When it comes to HR technology, Thomas Otter has seen it all. He joined Acadian Ventures from his own advisory firm in March 2022 as a General Partner, advising early-stage technology companies building the future of work. Before that, he led the product management organization at SAP SuccessFactors, Earlier in his career, he was a research vice president at Gartner, responsible for proprietary research in HR and HR technology. He earned a PhD from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where he explored the relationship between enterprise software and compliance. In this episode of #TheWork, he tells us about his firm's investments in pay transparency, nudging technology, a skills engine solutions provider and a copyright infringement vendor. The last one led to a fun-filled discussion about ChatGPT, on which Thomas encourages us to slow our roll because - after all - weren't we all excited about blockchain just a few short years ago? Thanks for following #TheWork.

Talking Smack about ChatGPT with Thomas Otter

Blindly copying what successful companies did in the past simply doesn’t work anymore. In this episode of #TheWork podcast, our guest Ben Waber, President and co-founder of Humanyze and one of the world’s leading experts in people analytics, discusses why there is no status quo other than change as the new constant. We discuss how it has exposed the shabbiness of management practices and, of course, we also delve into #ChatGPT, preconceived notions of what data does or does not tell us, and why the truth matters. Having presented at high profile organizations including the U.N. and World Economic Forum, Ben’s thought leadership has been featured in Wired, CNN, HBR, and The New York Times. There’s no doubt you’ll understand why his work was selected for the Harvard Business Review's List of Breakthrough Ideas and the Technology Review's Top 10 Emerging Technologies.

Management Practices, Corporate Outcomes with Ben Waber of Humanyze

Employment attorney, writer and professor Heather Bussing believes pay equity is the easiest place to start a company’s DEI journey. Straightforward and simple, it’s math and shouldn’t be met with so much resistance. Yet, we all know that we’re years away from true pay equity, especially for women of color. Jeanne was surprised to learn how disparate pay is between men and women in the legal profession and we all bemoaned how uncomfortable and non-inclusive mandatory golf outings are. Join us for this episode of #TheWork podcast to learn from one of the HR industry’s most knowledgeable – and authentic – employment law experts.

Pay Equity and DEI with Heather Bussing

This episode features a fascinating conversation with Hung Lee. He curates Recruiting Brainfood, one of the most popular weekly newsletters for the recruiting, HR, and talent industries. His keen expertise and approach to building a vendor-neutral community are respected around the globe. We discuss why some things in the workplace never change such as workers leaving low paying and low flexibility jobs, the impact of the aging workforce, and “elite overproduction” of highly educated people with elevated expectations without suitable jobs to match. No one has the final answer and we agreed we’re not going to solve it anytime soon. It’s why recruiting remains broken, and regardless of economic pressures, vacancies will always persist. Thanks for listening to #TheWork podcast.

What You Resist, Persists with Hung Lee

It’s always fun to learn about new companies that are returning value to their customers from day one! That’s Berlin-based Dado. By applying the principles of product management to HR, Dado becomes the extra team member that supports every stage of the employee experience, consistently and transparently. Arielle Kilroy is Dado’s co-founder, CEO and CPO, who has a fascinating career journey and game-changing technology. Thanks for listening to and liking this episode of #TheWork #podcast.

Did You Know That Your ERP Needs Dado?

Sarah Rodehorst is the CEO of Onwards HR, the leading HR tech provider committed to making separations better for employers and employees. No stranger to the power of technology, Sarah’s expertise includes complex areas including healthcare reform and compliance. After seeing how much organizations struggled with the severance payments and separation regulations intended to ease transitions during workforce reductions, she started Onwards HR. In this episode of #TheWork, Sarah helps us understand who else is involved in a reduction in force (guess what – it’s not only HR) and how messy state WARN acts can be for enterprises laying off employees across different locations. We learned so much from Sarah and we’re sure you will too – please listen to learn more about this timely topic that is fraught with emotion and challenges for employers and employee alike.

Tough Times Require The Right Stuff with Sarah Rodehorst

In this episode, we chat with Cristian Grossmann, the CEO and co-founder of Beekeeper, a company that helps solve the disconnect between frontline workers and their managers in the retail, hospitality, manufacturing and construction industries. A former frontline worker himself, Cris understands first-hand the technology that is required to make the frontline workforce more effective. Before taking a turn into the world of #HRTech, Cris studied Chemical Engineering and got his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, both at ETH Zurich. Leveraging these disciplines to create Beekeeper’s mobile-first Frontline Success System, Cris gave us a peek into the company’s AI plans and – of course – John had a few thoughts to share on what that means to deskless workers.

Your Frontline Workers Deserve Better Says Cris Grossmann of Beekeeper

Phenom is a #HRTech success story: founded in 2011, employing more than 1,500 worldwide, and supporting more than 500 multinational customers. Delivering an exceptional talent experience, Phenom was also one of the early champions of artificial intelligence and its predictive power. In this episode of #TheWork, we chat with Phenom’s CEO, Mahe Bayireddi. He discusses what employers need to consider when hiring frontline versus knowledge workers.  Mahe explains how AI can give control back to HR and recruiters, and the multiple data insights – such as offers extended/accepted and how long the candidate stays with the company – that validate its accuracy. Thanks for listening and liking #TheWork #podcast.

Fit Scores and AI with Mahe Bayireddi, CEO of Phenom

People with disabilities, including those facing vision loss, are overwhelmingly underemployed, with only 30% fully employed. Many employers don’t consider people who are blind or visually impaired when hiring, often because they think it’s too difficult to accommodate them in the workplace. Nothing can be further from the truth. In this episode of #TheWork, we chat with Marianne Haegeli, Director, Learning and Leadership, at NSITE. We learned so much from her. We know that you will too.

A Forgotten Talent Pool: Visually Impaired Candidates

Work is changing and we need to be ready for what’s next, says Dr. Amy Dufrane, the CEO of HRCI and HRSI. In this episode, we deconstruct the emerging role of AI in the workplace, reflect on the importance of ethics, and argue who’s winning the argument of human-powered critical thinking vs. relying exclusively on machines. John and Jeanne spar on whether HR can think mathematically and the overall financial acumen of HR professionals. Amy defuses our spirited argument with the facts: HR understands data, is relying on it to support business decisions, and going toe-to-toe with CFOs every day. We’re grateful to Dr. Dufrane for joining us on #TheWork podcast and we’d be remiss if we neglected to wish HRCI congratulations on its 50th anniversary. The best is yet to come!

It’s Nifty to be Fifty: Certifying HR & Organizations with Dr. Amy Dufrane

Generative AI is in its infancy says SeekOut CEO Anoop Gupta; yet, it is already having a transformational impact. As we move from documents to dialogue, John is concerned about AI making judgments about people. Great people and great companies grow together says Anoop, who reinforces that our social systems aren’t built for accountability when the machines make errors and therefore humans still need to be present and accountable. Anoop shares a fun presentation tip thanks to ChatGPT and John doesn’t disappoint when it comes to asking tough questions. This is our 50th episode of #TheWork podcast and we’ve barely scratched the surface of what work means to all of us. Thanks for listening to and liking #TheWork wherever you access your podcasts.

The Transformative Impact of Generative AI with Anoop Gupta, SeekOut

Hosted by Jeanne Achille and Kate Achille of The Devon Group, the Up Next @ Work podcast tackles tough workplace ideas through spirited conversations. Featuring great minds from various industries, Up Next @ Work examines current challenges and coming changes related to people, processes, and technologies.

Talking Smack about ChatGPT with Thomas Otter

Up Next @ Work

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