<![CDATA[Hiring Happy Hour]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fxXz!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F126516fe-f167-4470-98d2-91edea5c7708_1280x1280.pngHiring Happy Hourhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.comSubstackThu, 16 Jul 2026 18:30:51 GMT<![CDATA[Technology Builds Trust, People Build Culture - Jeremy York - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode #26]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/technology-builds-trust-people-buildhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/technology-builds-trust-people-buildTue, 14 Jul 2026 09:01:19 GMT

AI may be changing hiring fast, but the real differentiator is still human judgment. 83% of job seekers research a company before they ever apply. 32% of candidates who leave within the first 90 days point to culture misalignment as the top reason. 70% of employees stay at least three years when onboarding is done well. These numbers frame one of the most practical conversations we have had on the show about what culture actually looks like day to day.

In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Jeremy York, HR strategist, author of People Not Tasks, and president of Invigorate HR, about building more human hiring in a world leaning harder on AI and automation. Together, Nicole and Jeremy trace culture across the full employee journey, from the job posting a candidate reads before they ever apply, through the hiring process, into onboarding, and all the way through the first few years of tenure.

At a time when many organizations are focused on speed and efficiency, this conversation is a reminder that the best hiring technology should create more room for trust, communication, belonging, and better human decisions, not less. Culture cannot be delegated away. It has to be defined, lived, communicated, and reinforced at every touchpoint, whether that touchpoint is human or AI.

Takeaways:

  • Treat your job posting as your first culture document. Candidates research a company long before a recruiter ever sees their resume, so the job posting, career site, and social presence are already communicating culture, whether or not a company is intentional about it.

  • The hiring process is a cultural audition, and it runs both ways. Communication, or the lack of it, tells candidates exactly what it will be like to work somewhere.

  • Train AI on your culture the same way you would train a person. AI is only as good as what it is taught, so organizations that are explicit about their values, tone, and communication style will see that reflected in how AI interacts with candidates.

  • Make onboarding about belonging, not paperwork. A structured 90-to-180-day plan turns a first day into a lasting impression.

  • Culture has to be practiced daily. Recognition, transparency, trust, and authentic communication are not one-time events. They are habits that leaders and managers have to model and reinforce continuously.

  • Human outcomes matter as much as efficiency outcomes. Better hiring is not just about moving faster. It is about creating a process that helps candidates feel respected, helps managers lead better, and helps employees build stronger relationships from day one.

Quote of the Show:

  • “Let’s not forget that at the other end of that resume is a human being.” - Jeremy York

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[The ROI of Recruiting Right - Rob Dunderdale - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 025]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-roi-of-recruiting-right-rob-dunderdalehttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-roi-of-recruiting-right-rob-dunderdaleTue, 07 Jul 2026 09:01:03 GMT

1,500% ROI. 42% faster hiring. 570% more graduate applicants. 92,000 productivity hours returned. These aren’t projections — they’re what happened when one TA leader decided to treat hiring transformation as a business outcome, not an IT project.

In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Rob Dunderdale, former Head of Talent Attraction at KPMG Australia and Enterprise Talent Leader of the Year (International Talent Awards, 2023), to unpack one of the most measurable hiring transformations in recent memory. Rob shares how a business case built on commercial waste, a living ROI dashboard, a dedicated transformation team, and a culture of “green dot moments” helped turn hiring transformation into lasting business impact.

At a time when many organizations are trying to modernize hiring through AI and new technology, this conversation is a reminder that real transformation takes more than tools alone. It takes process simplification, the right operating model, executive support, clear metrics, disciplined change management, and a relentless focus on the human experience at the center of hiring.

Takeaways:

  • Build your business case around commercial impact, not recruitment metrics. Framing slow hiring as financial waste rather than an HR inefficiency is what gets CFO attention and unlocks investment.

  • An ROI dashboard isn’t just a reporting tool; it’s a trust-building mechanism. When every stakeholder can see progress in real time, leaders earn the space to do the deeper transformation work.

  • Separate your transformation team from BAU delivery, or transformation will always lose. Giving a dedicated group ownership of the project made it possible to move fast without sacrificing day-to-day hiring.

  • Tailor your data to your audience. The same underlying metric can mean something very different to a CFO, a hiring manager, or a TA leader. The most effective dashboards translate numbers into the language each stakeholder cares about.

  • “Best practice” is a ceiling, not a goal. Rob’s team actively studied competitors and emerging players to reach what they called “next practice”, raising the bar above what currently existed in the market.

  • Great hiring technology gives humanity more room. Cutting application time from 40 minutes to three and integrating 19 solutions didn’t just save hours; it put empathy back into the process by freeing recruiters to build real relationships.

Quote of the Show:

  • “As a human being looking at a career-defining moment, having the opportunity to do a transformation like that is gold. It’s great to see that you can leave such a legacy for an organization. It’s given the recruitment team a seat at the table.” - Rob Dunderdale

Links:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rdunderdale/

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]]><![CDATA[Google to Aerospace: Building Teams That Matter - Mike Moriarty - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 024]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/google-to-aerospace-building-teamshttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/google-to-aerospace-building-teamsTue, 30 Jun 2026 09:01:08 GMT

What separates recruiters who thrive in an AI-driven world from those who get left behind, and what does it take to build a team that runs through walls? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole reconnects with a powerhouse in the talent world, Mike Moriarty, Founder and CEO of Arsenal Pulse, on what it really takes to build strong teams and talent functions that can keep up with ambitious companies and fuel real-world strategy. Mike rose through the ranks at Google, where he built a data-driven recruiting model from scratch, then went on to lead a 160-plus person recruiting org at Dropbox, consistently hitting headcount targets within 1%. Now, he’s recruiting for hard tech, aerospace, and defense, the sectors where the talent bar isn’t just high, it’s mission-critical. Mike has spent his career proving that the fundamentals of great hiring doesn’t change, even when everything else does. In this conversation, he gets into what AI is actually disrupting (and what it isn’t) and why the recruiters who invest in people over process are the ones who will always have a place in this industry.

Takeaways:

  • Dig into a candidate’s mental model, not just their metrics. Understanding what drives someone, where their motivation comes from and why, tells you far more about how they’ll perform than any number on a scorecard.

  • How a leader frames an offer tells you more than their job description ever will. The ones who treat hiring as a partnership rather than a transaction build teams that actually want to be there.

  • AI isn’t replacing recruiters, it’s raising the bar for them. As more of the administrative work gets automated, the human conversation becomes the highest-value part of the process. Recruiters who double down on rapport, alignment, and candidate understanding will do the work of three.

  • Start building with AI now, not later. The leaders who will pull ahead are the ones who learn it deeply, experiment early, and pair that curiosity with the systems and hiring tech that let better work scale.

  • Values can be your north star in hiring. Skills can be taught; integrity, work ethic, and genuine care for people cannot. Screening for characters first has compounding returns across any team - and even more so when the stakes are high.

  • Individual AI and institutional AI are two different things. Personal tools make one recruiter faster; institutional AI alignment is what makes teams smarter, more consistent, and more scalable together. Understanding the difference puts you ahead of most leaders in the conversation.

Quote of the Show:

  • “You learn a lot about a leader if they say, ‘Come work for me,’ versus, ‘Come work with me.’ I think that’s a really important delineation to understand about the leaders you’re supporting or working with. I always say, “Listen, you work with me. We’re in this fight together.” - Mike Moriarty

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]]><![CDATA[Great Hiring Starts Before You Source - Katrina Collier - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 023]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/great-hiring-starts-before-you-sourcehttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/great-hiring-starts-before-you-sourceTue, 23 Jun 2026 09:02:23 GMT

Human connection isn’t a soft skill in recruiting, it’s the strategy. In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Katrina Collier, six-continent keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and author of three books including The Robot-Proof Recruiter and Reboot Hiring, to explore what it truly means to build a human-first talent function in this age of AI. Katrina makes the case that the intake conversation is the linchpin of great talent acquisition, and that technology and human connection don’t compete, they compound. From defining success 12 months out to building true recruiter-manager partnership, this episode is a masterclass in the kind of strategic alignment that helps TA leaders drive faster, better outcomes. It’s also a reminder that the most powerful thing AI can do in hiring is give recruiters back the time and space to be more human — which is exactly how the best hiring technology should be built.

Takeaways:

  • Recruiting at scale and recruiting with care are not opposing forces. Even in high-volume environments, the human touches that protect candidate experience, clear communication, consistent follow-through, and genuine engagement, are what separate companies that attract great talent from those that simply process applicants.

  • Quality of hire is nearly impossible to measure without first defining what success looks like. With 61% of TA professionals believing AI can help improve how quality of hire is measured, the opportunity is real — but it only pays off if humans do the intake work first. The best hiring technology can only match against criteria that humans articulate, which means the intake is not just a conversation, it is the foundation that makes every downstream tool and decision more effective.

  • Investing more time at the start of the process saves everyone time throughout it. Before sourcing a single candidate, ask whether the role can be filled internally, and what vacancy is actually costing the business. That preparation is what separates reactive recruiting from strategic partnership.

  • Ghosting applicants has real consequences. Research shows 87% of ghosted applicants experience depression or diminished confidence — closing every candidate, even at scale, is a baseline professional responsibility.

  • Hiring technology’s most underrated value? Improving human judgment. Tools that flag whether a hiring manager spoke more than the candidate in an interview, or whether biased language crept into the conversation, shift AI’s role from process automation to decision support.

  • The best hiring instincts aren’t always built in a straight line. When evaluating talent for your team, look beyond traditional credentials and ask what has energized this person and where they have shown adaptability. Those who have followed their curiosity tend to be the ones who solve your hardest problems.

Quote of the Show:

  • “You can’t recruit without humans.” - Katrina Collier

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[How to Build a People-First Culture at Work - LaShawn Davis - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 022]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/how-to-build-a-people-first-culturehttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/how-to-build-a-people-first-cultureTue, 16 Jun 2026 09:01:54 GMT

Can you answer this question right now: who are you, really? Not your title, not your role, just you.

Hiring has never been more optimized, yet 53% of job seekers have been ghosted by an employer, and the most sophisticated tech stacks still can’t explain why the right hires aren’t sticking. LaShawn Davis, Founder and Chief Culture Strategist at The HR Plug, believes the problem isn’t the technology. It’s that we’ve stopped treating the people on both sides of the hiring table as people — starting with ourselves.

In this episode, LaShawn and Nicole unpack the identity crisis quietly spreading through the workforce, why candidates who know themselves win interviews, and how organizations that invest in human-centered culture will always have an edge, no matter how sophisticated the technology gets. Because AI can streamline the process, but it cannot manufacture the emotion, connection, and self-awareness that make people want to stay. This is the mindset shift the industry didn’t know it was waiting for.

Takeaways:

  • Ask yourself and your team not what they do, but who they are. The answers will change how you lead, how you hire, and how you build a culture that actually sticks.

  • The patterns in what people consistently come to you for aren’t coincidental, they’re your identity showing up before you even noticed it. HR leaders who understand this about themselves bring a clarity to their work that no framework can manufacture.

  • The organizations winning right now are the ones using technology to protect space for human connection, not replace it. Emotion is the competitive advantage AI will never close the gap on.

  • A future-ready hiring culture starts long before a role opens. When both candidates and companies show up knowing who they are and what they uniquely offer, the right matches happen faster, and they last longer.

  • Identity isn’t just a professional development exercise, it shapes how people lead, how teams perform, and how culture gets built from the inside out. The companies that understand this are the ones building something that scales.

Quote of the Show:

  • “There is one thing that AI cannot replace: emotion. Clients connect to people. Employees connect to people.  AI is just a guide to help leverage the emotion that’s going to be missing in the equation. ” - LaShawn Davis

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Turning the Future of Hiring Into Reality, Part 2 - Rebecca Carr - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 021]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/turning-the-future-of-hiring-into-b6ahttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/turning-the-future-of-hiring-into-b6aTue, 09 Jun 2026 09:02:14 GMT

Transformation rarely happens in perfect conditions. Sometimes it happens during executive departures, a rocky return, and a phone call on your birthday telling you that you’re now the CEO.

In part two of this conversation, Rebecca Carr, CEO of SmartRecruiters, an SAP company, joins Hiring Happy Hour for a candid look at one of the most defining chapters in company history: rebuilding momentum internally, pivoting SmartRecruiters into an AI-first organization, and navigating the company’s acquisition by SAP, all at the same time.

What follows goes far beyond strategy decks and vision statements. At a moment when many companies slow down under the weight of acquisition and organizational change, Rebecca shares how SmartRecruiters accelerated, launching Winston into a market that was not fully ready and driving adoption to nearly 60% of all jobs running through the platform, a remarkable number at a time when most AI products struggle to achieve sustained enterprise usage.

But this conversation is about more than AI. It is about what innovation actually looks like inside a global enterprise: moving quickly without losing trust, creating clarity during uncertainty, and building a culture willing to execute before every answer is fully known. From rebuilding organizational confidence to navigating acquisition, Rebecca shares an honest look at what transformation demands from modern leaders: conviction, adaptability, and the courage to keep moving while the future is still taking shape.

Takeaways:

  • Ship the vision before the market catches up. Waiting for industry consensus before moving on AI is how organizations fall behind. SmartRecruiters launched and drove adoption of Winston, the platform’s AI interface, while competitors were still debating the concept — and built a separation that’s now measurable.

  • Adoption is the real proof point, not the product itself. A strong launch means nothing if people don’t use it.Nearly 60% of all jobs flowing through SmartRecruiters now use Winston — in an environment where the industry average for AI product adoption sits around 15%. Getting there required change management, internal champions, and a rollout strategy that’s as deliberate as the product itself.

  • Enterprise transformation and innovation can coexist if you’re intentional. Navigating a major acquisition while simultaneously evolving your product vision is only possible when leaders are radically transparent about where the business is and what it needs to do next. Rebecca held both in motion by keeping the team informed, focused, and moving.

  • Create conditions for bold thinking, then actually act on what comes out. The best strategic ideas rarely emerge from structured planning sessions. When Rebecca asked her team at a company offsite to bring back the craziest ideas on the planet, she got a product roadmap. Some of those ideas are still in flight today.

  • Speed is a strategic asset, not a byproduct. In a crowded market, the organization that moves with both conviction and urgency creates its own differentiation. From launching Winston to closing an acquisition with one of the largest enterprise software companies in the world, pace itself became part of SmartRecruiters’ value proposition.

  • Confidence shown to the market is its own signal. Rebecca’s “dance floor” analogy captures something every TA leader navigating a competitive landscape needs to hear: confidence shown to the market, even imperfect confidence, projects readiness and attracts the right partners before the window closes.

  • Change management is an innovation problem, not just a people problem. Getting an enterprise to adopt new technology at scale means solving for trust, clarity, and momentum, not just capability. Treat rollout as a strategic challenge equal to the product build itself.

Quote of the Show:

  • “If you have a goal, and you have passion behind it, you have to believe in it as a leader” - Rebecca Carr

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Turning the Future of Hiring Into Reality, Part 1 - Rebecca Carr - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode #020]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/turning-the-future-of-hiring-intohttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/turning-the-future-of-hiring-intoTue, 02 Jun 2026 09:01:43 GMT

Rebecca Carr didn’t plan to end up at SmartRecruiters. What started as an accidental application through a demo recruiting account became the beginning of a decade-long journey helping shape one of the most influential companies in hiring technology.

In part one of this special two-part series, Rebecca, CEO of SmartRecruiters, an SAP company, joins Hiring Happy Hour to reflect on the early career moments, bold bets, and customer partnerships that helped define both her leadership journey and the evolution of SmartRecruiters itself. From a 94-day global deployment for Bosch to rethinking recruiting around trust, candidate experience, and long-term partnership, this conversation traces the career arc that brought Rebecca to become the leader she is today, helping shape enterprise hiring through one of its most transformative moments yet.

Along the way, Rebecca shares lessons on grit, belief, and what enterprise change actually requires – including why keeping the feedback loop between product and customer tight has always been central to her thinking, and why it matters even more as AI begins to reshape how companies hire. For HR and TA leaders navigating that same shift, this is a conversation about what it looks like to build the future of hiring, not just talk about it.

Takeaways:

  • Great implementations don’t just go live — they create methodology. When you build around global standardization, candidate-first design, and real change management, you’re not just deploying software. You’re creating a repeatable playbook that the whole organization can use long after the project team moves on.

  • Candidate experience has to be a non-negotiable line item in every design decision, baked into how your hiring technology should be built and deployed. The companies that get hiring right don’t just treat it as something to optimize for when it’s convenient. Every process choice should be tested against one question: what does this mean for the candidate?

  • The best vendor-customer partnerships are bidirectional. Real progress happens when both sides are willing to do things differently than they planned. That means customers trusting the vendor’s product vision enough to standardize, and vendors trusting the customer’s operational reality enough to build with them, not just for them.

  • The tightest feedback loops produce the best products. Depth of collaboration during implementation is hard to sustain post-go-live, but closing that gap through technology is one of the most important problems companies (including SmartRecruiters) should be focused on solving now.

  • Be unromantic about your processes. Great talent with grit and belief still needs well-defined processes to execute against — but the moment you fall in love with how something is done, you lose the agility that makes you competitive.

  • The relationships built doing hard work together outlast the work itself. When both sides are fully invested in making something succeed, the personal connections that form become a lasting foundation that enables further success.

Quote of the Show:

  • “A lot of what I’ve been thinking about with my own product organization today is how do you keep that level of really high touch alive in an agentic era?  I’d love to keep that customer experience consistent through the life of a contract, not just the first critical months.” - Rebecca Carr

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Real Innovation vs. AI Hype - Matt Alder - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 019 ]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/real-innovation-vs-ai-hype-matt-adlerhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/real-innovation-vs-ai-hype-matt-adlerTue, 26 May 2026 14:03:47 GMT

Only 37% of hiring leaders say they feel prepared for AI, so what’s the other 63% missing? Matt Alder, host of the globally renowned Recruiting Future podcast and one of the most forward-thinking voices in TA, joins Nicole to cut through the noise. From drawing sharp parallels between AI and the early internet to defining what actually separates real, working innovation from a flashy demo, this conversation is grounded, strategic, and refreshingly honest about why execution matters more than ambition, how the industry needs to think, not just act, differently.

Takeaways:

  • The AI era mirrors the internet era, but this time, hesitation has a much higher price. The mindset skills that helped teams survive early internet disruption are the same ones needed now; the difference is you have weeks, not years, to adapt. Agility isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the only strategy that survives this cycle.

  • Vision anchors you when everything else is shifting. When the path forward is unclear, a strong strategic vision keeps your team aligned even as the tactics change underneath you. Without it, every product update feels like a crisis. With it, change becomes fuel, not friction.

  • Only 37% of hiring leaders feel prepared for AI, and that number is optimistic. The ones who think they’re fully ready may not fully grasp the scope of what’s coming. True preparedness isn’t a state you reach; it starts with asking better questions and building toward the answers, fast.

  • Build the foundation before chasing the features. The organizations making the biggest strides with AI have invested in infrastructure, trust, and culture first. Innovation without a foundation is just expensive experimentation.

  • AI should handle what it does better than humans, and step aside for the rest. AI can process and interpret resumes at a scale no human can match; humans bring the judgment, relationships, and emotional intelligence that no AI has mastered. Knowing where to deploy each one is the real competitive edge.

  • Candidate trust is the missing piece of the AI adoption conversation. Much of the skepticism around AI in hiring is perception-driven, not fact-driven, and that means companies have an opportunity to lead with transparency and explainability to rebuild it.

  • Freeing up recruiter time only creates ROI if your team knows what to do with it. AI-driven efficiency is only as valuable as what replaces the time it frees. If your team can’t clearly articulate the strategic work they’ll do with that bandwidth, that’s not an AI problem — it’s a strategy problem. And it’s the most important one to solve before you invest.

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[The work behind TA transformation - Alan Walker - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 018]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-work-behind-ta-transformationhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-work-behind-ta-transformationTue, 19 May 2026 09:02:45 GMT

What does real TA transformation actually look like, beyond a system migration? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Alan Walker, Co-Founder and CEO of Udder, to unpack what it takes to build hiring operations that actually work from the ground up, under pressure, and at scale. Alan shares how Udder grew from a two-person startup, launched mid-pandemic with a few hundred pounds, into a global consultancy that has delivered more than 600 HR tech implementations, including hundreds of SmartRecruiters projects. From leading with design before configuration to putting people and process ahead of technology, this conversation offers a grounded look at why a migration changes systems, but transformation changes outcomes, improving how hiring works for recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates through better design, stronger adoption, and more disciplined execution.

Takeaways:

  • Migration and transformation are not the same thing, and the difference matters. If you are simply moving from one system to another without rethinking process and behavior, you are migrating, not transforming. The language you use sets the mindset for the entire project.

  • Front-load design time before you ever touch the system. Organizations that rush into configuration end up revisiting decisions mid-implementation. Investing in discovery and process design upfront is what allows large organizations to go live in three months, not twelve.

  • A good consultant pushes back and earns the right to do it. The best implementations are not built on order-taking. Building trust early gives your team the standing to challenge assumptions and redirect when something will not serve the client long-term.

  • Momentum during uncertainty is a competitive advantage. When COVID hit, Udder’s ability to make decisions quickly and start delivering immediately won clients that would have otherwise gone to much larger firms. Speed and accountability compound over time.

  • Hire for curiosity and character, and train for hard skills. The traits that define Udder’s people, including curiosity, an engineer’s mindset, and a genuine drive to go the extra mile, cannot be taught the same way system knowledge can. Culture is the foundation; capability gets built on top of it.

  • True transformation touches the trifecta: hiring managers, recruiters, and candidates. If all three stakeholders experience meaningful improvement, you have transformed something. If only one does, you have optimized a corner of a broken process.

  • Executing against a vision beats chasing trends every time. Whether it is an ATS implementation or building a company, the organizations that define a clear end state and stay committed to it, even when the path changes, are the ones that actually get there.

Quote of the Show:

  • “Transform the people, because they’ll then transform the process.” — Alan Walker

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[How Hiring Innovation Actually Happens - Steve Hardy - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 017 ]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/how-hiring-innovation-actually-happenshttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/how-hiring-innovation-actually-happensTue, 12 May 2026 09:01:35 GMT

Some of the best ideas in business history weren’t born in boardrooms, and Steve Hardy has the Sip Club to prove it. In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Steve Hardy, five-time CMO, Forrester Marketing Executive of the Year, and current SmartRecruiters CMO for a conversation about what modern hiring innovation should actually enable and all that it takes to get there. From building a Friday ritual that outlasted his own tenure at a company to keeping culture, momentum, and execution intact through big change, Steve and Nicole discuss how the future of hiring will be shaped by teams that can ship, learn, adapt, and deliver with trust.

And yes, they get into the numbers too. Because when nearly 60% of hires on your platform are already touching AI, and you’ve shipped 160% more product in a single year, the story goes beyond marketing and into the day-to-day reality of getting great work done. At a time when hiring leaders are looking for proof over hype, visible product progress, and consistent execution, Steve offers a grounded view of what it takes to keep momentum going inside a fast-changing environment.

Takeaways:

  • If your team does not feel connected and inspired, do not expect execution to show up on its own. Ask yourself honestly whether the people executing actually believe in what you’re building.

  • Watch the market and keep your eye on customers, but make room for new ideas to surface. Some of the best thinking happens when people have the space to reflect, connect dots, and solve problems informally.

  • Build WITH your customers, not just FOR them. Every feature SmartRecruiters ships has spent real hours in front of real users, and your design partner program isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s your quality filter. A quicker pace of innovation only matters when what you are delivering is clear, useful, and easy for customers to put into practice.

  • Don’t be afraid to kill what isn’t working. Sunsetting a workflow, product, or idea is not failure; it is often how teams protect momentum and redirect energy toward what actually moves the needle.

  • When navigating change, lead with curiosity instead of certainty. Ask more questions, bring in different perspectives, and let those differences sharpen the path forward rather than slow it down. Use frameworks like “five whys” to get to the real heart of how things work on both sides.

  • Stop bracing for what AI might take away and start building toward what it could create. A decade ago, nobody had a job title with “cloud” or “social” in it, and the same shift is happening right now.

Quote of the Show:

  • “We don’t call it innovation when it happens on a playground. Kids are just being creative. They’re given the space to be individuals and explore ideas freely, and I think we need to create more of those opportunities in the workplace to get the best out of people.” - Steve Hardy

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Building the Plane While Flying It - Preeti Woods - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 016]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/building-the-plane-while-flying-ithttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/building-the-plane-while-flying-itTue, 05 May 2026 09:01:36 GMT

What does it actually take to build a hiring system from scratch, launch it during COVID, and hit 1.3 million hires in a single year? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with her friend and former implementation partner Preeti Woods, Senior Product Manager at Amazon Web Services, to unpack the real story behind deploying SmartRecruiters to 3,000+ Amazon DSPs across 14+ countries, including the moment a UAT crisis forced a full pivot that changed the product forever. This conversation is equal parts technical, human, and deeply honest about what it means to build something that actually works when the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Takeaways:

  • Passion and belief in the “why” aren’t soft skills, they’re load-bearing. Knowing why your work matters and who it ultimately serves is what keeps teams moving when timelines tighten and decisions get hard.

  • Speed is an asset until it isn’t. When UAT revealed a fundamental flaw in their deployment model, slowing down to pivot correctly was the only move… and it paid off.

  • Your customer’s customer matters. Preeti kept candidates and DSP owners at the center of every product decision, not just internal stakeholders, and that lens shaped a better outcome at every turn.

  • Build relationships with your vendors the way you’d build them with your team. Transparency and trust between Amazon and SmartRecruiters made an impossible pivot possible in under a month.

  • Outcome-oriented leadership beats micromanagement every time. Whether it’s four days or six, remote or in-office, Preeti’s standard is simple: are you delivering?

  • Don’t underestimate what one person with clarity can drive. Preeti started as a team of one and within months was coordinating a product launch that set new Amazon records.

  • The hardest moments make the best case studies. The willingness to write a pivot doc, convince leadership, and take a risk is often where real transformation begins.

Quote of the Show:

  • “Ultimately we worked hard. We accomplished something big and now our customers are truly delighted by it.” - Preeti Woods

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Disability, Inclusion & Integrity - Jamie Szymkowiak - Hiring Happy Hour - (Re-air)]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/disability-inclusion-and-integrity-417https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/disability-inclusion-and-integrity-417Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:02:33 GMT


We’re bringing this one back to the feed because some conversations are too important to only hear once. Jamie Szymkowiak, Head of Talent Acquisition at EcoVadis, former political advisor to the UK House of Commons, and disability rights advocate who turned personal adversity into a top 5% billing career, is someone whose story doesn’t lose anything on a second listen. Nicole and Jamie’s conversation is a masterclass in doing hiring right, tackling AI’s unintended blind spots, practical frameworks for accessibility, and why integrity isn’t optional in recruiting.

Takeaways:

  • State your accessibility options directly in the job description and on your careers page. That single line of text is often the first signal to a candidate that your organization actually sees them.

  • AI interviewing can inadvertently exclude the people you most want to reach. Candidates with anxiety, disabilities, or nervous dispositions need human touchpoints, not just automated queues, to show up as their best selves.

  • The most powerful step toward inclusive hiring is listening to the people most affected by it. Lived experience isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the most credible source of insight and accountability you have.

  • Unconscious bias training only works if it’s recurring. A one-time module fades; it has to be woven into the rhythm of how your team operates, not treated as an annual obligation.

  • Once you make inclusive changes, go back to the people who’ve been hired through your process. They’ve seen it from the inside, they trust you, and they’re your most honest and underutilized source of feedback.

  • Integrity in recruiting is your long-term brand. Every shortcut has a cost. Jamie learned it the hard way when a single lapse with a confidential client search ended a promising business relationship for good.

  • The best recruiters don’t just place candidates, they redirect them. Giving honest, actionable feedback and pointing someone toward a better-fit opportunity might be the single most impactful thing a TA professional can do.

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[The Host is in the Hot Seat - Nicole Hammond - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode #014]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-host-is-in-the-hot-seat-nicolehttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-host-is-in-the-hot-seat-nicoleTue, 21 Apr 2026 09:01:13 GMT

What happens when the host becomes the guest , and her closest colleague holds the mic?

In this one-of-a-kind episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole Hammond steps out of the interviewer seat and into the spotlight. Her friend and SmartRecruiters’ Global Head of Content & Communications, Erin Diamond, takes the wheel, pulling back the curtain on Nicole’s career journey, her philosophy on change management, AI, and what it actually takes to build something that lasts. From bio-psychology to Deloitte to a decade-plus at SmartRecruiters...this one’s personal, honest, and a whole lot of fun. Plus, Nicole’s iconic hat collection makes a special appearance that you don’t want to miss!

Takeaways:

  • Empathy isn’t soft, it’s a leadership skill. Understanding how your actions impact others is the foundation of great teams, great hiring, and great parenting too.

  • You can’t fake role clarity, you have to live it. Swapping roles in a structured, safe environment builds the kind of cross-functional appreciation no memo ever could.

  • Change management isn’t a task you assign, it’s a discipline you invest in. If you’re just tacking it onto someone’s existing role, you’re setting the initiative up to fail.

  • AI works best as a support mechanism, not a decision maker. The companies getting this right are using it to reduce noise and increase efficiency, not replace human judgment.

  • Every organization needs a centralized AI committee. When departments run AI initiatives in silos, overlap happens, value gets lost, and risk goes unmanaged.

  • The best leaders don’t just plan the next step, they map five steps ahead and work backwards. Vision without execution is just a daydream; reverse-engineering makes it real.

  • Filling your bucket, and someone else’s, matters more than we admit. In an industry focused on metrics, one act of kindness and recognition can shift everything.

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[The Implementation Blueprint with Carrie Brophy - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode #013]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-implementation-blueprint-withhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-implementation-blueprint-withTue, 14 Apr 2026 09:02:28 GMT

What happens when you combine deep technical expertise with a genuine love for people? You get Carrie Brophy, and she is everything. With over 20 years of experience driving HR and recruitment transformation across the globe, Carrie is a rare ATS specialist who can speak the language of the recruiter on the floor and the HRIT team in the boardroom. She has implemented some of the world’s most powerful platforms across more than 70 countries, and she brings every ounce of that expertise to this episode. Whether you’re mid-implementation, considering a transformation, or just trying to figure out why your ATS is not working the way it should, this one is for you. Carrie breaks down what it really takes to “Go-live” successfully, stay successful after launch, and build technology solutions that actually serve your people. She also brings a refreshing dose of real talk about working motherhood, simplicity as a design principle, and why you should never lift and shift. It all comes together in an episode worth savoring like a Negroni on a Friday evening.

Takeaways:

  • Bridge the gap between functional and technical. The rarest skill in TA tech is being able to speak both languages, and it’s what makes transformation actually stick.

  • Executive buy-in is non-negotiable. If the goal isn’t championed from the top down, adoption will stall before you ever reach go-live.

  • Design principles are your north star. Name them early, whether LFR, candidate-first, or simplicity, and let them filter every single decision throughout the process.

  • Go-live is not the finish line. Hypercare is where real success is determined, so plan for feedback, iteration, and long-term support from day one.

  • Simplicity scales. Complexity doesn’t. Fewer, well-designed processes beat hundreds of edge-case configurations every time and make future changes infinitely easier to manage.

  • Working motherhood is a masterclass in prioritization. Carrie delivered her final training session at eight and a half months pregnant, proving that radical clarity on what matters is a superpower.

  • Stay open to the wonky path. Say yes to sideways steps and boomerang moments, because they often lead somewhere more extraordinary than any straight line could.

    Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Referral Hiring Isn’t Luck…It’s Strategy - Ed Zetusky - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 012 ]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/referral-hiring-isnt-luckits-strategyhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/referral-hiring-isnt-luckits-strategyTue, 07 Apr 2026 09:00:52 GMT

Ed Zetusky, Director of Talent Acquisition at Comoto Family of Brands, spent over a decade transforming a good referral program into a great one, starting at RevZilla, a Philadelphia-based motorcycle e-commerce company, where he identified that only a small group of employees were driving the majority of referrals and set out to fix it by designing a point-based contest that rewarded employees at every stage of the hiring funnel, layered public recognition at all-hands meetings, and capped each year with an Olympic-style celebration complete with a custom podium and cash medals, resulting in referrals going through the roof, a full-time average tenure of five years, and voluntary full-time turnover of just 20% across Comoto’s 180+ locations.

Takeaways:

  • Reward the journey, not just the destination. A point-based system that credits employees at every stage of the hiring funnel, not just when someone is hired, motivates broader, higher-quality participation from across the organization.

  • Pair recognition with rewards to maximize impact. Publicly celebrating referral winners in front of the whole company creates social proof and friendly competition that cash alone can’t generate, and makes the recognition as visible as possible.

  • Sell referrals as a team benefit, not just a bonus. Framing referrals as a way for employees to bring in great colleagues who will make their own jobs easier speaks directly to employees’ self-interest and drives genuine engagement.

  • Lean into your company culture when designing the program. The most successful referral programs are tailored to the organization’s personality, whether that’s Olympic ceremonies, themed branding, or weekly shout-outs; the format should feel authentic to your team.

  • Get leadership involved early. Executive advocacy when launching the program provides the initial momentum and signals to employees that this initiative has real organizational backing.

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Disability, Inclusion & Integrity - Jamie Szymkowiak - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 011 ]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/disability-inclusion-and-integrityhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/disability-inclusion-and-integrityTue, 31 Mar 2026 09:01:48 GMT

What does it actually mean to build a hiring process that works for everyone, not just the majority? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Jamie Szymkowiak, Head of Talent Acquisition at EcoVadis and former political advisor in the UK House of Commons, to dig into one of the most underrepresented conversations in TA: accessible and inclusive hiring for people with disabilities. Jamie speaks from both professional expertise and lived experience, navigating the workforce as a disabled recruiter who became a top 5% biller, then a political activist, and now a global TA leader driving real change. From AI interviewing pitfalls to the three-step framework any organization can start with today, this conversation is equal parts personal, practical, and long overdue.

Takeaways:

  • Your hiring process sends a message before the interview even begins. Make your job descriptions and careers page explicitly state that accessible interview options are available.

  • Unconscious bias training isn’t a one-and-done box to check. It needs to be recurring and built into the rhythm of your team, or it quietly fades and old patterns return.

  • When building inclusive hiring practices, start by talking to the people most affected. Lived experience is your most valuable source of insight and accountability.

  • Measuring inclusion efforts requires both data and conversation. Don’t overlook the candidates who made it through; they’ve seen your process and are often your most honest, trust-based source of feedback.

  • Integrity in recruiting shapes your brand permanently. The moment you cut a corner with a client or candidate, the long-term cost far outweighs any short-term win.

  • Great recruiters don’t just fill roles; they redirect. Giving honest, actionable feedback to candidates who aren’t the right fit, and pointing them toward better opportunities, is one of the most impactful things a TA professional can do.

Quote of the Show:

  • “ There’s a saying within disabled rights. If it’s about us, make sure that we’re included. Nothing about us, without us.” - Jamie Szymkowiak

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Culture Doesn't Disappear in an Acquisition - Lehua Stonebraker - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 010]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/culture-doesnt-disappear-in-an-acquisitionhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/culture-doesnt-disappear-in-an-acquisitionTue, 24 Mar 2026 09:01:30 GMT

What really happens to your culture, your people, and your identity when your company gets acquired, and what does it look like from both sides of the table? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Lehua Stonebraker, SVP of People & Culture at SmartRecruiters, to unpack the very human side of mergers and acquisitions. Drawing from her time leading TA through eight acquisitions in 18 months at Dayforce, and now navigating SmartRecruiters’ integration into SAP, Lehua brings a rare, hard-won perspective that goes far beyond the playbook. This conversation is a masterclass in change management, psychological safety, and why open-mindedness isn’t just a buzzword.

Takeaways:

  • No two acquisitions are the same. Each one comes with different goals, cultures, and challenges. Approach every integration with fresh eyes and curiosity rather than a checklist.

  • Transparency beats perfection when leading through change. You don’t need all the answers; you need to share what you can and bring people along for the journey rather than letting change happen to them.

  • The most growth happens in the uncomfortable middle of a transition. Resist the urge to race to the other side; the lessons live in the uncertainty.

  • Relationships are your most valuable currency during any acquisition. Start building them early, and don’t wait for a formal introduction to make a connection.

  • Shared values make integration infinitely easier. When both companies can point to the same cultural DNA, the path forward feels collaborative rather than combative.

  • Ask “why”, and then ask it again. Understanding the reason behind a process, policy, or behavior is how you unlock smarter, faster ways of doing things together.

  • Open-mindedness isn’t just about accepting change; it’s about staying grounded in gratitude for what you can influence while gracefully releasing what you can’t.

Quote of the Show:

  • “ There’s natural apprehension when you’re going through a learning curve, and oftentimes people wanna race to the other side. But the uncomfortable middle is where the most growth and the most learning happens.” - Lehua Stonebraker

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[The Power in Partnership - Andrew Porter - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 009]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-power-in-partnership-andrew-porterhttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-power-in-partnership-andrew-porterTue, 17 Mar 2026 09:01:44 GMT

Strong hiring doesn’t happen in isolation; it happens through relationships. In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, host Nicole Hammond sits down with talent leader and transformation expert Andrew Porter to explore the power of partnerships in hiring, leadership, and technology. Andrew shares why the most effective talent strategies are built on authentic human connection, including building trust across internal stakeholders and creating collaborative vendor ecosystems. As organizations navigate rapid innovation, especially with the rise of AI, leaders must balance experimentation with pragmatism while strengthening the relationships that power real transformation. Tune in to learn how talent leaders can drive change through collaboration, navigate complex technology ecosystems, and foster partnerships that unlock better hiring outcomes.

Takeaways:

  • Partnerships are the foundation of successful talent strategies. Talent acquisition thrives when recruiters, leaders, and stakeholders collaborate to drive stronger hiring outcomes.

  • Transformation requires collective buy-in. Meaningful organizational change happens when teams and stakeholders align around a shared vision and work toward it together.

  • Move beyond “supplier relationships” to true collaboration. Treating vendors as strategic partners fosters trust, transparency, and better long-term results.

  • AI adoption requires a balanced approach. Organizations should embrace AI thoughtfully, experimenting and learning while aligning its use with their broader strategy.

  • Technology ecosystems work best when partners collaborate. Bringing technology partners together helps ensure tools integrate effectively and support a stronger hiring ecosystem.

  • Difficult conversations strengthen partnerships. Open, honest dialogue builds trust and helps partners navigate challenges more effectively.

  • Balance outside work fuels better leadership. Prioritizing health, relationships, and personal interests helps leaders stay energized and resilient.

Quote of the Show:

  • “Human connection underpins what we do as talent acquisition, and the power of partnership is how you leverage it. ” - Andrew Porter

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[Trust Your Gut, Back It With Data - Kyle Lagunas - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 008]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/trust-your-gut-back-it-with-datahttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/trust-your-gut-back-it-with-dataTue, 10 Mar 2026 09:02:41 GMT

What does it actually mean to be AI-ready, and are you already doing it without knowing it? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Kyle Lagunas, Founder of Kyle & Co., whose rare vantage point spanning practitioner, vendor, and analyst roles makes him one of the most grounded voices in talent today. Kyle unpacks the three dimensions of AI momentum and makes the case that getting AI-ready isn’t about chasing the hottest tools. It’s about the foundational work most organizations are already behind on. If you’re navigating transformation, skeptical executives, or just wondering where to start, this conversation meets you exactly where you are.

Takeaways:

  • Redefine what “doing AI work” actually means for your team. Cleaning data, building integrations, and growing AI literacy all matter more than the tools you’ve bought.

  • Ground your gut instincts in real data and experience. Strong instincts without receipts can come across as brash; the combination is what makes you a trusted advisor.

  • Own the KPIs your team can actually control. Measuring interview-quality talent from inbound efforts gives sourcing and attraction teams a defensible, meaningful metric.

  • Know your three dimensions of AI momentum: posture, capability, and investment. Every team, from a solo HR manager to a 3,000-person org, works through the same framework.

  • Being solutions-oriented means knowing when to push back. The best TA leaders aren’t yes people. They understand constraints and find a path that serves everyone.

  • Don’t wait for an executive mandate to start your AI readiness work. Most of the prep is within reach right now, regardless of company size.

  • The AI winners in HR and talent will be the ones who stay curious, stay connected, and resist the urge to confuse buying software with building strategy.

Quote of the Show:

  • “We are solutions people, and solutions people are not just yes people.” - Kyle Lagunas

Links:

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]]><![CDATA[The Goldilocks Theory - Adam Reynolds - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 007]]>https://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-goldilocks-theory-adam-reynoldshttps://www.hiringhappyhour.com/p/the-goldilocks-theory-adam-reynoldsTue, 03 Mar 2026 10:02:55 GMT

What happens when you need to double your hiring output in the middle of a global pandemic while competing with every business on the block for the same talent? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole Hammond sits down with Adam Reynolds, Head of Talent at Fraser’s Group, a leader who oversees hiring for a 40,000-employee multinational retail powerhouse supporting iconic brands. Adam shares how his team scaled from 12,000 hires in 2020 to 25,000 in 2022, all while navigating the chaos of post-COVID talent wars. He reflects on the “pain-associated learning” that came from outdated systems, the critical importance of speed in modern hiring, and how they completely reimagined their candidate experience. Nicole and Adam also dive into the “Goldilocks theory” of hiring, the power of in-person hiring events, and why pace matters more than perfection.

Takeaways:

  • Speed is everything in modern hiring. Candidates have short attention spans, so your job ads, application process, and candidate experience need to grab attention immediately and move quickly.

  • Visual appeal matters. Heat maps revealed that candidates were abandoning job ads halfway through a scroll. Colors, captivating copy, and visual design are no longer optional; they’re essential.

  • Know your competition. Post-COVID, retail wasn’t just competing with other retailers. They were fighting for talent against delivery services, pubs, gas stations, and anyone else hiring entry-level workers.

  • The Goldilocks theory works. In high-volume hiring, speed trumps perfection. Move fast, learn from what breaks, and iterate quickly. Waiting for the perfect system or process will cost you talent.

  • In-person connections still win. Whether it’s hiring events or working with your team, face-to-face interactions create momentum, accountability, and better outcomes.

Quote of the Show:

  • “  We retain talent by giving them opportunities to do things that they would never in a million years expect they were going to be doing.” - Adam Reynolds

Links:

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