HR Interviews Playlist

The modern workplace has created an epidemic of burnout that's quietly destroying careers and companies alike. Many professionals are quietly battling anxiety, sleep disruption, and physical exhaustion while maintaining a facade of having everything under control. TA leaders are currently navigating AI adoption, defending budgets, managing anxious teams, and are still expected to fill critical roles faster than ever. 

So what kinds of systems can you put in place to prioritise your own wellbeing, while still making a lasting impact in your business?

My guest this week is Chris Ducker, a serial entrepreneur and bestselling author. Chris suffered a severe burnout in 2021 and has used the lessons it taught him to develop a Life Operating System that sits at the centre of his new book "The Long-Haul Leader." I've known Chris for a while now, and the advice and insights he offers are very much grounded in the reality of modern working life

In the interview, we discuss:

Building long-term business impact in disruptive times

Why self-care is strategic

The myth of work-life balance

Recognising the warning signs and avoiding burnout

The four key areas of the Life OS and how they intersect to drive results

The power of creative hobbies

Why data and what you do with it is so important

AI, friend or foe?

What does the future of work look like?

Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The explosion of AI-generated applications isn't just breaking traditional recruiting - it's creating an unprecedented opportunity by making sophisticated assessment tools accessible for early-stage screening. There is now the opportunity to filter thousands of applicants based on actual predictive data. However, the vendor landscape here can be confusing, and some offerings lack the transparency that employers need.

So how can organizations identify tools that leverage AI's efficiency while respecting established peer-reviewed assessment science?

My guest this week is Djurre Holtrop, Assistant Professor at Tilburg University. In our conversation, Jura reveals how AI could democratize evidence-based assessment for organizations of all sizes and offers advice on best practices and the future assessment landscape.

In the interview, we discuss:

The science-practice gap in assessment

The tension arising from the rapid development of AI and the need to evaluate work performance results over time.

AI isn't making the process worse because CVs and cover letters have no predictive validity.

How is AI improving the science?

Transforming recruiting with early-stage screening

How bias carries through the recruiting process

Resetting our mental models

What does the future look like?

Recruiting Future helps Talent Acquisition teams drive measurable impact by developing strategic capability in Foresight, Influence, Talent, and Technology.

If you're interested in finding out how your TA function measures up in these four critical areas, I've created the free FITT for the Future Assessment. It'll give you personalised insights to help you build strategic clarity and drive greater impact immediately.

Just head to mattalder.me/podcast to complete the assessment—it only takes a few minutes.

Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Follow this podcast on Spotify.

For too long, gaps in resumes have been a red flag for recruiters. But what if this outdated bias is costing you your best hires? In today's world, where everyone's constantly reskilling and skills become obsolete within months, penalizing career breaks makes absolutely no sense. This red flag mentality drives ageism and automatically screens out experienced professionals. Organizations clinging to "recent experience" requirements are handing their competitors access to mature talent bringing fresh perspectives, proven loyalty, and decades of expertise.

So how can forward-thinking employers flip this nonsensical bias into strategic advantage by recognizing that career breaks often create stronger professionals, not weaker ones?

My guest this week is Hazel Little, CEO at Career Returners. Hazel exposes the real cost of resume gap discrimination and shares proven strategies for building returner programs that deliver business results. In our conversation, she reveals why the red flag mentality around career breaks belongs in recruiting's past.

In the interview, we discuss:

What is a career returner?

What are the common issues returners face

The human impact of bias

What drives career gap bias?

Incorrect perceptions, false assumptions, and outdated approaches to hiring

The significant advantages of tapping into the returner talent pool

The significance of the decreasing shelf life of skills

Advice to employers

What might the future look like?

Recruiting Future helps Talent Acquisition teams drive measurable impact by developing strategic capability in Foresight, Influence, Talent, and Technology.

If you're interested in finding out how your TA function measures up in these four critical areas, I've created the free FITT for the Future Assessment. It'll give you personalised insights to help you build strategic clarity and drive greater impact immediately.

Just head to mattalder.me/podcast to complete the assessment—it only takes a few minutes.

Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Recruiting Future is a podcast that helps Talent Acquisition teams drive measurable impact by developing their strategic capability in Foresight, Influence, Talent, and Technology. 

This episode is about Foresight.

The pace of change has become relentless. Economic volatility, AI adoption, hybrid work challenges, and geopolitical shifts are forcing companies to completely rethink their workforce strategies. Organizations that once planned in five-year cycles now refresh their approaches on a quarterly or even monthly basis. This unprecedented disruption demands immediate action - but many HR and talent teams remain paralyzed by uncertainty. Traditional recruitment and development approaches simply can't keep pace with how rapidly skills requirements are evolving. What concrete steps should companies take today to build resilience into their talent strategies?

My guest this week is Peter Miscovich, Global Future of Work Leader at JLL. Peter has spent 25 years helping Fortune 100 companies navigate workforce transformation and has never been busier than right now. In our conversation, he shares practical insights on building adaptive talent strategies, why continuous learning has become non-negotiable, and the specific skills companies must prioritize immediately to remain competitive in a constantly changing environment.

In the interview, we discuss:

What are employers most concerned about?

AI integration and workforce transformation

The age of anxiety

Creating multiple flexible scenarios to shape the future

Building Liquid Workforces

Organisational structures that combine humans and AI

Continuous learning, psychological safety, and resilience

Anticipating the skills of the future and bridging the L&D gap

Reframing your professional identity

How should employers be preparing for 2030?

Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Recruiting Future is a podcast that helps Talent Acquisition teams drive measurable impact by developing their strategic capability in Foresight, Influence, Talent, and Technology.

This episode is about Talent and Technology.

Timely and effective measurement of the quality of hire has long been a significant frustration for talent acquisition, with meaningful data often trapped in subjective performance reviews that arrive too late to be of any help.

But what if AI could help connect interview assessments, onboarding metrics, and performance data in ways that reveal which hires are going to succeed, creating real-time feedback loops that continually improve hiring decisions?  

So, how exactly can employers build these types of connected systems?

My guest this week is Mark Linnville, Head of Talent at Garner Health. In our conversation, he reveals how to identify accurate leading indicators for quality of hire, why authentic interview experiences help predict performance, and how AI helps connect the dots we've been missing.

In the interview, we discuss:

Talent market challenges

Removing the silos in the talent function

Providing a true-to-self candidate experience

How do you judge quality of hire from a TA perspective?

Leading indicators versus lagging data

Creating continuous feedback loops

Using AI to connect interviews to performance

The importance of the human element of talent acquisition

What does the future look like?

Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Follow this podcast on Spotify.