Kevin W. Grossman, Author at TalentCulture

With the Effectual Stretch in Recruiting, You Can’t Lose

“The end cannot justify the means, for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced.” –Aldous Huxley Indeed. This quote was shared with me in a comment on my Who Cares As Long As We’re Still Hiring article. The commenter conveyed that it does matter what we call something, as it helps to power the means. This is true, and I responded that words do matter and the means employed are critical. But I argued that the spirit of technological innovation today isn’t helping to alleviate the human problem of not adapting fast

Live from #SHRM15: The Brilliant HR Profession of Today and Tomorrow

We’re very excited to announced that the TalentCulture #TChat Show will be live from the 2015 SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas, NV on Wednesday, July 1, 2015, from 1-2pm ET (10-11am PT). We’re going to talk about the brilliant HR profession of today and tomorrow. Get this: The enterprise executive whose traits are most similar to those of the CEO is the CHRO. Did you get that? The CHRO (42 percent of which are high-performing females), not the CFO, CMO, or CIO. This all according to “counterintuitive” and groundbreaking research based on data from executive recruiting firm Korn

New Day HR Drives the Next Gen Fire

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Doc. Ah…Are you telling me that you built a time machine…out of a DeLorean?” “The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?” On October 21, 2015, Marty McFly and his girlfriend Jennifer will travel back to the future together to see themselves married with children. They’ll be shocked by their own Gen X aging and adult foibles, and then Jennifer will witness older Marty, still easily set off when challenged, engage in an illegal transaction with a colleague. He gets immediately

With the Warming Heart of People Pools

“And I don’t care, go on and tear me apart And I don’t care if you do ‘Cause in a sky, ‘cause in a sky full of stars I think I see you…” —Coldplay, “Sky Full of Stars” The statement’s context bummed me out. Not because my father-in-law and his wife didn’t know what I did for a living, people from outside the HR technology space always think I work literally in HR. No, it was because once they realized I worked for an HR software company that provided applicant tracking software, they immediately referenced the ATS black hole from whence

As Long As We’re Still Hiring

“Ain’t that the way that it’s always been? Standing at the water’s edge waiting for the fog to clear Tackle or touch, you sink or you swim And hoping that he’s really got the power to save us from these sins Everybody sitting around waiting for the sun to come again They’re waiting for the sun to come again…” —Brandon Flowers, “The Way It’s Always Been” The shift in public safety best practice was dramatic. Prior to early 1983, the Visalia, CA police and fire dispatchers managed a manual process consisting of writing addresses on slips of paper when taking

Why More Social And Less Stupid Are Music To My Ears

“You’re a big music fan, aren’t you?” We stood there talking among other parents who mingled while kids ran around celebrating our Little League T-ball season. “Yes, indeed,” I answered. “You heard about B.B. King?” “Yes, what a loss to the music industry. A living legend whose impact will live on and on. In fact, I saw that he had passed away via my Facebook news feed yesterday.” The conversation continued, two dads talking music, one a guitar and Hammond organ player who had played in bands and had even cut an “album,” the other (me) an aspiring drummer who couldn’t

The Benefits Of Success Measured By The Effectual Stretch

It wasn’t exactly the romanticized version of backpacking through an exotic land, especially if you consider a cheap roller suitcase a backpack, which unfortunately I did. But that was me then in 1998, when my then girlfriend (now wife) had bitten me with the travel bug. Prior to that my travel was limited to North America. When I was 13 I went to Hawaii, which I actually thought was another country. My wife had traveled extensively prior to us meeting, including the romanticized version of backpacking through Europe after college, only to get most of her belongings stolen in Prague after

True Diversity Is Much More Than A Drive By

“For you and me, sex is not a competition For you and me, sex is not a job description For you and me We agree— But that’s just us Reaching for the alien shore…” —Neil Peart (writer and musician) At the tail end of my run, I walked engrossed in my cool down, my music and my thoughts. I half-looked back over my right shoulder to make sure there were no cars coming – and whoosh – a black blur shot past me on my left. Startled into flight or fight I spun around and just about fell over. But it

When the Boss Touches Our Hearts and Not Our Butts

“You know, your butt looks so bad in the outfit you’re wearing, that I was surprised when I touched it, it felt good.” Imagine hearing that on a date, or in the office, or on a date at your office party, or even your boss hitting on you at the office or at a party. Pretty horrible don’t you think, especially if you were the one experiencing it. This was actually a real dating story referenced in one of my favorite podcasts called StartUp from Gimlet Media. It’s actually from their season two opener about a new dating/matchmaking startup called Dating

#TChat Live from Ireland: The IT@Cork European Technology Summit

We’re very excited to announced that the TalentCulture #TChat Show will be live from the IT@Cork European Technology Summit in Cork, Ireland on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, from 6-7pm GMT (1-2pm ET, 10-11am PT). This special #TChat will focus on the impact of gender diversity on technology business performance around the world. A University of Cambridge study has observed that Ireland is fifth in the world for female economic power, ranking just behind Australia, Norway, Denmark and Finland. In Ireland, women are in positions of seniority in a staggering number of large global tech businesses – Apple, Microsoft, PayPal and many others. But

For The Sake Of Social Reciprocity

“Hangin’ out Down the street The same old thing We did last week Not a thing to do But talk to you…” —Cheap Trick, “That 70’s Song” When I saw it for the first time, my heart filled with love and faith, and my spirit transcended the atmospheric sensitivity of childhood scarring. “Chewie, we’re home.” (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) For some, the words are meaningless, nothing more than another passing obscure reference of no interest, something silly for the crazies of sci-fi fandom. But for me, it’s beyond moving. Flashback to the summer of 1977, the world was complicated. We

When the Social Collaboration Magic Happens

Mercy me, my MySpace experience is one I’ll never forget. It was my first foray into social media beyond simply blogging, online groups and forums like AOL, and sharing collaboratively via email. There I was early in 2007, in front of my computer setting up my MySpace profile. I filled it out, not sure of where exactly this online adventure would take me. I hit “publish” and waited. Ten minutes later I received a connection request. Eagerly I read, in graphic detail, a business proposition of sorts from another woman. Yes, that. A minute later I deleted my profile not sure

People Quality Makes For Picture Perfect Business

“All I know is that sometimes the truth is contrary — everything in life you thought you knew.” —Neil Peart (Musician and Writer) Without doing the math and coloring them in, you can still tell what most of them are. But that’s no fun when you’re six, just learning addition and loving to color pictures like my oldest daughter does. Adding the numbers together in each piece of the picture “puzzle” and then following the corresponding picture color code to color each piece in is the thrill of discovering its full context. If the data is right (the math is correct) and the color

Be An HR Technology Software Myth-Buster

It’s amazing sometimes that we actually ever progress beyond wishful thinking and myths perpetuated by us. I’ve been in the HR technology space for almost 16 years now, and we never fail to fail. Meaning, we never fail to hypothesize and perpetuate that most HR and talent acquisition practitioners hate their tools and technologies are always looking for something better. And that us, the HR technology vendors, are unethical and difficult to trust – i.e., it was the worst mistake every that we signed on with that vendor. And yet, according to enlightening new research shared on the TalentCulture #TChat Show

These Are The Moving Recruiting Money Shots

I played Patrick the recruiter in our customer conference general session skit. It was less than 15 lines and shouldn’t have been a problem. But it was, mostly because I’m a ham at heart and like to improvise whenever possible. Forget the fact that there would be a floor monitor and a laptop showing the players the script. So there I was on stage with some of my esteemed colleagues in front of hundreds of customers – heads of HR and talent acquisition – plus partners and peers – delivering my lines like a seasoned actor. And then Megan, our VP

That Magical Mindful Presence of Candidate Service

“And with all your magic I disappear from view…” —Coldplay She stopped in the middle of the hall and met my gaze. We shook hands. Other customers, partners and peers streamed around us on either side like a river around rocks. “It was a pleasure meeting you,” I said. She smiled. “Likewise. This was a great week. Very informative. You really know how to listen to your customers.” I’d thought she’d wink on that last comment, but she didn’t. Instead, the gleam in her eyes told me all I needed to know. After earlier conversations about how they’d been waiting for

Diversity and Inclusion Drive the Road to Remarkable

“Half the world is Half the world was Half the world thinks While the other half does…” –Neil Peart (writer and musician, “Half the World”) The nightlight burned brighter. It didn’t make any sense at the time because it was the same nightlight we always used in the hallway for our girls, and it was never usually that bright. As usual I tossed and turned earlier in the night, with the weight of my world raining down like meteors in the night sky, cratering my sleep with burning questions. I woke at 3:45 am, 45 minutes before I really had to,

Unlocking Employee Productivity Without Being An Ogre

Sarah Willis is a professional writer specializing in business, HR, finance, tech and the intersections between them. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys Forex trading, reading and travel. She is based in Brighton, UK.

Empowering Workplace Leadership Every Other Step of the Way

“When the world is a monster Bad to swallow you whole Kick the clay that holds the teeth in Throw your trolls out the door…” —R.E.M. Right after the early morning conference call, an instant message popped up on my laptop screen. You all right? It read. It was from a colleague over 2,000 miles away, with the rest of our team almost another 1,000 miles away from him. Three simple words: You all right? They tumbled in my head like lottery ping pong balls, then lined up in different iterations: All right you You right all Right you all Another

Brave The Flaming Bullseye With Total Talent Acquisition

“It is the fire that lights itself But it burns with a restless flame The arrow on a moving target The archer must be sure of his aim…” —Neil Peart (writer and musician, “Cut to the Chase”) He hated driving. And yet, he drove me home from the airport. Nice guy. Personable. Articulate. Cleanly shaved head, just south of my age. Mid-forties I guessed. Great driver actually. Very aware of everything around him. We immediately hit if off as we discussed the ups and downs of the Bay Area highways and byways, the best times to drive and the worst. “Well,

Empowering Your Brand: From The Shades To Personable Sunshine

“The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect, So hard to earn so easily burned In the fullness of time, A garden to nurture and protect…” —Neil Peart (writer and musician) In all fairness, I didn’t read it. I only called the post out for the sake of comedic relief when others use popular, head-turning headline hooks. But then a Twitter follower asked me if I read the post in question, because it was actually tongue-and-cheek post about why recruiting is like Fifty Shades of Grey. But I didn’t care, because I’ll never read that post, or

HR Isn’t The Needy, The Nerdy Or The Girlie

Cool spring morning. Grade-school recess. A group of boys and girls gather on a damp field. Captains are called out. The usual suspects. The strongest players. Each picks his own number two. The second-strongest players. The ones they’ve done battle with before. Sometimes a girl but usually a boy. The number twos call out names and point successively. Advise their captains who else to pick. One by one by one. Strongest to weakest. Until the last few remain. The skinny asthmatics. The uncoordinated. The needy, the nerdy and the girlie. The perennial last picked. Or the never picked. Sometimes a teacher

Our Storied Lives: One Little Melodic Career Tale at a Time

“Begin the day with a friendly voice A companion unobtrusive Plays that song that’s so elusive And the magic music makes your morning mood.” —Neil Peart (Rush, “Spirit of Radio”) The Viennese composer from London had vanished. For the nearly two years he worked for me prior to that, he had raised thousands of dollars for the university. One day he asked me to read his manuscript, The Dramatic Music of Henry Purcell, and then shortly thereafter he was gone. His eviction final, he had no choice but to find another place to live, which wasn’t easy caring for more than

The Body Language Business And The Now of You

“You’re sharpening stones, walking on coals To improve your business acumen…” — R.E.M. (“Exhuming McCarthy”) Look at me. Eyes right here. Watch my face, my arms and my hands as I talk. In fact, watch my entire physical demeanor. What does it tell you? Now, imagine that you’re on your way to a job interview. The grueling commute of only inching along has take its toll on your already fragile job-searching soul and you take a deep breath when you finally park. You enter the building and the interviewer escorts you to the interview room. You’re asked to sit and the

This Workplace Merry-Go-Round Never Slows

“Midway hawkers calling ‘Try your luck with me’ Merry-go-round wheezing The same old melody…” —Neil Peart (Lakeside Park) We became carnies for a day – midway hawkers calling out from our very own front yard. The main reason was to make some quick cash since my sister and I had already blown through our weekly allowance. It was summertime, decades ago, when I was 12 and she was 10. School was out so we had to promote our little Saturday carnival via the neighborhood kids and the viral word of mouth. At 10 the morning of, after our mom had left

Stay up-to-date with HR, tech and the future of work. Get our weekly newsletter!

Kevin W. Grossman

Kevin W. Grossman

With the Effectual Stretch in Recruiting, You Can’t Lose

Live from #SHRM15: The Brilliant HR Profession of Today and Tomorrow

New Day HR Drives the Next Gen Fire

With the Warming Heart of People Pools

As Long As We’re Still Hiring

The Benefits Of Success Measured By The Effectual Stretch

True Diversity Is Much More Than A Drive By

When the Boss Touches Our Hearts and Not Our Butts

#TChat Live from Ireland: The IT@Cork European Technology Summit

People Quality Makes For Picture Perfect Business

Be An HR Technology Software Myth-Buster

These Are The Moving Recruiting Money Shots

That Magical Mindful Presence of Candidate Service

Diversity and Inclusion Drive the Road to Remarkable

Unlocking Employee Productivity Without Being An Ogre

Empowering Workplace Leadership Every Other Step of the Way

Brave The Flaming Bullseye With Total Talent Acquisition

HR Isn’t The Needy, The Nerdy Or The Girlie

Our Storied Lives: One Little Melodic Career Tale at a Time

The Body Language Business And The Now of You

This Workplace Merry-Go-Round Never Slows

Quick Links

Topics

Newsletter Signup

Stay up-to-date with HR, tech and the future of work. Get our weekly newsletter!

Kevin W. Grossman

Kevin W. Grossman

Subscribing to Ho-Hum Newsletters? We have the fix!