HR, We Have a Problem - How to leverage strategic partnerships and technology to reimagine talent acquisition and career development.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I said to the team from the very beginning, I said, if you don't build something of value,

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_01]: they won't come back. And someone recently said to me, well, why would they come back after

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_01]: they get a job? And I said, because it's about lifelong learning. You know, but our goal

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_01]: was never to support someone in a moment and then disappear out of their lives. You know,

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_01]: we hope to grow with the individual. We hope to make sure we're always helping them

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: up skill.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the HR Huddle podcast presented by Sapient Insights Group, the ultimate resource

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: for all things HR. It's time to get in the huddle.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the HR Huddle. I'm your host, Terry Zipper, CEO and managing

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_02]: partner at Sapient Insights Group. And I'm back for another exciting episode of HR, We

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Have a Problem. This is the show where we like to break down the big and most relevant HR

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_02]: issues of the day. We help you make sense of what they mean for you. And we talk about

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_02]: what you might do about them. Joining me today is Kim Sneeder. Kim is the Managing

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_02]: Director for the Workforce Solutions Company Career Circle. Welcome, Kim. I'm excited

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_02]: to talk to you today.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks, Terry. Really excited to be here.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. So Career Circle I know helps or the focus really is on underrepresented individuals,

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_02]: finding jobs, reskilling, upskilling and just really gaining important assistance

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_02]: in the job preparation process, which can be complicated. And I really want to learn

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_02]: more about how you're doing it. And I know our listeners will want to know more

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_02]: about this and maybe even how they can get involved. So I thought that's what we would

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_02]: do today is just kind of do a deep dive and talk about some of these things so that people

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_02]: know more about what's going on at Career Circle. Does that sound like a good plan

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_02]: to you?

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Sounds like a great plan, absolutely.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_02]: All right then, let's get into the huddle. So I get press releases from Devon Group

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_02]: and I saw one a few months back about Career Circle that really intrigued me.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_02]: I think you guys were just named to like Fast Company's annual list of the world's most

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_02]: innovative companies in 2024 alongside big names like NVIDIA and OpenAI and just other

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_02]: companies doing really cool things. And I had some serious FOMO. I was like, how come

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know who this company is? And I don't know what they do and why don't I know?

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_02]: And so, you know, I immediately picked up the phone and called Jean and said,

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_02]: hey, can I get Kim on my podcast? Because I'd love to talk about this. So that's kind of

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_02]: how I learned about Career Circle and I really thought, you know, we need to get this and

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_02]: we need to talk about it on the show. People need to know more about what you guys are

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_02]: doing. So tell us a little bit, Kim, about how this all got started.

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely. And Terry, thank you so much for the invitation. I've said for years

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_01]: since Career Circle was founded about five years ago, we are so great at doing

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: the work. We haven't been great about telling people about what we do. So what an

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_01]: honor to be here today. So I have been with the Allegious Group for the past almost

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_01]: 26 years. So that's all of your large staffing brief systems, Aira Tag,

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Aston Carter, et cetera. And about five and a half years ago, the president at

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_01]: the time, Andy Hilger came to me and what we were trying to solution was

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_01]: the skills gap. There were 85 million people in the Allegious Network. But even

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_01]: when I was in operations or national sales, how many times did I hear a recruiter

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_01]: say you're not qualified? And then you sort of end the call. Well, there's two

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: problems with that. Number one, it's not super inspiring to the candidate.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_01]: How do I get qualified? And then number two, we were watching hiring

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_01]: managers wait for months on end trying to find that perfect candidate. And

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_01]: with the pace of technology, sometimes that's problematic. So we were trying to

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_01]: solve that. And it was about three months into building the platform that I

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_01]: called Andy and I said, okay, we're going to do that. But there are a couple

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01]: things that I want to pivot on. Number one, getting people upskilled as part

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_01]: of the journey. But life isn't changed or an organization is not impacted

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: until they actually secure a role. And I said that there's a breakdown in

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01]: the process, both from a technology perspective and an advocacy. And the

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_01]: second piece was we wanted to serve the communities that were most empowered. So

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: the veteran community women re-entering the workforce and underrepresented

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_01]: talent. And I said to Andy, we had the makeup of underrepresented talent

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: in tech. And I said, think about this with a strong platform and with

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_01]: the right technology and with amazing employers can actually change the

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: makeup of underrepresented individuals. And that's what we set out to do,

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: building this ecosystem within the technology to start to number one

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: solution the skills gap, but also serve our communities, which is really

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: powerful to impact a client's bottom line and your community at the same

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_01]: time.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I mean, the skills gap is just huge right now. It's been an issue

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_02]: for a long time. And, you know, it's not just about knowing what the right

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_02]: skills are, it's about figuring out how do I get them? And, you know, where

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_02]: can I get them? And so I think that's one of the things that was

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_02]: exciting about what you guys are doing. It's not just about matching

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_02]: people. It's also about helping them gain the skills and look for

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_02]: things that might be a good fit for them if they had certain additional

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_02]: skills.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right, because for the candidate, you know, there was a

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: point where there were so many of skilling opportunities. So

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_01]: individuals were taking all of these courses and curriculum, but

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: they didn't always understand what role does that translate to? Or

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_01]: if I want to be a systems analyst, but I don't have any

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_01]: experience, do I need to start off as customer service go in to

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: help desk, etc. Like what is my career journey that I need? And

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: then we were also telling the world you're more than a resume. But

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_01]: what was TA getting? Resume. So there's a breakdown on both sides

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_01]: where with organizations with the best intent that wanted to serve

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_01]: their communities. If I'm getting a resume and I don't see a

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_01]: translation in there. Oftentimes, there was a breakdown in the

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_01]: process right from the beginning.

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and I'm imagining this is changing some of the game and

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_02]: talent acquisition group in terms of how this this matching

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_02]: works and you know how to really go about looking for the

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_02]: right people because sometimes it's not about matching all the

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_02]: skills. Right? You've got to match other components of

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_02]: capability and knowledge and just culture and things like

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_02]: that that can be sometimes much more important than maybe one

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_02]: particular skill.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right. I mean, in the technology for their profile,

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_01]: there really is a 360 degree view of the candidate. So it is

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_01]: more than a resume. It's the skills, it's different

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_01]: assessments. Try things like volunteer and passion project.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_01]: It is amazing. We've had some members where their resume

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_01]: would pretty small. Maybe they didn't have as much

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01]: experience. But when you ask them about their passion projects

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and volunteer works, we had a gentleman recently that built an

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: app. That's pretty important. But that would have gotten lost in

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: a traditional job. So pulling in all of all of those

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: dimensions.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's really looking at the full picture. I know we've

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_02]: been working with a company and Raleigh that basically

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_02]: they're their home model, they staff their coffee shop

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_02]: with individuals from with intellectual and developmental

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_02]: disabilities. And so it's really sort of taking and matching

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_02]: the people with your values, right? And you know, this is

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_02]: this is the approach. This is what we want to do. This is

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_02]: how we see the world and how we're going to approach it.

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right. And it's been really interesting because I

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_01]: think within skills based hiring, there became this

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_01]: feeling of it's all entry level talent. And that's simply not

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_01]: the case. I mean, now that we the board, the platform has been

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: in existence for five and a half years, our average tenure is

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: actually seven years. And you also losing. Yeah, and you see

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_01]: women re answering the workforce that might have had 10 or 12

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_01]: years experience before their career break. And then what

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: would happen? A recruiter would say, Oh, I need a

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: reference from your last two years. Well, unless I'm going to

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_01]: put a headset on my four year old, I can't buy that. So does that

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_01]: mean that all in my experience is now discounted? So it's just

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_01]: some of those things that we're having the technology help

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_01]: with so that we don't get you know, in our own way.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you talked about an individual the last time we

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_02]: spoke that basically their their background was very

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_02]: different than what the role was asking for. But the things that

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_02]: they had done in their their life were just very relevant to

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_02]: the kind of person that this organization was looking for. And

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I think, you know, that's just so key to this process.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, we had an individual recently that was a

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_01]: barista. And if you Google the attributes of a barista, you

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_01]: see things like customer service attention to detail, you

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_01]: know, handling multiple multitasking, etc. Well, this

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_01]: individual took the project management certificate and did

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_01]: exceedingly well. The organization that hired her

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_01]: quickly identified her as a top reformer. She's now managing

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_01]: five individuals. And her salary is 4x what it was a year

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_01]: ago. And literally one of their top performers. So again,

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there are so many stories. And I think that's

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_01]: what keeps me so excited. Because you're talking about

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: generational change in those examples. And if you look at the

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_01]: last couple years, I've been in industry for 26 years. And so I

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_01]: feel like I've seen highs, I've seen lows and the last two

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_01]: years have been tough. I saw a statistic recently with one of

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_01]: the organizations I partner with and they had said staffing

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_01]: was down 13%. But last year, our starts increased by 64%.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And what's really interesting about that is it wasn't just

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_01]: organizations that said, I'm focusing on skill based hiring,

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_01]: or I'm focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion, or

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_01]: organizations that wanted top talent. And the talent on the

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_01]: platform simply beat out other talent. So what you're

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_01]: really saying is you're gaining access to top talent with

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_01]: relevant skills. And oh, by the way, you're also going to

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_01]: get a diverse organization, increased retention and

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_01]: increased your culture and your loyalty is obviously

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_01]: positively impacted as well.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I just think that's so important to the world of work

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_02]: that we live in today. And you know, it's hard to find jobs,

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_02]: especially when you start to see the number of job seekers,

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_02]: you know, going up and the number of job openings going

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_02]: down. And, you know, it's it's hard for people no matter what

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_02]: skills they've been developing to get into and have

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_02]: conversations with people at some of these larger

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_02]: organizations that they might have an interest in doing

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_02]: something for or could really do big things for them. And so

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_02]: I just I think this is such an important thing for people

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_02]: to focus on. I'd really like to talk a little bit about how

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_02]: you work with partners and how some of these organizations

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_02]: like I know you're working with Microsoft and some other

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_02]: organizations, you know, talk a little bit about how that

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_02]: works and how organizations might engage with you guys.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely, Terry. So within the platform really envision an

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_01]: ecosystem. Because one of the things that was really

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_01]: important to me in my former life, I would lead large

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_01]: national large national accounts. And one of the things

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I would hear from clients is to really do this work. Someone

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_01]: was building a relationship with all the nonprofits. And then

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: you have the career readiness and then you have LND to make

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: sure their skills were so you had all of these different

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_01]: departments with a lot of infrastructure trying to solve it.

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So I thought, okay, if we can bring everything into one

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_01]: ecosystem, that's one place for people to go to that was

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_01]: the goal. So first partners are those nonprofits. There

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_01]: are about 153 nonprofits that joined have joined the platform.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And I really call that a transfer of trust. So they're

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: phenomenal at building community, but they need to serve

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_01]: their members with upskilling with finding jobs, etc. So we

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_01]: bring those individuals in and we focus on nonprofits that

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: support underrepresented communities, women, re-dreams

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_01]: workforce and veterans. And the next component is the

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_01]: upskilling. So we partner with organizations like Google,

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_01]: their Grow with Google program. First circle is actually the

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: platform that all of their graduates are invited to. So

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Project Management, data analysts, cybersecurity, IT

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_01]: support, all of those graduates are coming in. We also work

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_01]: with IBM. We do some work with Microsoft and then sales

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_01]: force as well for the Salesforce certifications. So

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_01]: those amazing technology organizations are helping us

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_01]: train individuals. And then the next piece would be the

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_01]: employers. So employers can join in the platform in a couple

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_01]: different ways, they can easily share their jobs so that now

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: the 154,000 people that are on the platform can see the

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: jobs and apply right into their ATS that can always be

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_01]: working in the background, which is a really nice opportunity to

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_01]: gain access to the candidates. Also, the employers can come

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and join the platform and they can source screen and vet talent

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_01]: right from the platform. They can communicate with the

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_01]: talent. And I always suggest that as well. And then we

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_01]: have a team. So if there are certain requirements that you

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_01]: want, that organization wants us to work on, we can do

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_01]: that. And lastly, our virtual career fairs have been wildly

[00:15:15] [SPEAKER_01]: effective. The engagement from the members has been over 74%

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01]: attending and employers have been blown away. What we do

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_01]: differently is we work with the employers to determine some

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_01]: of the requisitions they might want to have showcased that

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_01]: day. And we'll actually for a couple weeks leading up, we

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_01]: are sourcing and screening on their behalf so that the

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_01]: members know that that employer is going to be there, what

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_01]: they're hiring for, and they can be prepared to get in that booth

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_01]: to video and to chat with them. So lots of different ways to get

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_01]: involved. But I would say your main partners are the

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_01]: nonprofits because it's all important to me that we honor

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_01]: our promise. We said we would change the makeup

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_01]: underrepresented individuals in tech, we're going to do that.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_01]: So we got to make sure we're serving those communities. And

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_01]: then again, our large technology partners making sure they have

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_01]: skills at our level event, being trained by the best of the best.

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And then making sure that we have that incredible bridge to

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_01]: connect the talent with the client.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, how often do you do these career fairs? That sounds

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_02]: interesting. I'd love to see one of those.

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so June 13th, we have one coming up that is tech

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_01]: her way, helping really change the makeup of women in tech.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And if you look overall, you'll see about 24%, but 36% of our

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_01]: hires have been women. I mean, one thing about career circle,

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_01]: if you want reporting, if you want something measured, it will

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_01]: be done by career circle because we use that to make sure

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_01]: we're honoring our promises. We also have a virtual career

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_01]: fair coming up to support individuals with disabilities.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_01]: We have one coming up to support veterans. And then

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_01]: we have one that is an all platform, all members just

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_01]: supporting underrepresented talent at large. I would say on

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_01]: average, we do five large virtual career fairs a year. But a lot

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: of organizations will ask us to do one just for them. So if we

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_01]: have a client that says, you know, we want to focus on these

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_01]: skill sets, and we want you to host it just for us, we do

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_01]: that as well.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_02]: That's awesome. Yeah, that just sounds like it would be

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_02]: something really cool for people to engage in and to get that

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_02]: kind of, you know, activity and such a high rate of attendance

[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_02]: shows how interested these people are and how serious they

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_02]: are about, you know, going back to work or getting getting

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_02]: work.

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, our engagement on the platform right now is

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_01]: about 72%. And, you know, I said to the team from the very

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_01]: beginning, I said, if you don't build something of value, they

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_01]: won't come back. And someone recently said to me, well, and

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_01]: why would they come back after they get a job? And I said,

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_01]: because it's about lifelong learning, you know, but our

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_01]: goal was never to support someone in a moment and then

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_01]: disappear out of their lives. You know, we hope to grow

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_01]: with the individual, we hope to make sure we're always

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_01]: helping them up skill. Remember, with the pace of

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_01]: technology, you're again, it's lifelong learning. So it's not

[00:18:32] [SPEAKER_01]: we serve you once and then we abandon you. Yeah, you really

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_01]: want people coming back and oftentimes to be mentors to

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_01]: someone else.

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, does your platform support some mentor

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_02]: capabilities? Or is it really just one on one?

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so a couple ways, certainly in the up so for

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_01]: some of our nonprofits, we're actually doing the upskilling. And

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_01]: in those situations, absolutely, we have a mentor

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_01]: community. And one of the big things that we focus on is

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_01]: helping individuals complete the certificate combination of

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_01]: life. And then also imagine if most of your life you were

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_01]: told you weren't qualified. What starts to happen?

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, start to believe it, right. And so a lot of our

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_01]: mentor program in the upskilling is to make sure that the

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_01]: person's belief in themselves mirrors where they really are

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_01]: versus maybe a story they've told themselves. But at large on

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_01]: the platform, we said when we built it, we said we want to

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_01]: build a digital platform because we wanted it to scale.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_01]: But I said it can never forget the beauty of a handwritten

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_01]: thank you card. And what I meant by that was find ways

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_01]: that the technology would scale and work for individuals who

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_01]: may need a human. At that time, I wanted to be able to insert

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_01]: that human element. So at any point, you know, certainly

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_01]: there are resume builders, there's simulated interview

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_01]: prep, they're all the things that over the last 2526 years

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_01]: we learned at Allegious. But when they need someone, they

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_01]: can request it right on the platform and they would get

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_01]: someone on our team immediately there to support them.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, talk a little bit about how you're getting out there in

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_02]: the community, like how do people that, you know, are in

[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_02]: need of support? How do they find out about the platform?

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I again, as I said at the beginning, and I will

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_01]: always speak our truth when we're good at something and

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_01]: when we're not, we were so committed to really focusing

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_01]: on results to really honoring our promises that I just don't

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_01]: think we were great at telling people. And so certainly now

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_01]: through digital marketing, through social media, following us

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_01]: on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, a lot of community

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_01]: members have found us that way. In addition, we have a

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_01]: team at Career Circle that is reaching out to nonprofits

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and letting them know that we exist. So we're trying to get

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_01]: the word out that way for the members so that they do so

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_01]: that they are aware.

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. And I assume you're still looking for new nonprofits

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_02]: in local markets that could support you guys?

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, absolutely. It's been, I think that the nonprofit

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_01]: partnerships are one of my favorite and I use that

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_01]: term transfer of trust, because we take that

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_01]: responsibility so seriously within these communities. It

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_01]: is so important that we understand what their

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_01]: community stands for, what's important to them. And then

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_01]: we transfer that trust over to our team and that the team

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_01]: is working so hard to honor and serve them. And so to me

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_01]: that goes back to honoring our promises. If we say we're

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_01]: going to serve our communities, I always want to make

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_01]: sure that we're out there.

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I was blown away at the number of people you have on

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_02]: the platform now. Like that's grown pretty significantly

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_02]: just in the last year, right?

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Terry, it has, I mean, I have to ask because if you spoke

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_01]: with me five years ago, if 15 people joined the platform

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_01]: in the week, I was the happiest woman on the East

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Coast and we could probably extend that to the Midwest

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and West as well. I mean, I just kept thinking 15

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_01]: people are trusting us. And now it's more like 1500 to

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_01]: 2000 a week. And so I look at that, and I'm so excited. And

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_01]: that level of responsibility that I felt day one is still

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER_01]: so present. So that's why our team of developers, they're

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_01]: always looking at what features do we need to support

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_01]: people at scale? But then also how do we make sure

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_01]: that we meet them when they need us? And it's been

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_01]: interesting to see the engagement continue to climb. And

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_01]: that's why I always measure everything. Because again, make

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_01]: a promise and a commitment, you want to make sure you're

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_01]: folding.

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_02]: So Kim, tell me about beyond North America or beyond the US?

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_02]: Like, have you moved into any global air any areas outside

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_02]: of the US? Or, you know, where are you primarily

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_02]: working or finding the most participants at this point?

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely. Right now, Terry, we're just in the US. Certainly

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_01]: big dreams to expand. But for right now, just in the US.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay. Yeah, I mean, this is a need that I'm sure is is

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_02]: everywhere. But yeah, you got to start somewhere.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely. And I it's even we started with

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_01]: certain skill sets. Because I didn't want to go we didn't

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_01]: want to go too broad too fast. Because again, when you

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_01]: make a commitment to a client into the member, kind of make

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_01]: sure that you have all the pieces to uphold it. Now we're in

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_01]: a place where we're continuing to scale so many different

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_01]: skill sets. And I think what's interesting is even out of

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_01]: the skill sets that I continue to be surprised because if I'm

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_01]: talking to an organization, I know where most of our

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_01]: members are skill sets, et cetera. However, I will

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_01]: always go on and check. And it has been amazing in the last

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_01]: 10 examples I can think of that were out of our

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_01]: traditional skill sets that we support, we have fantastic

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_01]: candidates for nine of them. So I think just because with

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_01]: the scale, you're starting to get candidates that are

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_01]: coming outside of even the specific programs that we

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_01]: support.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's great. How does this integrate with

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_02]: organizations and their current talent acquisition

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_02]: solutions on boarding solutions? How does this sort of

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_02]: connect with that so that they've got a seamless

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_02]: approach to looking for and finding candidates?

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely. So whether they are using the job board or

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER_01]: the virtual career fairs, they're applying directly into

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_01]: their ATS and typically we'll have a UTM code so we'll

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_01]: know that career circle was the source. The only time

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_01]: you see that different is if they're coming to the

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_01]: platform and they're sourcing screening and

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_01]: vetting talent there at that point, they're then

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_01]: sending them to their ATS. But everything else can

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_01]: be integrated right in so they're going directly

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_01]: to their ATS.

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's exciting. I have to imagine that

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_02]: they love this capability and get some real insights

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_02]: into what the possibilities are, especially as they're

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_02]: trying to grow their business and look at ways to

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_02]: bring more people into the organization and have a

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_02]: more diverse workforce.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you look at our

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_01]: current numbers, we're 4x the makeup of what you

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_01]: see traditionally for underrepresented talent and

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_01]: tech for our hires. But the other piece that's

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_01]: really exciting for organizations is they don't

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_01]: have to go out and build the nonprofit relationships.

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_01]: They don't have to focus on L&D to get the training.

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_01]: They don't have to build infrastructure around all

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_01]: those pieces because there's one place where they

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_01]: can come and experience all of that and have

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_01]: it streamlined for them.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_02]: That's a great point, yeah, because that's a lot

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_01]: of work.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_01]: A lot of work. I mean, it's a lot of work and you

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_01]: don't just... If you think about the nonprofit

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_01]: partnerships, you don't just make one call and

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_01]: immediately have that rapport.

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And organizations don't have to wait the six or

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_01]: eight months for individuals to get up skilled

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_01]: because we're always doing that in the background.

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Right. That's great.

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_02]: So is there anything I haven't asked you

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_02]: about today that you want to make sure

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_02]: you mention?

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, what a great question, Terry.

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think for me, my passion and my

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_01]: belief as I stated earlier was that we truly

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_01]: could change the makeup of underrepresented

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_01]: individuals in tech.

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And there's two things that that really focuses

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_01]: on. Number one, for the individual, imagine

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_01]: changing a human's life, imagine the impact

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_01]: on their family and generational change, and

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_01]: then also your community.

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's happening.

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_01]: But I think the other piece that's also really

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_01]: powerful is that organizations are gaining

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_01]: access to top talent.

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I look at our organization and I

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_01]: think 37 percent of our team was hired from

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_01]: our own platform and then my top 10

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_01]: percent of performers.

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I just encourage whether it's

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_01]: nonprofits looking for deeper ways to

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_01]: support their community or technology

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_01]: organizations that want to be a part of

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_01]: the movement or certainly enterprise

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_01]: organizations that look at things and say,

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I believe in diversity, equity and inclusion.

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I understand the impact that it can have

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_01]: on my product to service, culture and retention.

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I want to be a part of that movement.

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And I just invite anyone to reach out to

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_01]: us because we can't do it alone.

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_01]: But locking arms with awesome partners,

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_01]: we can change the world with one life.

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I love it.

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_02]: How do people connect with you?

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Where can they find you and more information

[00:28:31] [SPEAKER_02]: about the program?

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_01]: So for sure, they can contact me via LinkedIn.

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely is a great way.

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm always checking there.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's a great way.

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And then certainly at www.careercircle.com.

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a great way to see what the

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_01]: experience is for our members and then

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_01]: also as employers, they can request

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_01]: additional information there as well.

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But I invite everyone, please reach out

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_01]: to me on LinkedIn.

[00:28:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I have learned so much and grown so much

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and applied that to the platform from

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_01]: the amazing subject matter experts

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_01]: and just perspective from other people.

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_01]: So always excited to have conversation.

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, thank you, Kim.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_02]: This has been a great conversation and

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_02]: where I'm super excited about just following

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_02]: you guys and seeing how this how this grows.

[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_02]: So thank you.

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_02]: I want to thank our producers,

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_02]: brand method media group.

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_02]: I want to thank our marketing team who

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_02]: will work on getting this out there

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_02]: to you, the audience.

[00:29:29] [SPEAKER_02]: And thank you for tuning in.

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_02]: That is all the time we have today

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_02]: for this episode of HR.

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_02]: We have a problem.

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_02]: If you enjoyed the episode, you can

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[00:29:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Tell us what you want to hear about.

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[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_02]: another episode of HR.

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_02]: We have a problem.

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks, everybody.

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks, Terry.

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks, everyone.