The BARF: AI, DEI, Union Battles, Money, Morals, and Messy Workplaces

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[00:00:47] Hey, what is going on everybody? Ryan Leary, William Tinkup here with The BARF. This is the week, the look at the week that was, so you can be prepared for the week that is.

[00:00:56] Mr. William, it is frigid here in Philadelphia. How are you?

[00:00:59] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. It is not frigid here in Texas. So I am doing well and I'm looking forward to this BARF because I think we have some really, really cool stories.

[00:01:07] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. We've got a lot. There's no doubt about it. So we're post Thanksgiving.

[00:01:12] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. We are back at it. And so we're going to kind of mush mesh two weeks into one and make everybody smarter. So let's do it. You ready?

[00:01:22] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. That's the hope. Well, that could make them stupider.

[00:01:26] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. That's a dumber, but yes.

[00:01:29] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. That's not the goal. Probably going to happen. All right. Let's start off with Ohio State.

[00:01:35] Is stupider a word?

[00:01:36] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. No, it's not.

[00:01:37] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. Okay. I just wanted to...

[00:01:40] That's because why I said it.

[00:01:41] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. I was questioning myself actually. I wasn't questioning you. I'm like...

[00:01:44] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. I mean, it could be a word. I mean, it makes sense to be a word, but I don't think it is.

[00:01:49] Ryan Leary, William Tinkup. Let's make it a word. Go ahead. Sorry.

[00:01:58] A couple of times now where the threshold was being increased, so on and so forth. Well, thank you to the judge out in Texas. We talked about this a few weeks back. They reversed that.

[00:02:10] And now Ohio State is reversing the raises after the overtime rule was overturned. Now, here's the deal with this. They're not just saying, oh, we're not going to do it.

[00:02:24] 306 employees over the last two months have received overtime wages because now they meet the threshold. That's $2 million in raises. We'll call it raises. That's how they refer to it.

[00:02:38] Down with that?

[00:02:39] $2 million over two months for 306 people. Ohio State is getting rid of that. They're reversing that. They're not taking their money back. They're keeping the money. But starting in January 2025, they no longer are eligible for the overtime that they received. And so I'm not sure how I feel about this, man.

[00:03:01] No, it's horrible. First of all, for the audience, it's the Ohio State University.

[00:03:07] So when Ryan says Ohio State, he's not saying the state of Ohio?

[00:03:11] The Ohio State.

[00:03:12] The Ohio State. Their football program brings in hundreds of millions of dollars.

[00:03:18] A week.

[00:03:20] So what? You know what I'm saying?

[00:03:22] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:03:24] And it costs money. I get that. I do understand that. However, dude, seriously, $2 million? That's a rounding error.

[00:03:31] There are 306 employees losing overtime. And maybe it'll go back. Now, I don't think they should – the universities should be held accountable to pay overtime because of this.

[00:03:43] Right.

[00:03:44] That's not what I'm saying.

[00:03:45] Right.

[00:03:45] But that's just a shitty situation. It sucks. It's in the news. And I think this is going to happen, you know, moving forward.

[00:03:50] Oh, yeah. New post-January whatever, 21st or whenever the inauguration. There's going to be a lot of that.

[00:03:58] All right, Ryan, let me throw this one past you.

[00:04:03] All right.

[00:04:30] Whereas nine-to-fivers kind of get full benefits, kind of get 100%.

[00:04:35] Mm-hmm.

[00:04:36] Mm-hmm.

[00:04:37] Flex, they're not quite treated as like nine-to-fivers, and so they get maybe 80%.

[00:04:43] And remote workers, they're about half. So they get about 50%.

[00:04:50] That's rights. It's privileges, promotions. It's, you know, the whole bit.

[00:04:54] And for the audience, when the Constitution was written, one of the things that they had – the North and Southern states had to agree upon was African-American – they didn't call them African-American, Blacks – being whole human beings.

[00:05:13] Right.

[00:05:14] Right.

[00:05:15] And being able to vote as whole human beings, which would give the South – at that time, which would give the South a majority of voting.

[00:05:25] Right. So they basically – the South would just be able to vote on whatever the hell they wanted to because they would actually empower – at that time, they would have empowered Blacks to vote and then manipulated them to vote for whatever they care about.

[00:05:37] So they threw in three-fifths.

[00:05:39] And that didn't stop.

[00:05:41] Hell, some people don't think it stopped at now.

[00:05:44] But that didn't really stop until Jim Crow.

[00:05:47] Jim Crow, you know, that was early this last century, like less than 100 years ago.

[00:05:53] So history repeats itself, whether or not we like it or not.

[00:05:57] This is, to me, this is what this looks like, is that we will – whether or not they'll say it or write it in policy, but I think the treatment – and that's why this number stuck out to me – is because they feel less trusted.

[00:06:15] I think we're going to see more of that type of behavior, like those types of stats from those types of classes of employees.

[00:06:23] I hope I'm wrong.

[00:06:25] I do.

[00:06:26] I actually hope I'm wrong on this one.

[00:06:29] But I don't think I am.

[00:06:33] So there you go.

[00:06:35] There you go.

[00:06:36] There you go.

[00:06:36] All right.

[00:06:36] Target was ruled that it must face shareholder lawsuit over their pride backlash.

[00:06:46] So if you remember some time ago, they had a whole line of merchandise, and they faced a lot of backlash from customers in certain areas.

[00:06:56] And so a Florida judge ruled that Target must face a lawsuit from shareholders who alleged the company misled them about the risk tied to the LGBTQ plus Pride Month merchandise that it had throughout its stores.

[00:07:15] And so this is – I haven't even thought about this myself.

[00:07:18] I just – I look at it as it's merchandise, as the company is selling merchandise.

[00:07:23] Anyhow, the shareholders are arguing that Target's management didn't properly consider the possible negative reactions from customers to its support of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

[00:07:40] So it's interesting to me, right?

[00:07:43] And I think this ties into what we're seeing, obviously, with these programs at organizations now being removed or reworked in a way, you know, what they feel fits them better.

[00:08:01] But you and I talked about this.

[00:08:02] I think it was with Tractor Supply where it was – well, their particular customer base is very – they were very pointed.

[00:08:11] They know exactly what they want to do in a very specific area.

[00:08:14] The difference between these two is stark, though, Ryan.

[00:08:18] Harley-Davidson, you know, we go on with all the folks that have ripped out DEI.

[00:08:24] Target's job – and all these folks, Harley's job and Tractor Supply's job is to move product.

[00:08:31] Correct.

[00:08:32] That's the only reason that they're in business.

[00:08:34] That's why they're in business.

[00:08:35] Is to move product.

[00:08:36] So really what this comes down to was did that – I actually saw the section.

[00:08:41] I didn't take a picture of it, but I went to Target.

[00:08:43] I actually saw the section.

[00:08:45] It was merchandised really well.

[00:08:47] Yeah.

[00:08:47] I mean, really, really, really well.

[00:08:49] So the question is, did the product move?

[00:08:53] If the product moved, shut the fuck up.

[00:08:57] Well, that's –

[00:08:58] If the product didn't move and you lost customers because of that product, yeah, fair enough.

[00:09:05] But this is just share – this is share at its worst.

[00:09:09] Yeah.

[00:09:10] Well, and this –

[00:09:11] Because the stock took a hit.

[00:09:12] They lost money.

[00:09:13] That's right.

[00:09:14] Because of this particular event, right?

[00:09:16] That's right.

[00:09:16] That's right.

[00:09:17] Anyhow.

[00:09:17] I just think it's interesting.

[00:09:19] It's all kind of tied together for me.

[00:09:21] It is.

[00:09:22] It is.

[00:09:22] But see, Tractor Supply and Harley, they didn't put out Rainbow – like Harley didn't have Rainbow motorcycle.

[00:09:31] That was corporate initiatives.

[00:09:34] Okay.

[00:09:34] Yeah.

[00:09:35] No, this is – I'm looking at it as the same type of thing, right?

[00:09:40] Like it's just –

[00:09:41] People that hate DEI, hate DEI.

[00:09:44] Right.

[00:09:44] They hate it.

[00:09:44] They hate it.

[00:09:45] There you go.

[00:09:46] Hate.

[00:09:47] It's in your heart.

[00:09:48] All right.

[00:09:49] Let me throw this one past you.

[00:09:50] The vast majority, 91%, of U.S. workers said they remain productive during the holiday season, with 61% saying their productivity surges at the end of the year, according to a straw poll by our friends at monday.com.

[00:10:07] And it's a Google Doc, so you just have to reach out to me to get to it.

[00:10:12] And it was kind of a straw poll.

[00:10:14] It had like three or four questions.

[00:10:15] It was kind of a funny bit.

[00:10:16] But I think the numbers are right for this year.

[00:10:22] And I think that this is kind of according to the times.

[00:10:25] It's hard out there.

[00:10:26] Work still has to be done.

[00:10:28] Holidays, vacations, time away from work.

[00:10:30] I think now, at this moment, are seen as luxuries, which is counter to all the hoopla about employee wellness.

[00:10:39] So here we have everyone talking about employee wellness, well-being, mental health, here and that.

[00:10:45] And then you have employees working their asses off during the holidays.

[00:10:51] These two things can't coexist.

[00:10:53] Yeah.

[00:10:54] And we see that because it's just a slowdown period for most companies, depending on what you're working in.

[00:11:02] And they look at it as a time, hey, I can catch up.

[00:11:05] I can clean my inbox.

[00:11:06] I can catch up on specific projects.

[00:11:09] Should they, just because you can, should you?

[00:11:12] No.

[00:11:12] No, no.

[00:11:13] Definitely not.

[00:11:14] You shouldn't.

[00:11:15] And, well, at least I don't believe you should.

[00:11:17] Right.

[00:11:18] Yeah, I got it.

[00:11:19] But I think...

[00:11:21] Are you more productive at this time?

[00:11:23] I mean, let's just deal with this year.

[00:11:24] I mean, let's...

[00:11:25] I am.

[00:11:26] I'm more productive, I think.

[00:11:28] And I think there's probably a couple of reasons why.

[00:11:31] One is...

[00:11:32] Before we move on, I need to let you know about my friend Mark Pfeffer and his show, PeopleTech.

[00:11:39] If you're looking for the latest on product development, marketing, funding, big deals happening in talent acquisition, HR, HCM, that's the show you need to listen to.

[00:11:51] Go to the Work Defined Network, search up PeopleTech, Mark Pfeffer.

[00:11:56] You can find him anywhere.

[00:11:59] You're coming off of Thanksgiving.

[00:12:01] You're in between Christmas and New Year's or whatever holidays you celebrate, right?

[00:12:05] So that particular part of the year, on slow, right?

[00:12:10] So you're able to focus.

[00:12:11] You're able to build and clean out and do whatever you need to do.

[00:12:14] Now, on top of that, the world has been built on New Year's resolutions.

[00:12:20] Yeah.

[00:12:20] So January 1st is coming, right?

[00:12:22] Which I don't believe in, by the way.

[00:12:24] What's that?

[00:12:25] I don't believe in resolutions.

[00:12:27] But the world has been built on that, right?

[00:12:29] Like, it's a big thing, right?

[00:12:31] And so, you know what?

[00:12:32] In 25, I'm going to do this.

[00:12:34] And so in order to do this, I got to do this.

[00:12:35] That makes sense.

[00:12:36] Monday's putting it out for obvious reasons.

[00:12:38] Yeah, it does.

[00:12:39] Right?

[00:12:39] Yeah.

[00:12:40] But it's...

[00:12:40] Yeah.

[00:12:41] They can actually see the analytics of productivity.

[00:12:53] We've talked about this a number of times with different things.

[00:12:58] But essentially, they're saying that Apple is invading the workers' privacy by requiring them to install software on personal devices used for work.

[00:13:11] So not just corporate devices, but personal devices.

[00:13:14] So if you're using your personal device for work-related things, they want you to have this software on there.

[00:13:23] So it grants them access to all of your personal data.

[00:13:27] Yep.

[00:13:27] And the other part of that lawsuit...

[00:13:30] Search history a whole bit.

[00:13:30] Yep.

[00:13:30] Yeah.

[00:13:31] And the other part of that lawsuit is that it forbids them in their employment contract to talk about workplace conditions and pay and salary.

[00:13:43] Which, in California, 100% is against the law.

[00:13:48] They can't do that.

[00:13:50] And secondly, it's not a federal law, but in most other states, it happens that way as well, where it's okay to talk.

[00:13:59] The employer cannot tell you not to.

[00:14:01] And so...

[00:14:01] Well, even if they do, it just makes...

[00:14:03] It forces you to talk about it.

[00:14:05] Right.

[00:14:05] Exactly.

[00:14:06] So there you go.

[00:14:07] Yeah.

[00:14:07] So it's...

[00:14:09] There you go.

[00:14:09] My bet is, because I read the same story, it's what is your definition of surveillance versus your definition of data-driven decision-making?

[00:14:19] We're in a privacy war.

[00:14:21] We don't even know it.

[00:14:22] We've been in a privacy war for quite a while.

[00:14:25] And it comes down to how badly do you want your privacy?

[00:14:29] So Apple has kind of said, this is how...

[00:14:33] I would love to have a Samsung phone if I work for Apple, just because I think it'd be funny.

[00:14:39] But it kind of comes down to, if you want to work at Apple, then you have to play by their roles.

[00:14:45] Meaning, you subscribe to the theory, hey, listen, they're getting this data for good reasons, with good intent, to help them make good decisions.

[00:14:56] Okay, that's...

[00:14:57] See, I think it's the opposite way.

[00:14:58] I think they're surveilling to make sure they're not stealing things.

[00:15:02] I'm the...

[00:15:03] I'm complete opposite on this one.

[00:15:05] Yeah.

[00:15:05] No, 100%.

[00:15:07] What data are they collecting on me in the office?

[00:15:09] What, like how many fucking steps I take?

[00:15:12] Come on.

[00:15:12] There's all kinds of cool stuff that they could be looking at.

[00:15:14] And they need to disclose 100% of what they're looking at.

[00:15:19] But you know what I'm saying?

[00:15:20] There's employee listening tools out there that do just this.

[00:15:23] They look at your email.

[00:15:24] They look at your text.

[00:15:25] They look at their stuff.

[00:15:26] But they're employee listening tools.

[00:15:28] It's not Apple saying...

[00:15:30] Well, this is a listening.

[00:15:32] This is not a listening tool.

[00:15:34] This is a listening program.

[00:15:36] I mean, again, it's privacy.

[00:15:39] It comes down to what you think of privacy.

[00:15:42] And if you think the company has your best interest in their hearts, then it's like, cool.

[00:15:50] If you don't...

[00:15:52] On a corporate device, I'm okay with that.

[00:15:54] But also on a corporate device...

[00:15:56] Personal.

[00:15:57] You're able to use it for personal reasons.

[00:15:59] Right.

[00:15:59] But you're on a corporate device.

[00:16:01] You're not going to...

[00:16:01] You can't take my phone and say, well, because you walked in my building...

[00:16:04] Evidently, you can at Apple.

[00:16:07] Well...

[00:16:07] Yeah.

[00:16:08] No more.

[00:16:11] And this is your story.

[00:16:13] Okay.

[00:16:15] So, this past week...

[00:16:18] You've probably seen it as well.

[00:16:21] UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside of a Manhattan hotel.

[00:16:28] Kind of a downer of a story, but I wanted to throw it in there.

[00:16:32] Not necessarily to break it down and talk about it, but it's kind of, for me, it was a sober...

[00:16:38] A somber reminder of how we overlook that...

[00:16:45] How high-profile leaders can become targets in a polarized environment.

[00:16:54] Whether it's elections.

[00:16:56] Whether it's high-profile CEOs, as in this case, where they're making decisions that affect real people.

[00:17:05] In real lives, and sometimes people get to the point, the breaking point, and they can't handle that.

[00:17:12] Right?

[00:17:12] We've seen this a lot on TV.

[00:17:13] I mean, Law & Order has tons of this type of crap.

[00:17:16] Yeah.

[00:17:17] Oh, yeah.

[00:17:18] It's just a sad situation all along.

[00:17:19] Do you think this was...

[00:17:21] And you...

[00:17:22] Do you believe, when you first read this, do you believe this is about compensation?

[00:17:27] That the compensation is 341% higher than the average comp per employee?

[00:17:37] So you don't believe it about...

[00:17:38] No, because I'm on the other end of that argument of...

[00:17:41] Okay.

[00:17:42] Moving on.

[00:17:43] Do you believe it's about insurance costs rising?

[00:17:48] This law...

[00:17:49] For not having access to insurance or...

[00:17:53] Well, I think...

[00:17:54] So going on that path, yeah, I think there's a long list of things that add up to that.

[00:17:58] I don't know that that affected this specific situation.

[00:18:02] But I think people are fed up with healthcare just over the years of it being healthcare.

[00:18:08] Right?

[00:18:08] And so I think that's...

[00:18:09] It didn't shock me when I heard that story.

[00:18:14] Yeah.

[00:18:16] I didn't just shrug my shoulders at it, though.

[00:18:18] You can't coach crazy.

[00:18:20] So first of all, someone's going to kill someone.

[00:18:22] They're going to justify it, rationalize it in whatever crazy-ass fucking way that they're going to do that.

[00:18:27] But that's just...

[00:18:30] Just what it is.

[00:18:31] That's just what I go back to Cain and Abel.

[00:18:33] Great.

[00:18:34] People will justify these things.

[00:18:36] But I would love to know the reason why, which, of course, we'll never know the reason why.

[00:18:43] But I would love to actually have some insight into...

[00:18:47] If this person had a manifesto and said, listen, I'm tired of insurance going up 13% every year or whatever the bid is.

[00:18:55] Well, I think they detailed what he was...

[00:18:58] It was like a coverage thing.

[00:19:00] I don't know.

[00:19:00] Something.

[00:19:02] But either way...

[00:19:04] Right.

[00:19:04] You know, just a...

[00:19:05] There's no justification for murder.

[00:19:08] No.

[00:19:08] No.

[00:19:08] You want to throw eggs at the guy?

[00:19:11] Throw eggs.

[00:19:12] Throw eggs.

[00:19:13] You know what?

[00:19:13] That washes off.

[00:19:15] All right.

[00:19:15] Let me throw this one.

[00:19:16] And somewhat related news.

[00:19:19] Hospitals are hiring nurse practitioners who are easy to train and cost less to employ than physicians to fill labor gaps.

[00:19:29] This approach, obviously, could pose safety risks for patients.

[00:19:35] This was on Bloomberg.com.

[00:19:38] So you go take a look at that.

[00:19:40] So first things first, I'm happy for my friends that are nurse practitioners.

[00:19:45] But equally, I'm sad for our health and well-being as physicians have more time in the trenches.

[00:19:53] And should, you know, should be better than nurse practitioners.

[00:19:59] And I guess we'll find out over time how this plays out.

[00:20:03] But this is happening.

[00:20:05] Whether or not we like it or not, they can't get...

[00:20:07] There's just not enough practitioners.

[00:20:09] There's more nurse practitioners.

[00:20:11] We're going to train them up.

[00:20:12] So when we go to the doctor, our families go to the doctor, we should expect not to see a physician.

[00:20:19] I don't think we always need to see a physician.

[00:20:21] I totally agree.

[00:20:23] Yeah.

[00:20:23] So I think there's time and place.

[00:20:25] It's not like urgent care.

[00:20:26] When urgent care became a thing, it's like, oh, now you're trying to push us away from the hospital.

[00:20:30] Well, yeah.

[00:20:32] Let's not overcrowd the ER for minor things.

[00:20:35] And it's working out pretty well.

[00:20:37] Let me ask you a probative question.

[00:20:40] It says it's easier to train.

[00:20:41] Check.

[00:20:42] Got that.

[00:20:43] Cost less.

[00:20:44] Do you believe...

[00:20:45] That's true, right?

[00:20:46] So do you believe that cost savings will be extended to the consumer?

[00:20:53] No.

[00:20:55] No.

[00:20:56] No.

[00:20:56] No, I don't.

[00:20:57] Well, you used to be an optimist.

[00:20:58] What happened to you?

[00:20:59] I hang out with you too much.

[00:21:02] Fair statement.

[00:21:03] I could drag you to the darkness.

[00:21:05] That's how it happens.

[00:21:08] All right.

[00:21:08] Our friends over at Daxter introduced a new solution.

[00:21:13] Daxter Engage.

[00:21:15] That's cool.

[00:21:15] Which I'm loving.

[00:21:16] I like this play.

[00:21:19] You know, from how it got started to where it is now.

[00:21:21] But, you know, it's...

[00:21:23] I haven't been to their site in a while.

[00:21:25] So I went to their site.

[00:21:27] And we love the people there.

[00:21:28] I love what Daxter does.

[00:21:30] And just kind of want to get your thought here.

[00:21:31] So is Daxter all things to all things, right?

[00:21:35] And I don't mean that in a disparaging way.

[00:21:38] But are they all things to all things?

[00:21:39] So here's a list of products.

[00:21:41] Daxter Search Nexus.

[00:21:42] Daxter Capture.

[00:21:44] Daxter Magnet.

[00:21:45] Daxter Styler.

[00:21:46] Daxter Parser.

[00:21:47] Daxter Apply and Match.

[00:21:49] Daxter...

[00:21:49] We should probably get rid of all the Daxters and just call them.

[00:21:52] Developer components.

[00:21:53] Product names, but go ahead.

[00:21:54] Now, Daxter Engage, right?

[00:21:56] So, story.

[00:21:58] Daxter Engage, right?

[00:21:59] So this is a communications plane, right?

[00:22:03] This streamlines communications multi-channel.

[00:22:05] Not only channel.

[00:22:06] Multi-channel.

[00:22:08] Across things like SMS, voice, video calls, et cetera.

[00:22:12] They integrate into all the ATSs, CRMs, HRS platforms.

[00:22:17] But yeah, that's what stuck out to me.

[00:22:19] As I'm looking at the products, like, that's a lot of products.

[00:22:23] How do people know what they do and when to engage?

[00:22:25] Well, it's a land and expand.

[00:22:28] Daxter is known for being a parser.

[00:22:30] Right.

[00:22:31] So that's where you start.

[00:22:32] But I mean, they're one of the best, if not the best in the world at that business.

[00:22:37] And so you start with that product and then you move to the other products that make sense

[00:22:42] for the customers.

[00:22:46] They've got a winning team there as well.

[00:22:48] Yeah.

[00:22:48] Terry Baker, just like Doug Burke, don't bet against him.

[00:22:52] Yeah.

[00:22:52] He'll make it work one way or another.

[00:22:54] He was brought in by private equity.

[00:22:57] It's going to work, but it's going to be based on the customers.

[00:23:01] Each customer is going to want something a little bit different.

[00:23:04] Like, I doubt that a customer will buy all of those products.

[00:23:09] Right.

[00:23:10] Which is fine.

[00:23:10] They probably wouldn't need to.

[00:23:12] Exactly.

[00:23:13] They probably wouldn't need to.

[00:23:14] Yeah.

[00:23:14] And we just spoke with Doug Burke doing exciting things.

[00:23:18] So we'll have to talk about him next week.

[00:23:20] That's right.

[00:23:21] That's right.

[00:23:22] Ryan, the Trump administration has plans to limit the National Labor Relations Board,

[00:23:27] what we commonly refer to as NLRB, and its ability to protect unions.

[00:23:33] More than two dozen corporations are pursuing legal action against the agency that protects

[00:23:39] labor, organizing as Trump weighs challenging its legal structure.

[00:23:47] This is the important part.

[00:23:49] Firing Democratic board members.

[00:23:54] So, yeah.

[00:23:55] So this is one of those bits.

[00:23:58] So this is on WashingtonPost.com.

[00:24:00] You can read more about it.

[00:24:01] So the NLRB flows with the political winds.

[00:24:07] And that's always been that way.

[00:24:09] Always that way.

[00:24:09] Yep.

[00:24:10] This is different.

[00:24:12] This is actually taking it a step further.

[00:24:17] Because it's usually nine, and there's five and four.

[00:24:21] And so if it's a Republican, then you have five, and you have four Democrats.

[00:24:25] And so it's kind of balanced-ish.

[00:24:28] This is not that.

[00:24:29] A dismantling of the system.

[00:24:31] This is dismantling.

[00:24:34] This is, yes, there will be an NLRB.

[00:24:37] It'll be a shell of its formal cell.

[00:24:40] It'll be a storefront in the strip mall that you walk by.

[00:24:43] A hundred percent.

[00:24:44] Y'all sell phones?

[00:24:46] No shit.

[00:24:48] But you and I.

[00:24:48] You have the one that flips.

[00:24:50] Can I touch the screen?

[00:24:52] What was that one that did flip, and it had the little cord that popped out?

[00:24:56] It was the, uh.

[00:24:58] It was a fancy phone.

[00:24:59] It was a Nokia.

[00:25:00] Yeah.

[00:25:00] It was like Star Trek.

[00:25:02] Yeah.

[00:25:02] Yeah.

[00:25:03] Um.

[00:25:04] So you and I probably, I went back and looked at it.

[00:25:07] You and I have talked about unionization 14 times.

[00:25:11] Yeah.

[00:25:11] I was going to say about a thousand.

[00:25:12] Yeah.

[00:25:13] 14 or something.

[00:25:13] 14 times since we started the BARF.

[00:25:16] And again, the times and different ways and all that other stuff.

[00:25:20] I think we're going to be talking about unionization a lot.

[00:25:24] A lot.

[00:25:24] Next year.

[00:25:25] But it's going to be in the form of dismantling.

[00:25:29] Yeah.

[00:25:29] That's interesting.

[00:25:31] That's interesting.

[00:25:31] Dude, when I read.

[00:25:33] I don't think unions will ever be dismantled.

[00:25:36] No, no, no, no, no.

[00:25:37] You're just going to make it harder for them to unionize.

[00:25:40] So like the, the folks that are already.

[00:25:43] After the four years, it'll come back.

[00:25:45] Well, you know, yes.

[00:25:48] One would, one would assume.

[00:25:51] But dude, I've never seen something so outrageous as firing Democratic board members.

[00:25:57] Yeah.

[00:25:57] Like since the NLRB has been around, it's been politicized.

[00:26:03] Like a lot of the things are FCC, et cetera.

[00:26:07] EEOC.

[00:26:08] It's they're all politicized, but I've never seen like, okay, those people.

[00:26:13] Yeah.

[00:26:13] We're just going to fire them.

[00:26:14] We care less.

[00:26:15] It's supposed to be for the people.

[00:26:16] Let it be for the people.

[00:26:17] And we're going to put nine people on here that want to dismantle unions.

[00:26:20] Okay.

[00:26:22] Yeah.

[00:26:22] I check some balances.

[00:26:24] Yeah.

[00:26:25] Bad shit ain't going to happen.

[00:26:27] No.

[00:26:27] You ready to talk some acquisitions?

[00:26:29] I am.

[00:26:29] All right.

[00:26:30] I'm going to mispronounce this.

[00:26:32] I'm going to say ZUVE.

[00:26:33] It might be VUVE.

[00:26:35] I don't know.

[00:26:36] Do you.

[00:26:36] ZUVE.

[00:26:37] Z-V-O-O-V-E acquires Netherlands based recruitment marketing firm online results.

[00:26:44] So ZUVE is a European company that develops and sells software into the staffing agencies.

[00:26:52] Cool.

[00:26:53] And this is a company that's been built through.

[00:26:56] So they've got several companies, Landware, W-E-H-R, Landware, RHB, ProSoft, and BackOffice.

[00:27:06] They're building the system and they have offerings like payroll, salary, financial accounting, things like that.

[00:27:13] And so this is the type of company it is.

[00:27:15] And they just made their next acquisition.

[00:27:17] Good pickup.

[00:27:19] Congrats to them.

[00:27:19] I think that's pronounced LandWee HR.

[00:27:24] But you know what you should know?

[00:27:29] You should know the You Should Know podcast.

[00:27:32] That's what you should know.

[00:27:34] Because then you'd be in the know on all things that are timely and topical.

[00:27:38] Subscribe to the You Should Know podcast.

[00:27:41] Thanks.

[00:27:43] Have you ever been to a webinar where the topic was great, but there wasn't enough time to ask questions or have a dialogue to learn more?

[00:27:49] Well, welcome to HR and Payroll 2.0, the podcast where those post-webinar questions become episodes.

[00:27:54] We feature HR practitioners, leaders, and founders of HR, payroll, and workplace innovation and transformation sharing their insights and lessons learned from the trenches.

[00:28:03] We dig in to share the knowledge and tips that can help modern HR and payroll leaders navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead.

[00:28:09] So join us for highly authentic, unscripted conversations, and let's learn together.

[00:28:17] That is awful.

[00:28:19] You are probably very correct.

[00:28:22] Dude, there's three words.

[00:28:23] And we HR.

[00:28:26] Yeah.

[00:28:26] How do we get to the next topic here?

[00:28:28] That's pretty funny.

[00:28:29] Isn't that funny?

[00:28:30] That's amazing.

[00:28:31] Accenture acquired Award Solutions, a provider of training and consulting services in the advanced wireless technologies, 5G, Internet of Things, cloud-based solutions.

[00:28:44] All right.

[00:28:44] Terms weren't disclosed as they normally are.

[00:28:47] This is on Accenture.com in their press room, so you can find it there.

[00:28:50] So this is a win for skills-based training because that's actually what Award Solutions was known for, is known for, is training.

[00:29:03] And so this is excellent acquisition for Accenture because they could, you know, obviously they could build or buy that skills-based training for that particular segment of the market, or they could buy it.

[00:29:16] And they decided to buy it.

[00:29:18] So I think it's good for their customers, and it's good for everybody involved.

[00:29:23] Yeah.

[00:29:23] Good for them.

[00:29:24] So congrats.

[00:29:25] Skills-based.

[00:29:26] There you go.

[00:29:27] All right.

[00:29:28] ProProfs acquires People Goal, which is a performance management software company.

[00:29:37] So this is about leveling up for me.

[00:29:38] This is going to add tools like automated performance, automated performance reviews, 360 feedback, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:29:48] So this is really about helping their customers really focus on engagement and building high-performance teams.

[00:29:57] And we talk about engagement all the time.

[00:29:59] So I've been tracking tools with engagement and benefits and things like that.

[00:30:04] And I think this is a good play, especially for customers that are struggling in this area to get people to engage and take part in what they're doing.

[00:30:15] Yeah, I love it.

[00:30:16] And you can see, obviously, the future of all of that stuff is AI-driven, right?

[00:30:23] So less of me sitting down with you and talking about performance and more about kind of an ongoing conversation with AI about performance.

[00:30:32] Yeah, I think it's probably time to move on.

[00:30:35] I know that's not very popular right now.

[00:30:37] I think there's a time and place for a human in that process.

[00:30:40] And I think that's during the 365 days I'm fucking working with you.

[00:30:44] Yeah, turns out.

[00:30:46] Let all that work we're doing be assessed in there.

[00:30:50] Because, I mean, look, my gripe with performance reviews has always been you have an opinion of me.

[00:30:57] Yes.

[00:30:58] Regardless.

[00:30:58] I can be a stud performer.

[00:31:01] You have an opinion of me.

[00:31:02] So my performance is fantastic, but you have to be completely unbiased in that performance review of me.

[00:31:10] And you're not because you're –

[00:31:11] No, so I'm a human being.

[00:31:14] Of course I'm not being biased.

[00:31:15] And I'm also thinking about how much it's going to cost me because finance has given me a number or HR has given me a number and you're 1% to 3%.

[00:31:25] And so I'm thinking about that too as well as my biases.

[00:31:28] Yeah, yeah.

[00:31:29] Hey, look, I only have $300,000 to work with in raises for my department.

[00:31:33] Right.

[00:31:33] How do I structure this, right?

[00:31:35] That's right.

[00:31:35] It really shouldn't be your – I believe – I don't think it should be your decision as a human.

[00:31:40] It should be what have I done over the course of the year.

[00:31:43] I don't disagree.

[00:31:44] What does the computer tell me, right?

[00:31:46] What does the system tell us?

[00:31:49] And our feedback comes day in and day out as we're working.

[00:31:52] I hope AI actually fixes that.

[00:31:54] I think it will.

[00:31:55] To what you're saying.

[00:31:56] I actually hope that that happens.

[00:31:58] So there you go.

[00:32:00] Give me your credit.

[00:32:01] Adzuna, the global job search engine, today announced the acquisition of CISA.

[00:32:07] That is S-E-I-Z-A, a market leader in social media recruitment advertising.

[00:32:14] So CISA.co, if you want to go there and read more about them and the acquisition, please do.

[00:32:21] It's a complimentary acquisition for Adzuna, and it's a solid acquisition in the sense of it's going to help Adzuma's customers do what they do already with them, but also be able to do social media recruitment advertising.

[00:32:39] So that's a win-win.

[00:32:41] Win-win.

[00:32:41] Customers win.

[00:32:42] There you go.

[00:32:43] All right.

[00:32:44] Final one we have on acquisition.

[00:32:46] Beamery, not acquisition.

[00:32:47] I'll just start by that, right?

[00:32:49] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:32:49] Beamery completes Workday certified integration for Workday Skills Cloud.

[00:32:55] So I put this in here because my Spidey sense says, I'm smelling a future acquisition here.

[00:33:02] They've done a ton of work in Workday.

[00:33:06] Workday has a history of acquiring companies, obviously, that align with its strategic goals, a la Hired Score and Ebisort this year alone.

[00:33:16] And so I feel like Beamery is in that space now where they're taking that step, building specifically into Workday, and that's what they're banking on there.

[00:33:27] Yeah.

[00:33:28] Could be very wrong.

[00:33:29] No, no, no.

[00:33:30] I don't think you're wrong.

[00:33:32] Workday put, I want to say $5 million.

[00:33:35] We'll have some fact checking in.

[00:33:36] Yeah, I think it was $5 million.

[00:33:37] Yeah.

[00:33:38] Early on.

[00:33:39] So they're on their cap table early on.

[00:33:42] And again, it lays on top.

[00:33:44] It's CRM.

[00:33:46] I like Beamery in the sense of they've built their own large language model.

[00:33:51] It's about four years old, so it's got great data.

[00:33:53] Yeah.

[00:33:54] So it's good.

[00:33:56] I think it's good for Workday's customers in the sense of they're recruiting, they're hiring managers, they're candidates, all of that stuff.

[00:34:05] So I think it's good.

[00:34:08] I hope they acquire them.

[00:34:09] Yeah.

[00:34:10] Not just for the exit of Beamery.

[00:34:12] Yeah, they've been in the business long enough.

[00:34:14] They've done a good job.

[00:34:15] Which I believe Beamery has a new CMO.

[00:34:17] They do.

[00:34:18] They just, I believe it was this week or the week before or something like that.

[00:34:21] Yeah, right.

[00:34:22] So, anyhow, congratulations to them.

[00:34:25] Yeah.

[00:34:25] Good job, guys.

[00:34:26] All right, Ryan.

[00:34:27] We are on the R of the BARF.

[00:34:30] Research.

[00:34:31] Let me run this one past you.

[00:34:34] 50% U.S. employees are thriving in their overall lives, according to Gallup's latest updated workplace well-being indicator.

[00:34:44] This is a record low since Gallup began measuring workers' well-being in 2009.

[00:34:53] You know, gallup.com is the source, so you can go there.

[00:35:00] Hey, everybody.

[00:35:01] I'm Lori Rudiman.

[00:35:02] What are you doing?

[00:35:03] Working?

[00:35:03] Nah.

[00:35:04] You're listening to a podcast about work, and that barely counts.

[00:35:08] So while you're at it, check out my show, Punk Rock HR, now on the Work Defined Network.

[00:35:13] We chat with smart people about work, power, politics, and money.

[00:35:17] Are we succeeding?

[00:35:18] Are we fixing work?

[00:35:19] Eh, probably not.

[00:35:20] Work still sucks.

[00:35:21] But tune in for some fun, a little nonsense, and a fresh take on how to fix work once and for all.

[00:35:30] Half.

[00:35:30] 50%.

[00:35:31] Whenever I say half, I think of Eddie Murphy.

[00:35:34] Half.

[00:35:34] Eddie.

[00:35:35] I want half.

[00:35:38] So it's a huge number, actually.

[00:35:40] That is.

[00:35:41] That thinks that they're thriving, right?

[00:35:48] Yeah.

[00:35:48] Well, let's put that into fifth grade perspective.

[00:35:52] For every two employees.

[00:35:54] Yep.

[00:35:55] One of them.

[00:35:56] That's right.

[00:35:57] Not good.

[00:35:58] So the graphics on this are absolutely cool.

[00:36:02] So go and look at it, because then they have, out of 100%, 50%, we already talked about, 45% are struggling.

[00:36:13] And 5% is suffering.

[00:36:17] How do they define struggling?

[00:36:19] It's in the report.

[00:36:22] It's in the report.

[00:36:24] The delineation between thriving, struggling, and suffering is well documented.

[00:36:30] I think those numbers for me, I mean, not that I'm any fucking expert here, but I think suffering is more.

[00:36:39] I don't think people want to admit that they're suffering.

[00:36:42] I can see that.

[00:36:43] That tracks.

[00:36:43] That tracks.

[00:36:44] I think that can come up a little bit.

[00:36:46] And the people that are struggling, I don't think they're hiding that they're suffering.

[00:36:52] I think they're trying to be positive.

[00:36:54] So what's in between thriving and struggling?

[00:36:58] Getting by?

[00:36:59] Right.

[00:37:00] Just, meh.

[00:37:01] Yeah.

[00:37:02] Meh.

[00:37:03] You can probably add another, you can probably say like 25% getting by, you know, 30%, you know, 20% struggling in the remainder.

[00:37:14] But to Gallup's credit, those definitions are well structured.

[00:37:20] Thriving, struggling, and suffering.

[00:37:23] Those are well structured.

[00:37:25] So go take a look at the graphics because it is, well, I think 50%, as you said, one of two.

[00:37:31] The other 50%, they're not just not thriving.

[00:37:36] Yeah.

[00:37:36] Yeah.

[00:37:37] Yeah.

[00:37:37] Yeah.

[00:37:37] And I want to illustrate.

[00:37:40] They're in the deep end of the pool.

[00:37:41] Yeah.

[00:37:41] And I'll clarify my illustration of fifth grade.

[00:37:44] Because if you say 10,000 employees.

[00:37:47] Right.

[00:37:48] 5,000.

[00:37:49] Hmm.

[00:37:49] Okay.

[00:37:50] But if you say two, one.

[00:37:53] Yeah.

[00:37:54] Huh.

[00:37:54] That's a wrong thing.

[00:37:55] That's a different bit.

[00:37:56] It's a different bit.

[00:37:57] Yeah.

[00:37:57] No, it is.

[00:37:58] It's pretty significant.

[00:38:01] Line 10 people up against the wall.

[00:38:03] Five of them are thriving.

[00:38:05] Cool.

[00:38:05] Y'all go to the left.

[00:38:07] Go get you some Coke.

[00:38:09] Four of them are struggling.

[00:38:14] And okay, y'all need a break.

[00:38:16] And then five of those employees are, excuse me, one of those employees.

[00:38:22] Yeah.

[00:38:22] You're marginal.

[00:38:23] That was.

[00:38:23] Yeah.

[00:38:24] Suffering.

[00:38:25] Yeah.

[00:38:25] And so like that, that's.

[00:38:27] It's a lot.

[00:38:28] Yeah.

[00:38:29] Heartbreaking.

[00:38:31] All right.

[00:38:33] Well, yeah.

[00:38:33] We've got the state of high volume hiring 2025 benchmarks report launched by our friends

[00:38:40] over at Phenom.

[00:38:42] So this report, which we'll have a link somewhere.

[00:38:46] I'm sure for all these, the report looks at 101 companies on their maturity and use of AI and automation to hire frontline hourly seasonal and high turnover roles.

[00:39:00] Good time for it.

[00:39:01] Across a number of verticals or retail, hospitality, travel, healthcare, pharma, manufacturing, transportation, distribution.

[00:39:10] That's a really interesting report.

[00:39:13] But here, here's some numbers I'll throw at you.

[00:39:15] All right.

[00:39:15] What do you got?

[00:39:15] 65% of companies have high volume hiring needs.

[00:39:22] 45% is from the report, obviously, or only 45% of the organizations find that their current high volume hiring is effective.

[00:39:35] 94% of recruiters see high volume hiring software as essential.

[00:39:41] So.

[00:39:42] Got to have the tools.

[00:39:44] I mean.

[00:39:44] Got to.

[00:39:45] How else?

[00:39:45] Yeah.

[00:39:46] You got to have those tools.

[00:39:47] If you don't have the tools.

[00:39:49] Yeah.

[00:39:49] You got to have the tools to get it done.

[00:39:50] Now, obviously this is from Phenom, right?

[00:39:53] So you need high volume.

[00:39:54] Okay.

[00:39:54] Get it.

[00:39:56] But what are the high volume hiring tool?

[00:39:59] It's not just job boards, not just career sites, not just text messaging.

[00:40:05] It better be mobile friendly.

[00:40:07] That's.

[00:40:07] Yeah.

[00:40:08] Yeah.

[00:40:08] Yeah.

[00:40:08] After that talent.

[00:40:10] Yeah.

[00:40:10] I think this, this needs a lot more digging and conversation there.

[00:40:14] But I think in 25 with, and we, I think we've talked about it with the trades are coming back.

[00:40:20] You know, a lot of frontline is coming back and are not, hasn't gone away.

[00:40:24] It's, it's increasing.

[00:40:25] It's increasingly becoming more.

[00:40:28] I, I, I can't wait to see home building on the rise.

[00:40:31] We have a, such a inventory crush here.

[00:40:34] Yeah.

[00:40:35] In the Metroplex.

[00:40:35] And it's just like how, which, which will affect house.

[00:40:39] But, but there's so much inventory that's not, that's needed.

[00:40:44] Yeah.

[00:40:45] The, like there's a development on the way to Oak Ridge, on the way to van school, there's

[00:40:49] a development that started pre COVID.

[00:40:53] Oh, late 19 started and they haven't developed the houses because of the cost going through

[00:41:00] the roof.

[00:41:00] We have a couple of individual houses that were being built.

[00:41:03] I'm sure they're done by developers, but yeah, they have the outside sheathing on and it's

[00:41:09] been that way for years and nice houses, like really nice.

[00:41:13] And they just can't afford to do it.

[00:41:15] Cost of materials, cost of labor.

[00:41:17] I can't wait to see those metrics go up.

[00:41:21] Yeah.

[00:41:21] Like, like to actually see more home by building.

[00:41:24] I just can't wait to see that because then you know that things are getting back to a more

[00:41:29] of a normal state.

[00:41:31] Yeah.

[00:41:31] All right.

[00:41:32] Ryan, DEI is becoming less popular with us workers.

[00:41:37] This is actually interesting.

[00:41:39] Amid growing anti-DEI efforts, a new Pew Research Center survey indicates that employees also

[00:41:47] feel less positivity about diversity efforts at work.

[00:41:53] Now, Pew Research is relatively conservative.

[00:41:56] So that's just put that in the background.

[00:41:59] This was on fastcompany.com.

[00:42:01] Take a look at that.

[00:42:02] I think this is our new normal.

[00:42:06] I think so much of right now is just about survival.

[00:42:11] And I could be wrong at this.

[00:42:14] I'm probably wrong at this, but I care.

[00:42:17] This is me speaking.

[00:42:18] I care about others thriving and getting chances, but I care more about my own situation.

[00:42:25] Which is, you know, that's not the way to live.

[00:42:27] I get it.

[00:42:28] However, I think that's how people, that's why I think that the sentiment is going down is people are just, they're retrenching and they're going back and saying, yeah, you know what?

[00:42:38] I care about all of the people that are marginalized.

[00:42:42] Check.

[00:42:43] I got it.

[00:42:43] But right now I'm just trying to stay afloat.

[00:42:47] And so I think that that's, you know, I hope I'm wrong.

[00:42:52] And so in that line of thought, if I have that, if I'm tracking, if I have that right, I think that people are thinking of DEI programs as luxuries, not necessities.

[00:43:05] And much of what we, what we heard through the pandemic was that we have to do this.

[00:43:11] It is morally correct.

[00:43:13] It is ethically correct.

[00:43:14] It's just a good thing to do for the business and everything.

[00:43:18] All the reasons were in the direction of, yes, you should do this.

[00:43:22] And now that we're here, I think, I think what people are saying is more, yeah, great.

[00:43:30] All that stuff.

[00:43:30] Cool.

[00:43:32] Keep doing it.

[00:43:34] But I still want my job.

[00:43:37] I care more about me than I care about that.

[00:43:40] Now, do you use that track?

[00:43:42] I mean, am I way off?

[00:43:44] No.

[00:43:45] I think that's, I mean, people have to survive, right?

[00:43:48] And so it's kind of like, oh, you know, I dropped a candy wrapper on the ground.

[00:43:53] I didn't pick it up.

[00:43:55] Okay.

[00:43:55] There's got to be 14 trillion other candy wrappers that need to fall in order to have an effect.

[00:44:02] Or is it our 14 trillion people picking up their candy wrapper?

[00:44:06] No.

[00:44:06] Have I ever told you my bit on littering?

[00:44:10] No, but I'm guessing you're going to tell me now.

[00:44:13] I'm pro-littering because I believe it creates employment.

[00:44:19] So someone's got to pick that shit up.

[00:44:22] God.

[00:44:24] So, so I, I am a serial litterer in the sense of like, you know what?

[00:44:31] That's what we have jails for.

[00:44:32] We got people that are going to go out and clean up trash.

[00:44:35] Wow.

[00:44:38] So, so, so.

[00:44:40] Okay.

[00:44:41] Some of that I say in jest.

[00:44:43] Some of it I don't.

[00:44:45] Like, I don't, I'll throw shit out the window.

[00:44:48] Like, all right.

[00:44:48] And no, because you know what?

[00:44:51] Someone's got to pick that shit up and it could be a nonprofit.

[00:44:54] It could be scouts.

[00:44:56] It could be the girl scouts.

[00:44:57] It could be anybody.

[00:44:58] It could be prison workers or prisoners, et cetera.

[00:45:01] I don't give a shit.

[00:45:02] Or we could just keep the earth clean.

[00:45:04] Good luck with that.

[00:45:08] All right.

[00:45:09] Did that hurt?

[00:45:10] Did that stop it?

[00:45:11] Did that hurt?

[00:45:13] It's going to get me in your head the next time you're driving.

[00:45:16] God.

[00:45:17] The cleaning company.

[00:45:19] The cleaning company.

[00:45:20] Let's get on to these guys.

[00:45:22] They identify key HR trends for 2025.

[00:45:25] Okay.

[00:45:26] Right?

[00:45:26] Because why not?

[00:45:27] Ooh.

[00:45:28] Trend reports are starting to fly.

[00:45:30] Yeah.

[00:45:30] This is it.

[00:45:31] Time of year.

[00:45:31] So they released a report that highlights priorities for HR in 2025, which focused on evolving

[00:45:38] leadership skills, improving data proficiency, and addressing workforce well-being amid all

[00:45:44] of the economic pressures.

[00:45:46] So three key things that I pulled out of here.

[00:45:50] You know, I don't necessarily have a lot of thoughts on this one today, but it just, you

[00:45:55] know, I did when I read it.

[00:45:56] Not now that we're littering.

[00:46:00] Leadership skills.

[00:46:01] It's coming in your head, dude.

[00:46:03] It is.

[00:46:03] It is.

[00:46:04] Most leaders at 73% think they need to improve their skills to handle the future of work.

[00:46:09] I like that.

[00:46:10] Who doesn't?

[00:46:11] I mean, that's 27%, right?

[00:46:15] Who doesn't think they need to improve?

[00:46:17] I want to meet those dudes.

[00:46:18] That 27% of people that are going to fail their companies.

[00:46:21] Okay.

[00:46:22] Okay.

[00:46:23] You're probably right.

[00:46:24] Actually, you're probably right on that.

[00:46:25] Yeah.

[00:46:25] It's just like they've given up.

[00:46:27] They're retiring.

[00:46:28] Got it.

[00:46:29] Yeah.

[00:46:29] So using better data.

[00:46:31] So there's only a small number of HR teams.

[00:46:35] It was 29% that said they're good at making decisions based on data.

[00:46:41] So most companies have the data or have some data or a form of data, but they're still relying

[00:46:48] on themselves and conversations in their gut to make their decisions, which is why number

[00:46:54] one exists in leadership skills.

[00:46:56] But the 27% of people that aren't, that don't think they need better leadership skills is

[00:47:01] probably the 29% in two.

[00:47:05] And then the economic challenges with obviously with the economy being shaken, 70% of people

[00:47:12] think it's the biggest risk to keeping workers happy and healthy.

[00:47:18] So those are the three, the three trends that they, well, not the three, there were more.

[00:47:22] Those are the three that I picked out of the report, but check it out.

[00:47:25] It's at a cleaning company.

[00:47:27] You can check it out.

[00:47:28] They just go to their website.

[00:47:29] You'll find it.

[00:47:29] Love it.

[00:47:32] All right.

[00:47:32] Two research stories left.

[00:47:35] Keeping pace with evolving technology trends and employee needs.

[00:47:40] 75% of people leaders struggle to meet employees needs and evolving business objectives with

[00:47:48] their HR strategy.

[00:47:50] This was on a company called Aconso.

[00:47:52] So A-C-O-N-S-O dot com.

[00:47:57] This tracks.

[00:47:58] So first of all, 75% tracks for me.

[00:48:01] It's a high number, but it tracks for me.

[00:48:03] And what I see in 75% is burnout and retirement because it's not a winnable game.

[00:48:13] And I think that's, that's, that's heartbreaking because we've got a lot of friends in HR and

[00:48:18] HR leadership and you know, everything's moving beneath their feet.

[00:48:23] The expectations are going through the roof and it's not fun.

[00:48:27] And I think, I think that the job itself, whether or not chief people officer, chief human resource

[00:48:33] officer, whatever you want to call it, the person that manages talent, a chief talent officer,

[00:48:38] if you will, the game's got to be fun on some level.

[00:48:45] HR historically has not rewarded experimentation.

[00:48:50] They have to get it right.

[00:48:52] And the problem with that is because of there's so much change, they can't get it right because

[00:48:59] there's no such thing as right.

[00:49:01] There's right now, but there is no right.

[00:49:05] There's no wrong.

[00:49:05] There's no right.

[00:49:06] And so I think like marketers, you know, the beauty of marketing is end sales.

[00:49:12] You can just throw shit against the wall.

[00:49:14] If it doesn't work, all right, change it.

[00:49:17] Yeah.

[00:49:17] I think, I think this is, you're going to start to see this more though.

[00:49:22] Yeah.

[00:49:22] I think historically HR was HR, right?

[00:49:26] It was a personnel department.

[00:49:28] You went there for a reason and that was it.

[00:49:29] It was like a lawyer.

[00:49:30] You don't want your lawyer coming in and being fucking goofy.

[00:49:33] You don't want to talk to these people.

[00:49:34] No.

[00:49:35] Yeah.

[00:49:35] You don't, you don't want your doctor to come in and be a goofball, right?

[00:49:38] You want them to come in, be stark, like flip flops.

[00:49:41] Yeah.

[00:49:41] Like, yeah.

[00:49:42] You want them to be the position, right?

[00:49:44] It's not like a marketer who's like, yeah, I put green here, red here.

[00:49:48] Like, yeah.

[00:49:49] But now, now I think that changes.

[00:49:52] I think now the way society is now and the way workplace is now, I think that changes.

[00:49:59] I think HR has become more creative.

[00:50:02] They have to.

[00:50:02] They have to be to keep the employees because HR is no longer just about pushing paper and

[00:50:09] process, right?

[00:50:10] It's about people, right?

[00:50:12] But there's a whole other half of that.

[00:50:15] So I don't think compliance isn't going to get creative and they probably shouldn't.

[00:50:18] It should.

[00:50:19] But the other half can.

[00:50:21] And I think that's where we're going to see this kick in.

[00:50:23] Now, which I agree with you, by the way, that begs the question, do those leaders have creative

[00:50:30] abilities?

[00:50:31] I think so.

[00:50:32] And or will the leadership, the rest of the leadership team allow them to fail?

[00:50:40] Because creativity...

[00:50:41] I think they have the creativity.

[00:50:43] I think they've never been able to use it.

[00:50:44] Okay.

[00:50:45] And those that don't are going to get pushed out anyhow.

[00:50:47] There you go.

[00:50:47] So it's just...

[00:50:48] Yeah.

[00:50:49] Times are changing, baby.

[00:50:50] Pushed out.

[00:50:52] You're right.

[00:50:53] I just wouldn't have used that term.

[00:50:54] All right.

[00:50:55] So let me run this one, Patchy.

[00:50:56] And this is the last one for research.

[00:50:58] 93% of Gen Z workers use at least two AI tools a week, according to new research from Google

[00:51:06] Workspace, which is cool, and the Harris Poll.

[00:51:09] So you can find this research on GoogleCloudPressCorner.com.

[00:51:14] So this is based on a survey of over 1,000 U.S.-based knowledge workers ages 22 to 39.

[00:51:24] Currently hold or aspire to leadership positions at work, young leaders.

[00:51:29] There's no...

[00:51:30] There are so many good stats.

[00:51:32] I mean, when looking at this report, this is just one that I pulled out.

[00:51:38] Go and look.

[00:51:39] Go and look at this research because it is really, really good.

[00:51:43] Another stat that stuck out to me is that 87% of respondents believe that AI can make

[00:51:50] them more comfortable composing lengthy emails on their phones.

[00:51:55] The reason that stuck out with me, for me, is Gen Z hates email.

[00:52:01] And if it can help them get over that hump of hating email to then using email, it'll help

[00:52:07] the rest of the organization.

[00:52:09] I think they secretly like email.

[00:52:11] Oh.

[00:52:15] Yeah, no, I know.

[00:52:16] Mine, they...

[00:52:20] Yeah, yeah.

[00:52:21] What I don't want to get to, though, is...

[00:52:25] And this is the boomer in me, right?

[00:52:28] It's...

[00:52:29] Don't want AI-generated emails all of the time.

[00:52:34] Because even if you can't tell, like, I want to know that I'm communicating with my coworkers.

[00:52:39] Well, I have to correct grammarly pretty much everything I compose on every...

[00:52:45] Wherever it is, because it takes my voice out.

[00:52:49] It corrects it to what it should be, but it dampens my voice.

[00:52:57] I'm like, yeah, fuck that shit.

[00:52:59] Let's restate that.

[00:52:59] You're not correcting grammarly.

[00:53:02] Grammarly is correcting you.

[00:53:03] You're bringing it back and making it stupider.

[00:53:06] I've never said ducking in my entire life.

[00:53:11] And never will outside of this conversation.

[00:53:14] This is where stupider becomes a word.

[00:53:15] You're making grammarly stupider.

[00:53:17] Don't take my voice.

[00:53:18] Don't take my voice away from me.

[00:53:20] All right, man.

[00:53:21] Let's talk some money.

[00:53:24] Dollar dollar bills.

[00:53:25] Funding.

[00:53:26] Yeah, we've got some funding here.

[00:53:27] So, all right.

[00:53:29] Bluespine raises $7.2 million in seed funding.

[00:53:33] This is a cool play for me.

[00:53:34] This is AI managing the claims process to prevent overbilling and ensure that the negotiated rates are actually paid.

[00:53:44] Right.

[00:53:45] So, this is like coding errors from humans or machines.

[00:53:52] It doesn't matter.

[00:53:53] Or you're at the office like, oh, well, negotiated rate is $25 and we're going to bill $65 because we can.

[00:53:59] And they never check.

[00:54:00] So, case study that they ran with a client.

[00:54:05] So, they ran through 130,000 claims.

[00:54:08] 130,000 claims were analyzed.

[00:54:11] So, total value was $43 million in total value.

[00:54:16] And 4.9 million in coding errors were found.

[00:54:22] 10%?

[00:54:24] Yeah.

[00:54:25] Roughly 9%, 10%.

[00:54:27] 9 million or 4.9, sorry.

[00:54:29] In millions.

[00:54:31] Coding errors.

[00:54:32] That would have not been found before.

[00:54:36] That's a lot of money.

[00:54:37] That's a lot of money.

[00:54:38] That's a lot of money.

[00:54:39] 10%.

[00:54:39] Yeah.

[00:54:41] And again, I think you're spot on.

[00:54:43] No one goes back and looks at those things.

[00:54:45] No.

[00:54:46] No one goes back and looks at how much was actually charged.

[00:54:50] So, I love this software play.

[00:54:52] I'm with you.

[00:54:53] I want to use it for me.

[00:54:56] For no reason.

[00:54:57] Soda Health.

[00:54:58] S-O-D-A Health.

[00:55:00] Soda Health closes an oversubscribed 50 million Series B to scale its smart benefits operating system.

[00:55:08] So, this is at sodahealth.com.

[00:55:10] You can kind of look them up.

[00:55:12] Basically, what Soda Health does, it does a lot of things.

[00:55:15] It's benefits optimization.

[00:55:17] Okay.

[00:55:18] So, it goes into all your benefits and looks at consumption.

[00:55:21] It looks at what got used.

[00:55:23] So, it's looking backwards.

[00:55:25] And it helps you then prescribe what needs to happen next year.

[00:55:31] Based on what happened in the previous quarter, year, whatever the bid is.

[00:55:36] Based on age group.

[00:55:37] Based on all the data that they have.

[00:55:40] Here's the benefits that you should subscribe to.

[00:55:48] Also, here's the benefits that you have employees.

[00:55:52] Use them.

[00:55:54] So, it also does that as well.

[00:55:57] Anyhow, raise 50 million.

[00:55:59] Good for them.

[00:55:59] I love the play.

[00:56:01] Anything to get more out of the benefits we already have?

[00:56:04] Check.

[00:56:05] We're seeing a lot of this now.

[00:56:07] A lot of these types of plays now because you always said benefit is not a benefit.

[00:56:11] Right?

[00:56:12] Unless it's used.

[00:56:15] And I just, I look back to when I had corporate coverage.

[00:56:19] I didn't know what the hell.

[00:56:20] Like if I went to the doctor, I was lucky.

[00:56:22] Yeah.

[00:56:23] But I still paid for it.

[00:56:24] Right.

[00:56:25] And I didn't know.

[00:56:26] I'm like, I can go to the gym.

[00:56:30] Yeah.

[00:56:32] But outside of that, I've got no clue.

[00:56:36] Anyhow.

[00:56:36] I do believe that AI will help that.

[00:56:40] I do believe whether or not that's Soda or somebody else.

[00:56:44] This little, like you said, this little agent that's running right along with you is basically saying, hey, you kind of seem a little bit down.

[00:56:52] You know you have an EAP for mental health, right?

[00:56:55] Right.

[00:56:55] Right.

[00:56:55] Here's the link.

[00:56:57] I'll schedule an appointment, whatever the bid is.

[00:56:59] So.

[00:57:00] All right.

[00:57:01] Another one.

[00:57:02] I'm going to mispronounce these guys.

[00:57:05] Socium?

[00:57:06] Socium?

[00:57:07] S-O-C-I-U-M.

[00:57:08] Well, they raised $5 million in a seed round.

[00:57:11] This is a French company.

[00:57:12] This is an HRIS, right?

[00:57:14] So nothing off the wall crazy.

[00:57:17] Young company.

[00:57:18] They have 100 plus user companies.

[00:57:22] They're in 15 countries.

[00:57:24] 1,000 employees are managed under their software.

[00:57:28] It's a young startup.

[00:57:29] Very crowded in this world.

[00:57:32] So I'm curious to see, like, really what they're doing different to come in.

[00:57:36] It's kind of like building another ATS.

[00:57:38] It's always a need for it, I guess.

[00:57:39] Well, HR in France and Germany, it's almost impossible.

[00:57:46] So even if they just fix and they do it in France and Germany, they'll be winning.

[00:57:53] They'll be acquired.

[00:57:54] There you go.

[00:57:56] Good for them.

[00:57:57] Congrats.

[00:57:58] Ryan, in Mexico's tense job market, Minu, they take on employee benefits, including financial wellness, by raising $30 million in new funding.

[00:58:11] So it's on TechCrunch, actually.

[00:58:13] So you go to TechCrunch and put in Minu, M-I-N-U.

[00:58:17] And I'm probably pronouncing that incorrectly, of course.

[00:58:20] Maybe.

[00:58:20] But my take on this is I love this because when you think of Mexico, and, of course, I'm a Texan, so, you know, this could be different for people in different parts of the country.

[00:58:31] But when I think of Mexico, I don't think of mental health, financial wellness, or physical wellness.

[00:58:39] No hate.

[00:58:40] But from an HR perspective, Central and South America are laggards.

[00:58:46] Right.

[00:58:47] In my humble opinion.

[00:58:49] And if somebody disagrees with that or thinks I'm being racist or some shit like that, prove me wrong.

[00:58:55] Like, show me somewhere in Central and South America where not just where we are in the U.S., but beyond where we are.

[00:59:07] Right.

[00:59:08] And I don't think it exists.

[00:59:11] Yeah.

[00:59:12] I like this play.

[00:59:13] I love that they're, first of all, I was shocked when I came across this story.

[00:59:18] I'm like, what?

[00:59:19] Like, is that New Mexico?

[00:59:21] No.

[00:59:21] That's actually Mexico proper.

[00:59:23] So good for them.

[00:59:25] Good for their customers.

[00:59:26] There you go.

[00:59:27] All right.

[00:59:27] So I threw this one in because I had some questions about it.

[00:59:32] All right.

[00:59:32] Bring it.

[00:59:32] I like the play.

[00:59:35] It's like physical therapy.

[00:59:36] It's remote health care.

[00:59:37] Physical therapy at a lower cost, right?

[00:59:39] So you can go on.

[00:59:40] You have your physical therapist.

[00:59:42] Excuse me.

[00:59:43] Interactive assessment.

[00:59:46] Low cost.

[00:59:47] $150 a month a user type thing.

[00:59:49] The company's called Include Health.

[00:59:52] And they just did a Series C raise of $5 million.

[00:59:57] That's a low number for Series C.

[00:59:59] And that's why I included it, right?

[01:00:01] Right.

[01:00:03] I mean, look, you can look at it a couple different ways, but Series C 5, I mean, why?

[01:00:09] Like, why only $5 million?

[01:00:11] I don't think there's a lot of push there.

[01:00:14] I mean, I hope I'm wrong.

[01:00:15] It's somebody's dream.

[01:00:17] Yeah, of course.

[01:00:18] But what?

[01:00:19] But yeah, why $5 million, right?

[01:00:21] I mean, all the limitations there are pretty crazy.

[01:00:25] We see usually in the $40, $30, $40, $50 million range.

[01:00:30] $100 million.

[01:00:31] Yeah, it's up there.

[01:00:32] Yeah.

[01:00:32] So $5 million, that could be an aggressive way to kind of keep your cap table.

[01:00:39] You know, basically you do another round of funding, but you don't give away a lot of your equity.

[01:00:47] Yeah.

[01:00:47] So it could be that.

[01:00:48] Then you're messing with a Series D, right?

[01:00:53] And your valuations and all that BS.

[01:00:55] That's right.

[01:00:55] Yeah.

[01:00:56] Interesting.

[01:00:56] But I like the play.

[01:00:57] I do too.

[01:00:58] I love remote healthcare.

[01:00:59] Yeah.

[01:01:00] I like the play.

[01:01:00] I actually use it.

[01:01:01] I use doxy, D-O-X-Y dot M-E for my pharmacologist.

[01:01:07] And I love it.

[01:01:07] Like I get to see him and we go through stuff and it's just easy.

[01:01:11] Nice.

[01:01:13] Well, there you go.

[01:01:15] Stretch dollar.

[01:01:17] Raises $6 million to fix benefits for small businesses.

[01:01:22] I know you're going to like this one.

[01:01:23] So that stretch dollar, as you would spell it, com.

[01:01:28] So you can go into their press center, see all that bit.

[01:01:31] A much needed solution for a group that isn't targeted as much by work tech.

[01:01:38] As, you know, we've talked about several times, most work tech, they go to the enterprise.

[01:01:44] Biggest companies, largest companies, et cetera.

[01:01:46] So I see a lot of partnerships in their future.

[01:01:50] I don't know if they have to go to direct.

[01:01:53] In fact, I'd probably advise them not to go to direct.

[01:01:57] And every, I think again, almost everybody that targets the SMB like Xerox or, you know, ADP, you know, the SBA, Cambridge or Commerce, anybody that's already interacting with that world is now a partner.

[01:02:17] Or could be a partner.

[01:02:19] So I love this.

[01:02:22] So stretch dollar, $6 million.

[01:02:23] Congratulations to them.

[01:02:24] But more importantly, congratulations for the target market that they're going after.

[01:02:29] Yeah.

[01:02:29] Yeah.

[01:02:30] SMBs are well underserved.

[01:02:33] And I like the name too.

[01:02:34] Yeah.

[01:02:34] I like the name.

[01:02:35] I think that will actually resonate with the buyers.

[01:02:39] The owners.

[01:02:40] Yeah.

[01:02:41] Yeah.

[01:02:41] Stretch that dollar, baby.

[01:02:43] Get it.

[01:02:43] All right.

[01:02:44] Coach Hub.

[01:02:44] This is my final funding for today.

[01:02:48] Coach Hub secured $40 million growth financing facility.

[01:02:54] So Coach Hub, which you know, is a digital coaching platform.

[01:02:59] They received the funding from HSBC in the UK.

[01:03:04] Yeah.

[01:03:04] Right?

[01:03:04] Is that right?

[01:03:05] That's true.

[01:03:06] Yeah.

[01:03:07] Yeah.

[01:03:08] So I've been, we've, we talked about these guys six months ago or so.

[01:03:15] Right.

[01:03:16] But the, you know, and I liked them ever since.

[01:03:23] I got to clear my throat.

[01:03:24] I got a little frog today.

[01:03:26] I've liked them ever since.

[01:03:28] Actually, a couple of years back, we were at HR tech and it was just all learning.

[01:03:32] Yeah.

[01:03:32] Like anywhere you looked was learning, learning, learning.

[01:03:36] And ever since then, I've kind of been partially fascinated with it.

[01:03:41] But now with AI and the ability to do things with coaching, I've, I've kind of fallen in love

[01:03:49] with the, with the industry, which is why I've included here.

[01:03:54] Well, and I read the seminar article on them, love coaching, especially coaching with intent

[01:04:02] to develop skills.

[01:04:04] So to give the audience a little bit of background there, they've got currently 3,500 certified

[01:04:10] business coaches coaches in 90 countries offering coaching sessions in over 80 languages to more

[01:04:20] than a thousand enterprise clients across six continents.

[01:04:26] And for those keeping track at home, total funding for Coach Hub is now 330 million.

[01:04:33] But like just the numbers, what I just spit to you, like, okay, that's legit, man.

[01:04:40] That's covering the world.

[01:04:42] So I love it.

[01:04:43] I love the, I love the play.

[01:04:45] And again, I like coaching in general.

[01:04:47] Yeah.

[01:04:48] Coaching tech in general.

[01:04:50] Yeah.

[01:04:50] So good.

[01:04:51] Congratulations to them.

[01:04:52] So you don't take coaching.

[01:04:54] You'll like, I would never be coached.

[01:04:56] I'm uncoachable.

[01:04:58] I like others to be coached.

[01:05:00] Does that make sense?

[01:05:03] I need other people to be coached up, but yeah, I could, I don't have a mentor.

[01:05:07] I don't have a coach.

[01:05:09] Shut up.

[01:05:09] Fuck it.

[01:05:11] So, Telenium.

[01:05:12] Talentum.

[01:05:14] T-A-L-E-N-T.

[01:05:17] Talent.

[01:05:18] Talentium.

[01:05:19] I-U.

[01:05:19] Talent?

[01:05:20] Talentium.

[01:05:21] Anyhow, from Sweden.

[01:05:22] So fuck knows how it's actually pronounced.

[01:05:25] They secured 3.5 million.

[01:05:28] No, Telenium.

[01:05:29] Telenium.

[01:05:30] Oh, good job.

[01:05:30] It's like Telenio, but Telenium.

[01:05:34] Oh, man.

[01:05:35] I mean, my heart.

[01:05:38] Anyhow, 3.5 million in euros to revolutionize recruitment with AI-powered platform.

[01:05:45] This is on FoundersToday.news.

[01:05:48] Much of what I love.

[01:05:50] Okay.

[01:05:50] So why I included this?

[01:05:53] You know, throw a dart and you can find a recruiting solution.

[01:05:58] But what I like about this particular play, outside of the name being hard for me to pronounce, is much of the solution is prompt-based.

[01:06:10] So it's the open AI, it's ChatGBT, it's Gemini.

[01:06:16] It's thinking of, like, it's interface.

[01:06:20] It's not the standard interfaces that you and I have dealt with for 100 years.

[01:06:26] And so I like that part of it.

[01:06:28] It's like, okay, so we're making, it might do some of the same things that we see other tools do.

[01:06:34] But the interface, the way it interfaces with the candidate or with the hiring manager or the recruiter, that interface is different.

[01:06:44] Right.

[01:06:45] Which I think makes a significant difference in adoption later today and in the next couple of years.

[01:06:52] I think the more we use ChatGBT and tools like that, the more we're going to want that in the other parts of our lives.

[01:06:59] I don't use Google.

[01:07:00] I have not used Google.

[01:07:01] Google.

[01:07:02] It's probably been a couple of months.

[01:07:04] Yeah.

[01:07:05] Well, of course.

[01:07:06] I just haven't.

[01:07:06] It's just not interesting to me anymore.

[01:07:08] There's no need to.

[01:07:10] Anyhow, telenium.

[01:07:12] Congratulations.

[01:07:13] 3.5 million in euros.

[01:07:17] Boom.

[01:07:18] And we're done.

[01:07:19] There we go.

[01:07:20] So thank you all so much for listening.

[01:07:23] We really appreciate it.

[01:07:24] 100%.

[01:07:24] Like us, subscribe, review us if you could.

[01:07:27] And we will see you next time.