element of your people strategy?

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Attracting and Retaining Top Employees
LinkedIn
January 01, 2023
Building a talented and diverse workforce can lead to greater employee engagement, better performance, and improved overall employee retention outcomes. Organizations need to employ various strategies to ensure that their recruitment processes are inclusive and effective in attracting and retaining the best and brightest talent.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR

1 Book
THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP STYLE AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING ON SALESPERSON VOLUNTARY TURNOVER IN THE STAFFING AND RECRUITING INDUSTRY
Olivet Nazarene University
May 01, 2014
My doctoral research study on how leadership training and style influences turnover in sales. This niche study was focused on the staffing and recruiting industry.

Future research should included a broader set of staffing organizations for easier generalizability.

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Tags: Leadership, Management, Sales

2 Founders
Talent Strategy 60 - LinkedIn Live Show
Cascading Leadership, LLC
August 01, 2022
From the creators of Cascading Leadership, a new show and a new community designed to help Talent Strategy Leaders level up and deliver on the transformation initiatives that matter to them.

We will leverage the combined intelligences of some of the best Talent Leaders in the country and deliver a weekly show that handles a wide range of Talent Strategy topics.

If your sphere of influence touches Talent Attraction, Hiring, Onboarding, Development, Leadership, Learning and Development, Retention, and/or Compliance, you will definitely want to tune in.

Stay tuned for new LinkedIn Live shows every Friday starting in August.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Cascading Leadership, LLC
Cascading Leadership, LLC
February 01, 2022
The journeys of women, BIPOC, and immigrants who have risen to positions of senior leadership. Spotlighting their stories and sharing the lessons they've learned with the next generation of professionals so they can move their careers further, faster. Stuff your managers never take the time to tell you and stuff they don't teach you in business school.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Entrepreneurship, Leadership

6 Infographics
Improving Sales Outreach in 2023
Cascading Leadership LLC
December 29, 2022
How to improve response rates to outbound sales outreach

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Tags: Marketing, Sales, Business Strategy

Sales Effectiveness in 2023
Cascading Leadership LLC
December 19, 2022
How to overcome the sea of sameness in sales and improve results in 2023

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Tags: Business Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Sales

LinkedIn Effectiveness
Cascading Leadership LLC
December 01, 2022
Improving your connection/networking efforts on Linkedin

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Tags: Business Strategy, Sales, Social

Multi-Threaded Cold Outreach
Cascading Leadership LLC
October 02, 2022
Process for Driving More Effective Sales Outreach

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Tags: Business Strategy, Sales, Social

Crisis in B2B Sales
Cascading Leadership
September 07, 2022
Short info graphic on the state of SaaS sales

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Tags: Management, Marketing, Sales

Removing Bias in Talent Attraction
Cascading Leadership LLC
August 31, 2022
A short carousel on how to broaden the talent pool if you're in a TA function.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

16 Media Interviews
DEIB Doesn't Stop At Talent Attraction
ABCDEI Podcast
February 27, 2023
Welcome to another episode of ABCDEI, a podcast that explores topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion through stories of distinct and powerful lived experiences. Today, host Susan Diaz sits down with Dr. Jim Kanichirayil, self-described ‘professional megaphone’, who highlights innovation in DEIB, and HR tech.
Susan and Dr Jim dive deep into Why organizations that only look at talent attraction to solve the DEIB problem in the workplace are basically setting money on fire!! What we need to be thinking about from a people, process, and technology perspective across our entire candidate lifecycle; and not just the front end. How to avoid binary solutions, and acknowledge nuance, to understand differing positions to lead to productive, equity-oriented conversations. How remote models for the workplace democratized the access to meaningful work across continents, and now more organizations pushing the agenda of “return to the office” needs to be looked at with caution. Why we should stop hiding behind ‘safe’ and non-threatening sounding words like ‘microaggression’ and ‘unconscious bias’ in the workplace - because we are at a time when we should be at a higher level of consciousness. Want a 30-minute listen that is packed with DEIB action-items you can move the needle on right away? You’ve found it. You’ll need a hot beverage and your notebook for this one

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Tech as an Activator
Analyzing Us Live Show - Workzinga
February 16, 2023
Dr. Jim Kanichirayil joins the conversation with Workzinga's Director of Engagement, Lindsay Evans, and I/O Psychologist & DEI Strategist, Dejannae Lang, MSIOP Lang, to unpack technology's role in creating inclusive work environments. They'll also discuss strategies that must be implemented alongside tech solutions for sustainable organizational success.

Dr. Jim is a thought leader in DEI, Sales, and Human Resources. He's a Talent Strategy Transformation Evangelist at Circa, a co-founder and co-host - Cascading Leadership, and a people-first leader.

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Marketing Doesn’t Serve Sales
Hard Corps Marketing Show
February 09, 2023
Today’s guest is a researcher, author, podcast host, strategist nerd, leader, problem solver, and public speaker. Dr. Jim Kanichirayil is the Talent Strategy Transformation Evangelist at Circa, the Co-host of Cascading Leadership Podcast, and the Co-host of the Talent Strategy 60 Live show. Dr. Jim shares why marketers need to be allowed to be the voice of the customer, why you need to empower junior marketers to innovate, and how marketing should handle sales.


Busted Myths:

~Marketing does not exist to serve sales. Marketing is the voice of the customer. While marketing should operate to some degree as an arm of sales enablement, its focus should be on listening to what customers say.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Marketing, Sales

How to Stop Hating Sales
The 4 Am Report
February 02, 2023
In this episode Susan and Dr Jim dive deep into something that keeps a LOT of people up at night, particularly in a recession. It’s potentially one of the top most hated things in the business world - sales! Why do we hate sales, and how do we stop? How do we move away from being mired down in prevailing sales wisdom? Why founder-led organizations should leverage their innate sales and marketing integration Where do we begin look for innovative REVENUE solutions in a recession? How do we move away from a numbers game and into a quality game when it comes to revenue? Grab a bevvie ️And enjoy this masterclass in revenue!!! If you are a return visitor to The 4am Report podcast, please drop us a 5-star rating. Thank you! We appreciate you. Looking for UNboring ways to up-level your content marketing?

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Tags: Marketing, Sales, Business Strategy

The Opus Show
Opus
December 29, 2022
Advancing DEI through content and live streaming

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Finding Focus | Protecting Your Attention in a Noisy Digital World
Finding Focus Podcast
December 20, 2022
n this episode of Finding Focus, host and Gated CMO Melissa Moody sits down with Dr. Jim Kanichirayil, Talent Strategy Transformation Evangelist at Circa, podcaster, showrunner, salesperson, and so much more. The two fast-movers spend time reflecting on how people who love to go, go, go can still consider their focus as a means to success in this digitally noisy world.


Listen as Jim shares his perspective on: keeping your customer as the hero of the story, the secret to knowing when you are losing focus, the real intended meaning of the phrase 'master of none', and his own personal North Star.

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Tags: Marketing, Sales, Business Strategy

Focusing on the Guest - Dr. Jim Kanichirayil - Creating The Greatest Show - Episode # 012
Ringmaster Podcast
December 01, 2022
Ladies and gentlemen, step right up to improve your podcasting skills with amazing advice from an outstanding researcher, writer, and podcaster! Dr. Jim Kanichirayil is the Co-Founder and Co-host of Cascading Leadership, the Host of the Talent Strategy 60 LinkedIn Live show, and the Talent Strategy Transformation Evangelist at Circa. Jim shares how podcast hosts should approach their podcasts, why a loose framework is better than a script for your podcast, and how to cultivate a relationship with your guest before the episode recording.


Takeaways:

~Podcast hosts need to have a learner’s mentality. Hosts need to be genuinely interested in what they are talking about and bring on great guests to talk about the topic.
~Your guests are the star of the show. Make sure to focus on the story they want to tell, not the story you want to tell. When reaching out to guests, your messaging should revolve around asking them, “what’s the story that you want to tell?”
~An effective interview podcast has a framework but isn’t tied down to a rigid script. The more structure you put around a conversation, the less authentic it becomes. A looser framework gives you a heading but allows you to delve into what you find along the way.
~When you stick too closely to a script, you aren’t able to fully spotlight your guests. If you don’t leverage the opportunity to have an interesting conversation with a guest, you waste that guest and their time.
~Compared to a podcast, a LinkedIn Live show is more restrictive and doesn’t allow exploring rabbit holes. The pacing is also much different and in order to give guests time to think about their response, it’s advantageous to hold panel discussions.
~You should repurpose your podcast content and distribute it through multiple channels to expose it to a larger audience. For example, the video can go on YouTube, clips can be used for TikToks, Reels, or Shorts, and you can even stream the podcast to LinkedIn.
~A Prep Call is a crucial part of podcasting because if the guest doesn’t show well, the blame is on the host. One of the main reasons for the Prep Call is to build a relationship; you can’t build rapport on the fly in a 30-60 minute podcast recording.


Quote of the Show:

~“Be ridiculously, obsessively focused on what is it your guests want to talk about” - Dr. Jim Kanichirayil

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Tags: Marketing, Sales, Social

Account-based sales: Results and live case study with Jim Kanichirayil
Full Funnel Live Show
November 10, 2022
Jim Kanichirayil sharing a live case study of account-based sales including:

​- Results from implementing full-funnel ABM in sales
​- How sales people can leverage ABM on LinkedIn framework
- ​How marketing can involve sales in demand generation

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Tags: Business Strategy, Marketing, Sales

The Economic Case For Diversity Is Even Stronger Than The Moral One - Guest Interview on the Inquisitor Podcast
The Inquisitor Podcast- Marcus Chauchi
November 02, 2022
Dr Jim Kanichirayil helps build elite teams. We have a very robust conversation about the lies and biases that are costing investors their returns, sellers their dignity and customers their outcomes. We explore the power of having a range of diverse thinkers looking deeply at a problem.

If you listened to our earlier episode with Bob Moesta on innovation there is a beautiful tie in there too.

Jim can be contacted on Linkedin via linkedin.com/in/drjimk

Websites:

cascadingleadership.com (Company)

cascadingleadership.buzzsprout.com (Company)

circaworks.com (Company)

Email: jim@cascadingleadership.com

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

How to design effective training for your salespeople thanks to Sales Enablement? #TalkinSales #4
Talkin Sales Podcast
October 25, 2022
How can organizations better integration HR, Marketing, Sales, and Training in a wholistic way? That's the topic covered in this podcast interview.

the co-host of the Cascading Leadership podcast with over 60 episodes on corporate management and leadership. In an interview for SalesOn Talkin' Sales, he focuses on how and with whose help HR departments should design training for salespeople and what role Sales Enablement should play in this. His guidance applies to two situations: a fledgling SE department and one with a lot of experience.

Mature Sales Enablement is a bridge between the Sales, Marketing and HR departments . From marketing, it collects information on customer behavior and then passes it on to salespeople. In the case of the sales department - he observes the work of salespeople and supports them in acquiring skills that will allow them to operate more effectively on the market.

He cooperates with the HR department on an ongoing basis, providing it with knowledge about the competence gaps and educational expectations of salespeople, and then together with them he designs training tailored to their individual and team needs. The most important thing, according to Jim K, is to provide employees with knowledge on a regular basis, not from time to time . Only then is there a chance for a noticeable improvement in the effectiveness of salespeople.

Listen to Jim's interview and you'll find out:

what is the role of managers in assimilating training knowledge by salespeople?
how should the Sales Enablement department work and what should it focus on when it still lacks experience?
how to increase the effectiveness of training and, consequently, sales with one small change?
why is active listening so important?
what is worth spending time on during 1:1 meetings with an employee?

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Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership, Sales

Let's Talk HR - Understanding People
Let‘s Talk HR - Humanizing the Conversation
September 21, 2022
Interview on the Let's Talk HR Podcast: "a student of people, with his Doctor of Education in Ethical Organizational Leadership. Jim has built, managed, and led teams, with most of his experience focusing on understanding why people join and leave companies. He also has a podcast called Cascading Leadership, which you should check out! This is a conversation you should check out, Dr. Jim is not only brilliant he is a fun interview and an educated one at that. "

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Sales Leadership Style and Coaching to Build Elite Teams
Transformed Sales
September 08, 2022
In this episode of the Transformed Sales Podcast, I interviewed Dr. Jim Kanichirayil, talent strategy transformation evangelist at Circa and host of The Cascading Leadership Podcast. Jim helps leaders, people, and organizations drive transformations by helping them build elite diverse teams. He also makes sure that their talent strategy doesnt get left behind. Dr. Jim tells us what modern sales leaders can do to attract, retain and develop more talent and how a shift in mindset has to happen for that to be achievable.

We talked a lot about empowering your sales team and the different ways to do it, why sales should be a solutions engine and not just a product source, and how sales leaders can expand their capabilities. Jim will also share the kind of conversations leaders should have with their teams to create more commitment and engagement. Tune for that and so much more in all things sales success.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership, Sales

Talent Strategy Transformation - Guest Appearance on Be a B2B Leader w/Felicjan Rybka
Be a B2B Leader
August 31, 2022
In this episode, Felicjan is joined by Dr. Jim Kanichirayil to learn more about talent strategy transformation. Jim tells us what modern leaders can do to attract more talent to their companies and what mindset shift has to happen in a lot of organizations regarding this topic.


We talk a lot about empowering your workforce and the different ways to do it. Dr. Jim tells us what Millenials and Gen Z are looking for in their employers and what conversations should leaders have with their teams to create more commitment and engagement.


In this episode, you'll also learn how you can leverage social platforms to:


1. Grow your business


2. Facilitate recruitment


If you are on the journey to leadership you should definitely listen to this episode!


Dr. Jim Kanichirayil - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjimk/


Cascading Leadership - https://cascadingleadership.buzzsprout.com/


Talent Strategy 60 Linkedin Live Show - https://www.linkedin.com/company/talent-strategy-60/


Circa - https://circaworks.com/

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Tags: HR, Leadership, Sales

How Leadership Style and Training Impacts Humans with Jim Kanichirayil
Revenue Real Hotline
July 05, 2022
On this installment of the RRH, we’ve got the fab Dr. Jim Kanichirayil. Jim is currently a Talent Strategy Evangelist at Circa. He’s co-host of the Cascading Leadership podcast. Today Jim and I dig into all that is backwards about the employee/employer relationship. And what great leaders are doing about it.

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Tags: Leadership

Social Selling and Building Your Brand - From the Virtual Selling Podcast
Sales Deck
April 25, 2022
Building a brand and using social selling effectively to do it.

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Tags: Marketing, Sales, Social

Authenticity, Transparency, and Generosity in Sales - Guest Appearance on the Level Up Podcast
YouTube
April 04, 2022
This is the first collaboration between the Level Up Podcast/Salescast team and Cascading Leadership.

In this episode, I'm interviewed by Edward Purmalis on the state of sales and how to attract more candidates into the sales profession.

We also get into what characteristics are necessary for sales success.

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Tags: Culture, Leadership, Sales

19 Panels
Building Psychologically Safe Cultures
Cascading Leadership LLC
February 08, 2023
Is your organization built on a proper foundation for your initiatives to succeed?

How you answer that question could determine whether your initiative succeeds or fails.

Many organizations move initiatives forward without careful consideration of the answer to this question.

This becomes even more critical in the case of DEIB.

This conversation lays the foundation for how you build a psychologically safe culture.

That is the necessary requirement for DEIB success.

We will examine:

1) The role of vulnerability in building psychologically safe cultures

2) How intentionality should inform your efforts at building psychologically safe organizations and

3) The role that modeling and measurement plays in insuring successful culture builds.

This discussion will feature:

Jamie Adasi - Head of IDEA at Greenhouse Software

Sonya Sepahban - CEO of OurOffice

Rhonda Williams - CEO of Above the Grind

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Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Diversity and Inclusion

Getting Positioned to Thrive Through a Downturn
Cascading Leadership LLC
January 13, 2023
2023 is shaping up to be a year of tremendous churn and uncertainty.

We've all heard of the massive layoffs happening at Amazon, Facebook, Saleforce, Google, etc.

There are probably more layoffs coming.

Let's not forget about all the folks who are long-term unemployed and/or people who got laid off from companies we never hear about.

Losing your job is obviously difficult on a number of levels.

The goal of this show is to offer those who are looking for work AND those who are uncertain about their positions/careers a playbook for successfully navigating this storm (and any future ones).

We will offer actionable steps on how:

1) To be strategic about your search and the pre-work that needs to be done.

2) To take a pragmatic approach to career navigation which incorporates a continuous improvement mindset.

3) Employers can set themselves up to be employers of choice by how they handle this downturn and use this as an opportunity to develop a sustainable competitive advantage.

Learn from:

Andre Mileti - Talent Experience Product Evangelist from Bullhorn
Olivia Fox - CEO of The Resume Fox
Bree Sarlati - CEO of Peak Performers Staffing Agency

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Tags: Business Strategy, Future of Work, HR

Building a Culture of Empowerment
Cascading Leadership LLC
January 04, 2023
Why should we be having conversations about empowerment in the midst of a recession?

Shouldn't the focus be on keeping the lights on and streamlining operational efficiencies?

These are questions that are likely to be commonplace throughout 2023. We have all seen it before - DEIB initiatives are great when times are good but when economic conditions shift, what little funding and programming existed for DEIB efforts disappears.

This is a big part of the reason why progress in these areas is often so slow.

What if the solution to better business results was a more empowered workforce?

The Season 2 Premier of Talent Strategy 60 will feature two stellar authors and entrepreneurs who will not only tackle the question and problem but will also provide actionable solutions for every HR practitioner to implement.

Join Ashley T Brundage, author of Empowering Differences, and Kim Clark, Author of The Fine Art of Not Saying Stupid Sh*t for this live conversation.

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Creating a Sustainable Hiring Process for High-Growth Organizations
Cascading Leadership LLC
December 14, 2022
The employment landscape is setting up for tremendous upheaval.

We have all seen the mass layoffs already in the tech sector and that is going to spread across the employment landscape.

When it comes root causes of this binge and purge hiring culture, a lot of the blame rests with misguided hiring strategy at the most senior levels of the organization.

So what can we do to fix this problem?

That is what we will tackle on this conversation.

Some of the topics we will cover may include:

-The role of building a strong employer brand and creating a positive candidate experience.

- How implementing effective recruiting strategies, such as using targeted job postings and leveraging employee referrals, to attract top talent can help break the cycle.

- Why it's also important to develop clear criteria for evaluating candidates and to provide thorough training for hiring managers and recruiters to ensure that they are making informed and unbiased hiring decisions.

- The role of providing ongoing support and professional development opportunities for new hires can help to retain top talent and prevent burnout.

We are set for a deep dive into the topic featuring some heavy hitters in the space.

Panelists:

Adam Gordon - VP of Marketing Automation - iCIMS
Cierra Johnson-Belser - Director of National Partnerships - Excelsior Staffing
Justin Schmidt - VP of Marketing - Compt
Brian Keenan - Founder - Odyssey

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Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, HR

Sales Leadership's Role in Overcoming the Status Quo
Cascading Leadership LLC
December 09, 2022
Sales professionals are facing precarious circumstances.

By the time 2020 ends, almost 70% of sales reps will have missed quota.

The typical opportunity to win rate ranges between 20 and 30%.

The most common reason an opportunity is closed, lost is opted for the system of record.

In order to combat all of these headwinds, what's the likely solution?

If you guessed more calls, more emails, more LI DMs, followed by self-centered pitch-slapping, you're going to be looking at a 2023 that is significantly worse than 2022.

What if there's another way?

That other way is what we explore in this Sales Effectiveness panel.

This all-star panel, featuring Wesleyne Greer, CEO of Transformed Sales, Jen Allen, Challenger Extraordinaire and Co_Founder of the Social Social Community, and Nick Reed Smith, Cloud Ecosystem Strategist and Best Selling Author at WorkSpan, will deconstruct why current sales approaches aren't working and will chart a new path for sales leaders and professionals to accelerate success in 2023.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Diversity and Inclusion, Sales

Creating Successful Veterans Hiring and Development Programs
Cascading Leadership LLC
December 02, 2022
Hiring veterans should be one of the pillars of diversity hiring that organizations are deploying as part of their overall diversity strategy.

Like many other things, it's simply not enough to just say you have a program in place to generate the desired outcomes.

This discussion takes a look at both what veterans should be doing as they work their transition plan as well as what organizations can do to structure more effective veterans hiring and development plans.

Rob Arndt, CEO and Founder of Buffer Springs and Phil Ranck, Founder of Lean Alaska will share their insights during this panel discussion.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Leading for the Right Reasons
Cascading Leadership LLC
November 30, 2022
That is one of the critical questions that many senior leaders have to answer during their tenures.

Traditionally, the leadership ranks were often filled by the top performers in various functional areas.

That practice often led to poorly led teams which would often lead to churn within the functional group.

In this conversation we look at how we can build organizations that have sustainable leadership strength.

We will look at how leadership should be identified, selected, and developed with best practices shared from Dr. Kortney Peagram, Assistant Professor at Elmhurst University, Josh Mueller, VP of IT at QBE, and JD Peterson, CRO of Mathison.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Leadership

Hiring Effectiveness, Employer Brand, and Employee Engagement
Cascading Leadership LLC
November 16, 2022
Many organizations take a piecemeal approach to their employee engagement strategy.

Typically organizations use point in time data to figure out their employee engagement approach.

Obviously, that reactive approach is a lagging indicator.

How would business be impacted if employee engagement was an initiative that was embedded in all aspects of the employee life-cycle?

That's the question we address in this conversation.

The panel features Sean Paulseth, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Wedge, Joachim Koch, CEO of Aspiration Marketing, and Noah Pusey, CEO of Ripple Analytics.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, HR

Equity For Women: The Road to Achieving Parity
Cascading Leadership LLC
November 11, 2022
The pandemic era has been a period of great upheaval for everyone and it's been especially difficult for women in the workforce.

During that time frame over 2 million women have left the workplace and many will not return.

In an era where there is a significant talent shortage, can we afford to have so many people sitting on the sidelines?

This week's panel discussion featuring Maribeth Achterberg, VP of Solution Delivery at Molson Coors and Dr. Peren Sabuncu, CEO of True Alliance Group will tackle the topic of building a more inclusive workplace for women.

This conversation will focus on:

1) Defining what the corporate landscape looks like for women.

2) Identifying and breaking down some of the structural inequities that women face.

And

3) Building a path forward that embeds mechanisms that allow women to achieve parity in the world of work.

When there is significant underrepresentation of women in all areas of leadership and especially in some of the most technical and in-demand fields, this is a problem that needs to be resolved.

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

HRTech Innovators and Disruptors: Employee Engagement and Retention
Cascading Leadership LLC
November 09, 2022
Does the softening economy mean that employers need to be less concerned about employee engagement and retention?

That is the question many organizations will be trying to answer.

Employers might see the softening economy and what will likely be a shift to an employer driven job market as a reason to be more cavalier about their engagement and retention strategy.

This panel discussion features CheeTung Leong, Co-Founder of EngageRocket, Prem Kumar, Co-Founder of Humanly, and Jay Makarov, Founder of TalentWay making the case for doubling down on employee engagement and retention initiatives.

This is the first in a series of discussions featuring Innovators and Disruptors in the HRTech space.

Tune in for actionable steps to keeping your employees engaged and retaining them through the most difficult of economic situations.

Are you building an enterprise that's built to last?

Tune in and learn how build a sustainable people strategy.

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Tags: Emerging Technology, Future of Work, HR

Generating Better Selling Outcomes Through Buyer Centricity
Cascading Leadership LLC
November 04, 2022
In our previous panel we talked about how most sales reps would miss quota (70%) this year and how sales as a function is saddled with substantially higher employee turnover than most other enterprise functions.

It was clear based on the conversation that sales outreach has to fundamentally change to in order to generate better results.

In this week's episode of Talent Strategy 60, we hear from Ryan Paul Gibson, Ralph Beltran, and Scott Purves on how outreach can be more effective once sellers shift to a buyer-centric outreach model.

We will discuss the role of customer research in driving better outreach effectiveness, and opportunity management.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Marketing, Sales

Transforming Sales Performance by Integrating Marketing
Cascading Leadership LLC
October 28, 2022
Close to 70% of sales professionals will miss quota this year.

Sales turnover remains substantially higher than turnover in other functional groups in an enterprise.

Those two data points feed off each other to create a cycle of revenue misery for most organizations.

When you look at how many sales organizations go to market, it shouldn't be surprising that customer response is minimal and declining.

In fact, most customers are making the bulk of their buying decisions without the assistance of a salesperson being involved in the process.

80-90 % of buyers will have a list of vendors in mind before they start research and 90% of customers will pick a vendor from their day 1 list.

So how can sales be more effective in the buyer process?

This conversation featuring Susan Diaz, Arvind Bala, and Pasha Irshad will walk through how an integrated marketing approach will get sales professionals in front of all of their target buyers and help build the necessary relationships to be in the conversation when a buy cycle occurs.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Marketing, Sales

How to Create a Culture of Allyship
Cascading Leadership LLC
October 21, 2022
How do you reduce employee turnover?

How do you create a more engaged workforce?

How do you attract a broader segment of the candidate landscape?

These are questions that organizations are constantly grappling with.

Employee turnover can cost organizations up to 200% of annual salary per employee.

Employee disengagement costs US companies over 500 billion per year in lost productivity.

Today's largest candidate cohorts (generation Z and Millenials) prioritize organizational commitment to DEIB as a major factor in their decisions to join or leave organizations.

Unfortunately, it's not enough to just vocalize that you're committed to DEIB. Talent strategy leaders need to have broad-based programs in place to drive results.

If you want a highly effective DEIB strategy, it needs to be built on a foundation of Allyship.

This conversation will help you build that foundation.

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Solving Turnover Through Learning and Development
Cascading Leadership LLC
September 30, 2022
Large majorities of employees are feeling that their organizations are not committed to their success.

This is part of the reason why we've had a series of "great" shifts in employee commitment. That shift has led to almost a revolving door of inbound and outbound employees.

That creates a tremendous strain on the enterprise and especially the line level managers and Learning and Development organizations.

So can Learning and Development be leveraged to be an effective retention engine?

That's the central question we will explore in this week's episode of Talent Strategy 60

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Tags: Culture, HR, Leadership

Second Chance Hiring and Solving the Talent Shortage
Cascading Leadership LLC
September 16, 2022

Everyone in talent acquisition agrees that it's exceptionally difficult to find talent.

Some creative organizations are looking at 2nd chance hiring as a pathway to solving some of the talent acquisition challenges they're having.

Unfortunately, it's not enough to have a 2nd chance policy in place to solve for the talent shortage.

Organizations need to rethink the entire candidate life-cycle in order to position ex-offenders for success.

This session will talk through how second-chance hiring can help solve some of the talent challenges organizations have as well as establishing a framework for insuring success for those transitioning to the world of work.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Future of Work, HR

Building Elite Cultures in Hybrid/Remote Environments
Cascading Leadership LLC
September 09, 2022
The pandemic forever changed the world of work in a number of ways.

One of the most interesting impacts coming out of the pandemic was that shift to remote/hybrid work.

That employee centric work approach resulted in productivity going through the roof during the pandemic and it appears that remote work is here to stay.

Or is it?

We've already started to see/hear murmurs of mandated return to office policies starting to show up.

Collaboration and culture are often cited as reasons for a need to return to the office.

So, is in office work a critical factor for improved collaboration and strong cultures?

Or is this, as one of the former VPs of MSFT described it, a "boil the frog" effort to get everyone back in the office full time (and under false pretenses).

Melissa Moody, co-founder of Gated, Viji Vennelakanti, VP of Engineering at VoiceOps, and Ali Al Jabry, CEO of Kwema join us to talk about building elite cultures in a remote/hybrid environment.

This will be a critical conversation for any leader looking to drive elite results while being employee-centric in their efforts.

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Tags: Culture, Future of Work, HR

Designing and Launching Impactful DEI Programs
Cascading Leadership LLC
August 19, 2022
If you're early in your DEI journey and/or are looking to accelerate your DEI program, what are the things you should focus on?

Many talent leaders are tasked with designing and implementing DEI strategies for their organizations.

Designing and delivering those DEI programs are challenging enough when economic conditions are solid but how do you do that when you're on less solid economic footing?

This session will seek to help you in a number of those areas.

We will have Jiquanda Nelson, CEO of Diversity Window and Charles Campbell, National Director of Teton Science Schools joining us on this session to talk through:

1) Where do DEI design and implementation efforts often fall short?

2) How can you start and launch your DEI programs on a solid foundation?

3) What considerations need to be taken into account when designing and launching DEI programs?

and

4) What you need to do to make your DEI program an embedded aspect of your organizational talent strategy and culture.

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Building High-Performance Talent Acquisition Teams
Cascading Leadership LLC
August 12, 2022
One of the biggest challenges talent leaders face today is finding enough talent to fill their open roles.

The solution to that problem is likely a people, process, and technology issue that needs to be sorted out.

If you're dealing with challenges in this space, you will want to check out our Friday conversation with Becky Chung the Senior Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Cielo Talent.

She's built a phenomenal track-record for success throughout her career and most recently was recognized as one of the Top 50 Talent Acquisition Leaders in the US.

Tune in to this session where you will learn how to build high-performance teams, manage difficult conversations, and most importantly learn how to build an award winning TA team.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Leadership

Talent Strategy Best Practices in Healthcare
Cascading Leadership LLC
March 10, 2022
The Great Recession, Great Reshuffle, Great Rethink has fundamentally impacted and changed most workplaces.

How can clinical and non-clinical healthcare organizations navigate this talent environment given the specific constraints the industry faces?

Scott Galanos, SVP of Addison Group and Adam Shandler Sr. Leader of L&D for the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, both talent experts in the healthcare space share their recommendations in our special feature episode.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Health and Wellness, HR

127 Podcasts
Self-Limiting Beliefs and Toxic Positivity are Killing Your Ability to Build Elite Teams
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October 18, 2023
Summary: Andrea Herron, Head of People at WebMD, discusses the importance of addressing mental health in the workplace and overcoming self-limiting beliefs. She shares insights from her book, "There's an Elephant in Your Office," which focuses on supporting employees with mental health disorders and

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Tags: HR

How Can You Build Trust in a Mergers and Acquisition Environment?
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October 18, 2023
Summary: Micah Carlton, CHRO of Summit Electric Supply, shares his insights on building a culture of honest communication and trust within an organization. He emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of the organization and highlights the need to focus on both technical skills and soft skill

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Tags: HR

Creating a Culture of Appreciation and Care During Times of Calm and Crisis
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October 12, 2023
Summary: Rhonda Davenport, Chief People Officer at Cain Watters & Associates, shares her insights on how to grow and maintain an elite team during difficult times. She emphasizes the importance of creating a culture where associates feel appreciated and cared for, which is achieved through

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Tags: HR

Building Elite Teams Involves Finding the Balance Between Pace and Process
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October 12, 2023
Summary: Kyle Roed joins Dr. Jim on the HR Impact show to discuss why obsessing over policy and process can hinder an organization's ability to innovate and take risks. Kyle shares his nontraditional career path, from being a musician and bartender to finding his way into HR. He emphasizes the impor

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Tags: HR

The Big Fat Lie: Why Doing More with Less is a Myth
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October 11, 2023
Summary: Manuel Cuevas-Trisan joins Dr. Jim on the HR Impact show to discuss why the idea of doing more with less is a fallacy. Manuel emphasizes the importance of caring, daring, and preparing in order to build high-performance teams. He shares his experience in transitioning from a product and eng

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Tags: HR

Brewing a Strong Employer Brand: The Key to Attracting and Retaining Elite Talent
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October 11, 2023
Summary: Lily Mittman, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at the Morning Brew, shares insights on attracting and retaining elite talent. She emphasizes the importance of having a strong employer brand and engaging with diverse communities to cast a wide net for talent. Morning Brew focuses on cre

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Tags: HR

Letting Go of Control Could be the Best Way to Build Elite Teams
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October 05, 2023
Summary: In this episode of the HR Impact show, Dr. Jim interviews Brandon Robbins, the VP of Risk and HR at Ross Group, about the critical competency of learning to let go as a leader. Brandon shares his nontraditional path into the HR space and how he learned to hire people who filled in his knowl

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Tags: HR

How Employee Engagement is Critical to the Care and Feeding of Elite Teams
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October 05, 2023
Summary: Paul Carney, Chief HR Officer of Carter Bank and Trust, joins CT from EngageRocket to discuss the care and feeding of elite teams. Carney shares his experience building an HR function from scratch and emphasizes the importance of trust, resilience, and engagement in creating high-performing

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Tags: HR

Building Trust Quickly is Critical For Developing High Performance Technology Teams
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October 04, 2023
Summary: In this episode of the HR Impact show, Dr. Jim interviews Don Brown, the Head of Technology at Premier International, about the importance of bias for action and speed in building a high-performance organization. Don shares his insights and experiences as an IT leader and highlights the sig

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Tags: HR

Building Elite Teams During Crisis Requires HR to Take Transformative Action
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October 04, 2023
Summary: Jessica Sydnor, Director of HR at the University of Chicago Library, shares her insights on how HR can support organizations during times of massive change. She emphasizes the importance of shifting from a transactional to a transformational role, and highlights the challenges HR profession

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Tags: HR

Embedding Diversity and Development Mindsets are Critical to Building Elite Teams
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September 28, 2023
Summary: Rebecca Tipton joins Dr. Jim on the HR Impact Show to discuss the importance of diversity in building elite teams. Rebecca emphasizes the need to go beyond surface-level diversity and instead focus on diverse skill sets, backgrounds, and experiences. She shares her experiences in talent acq

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Tags: HR

People-Centricity is Essential For Long-Term Profitability
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September 28, 2023
Summary: Kari Stout-Smith, the General Manager and COO of Cache Creek Casino Resort, shares her insights on how people and profit go hand in hand and the importance of embedding core values into elite teams. She emphasizes the significance of shared values, shared goals, and good communication in ac

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Tags: HR

How Clarity of Expectations Can be the Secret Sauce for Building Elite Teams
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September 27, 2023
Summary: In this episode of the HR Impact Show, Dr. Jim interviews Joe Arnold, an experienced HR professional, about the importance of clear communication and setting expectations in building a high-performance team. Joe shares his career trajectory, moving from high-volume HR to professional servic

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Tags: HR

What is Culture Add and Why is it More Important Than Culture Fit?
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September 27, 2023
Summary: Oksana Lukash, VP of People at Avid Bioservices, shares insights on building and maintaining elite teams in a human-centric organization. She emphasizes the importance of not being the smartest person in the room and highlights the need for a solid team of experts with complementary strengt

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Tags: HR

What's Teamwork Kryptonite and How's it Stifling Your Ability to Become Elite?
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September 21, 2023
Summary: Maura Barclay shares her insights on building high-performance teams and creating psychologically safe environments. She emphasizes the importance of genuine care and respect for team members, as well as the need to balance individual needs with the goals of the organization. Maura also dis

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Tags: HR

Investing in Culture and People: The Key To Sustained Team Success
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September 21, 2023
Summary: Matt Hansen, COO of KBP Foods, shares his insights on building a highly profitable business by investing in culture and people. He emphasizes the importance of creating a strong culture that attracts great people and investing in their development. Matt believes that a great culture separat

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Tags: HR

Building Elite Teams with an International Lens Requires a Focus on Simplicity
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September 20, 2023
Summary: Glen Loveland, the leader of the People Team at United Integrated Services, shares his expertise in building elite teams across geographical boundaries, borders, and cultures. With his extensive experience in expatriate management, Glenn provides valuable insights on effective communication

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Tags: HR

Your Team Could be the Avengers if You Paid Attention to Your Talent's Superpowers
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September 20, 2023
Summary: Donna Gosciej shares her insights on how to discover and leverage the superpowers of your team to work effectively. She emphasizes the importance of identifying the specific strengths needed within your organization and aligning them with the skills and aptitudes of your employees. By foste

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Tags: HR

The Hidden Killer Preventing You From Building a High Performance Team
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September 14, 2023
Summary: In this episode of the HR Impact show, Dr. Jim interviews Amy Spurling, the founder and CEO of Compt, about building elite teams. Amy shares her insights on building diverse teams and the importance of avoiding unconscious bias. She discusses her experience in building remote and hybrid tea

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Tags: HR

The Impact of Storytelling for Leaders on Aligning Mission and Purpose
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September 13, 2023
Summary: CT and Dustin Lacasse discuss building and sustaining a strong sense of mission to drive elite teams in nonprofit organizations. They explore the importance of listening to team members, developing storytelling skills, and setting clear goals and expectations. Dustin shares a self-assessmen

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Tags: HR

Why a Coaching Culture is Essential for Building High Performance Teams
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September 13, 2023
Summary: Shanna Goodell discusses how to build elite teams through coaching. She defines an elite team as one that drives for results, has high engagement and trust, and ensures that each individual is thriving. Shanna explains that team coaching involves understanding the team's goals, strengths, a

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Tags: HR, Coaching

The Role Constructive Conflict Plays in Creating High Performance Teams
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September 13, 2023
Summary: Tessa Carey joins the HR Impact show to discuss the misconception that conflict in the corporate world is a bad thing. She emphasizes that conflict can be an opportunity for growth and learning, and when managed effectively, it can lead to better outcomes and stronger relationships. Tessa h

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Tags: HR

How Does Systems Thinking and Empathy Help You Build Elite Teams?
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September 07, 2023
Summary:Matt Dyason, VP of HR at Stash, shares his insights on how to be a better problem solver in HR and how to sharpen HR strategy. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the business strategy and aligning HR programs to support it. Matt breaks down the people experience into three pillars

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Tags: HR

How the "Fear Not Framework" Helps Leaders Overcome Toxic Workplaces
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September 07, 2023
Summary:In this episode of the HR Impact Show, CT interviews Kim Williams, the Vice President of People at Walker Advertising, about executive abuse and how HR can effectively manage up. Kim shares her experiences in dealing with toxic work environments and provides insights on how to address and pr

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Tags: HR

Using Data-Driven Leadership to Build High-Performance Teams
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September 06, 2023
Summary:In this episode of the HR Impact Show, Dr. Jim interviews Tim Sackett, a talent acquisition expert, about data-driven leadership and recruiting. Tim shares his insights on the importance of measuring recruiting processes and building capacity as a function. He emphasizes the need to move awa

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Tags: HR, Recruiting

19 Videos
Career Navigation and the Black Professional
Cascading Leadership LLC
February 17, 2023

22.

In the entire history of the Fortune 500 there have only been 22 Black CEOs.

This might be surprising to many of us but it is not surprising at all for many black professionals.

While it can be argued that there has been progress made in the area of representation, it doesn't appear to be at the pace we would expect given the emphasis we have seen on DEIB in the corporate world.

What many people may not be aware of is that navigating the corporate world has its own unique challenges for the Black professional.

This panel discussion will focus on accomplishing 3 things:

1) Helping Black professionals identify what organizations are most likely to have the support structure for them to be successful,

2) Empowering Black professionals on how to effectively cultivate sponsors within their organizations,

3) Helping Black professionals decode the hidden language of corporate America.

Join us for this panel discussion featuring:

John Graham Jr. - VP of Employer Brand, Diversity, & Culture AND Best-Selling Author - at Shaker Recruitment Marketing

Cierra Johnson-Belser - Director of National Partnerships at Excelsior Staffing and Chapter President of SHRM

James Davermann - Director Store Finance and Analytics at Ross Stores

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Ashley Faus: Path to Thought Leadership
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: HR, Marketing, Sales

Susan Diaz: UnBoRiNg
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Marketing

Nick Bennett - Reppin Your Brand
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Business Strategy, Marketing, Sales

Ralph Beltran: The Importance of Growth Mindset on Sales Effectiveness
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Marketing, Sales

Tara Gooch: From Poverty to Abundance
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Sales

Amy H: Revenue Real Amy
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Cary Simpson: Excellence in Scientific Sales - Conclusion
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Cary Simpson: Excellence in Scientific Sales
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Leslie Venetz: Owning Your Voice and Career - Conclusion
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Wesleyne: Chemist to Closer to Coach - Conclusion
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Wesleyne: Chemist to Closer to Coach Pt. 2
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

Divya Sharma - From Hotel Restaurant Management to IT Transformation Leader -Pt. 1
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Leadership

Nicole Ogloza CEO of Etha: Setting the Record Straight - Pt. 1
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Leadership

Michelle Olson: Unconventional Path to Leadership - Part 1
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Leadership

Preeti Kaur - Proving You Wrong Every Time Part 1
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Leadership

Whitnie Goins: Finding the Power of your Voice
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Leadership

D'Mar Phillips: Move to Serve - Conclusion
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December 31, 2022

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Leadership

Talent Strategy 60
LinkedIn
August 05, 2022
From the creators of Cascading Leadership, a new show and a new community designed to help Talent Strategy Leaders level up and deliver on the transformation initiatives that matter to them.

We will leverage the combined intelligences of some of the best Talent Leaders in the country and deliver a weekly show that handles a wide range of Talent Strategy topics.

If your sphere of influence touches Talent Attraction, Hiring, Onboarding, Development, Leadership, Learning and Development, Retention, and/or Compliance, you will definitely want to tune in.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, HR, Sales

6 Webinars
Building Equity for Black Women in Leadership
Cascading Leadership LLC
February 01, 2023
Do the names Ursula Burns, Rosalind Brewer, or Thasunda Duckett ring any bells?

If you answered no, I'd wager you'd be in the same company as a lot of people (including myself [before I looked this up]).

The three women I mentioned are the only 3 black women to ever lead a Fortune 500 company.

That accounts for .6% of the CEO population.

While there has been progress in elevating more women into executive leadership, the pace of progress for black women has been decidedly slow.

Just like anything else, this is an issue that requires conversation AND action.

In this conversation, we will:

1) Identify the challenges that black women have in rising to executive leadership.

2) Discuss how those challenges can be removed/mitigated and

3) Build an action plan for organizations to be more intentional about elevating black women into executive leadership.

Guiding us through this conversation will be Wesleyne Greer, CEO of Transformed Sales, Whitnie Goins, DEI Program Manager of Molson Coors Beverage Company, and Sertrice Grice, Co-Founder of Mattingly Solutions and Co-Author of Inclusalytics.

Take action and join us for this conversation.

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Why Leading With Values Builds Better Organizations
Cascading Leadership LLC
January 18, 2023
The conventional wisdom tells you that explosive growth is the pathway to success as an organization.

That motion to market is definitely effective but some would argue that there is a steep cost associated with that approach.

Often this approach leads to a product-first go to market approach which sees the customer landscape through a decidedly transactional lens.

I'm sure we all have experienced what it's like being on the receiving end of a product focused conversation from a seller.

What if instead of being hyper-focused on revenue growth, we focused on a growth mindset that best impacted our people and our customers?

How would organizational growth look if there was a values led motion to the marketplace?

How would a values led approach show up in how you approach your customers?

What impact would a values led growth approach have on your hiring and development strategy?

These are the questions we will seek to answer in this episode of Talent Strategy 60.

The discussion will feature Jane Elizabeth Reddin, Partner at Albion, VC and Patrick Flanagan, Chief Commercial Officer at Administrate.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Leadership

Job Seeker Workshop #3: Resume Best Practices with Olivia Fox
Cascading Leadership LLC
June 06, 2022
Has is been a while since you updated your resume? Are you transitioning to a new industry or function and don't know how you can modify your resume to communicate what's important? What are the items that you should include in your resume that will get you the interview?

We tackle these questions and many others during this Mini-MasterClass with Olivia Fox.

Check out this 30 minute resume best-practices blitz episode.

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Tags: Business Strategy, HR

Job Seeker Workshop 2: Interview Tips
Cascading Leadership LLC
June 04, 2022
If you're transitioning careers or just want some pointers on interview effectiveness, this workshop episode should help fine tune your effort.

This particular episode focuses on translating your relevant experience to the job to be done.

Music Credit: Maarten Schellekens - Riviera

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Future of Work, HR

Author Spotlight - Stu Heinecke "How to Grow Your Business Like a Weed"
Cascading Leadership LLC
June 01, 2022
Our first-ever Author Spotlight episode features Stu Heinecke, author of Get the Meeting and How to Get a Meeting with Anyone, joining us to talk about how you build a business that has unfair advantages and grow like a weed.

This wide-ranging conversation with one of the most interesting people on the planet leads into a discussion about his newest book "How to Grow Your Business Like a Weed"

Check out Stu at https://stuheinecke.com/

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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Sales

Job Seeker Workshop 1 - Resume Tips for Transitioning to Tech Sales
Cascading Leadership LLC
May 28, 2022
If you're a transitioning employee and looking to switch industries, this episode will have some quick tips on how to make your resume more effective.

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Tags: HR, Marketing, Sales

13 Webinars
Tech as an Activator
Workzinga - Analyzing Us
February 16, 2023
What's the biggest mistake organizations make when looking to transform their workplace cultures and accelerate their inclusion initiatives?


That's the central question I'll be tackling during this live conversation facilitated by Workzinga, Dejannae Lang, MSIOP, and Lindsay Evans.

In this conversation, we will discuss:

How some organizations are paying to increase their attrition rates.

The key question every organization needs to ask before launching a workplace culture/inclusion transformation initiative.

Why uncertain economic times are the perfect opportunity to double down on advancing culture and inclusion.

Looking forward to driving an interactive conversation and maybe even fielding some questions from the audience!

Come hang out with me during this action-packed 30 minute live session.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Creating a Talent Attraction Flywheel
Cascading Leadership LLC
September 23, 2022
Solving the talent sourcing problem is critical for many organizations.

As a result, there are many products and services that offer to help provide a near term solution.

But is there something we are missing that could offer a long-term, structural solution?

On this week's episode we will have the best-selling author of Plantation Theory, John Graham Jr. joining us to discuss some of the concepts in his book.

Additionally, we will be diving into how talent strategy professionals can embed DEI into their organizations which will yield long-term retention outcomes while creating a talent attraction flywheel that generates a clear competitive advantage.

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Leadership Effectiveness and Emotional Intelligence
LinkedIn Live
August 26, 2022
Whether you're an experienced manager or someone who is just starting on your leadership journey, you will definitely want to tune in for this episode.

Christopher Connors, global leadership coach, leadership speaker, and best-selling author of "Emotional Intelligence for the Modern Leader" and "The Value of You" joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on the topic of leadership effectiveness.

In this conversation, you will learn:

1) Where many managers go wrong when it comes to leading their people.

2) Why EQ is a critical success factor for leadership effectiveness.

3) How you build a leadership cadence that allows you to be more in tune with your people.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Leadership

Designing and Implementing Impactful DEI Programs
LinkedIn
August 19, 2022
If you're early in your DEI journey and/or are looking to accelerate your DEI program, what are the things you should focus on?

Many talent leaders are tasked with designing and implementing DEI strategies for their organizations.

Designing and delivering those DEI programs are challenging enough when economic conditions are solid but how do you do that when you're on less solid economic footing?

This session will seek to help you in a number of those areas.

We will have Maiya Winston of o9 Solutions, Jiquanda Nelson, CEO of Diversity Window and Charles Campbell, National Director of Teton Science Schools joining us on this session to talk through:

1) Where do DEI design and implementation efforts often fall short?

2) How can you start and launch your DEI programs on a solid foundation?

3) What considerations need to be taken into account when designing and launching DEI programs?

and

4) What you need to do to make your DEI program an embedded aspect of your organizational talent strategy and culture.

See publication

Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

Building High-Performance Talent Acquisition Teams
LinkedIn
August 12, 2022
One of the biggest challenges talent leaders face today is finding enough talent to fill their open roles.

The solution to that problem is likely a people, process, and technology issue that needs to be sorted out.

If you're dealing with challenges in this space, you will want to check out our Friday conversation with Becky Chung the Senior Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Cielo Talent.

She's built a phenomenal track-record for success throughout her career and most recently was recognized as one of the Top 50 Talent Acquisition Leaders in the US.

Tune in to this session where you will learn how to build high-performance teams, manage difficult conversations, and most importantly learn how to build an award winning TA team.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Leadership

LinkedIn Profile Optimization Workshop
Cascading Leadership LLC
July 15, 2022
If you're a seller, you've already probably experienced how increasingly difficult it is to get a hold of a potential buyer.

It shouldn't be surprising given how sales outreach is so often not focused on anything that's relevant to the buyer.

The buyer landscape is such that buyers are arming themselves with 70-80% of the information they need to make a buying decision before reaching out to a seller.

If you want to be involved in the conversation before that stage, you need to be selling on socials.

If you're going to incorporate social selling into your arsenal, listen to this episode to get your profile on LinkedIn in order.

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Tags: Marketing, Sales, Social

Operationalizing a Buyer Centric Sales Model
Cascading Leadership LLC
June 07, 2022
The volume of outbound calls and emails have risen significantly since the pandemic.

Response rates (different from open rates) have been dismal.

Calling or emailing "harder" isn't the solution.

Listen to this episode and see how you can potentially generate up to 40 meetings in 2 weeks.

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Tags: Leadership, Marketing, Sales

Innovators and Disruptors: TrainYo and Omar Sadik - One Student is One Life Changed
Cascading Leadership LLC
April 05, 2022
The world of tech and technical sales is largely inaccessible for anyone without a college degree.

There is a pool of talent with the hunger and desire for success that can't even interview.

We speak with Omar Sadik, the Co-Founder of TrainYo, and his vision for disrupting the education and training industry.

Listen to how the youngest of 4 kids from an immigrant working-class background is planning to take on legacy education and training around the world.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Entrepreneurship, Sales

Maribeth Achterberg - Defying Expectations
Cascading Leadership LLC
March 31, 2022
Defying expectations has been a pattern of Maribeth Achterberg's life.

From bucking the expectations of her parents who wanted her to have a life devoted to their church, navigating her early professional life as a single mom, or rising to the level of Sr. IT Leadership with a deep track-record for organizational transformation in a male-dominated function, Maribeth has defied expectations and paved her own way forward.

Listen to her inspiring story.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Digital Transformation, Leadership

Family, Community, and Navigating Crossroads - Sarah Odess Pt. 2
Cascading Leadership LLC
March 24, 2022

What role has family and community played in shaping Sarah's leadership style and philosophy?

How have those foundational lessons prepared her for her role today?

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Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership, Management

Sarah Odess Pt1 - "Go Your Own Way"
Cascading Leadership LLC
March 17, 2022
How does someone who grows up in a small rural town with very limited career opportunities, rise to become a senior director at one of the world's largest commercial real estate firms?

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Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership, Management

Rules for Building Elite Teams - James Davermann
Cascading Leadership LLC
March 03, 2022
How do you expand your capabilities? How do you build exceptional unit cohesion? What are the 10 Business Commandments that James lives by that have allowed him to build phenomenal teams?

You will get the answers to those questions and so much more in this phenomenal episode.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership, Management

Unrelenting Pursuit - James Davermann
Cascading Leadership LLC
February 25, 2022
The deck was stacked against him. The game could have been rigged.

How in the world could the son of Haitian immigrants, raised in a single-parent household, in one of the poorest parts of NYC ever have a chance at success?

Listen to this episode to hear more about the inspirational story of James Davermann.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership, Management

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The Death of Selling as we Know It
Thinkers360
January 31, 2023

What does LinkedIn know that we don't?

LinkedIn recently published their jobs on the rise report and there were some roles predicted to increase in demand for 2023 that I found curious. It makes sense that roles that require data analysis and building operational efficiencies would see increases.

What caught my attention was that there were positions like sales development representatives and customer success associates listed as roles that were expected to increase in demand. Why would that be surprising?

With the release of ChatGPT, along with a number of AI powered top-of-funnel tools already in the marketplace, entry level positions in general and entry level sales positions in particular, seem to be at high risk of being phased out over the next 10 years. Traditional sales outreach saw massive increases during Covid and at the same time customer response rates tanked.

It would be easy for sellers to believe that this would be a temporary shift.

While sellers were cranking up the volume of traditional outreach, buyers were radically shifting their buying approaches. Customers shifted priorities to a largely self-service and frictionless experience with most of the consideration process occurring outside the view of sellers. Additionally, buyers were emphasizing speed and ease of information access over in-person or high-contact approaches.

Gatekeeping in all it's forms seems to be pushing customers away as access to information became democratized.

These buyer behavior shifts are echoed by research form McKinsey which noted that speed, transparency, and expertise are what buyers are prioritizing. The McKinsey research also noted that organizations needed to emphasize smooth digital experiences that focused on shortening ordering processes and had a more on-demand focus. Both buyers and sellers noted that this digital first approach is the preferred approach going forward.

Based on these trends, it might seem reasonable that these are only applicable to B2C or D2C selling motions. The reality is that almost 70% of buyers would be fine in a completely digital buying process for purchases over and above 50K. In fact, almost a third of buyers expressed no issues with buying products in excess of 500K without an in-person meeting.

This all sounds like it should make selling easier so what's the catch?

Selling is about to get a whole lot more difficult.

There is a confluence of events and innovations that should worry every sales organization. The first, and I'm sure we have all noticed it, is the explosion of bot accounts and fake profiles that have popped up. According to LinkedIn's own estimates, there were almost 21 million fake accounts that were identified and purged in the first half of 2022. And while that purge might have been somewhat effective, there's no reason to believe that's it's not just a game of whack-a-mole that's happening.

What's particularly interesting about the proliferation of these bots is that they have been getting increasingly more effective in fooling the average user. These bot-driven outreaches will typically seek to take a user off platform as part of some crypto or other similar scam. LinkedIn has even noted that removing these profiles has become more difficult due to their complexity.

While this might seem more of an annoyance than a threat, there is an ever expanding list of AI-powered chatbots that are gaining ground in the marketplace. It won't be long before a startup integrates this AI chat technology into a fake profile designed to solve some top of funnel outreach challenges for sales orgs. It may seem far-fetched but with some current AI tools approaching the threshold of being able to beat the Turing Test. I could foresee a near future where all initial sales outreach could be completely automated.

So what would be the implications of such an event taking place? It's difficult to project but I would imagine that it would decimate what's now the SDR and BDR ranks. If most orgs are pushing volume, why not get a bot that can push volume 24 hours a day? In addition to SDRs and BDRs being at risk, certain AEs would be at risk as well. It's easy to imagine a scenario where most of the TOFU activities are taken over with AI and automation and mid-funnel activity is handled by a few senior reps.

Now more than ever, it's critical for sellers to adapt quickly to the changing buyer and technological landscapes.

Industries that rely on volume outreach and/or prompt their teams to constantly smile and dial are going to be the first ones to look at replacing their human reps. In order for reps to remain relevant and create a hedge against being replaced, reps should be looking at taking as personalized a GTM approach as possible. nicholas thickett of Alignd | getalignd.co recently posted about an Harvard Business Review article that provided a roadmap for one way of being high-touch and creating constant value in the buying process.

Whatever road you select as a seller, the one that's rooted in driving volume is going to be a dead end. Whether we care to admit it or not, the sales playbooks from the 1980s won't work. Hell, the sales playbooks from the 2000s aren't working. If you want to remain relevant as a seller, the focus needs to be on building your profile as an SME and driving that value to your customers.

The choices are simple and stark for sellers: adapt or die.

Current and Upcoming Events:

Cascading Leadership - Innovators and Disruptors feature on Ali Al Jabry, CEO of Kwema is out now. www.cascadingleadership.com Jiquanda Nelson 's interview on Cascading Leadership drops 2/2 Talent Strategy 60 - Panel discussion: Building Equity for Black Women in Leadership (2/1 12:30 CST) https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7024454041795481600/

 

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Tags: Future of Work, Innovation, Sales

Future of Work: Where We Are. How We Got Here. Where We Are Going.
Thinkers360
January 23, 2023

What does the future of work look like?

In a word, bleak.

We saw 2022 wrap up with approximately 120K tech sector workers laid off. That number ended up surpassing all of the tech layoffs in 2020. Understandably, many employees came into 2023 with a high level of anxiety.

Three weeks into January and it looks like those fears were justified. The numbers are sobering:

  • Google: 12000
  • Microsoft: 10000
  • Amazon: 18000
  • Coinbase: 950
  • Vox Media: 6% of Workforce

And you can be sure that more news like this will be announced in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully that news is delivered with more heart than what Google did and certainly it would make sense to not go the Microsoft route and attend a lavish concert before terminating scores of employees.

Hopefully we won't have to deal with crying CEO stories as we navigate what will certainly be an interesting 2023.

We knew this was coming as early as Q2 of 2022.

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So How Did We Get Here?

The question of how we got here is a complex one to answer. There are a ton of factors that lead to these sort of business reactions. Certainly a critical factor was the rapid hiring post pandemic amidst the Great Resignation/Reshuffle. Many companies have cited "over-hiring" as part of the reason why this market adjustment has taken place.

With that being said, the seeds of what we are currently seeing were planted years ago with cheap money policies. Historically low interest rates made it easy for tech firms to get access to capital and VC firms and investors were more than happy to pony up at the chance of catching the next unicorn. And there wasn't really a whole lot of risk to think about. Hire and scale fast, build great valuations, exit, and then make a whole lot of money in the process.

What's there to worry about?

With never-ending cheap money, startups and accelerating growth tech companies didn't have to really focus too much on profitability or fundamentals. Funding was plentiful and even if you had a half-baked idea that seemed like it could work, investors were willing to roll the dice.

Then interest rates continued to rise and capital became much tougher to access. And that's when the party stopped. Much of what we are seeing right now can be traced back to the shift from loose money policy to tight money policy. That macro-economic and monetary policy shift is forcing many tech companies to rapidly adjust to the new circumstances.

The reality is that some of these companies won't make it.

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Who is Impacted?

What we know so far is that human resources and recruiting groups are the ones who are most immediately impacted by these layoffs. Apparently engineering teams should be relatively unscathed although there is an undercurrent of classism with how some of these cuts are being made. Once the dust settles are we moving back into the peak "tech-bro" era?

Only time will tell.

What we are already seeing is that DEIB initiatives are being scaled back and cut as economic times become more rocky. Post George Floyd, many of the biggest tech companies shouted from the rooftops about their planned efforts at confronting racism within their organizations. That progress was glacial during good economic times and it appears many of those organizations have hit delete or rewind on those initiatives.

Should we really be surprised when DEIB leaders burn out and/or express their frustration when their work is often looked at as a check the box exercise? Are we wrong to expect better from a sector that has the least representation in their workforces and on their boards? When you consider those questions and pair them with most of these organizations suspending or disbanding ERGs, you can't help but think that much of Big Tech's support of DEIB is purely PR and performative.

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Where Are We Going From Here?

Here is what we know so far:

So what does all of this signal in terms of the future of work?

Here is what I'm thinking and this is all my opinion: I think what we are seeing is the leading edge of a push to flood the market with candidates to claw back many of the gains from the last few years.

First you flood the marketplace with employees which shifts the market to more of an employer driven one. That reduces the leverage that the average employee has in terms of negotiating total compensation. So from an expenses perspective, many employers will end up in a better position from a salary and benefits perspective.

Then you prioritize employees who will work onsite and you have a great recipe for returning to the pre-pandemic model for working. Which employees are generally going to be able to travel regularly to offices everyday? Certainly not those from less than advantaged backgrounds.

Once you've done those two things, you shift investments to automation and AI to further reduce employee numbers. That three step process floods the market with candidates and creates a scenario that allows for a return to the preferred "cog in the wheel" model for big business.

If my guess is right, the future of work is great for big business and not so much for the average employee.

How do you see the future of work?

Current and Upcoming Events:

Cascading Leadership - current episode featuring Hamid Bangura can be found on all your major podcast players. Video episode premiers on YouTube on 1/25/23. Jiquanda Nelson featured episode on Cascading Leadership releases on 1/26/23 on most major podcast platforms.

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Future of Work, HR

Pre-Employment Personality Assessments Might be Killing Your Ability to Attract Talent
Thinkers360
January 16, 2023

Pre-employment personality assessments are sold as silver bullets for improving quality of hires. It makes sense that HR organizations would want to insure that the money spent on talent attraction would yield exceptional hires. Pre-employment assessment companies bank (literally) on this and offer their solutions to any organization that will listen.

But are these assessments really effective in predicting job performance and more importantly are they helping talent organizations find the best candidates for roles?

The short answer: probably not.

Personality assessments are often required for companies when selecting new hires. Such assessments can help to identify a job candidate's traits and capabilities, however, there are a number of flaws in pre-employment personality assessments that can make it a less accurate predictor of a successful hiring decision.

Most personality assessments have some level of bias baked in, aren't job-related, have questionable statistical reliability and validity, create legal risk, have significant cost implications, and give you an incomplete picture of the potential candidate you are trying to hire.

David Solot, Ph.D., Chief Scientist and Head of Product at Sciolytix, notes that "If you're using multiple choice tests and black-box AI to assess candidates, you've restricted your applicant pool to the people willing to tolerate it. Top Talent got out of that pool a while ago. They went to your competitor, who uses a job-centered simulation, who shares the results with them, and who uses ethical AI to inform the hiring process, not to make the final decision."

And it doesn't matter whether you're talking about the DISC, PI, Big 5, MBTI, or some other version of these tests that are repackaged under a different banner. Chris Williams, a former VP of HR at Microsoft and current executive coach, went so far as to say that many of the tests out there "aren't worth the time it takes to answer them. Every one of them can be gamed."

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One of the biggest flaws with these types of pre-employment personality assessments sits with how they're used. Rather than being used as marginally prescriptive tools, they're often used as predictive tools.

I've spent years in the talent space and specifically in staffing and recruiting. This might be a Midwest anomaly, but I can think of hundreds of instances where quality candidates were refused interviews because they didn't "fit the profile" of what the assessment recommended. The exclusionary impact of these practices on the overall talent community and especially those members from underrepresented groups can't be understated.

Peren Sabuncu, Ph.D., Program Facilitator at the U.S. Department of State and CEO of True Alliance Group, goes even further and notes that "If candidates are chosen through pre-employment tests, your business has ALREADY (emphasis mine) failed. It shows a lack of clarity on what you really want in a candidate. You have delegated one of the most important communications processes to a non-human assessor." She goes on to suggest that the process for candidate selection should have a strong focus on development potential rather than the emphasis on personality fit.

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While there are substantial risks and flaws associated with the use of pre-employment personality assessments, there are some limited use cases where they may have some value. A 2014 study by AJ Cline found correlations between construction superintendents’ personality characteristics and job performance. The study focused on the Big Five personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The results indicated that conscientiousness was the most important factor in job performance.

The key here is that there were correlations found in a limited context. As we have often heard, correlation isn't causation. It's not uncommon for these types of limited results to be communicated in a much more definitive way by companies who market these instruments as the next organizational effectiveness silver bullet.

Dr. Casey DeBruyn, Change Management & Operational Readiness Consultant at Red Hat and Adjunct Faculty at Purdue University notes that "as organizations increase the use of pseudoscientific assessments in talent management and candidate selection, they may be unknowingly increasing their legal risk as well." Many organizations should be reevaluating how they are using these instruments due to a number of gaps in reliability and validity of their results.

If the goal for talent leaders is to improve quality of hire, they should consider rethinking their use of pre-employment personality assessments as part of the hiring process. When factoring in their loose statistical validity and reliability, risk of bias, sometimes exclusionary nature, and potential legal risk, talent leaders need to think deeply about how these assessments fit into their overall talent strategy.

That evaluation is rooted in a simple question: considering the risks, are these pre-employment personality assessments worth the risk to the organization?

Well, are they?

Upcoming Events:

Talent Strategy 60 - Why Leading w/ Values Builds Better Organizations (1/18/23 12:30 CST): https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7020429287467937792/ featuring Patrick Flanagan of Administrate and Jane Elizabeth Reddin of AlbionVC.

Cascading Leadership - Hamid Bangura podcast episode drops on all your major podcast platforms 1/19/23. Terrance Cooley interview drops on YouTube 1/18/23.

Circa - Diversity Sourcing Demo 1/18/23 12:00 CST https://circaworks.com/webinar-diversity-diversity-sourcing-demo-january-18-2023/

Sources:

"Correlations Between Construction Superintendents' Personality Characteristics and Job Performance."https://search.proquest.com/openview/bc7b824af35caa84072b5d102deb2f64/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750

"An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Personality, Intelligence, and Emotional Intelligence in Predicting Job Performance."https://search.proquest.com/openview/6db0b1da7c520f1520dd791fc710e752/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Published by

Dr. Jim Kanichirayil
Highlighting Innovation in DEIB and HRTech | Professional Megaphone | Talent Strategy Nerd | Researcher | Writer | Podcaster | Bringing You Stories That Help You Move Your Career Further Faster
If you're using personality assessments as part of your talent attraction/hiring strategy, you're probably turning off some of the best candidates in the market without even realizing it. This week's newsletter focuses on how these assessments are flawed and some of the hidden risks they pose to organizations. Special thanks to David Solot, Ph.D. of Sciolytix, Peren Sabuncu, Ph.D. of the U.S. Department of State and True Alliance Group, Dr. Casey DeBruyn of Red Hat and Purdue University, and Chris Williams who all contributed supporting material for the conversation. hashtagemployeeengagment hashtagdiversityandinclusion hashtagdiversitymatters hashtagtalentstrategy hashtagtalentacquisition hashtaghrtech hashtaghiringtips hashtaghiringandpromotion

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Tags: Business Strategy, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

The Business Case for Normalizing Mental Health Conversations in the Workplace
Thinkers360
January 09, 2023

The Business Case for Normalizing Mental Health Conversations in the Workplace

Should mental health conversations and support be a core element of your people strategy?

That question probably generates mixed emotions right?

Well, you wouldn't be alone in feeling that way. As you're all aware, I tend to ask a lot of questions about a lot of things to a lot of people.

One conversation theme that's been generally avoided is the topic of mental health in the workplace. I never really had it on my radar until it came up in conversation with folks in my network.

It's clear that more and more workplaces are striving to be more inclusive overall. But how does that inclusion effort incorporate employees with mental health illnesses and conditions?

The World Health Organization reported a 25% increase in depression and anxiety post COVID and NAMI noted that 20% of the adult workforce experience some sort of mental illness. Adriana DiNenno, Senior Product Manager at Health eCareers, noted that many employers might not recognize the downstream impacts of employee mental health issues. Organizations that don't have mental health supports integrated into their operations can face lower employee morale, increased absenteeism, lower productivity, and other negative business impacts.

It is paramount for organizations to identify and implement initiatives that foster mental health in the workplace. So, where do employers start when trying to create a more supportive mental health culture? Cliff Jurkiewicz, CSM, TXM, VP of Global Strategy, at Phenom kept it simple: "Ask employees what they would do to create and maintain that culture. This MUST be employee driven, and they also need to hold each other accountable for its support and success."

Once employees have had input on the design and elements, it's time to do the work of executing on the design. Simple steps like promoting mental health awareness to employees, allowing them feel safe to come forward and talk about any issues, no matter how small (Gubanov et al., 2018) go a long way to normalizing these conversations. This encourages sharing of mental health experiences and builds a trusting and understanding atmosphere.

Promoting mental health awareness not only encourages employees to come forward if they are struggling with mental health issues, but it can also lend itself to a more healthy work environment (Reed Paragraph). By providing resources that enable employees to access therapy and other forms of mental health support, employers can ensure that their employees have the proper resources to cope with difficult emotions and get the help they might need (Kanai). Having an accessible, supportive workplace gives employees confidence in their employer, and helps to create a strong foundation for success.

Companies that encourage access and use of therapy or counselling are empowering their people to tackle any issues they face head on. This helps employees to effectively cope with difficult emotions and get the right help (Stoldal et al., 2017). Providing support at this level helps to foster an empowered workforce which can help contribute to better retention outcomes. It should be evident that a culture which is supportive of mental health in the workplace can help create more positive and productive work environments.

Creating a supportive workplace for employees’ mental health is essential for both a business’s success and workers’ overall wellbeing. A work culture that encourages understanding and encourages using helpful resources is key for reducing mental health-related stigma, and is likely to make employees more comfortable in seeking care when necessary (Canady et al., 2020). Such efforts also can produce long-term positive effects, such as improved employee satisfaction, higher productivity, and decreased stress levels (The American Institute of stress, 2019).

Companies can promote mental health awareness through events, mental health conversation programs, and trainings to ensure employees understand the importance of mental health and the resources they can access (Sayre, 2020). It is clear that encouraging a healthy work-life balance, and striving to create a workplace culture that values mental health, is critical for the success of any business.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), mental health in the workplace "positively impacts employees' ability to perform and organizations' ability to succeed." While many companies are beginning to create cultures that are supportive of mental health and understanding of the conditions of their employees, it is ultimately the responsibility of the employee to look after their own mental health.

An argument can be made that companies should not be expected to build cultures that helps employees with their mental health struggles. Rather, it should be up to employees to actively seek out help and resources for their own mental health if necessary. While employers can be supportive, the primary responsibility for mental health in the workplace should rest with the individual. It can be debated if this view will be effective in post-pandemic world given the level of work-life integration that comes with the new normal.

Creating a culture of workplace mental health and wellbeing is an important step that companies should take in order to ensure their employees can work in a healthy and productive environment. Companies should create strong support systems through implementing initiatives such as flexible work schedules, comprehensive health benefits, stress management resources, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, and mental health days off.

When we look at the unsettled 2023 forecast and the rising tide of layoffs, providing mental health support at the organizational level becomes even more critical. You will see many organizations start cutting back on a number of initiatives and "nice to have" programs. Those companies that stay the course and continue to be people centric in their approach have an opportunity to build a lasting competitive advantage.

Investing in the mental health of their workforce can help companies increase productivity and reduce costs related to absenteeism, burnout, and workplace conflict. Ultimately, creating supportive workplace cultures can help companies maximize their employees’ potential and increase their business success while also decreasing mental health stigma in the workplace.

The question becomes, what sort of organization are you building?

Are you cutting to the bone when things get shaky or are you doubling down on what employees need?

Your choices will be remembered.

Upcoming Events:

Talent Strategy 60 - Job Seeker Workshop: https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7017210021432184832/

Cascading Leadership - Terrance Cooley episode drops 1/12/23, Ashley T Brundage episode drops on YouTube 1/11/23.

Sources:

Gubanov, G., Hoenear, R., & Glozier, N. (2018). Psychological safety in the workplace: A systematic review of risk factors and outcomes. Safety Science, 107, 252-262.

Stoldal, S., Langholm, K., Vanrooij, S., & Foss, S. (2017). Mental and physical health benefits associated with workplace group counselling interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 214, 152-164.

The American Institute of Stress. (2019). About stress. Retrieved from https://www.stress.org/about-stress/.

APA. (n.d.). Mental Health in the workplace. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/workplace-mental-health/.

Canady, R., Edwards, J., & Griffin, B. (2020). 5 key strategies for promoting mental health in the workplace. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/September-2020/5-key-strategies-for-promoting-mental-health-in-t.

Kanai, R. (n.d.). The benefits of investing in employee mental health. Retrieved from https://www.towerswatson.com/en-US/Insights/Newsletters/Americas/insurance-strategy-consulting-newsletter/2013/the-benefits-of-investing-in-employee-mental-health.

Reed, M. (2018, October 9). The benefits of workplace mental health programs. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org

 

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Tags: Leadership, HR, Diversity and Inclusion

Attracting and Retaining Top Employees
Thinkers360
January 02, 2023

Attracting and Retaining Top Employees – Dr. Jim Kanichirayil 1/2/2023

Attracting and retaining diverse talent is essential to long-term business growth in today's competitive job market.

Building a talented and diverse workforce can lead to greater employee engagement, better performance, and improved overall employee retention outcomes. Organizations need to employ various strategies to ensure that their recruitment processes are inclusive and effective in attracting and retaining the best and brightest talent.

The process of hiring and retaining diverse talent is crucial to the success of any company. A strategic approach is necessary that takes into careful consideration the uniqueness of diverse individuals and their backgrounds. According to a recent survey by Deloitte, 66% of global companies view utilizing innovative approaches to sourcing and screening diverse talent as critically important to expanding their candidate pipelines (Centeno).

Diversity-friendly practices implemented during the recruitment process, such as blind hiring and diversity-oriented job postings, can foster a diverse and inclusive work environment that benefits all employees. Additionally, it is important to create an atmosphere of respect and equality, which can be done by eliminating any unconscious bias in the hiring process. Furthermore, developing an immersive onboarding and mentorship program can help to embrace, integrate, and retain diverse talent by offering community building and meaningful career development (Buza). Strategic measures such as these can be incredibly useful when it comes to creating an inclusive and equitable workplace for all.

It is essential that organizations must actively recruit and retain diverse talent to stay competitive and gain valuable perspectives in the current business environment (Nosko and Crossley 2018).

Some strategies to ensure an effective effort include:

  1. Sharing diversity initiatives in job postings and social media.
  2. Creating an inclusive and safe working environment.
  3. Having strong diversity policies, and training staff and managers to integrate inclusive practices into the workplace (Beauregard and Fountain 2020).
  4. Seeking out a wide breadth of candidates and actively engaging with underrepresented communities during the recruiting process (Cox 2019).
  5. Organizations must also develop a retention strategy that rewards and fosters talent development, e.g., providing mentorship programs (Nosko and Crossley 2018).

Implementing these strategies can help organizations recruit and retain a diverse workforce that can add value to their organization and contribute to their long-term success.

The first step to creating a diverse workforce is to promote inclusion with your existing employees. This can be done through training in cultural competency and sensitivity, making sure there is adequate representation of different races, genders, and backgrounds in the workplace. In addition, promote management who come from different backgrounds and provide internal mentorship opportunities for employees from different backgrounds (Yum & Mahalingam, 2019).

The second step is to clearly define diversity and inclusion goals. Organizations should make it a priority to create a plan for how they will work towards achieving those goals, such as creating a diverse candidate pool, understanding, and utilizing a wider network of involvements, providing resources for those diverse employees, or giving employees equal access to senior leadership opportunities (Haq & D’Angelo, 2020).

The third step is to find methods of retaining employees. Offering employees benefits and rewards, tailored recognition programs, flexible work options, and clear paths to career growth can all help make employees feel more valued and supported in their roles (Juline et al., 2020). Implementing these strategies can ensure organizations create a diverse and inclusive work environment where employees can thrive, while also decreasing employee turnover and helping their organization reach the many associated business benefits.

It's worth noting that organizations should also consider implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives that focus on creating a sense of belonging and acceptance in the workplace. This can be done by providing employees with opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations about diversity and inclusion.

The 2023 economic landscape looks uncertain, and many organizations are considering scaling back their DEIB initiatives. Considering how competitive the candidate landscape is, this could be a potentially huge mistake. It is important for organizations to adopt a long-term view. If the goal is to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, diversity hiring must be a central element of your organizational strategy. Failure to adopt this strategy will be far more expensive in the long run.

Featured Events of the Week:

Talent Strategy 60- Authors Spotlight: Building a Culture of Empowerment: https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7014435298897985536/

Cascading Leadership - Season 3 Premier - 1/5/2023 www.cascadingleadership.com. Subscribe https://apple.co/36DWGqS or https://spoti.fi/3j49b1a. Follow us here: https://bit.ly/3vshx8C

Source Materials:

Haq, Q., & D’Angelo, J. (2020). Achieving workforce diversity and inclusivity. The Human Resource Professional Magazine, 27(4), 34–37. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2447304505?accountid=14709&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo

Rizk, N. and Singpurwalla, R. (2017). Equal Employment Opportunity in Higher Education: Concepts and Enforcement Options. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Buza, Hallie. “7 Strategies for Gaining and Developing Diverse Talent.” Automated Insights, 20 May 2020, automatedinsights.com/resources/diversity-workforce/.

Centeno, Rocio. “10 Proven Strategies for Gaining & Retaining Diverse Talent.” Deloitte Insights, Deloitte, 8 Dec. 2016, www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/human-capital/articles/diverse-talent-in-the-workplace.html.

Beauregard, Tom and Lester Fountain. 2020. “Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Diverse Talent Strategies.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 44.6: 2235–224645.

Cox, Taylor Jr. 2019. “Inclusion and the Future of Work.” Springer International Handbook of Diversity Management at Work, edited Michael L. Vasquez, Springer Verlag, 393–414.

Nosko, Allyson and Alison Crossley. 2018. “Employer Recruitment Strategies for Attracting and Maintaining a Diverse Workforce.” International Journal of Disability, Community & Rehabilitation 17.2: 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1037/e614712017-001

Juline, M., et al. (2020). Retention strategies: Ten ways to keep talented employees . Human Resource Executive magazine, 35(2), 42-47. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2431492189?accountid=14709&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo

Yum, Y. M., & Mahalingam, S. R. (2019). Workforce diversity management best practices: New directions. Human Resource Management Review, 29(1), 57-73. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2018.10.010

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion, HR

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I have built elite teams across several industries (B2B) using a buyer-centric approach. I'm best aligned with startup or accelerating growth organizations.

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