Recruitment & HR

Louder for the people at the back 🎤 Many organisations today seem to have shifted from being institutions that develop great talent to those that primarily seek ready-made talent. This trend overlooks the immense value of individuals who, despite lacking experience, possess a great attitude, commitment, and a team-oriented mindset. These qualities often outweigh the drawbacks of hiring experienced individuals with a fixed and toxic mindset. The best organisations attract talent with their best years ahead of them, focusing on potential rather than past achievements. Let’s be clear this is more about mindset and willingness to learn and unlearn as apposed to age. To realise the incredible potential return, organisations must commit to creating an environment where continuous development is possible. This requires a multi-faceted approach: 1. Robust Training Programmes: Employers should invest in comprehensive training programmes that equip employees with the necessary skills for their roles. This includes on-the-job training, mentorship programmes, online courses, and workshops. 2. Redefining Hiring Criteria: Organisations should revise their hiring criteria to focus more on candidates’ potential and willingness to learn rather than solely on prior experience or formal qualifications. Behavioural interviews, aptitude tests, and probationary periods can help assess a candidate's ability to learn and adapt. 3. Partnerships with Educational Institutions: Companies can collaborate with educational institutions to design curricula that align with industry needs. Apprenticeship programmes, internships, and cooperative education can bridge the gap between academic learning and practical job skills. 4. Lifelong Learning Culture: Encouraging a culture of lifelong learning within organisations is crucial. Employers should provide ongoing education opportunities and support for professional development. This includes continuous skills assessment and access to resources for upskilling and reskilling. 5. Inclusive Recruitment Practices: Employers should implement inclusive recruitment practices that remove biases and barriers. Blind recruitment, diversity quotas, and targeted outreach programmes can help ensure that diverse candidates are given a fair chance. By implementing these measures, organisations can develop a workforce that is adaptable, innovative, and resilient, ensuring sustainable success and growth.

Why rely solely on surveys when you can uncover the true state of DEI through concrete metrics? This is a question that echoes in my mind each time I embark on a new journey with a client. Surveys can provide valuable opinions, but they often fall short of capturing real facts and the nuanced realities of individuals within an organization. 🔎 Here are 6 key DEI metrics that truly matter: 📍 Attrition Rates: Take a closer look at why employees are leaving, especially among different groups. This will help you understand if there are specific challenges or issues that need to be addressed to improve retention. 📍 Leadership Pipeline Diversity: Evaluate the diversity within your leadership team. Are there opportunities for underrepresented individuals to rise into leadership roles? Are they equally represented on all levels of leadership? 📍 Promotion and Advancement Rates: Assess if all employees, regardless of background, are getting equal opportunities to advance in their careers. By monitoring promotion and advancement rates, you can identify any biases and work towards creating a level playing field. 📍 Pay Equity: Ensure that everyone is paid fairly and equally for their work. Address any discrepancies in pay based on not only gender, but also race, age, ethnicity or other intersectional factors. 📍 Hiring Pipeline Diversity: Examine the diversity of candidates in your hiring process. Are you attracting a wide range of talent from different backgrounds? Tracking this metric helps you gauge the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts in creating a diverse workforce. 📍 Employee Engagement by Demographic: Measure the level of engagement and satisfaction among employees from various groups. Are there any disparities in engagement levels? Run the crossings of identity diversity and organizational one. By focusing on these 6 concrete metrics, you can gain real insights into your organization's DEI progress based on actionable data that drives progress. ________________________________________ Are you looking for more HR tips and DEI content like this?  📨 Join my free DEI Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dtgdB6XX

India’s green economy is growing fast but LinkedIn data suggests green talent is growing even faster. The LinkedIn Hiring Rate (LHR) for green talent — defined as professionals with green skills, green job titles, or both — is now 59.7% higher than for the overall workforce. This means green-skilled professionals are significantly more likely to be hired than their peers, underscoring the growing demand for sustainability-focused roles. “The prioritisation of green talent by Indian companies is being fuelled by an interplay of policy reforms, rising consumer consciousness, and the need for deep business transformation,” says Neelima Burra, Chief Strategy, Transformation, and Marketing Officer at Luminous Power Technologies. “Government initiatives like the PM Suryaghar Yojna, National Solar Mission, and Smart City Mission, combined with the growing mandate for ESG reporting — are also pushing companies to recruit sustainability experts, carbon auditors, and ESG strategists to meet regulatory and investor expectations,” she adds further. Operational efficiency has emerged as the top skill across the top five industries increasingly hiring for green skills, as per LinkedIn data. In contrast, precision agriculture skills lead in farming, ranching, and forestry — highlighting how sector-specific green skills are evolving. “Operational efficiency offers the fastest route to tangible returns. It moves the conversation beyond regulatory compliance to net profitability, ensuring we can do more with less energy and fewer materials,” says Venu Nuguri Managing Director and CEO at Hitachi Energy. This surge in demand aligns with broader economic trends. Green jobs in India have grown over 10 times in the past five years, with Gen Z accounting for 63% of applicants, reports The Economic Times, citing a report by WeNaturalists. The projections are equally ambitious. India’s green economy will generate 7.29 million jobs by FY28 and 35 million by 2047, as the sector scales toward a $1 trillion valuation by 2030 and $15 trillion by 2070, suggests another report by The Economic Times, citing a report by NLB Services. The message is clear: green skills aren’t just good for the planet — they’re becoming essential for employability. As India accelerates its climate and economic goals, the workforce is already adapting. The question now is whether education, training, and policy can keep pace. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/g873CzHT #COP30 #GreenerTogether Source: The Economic Times: https://lnkd.in/d-3bShQP  The Economic Times: https://lnkd.in/dSUMFS58 

Being surrounded by the right people is the best hack for ultimate growth. Your circle determines your ceiling. Everything shifted when I found mentors who were 10x my level. Their "normal" became my new baseline. Their problems became my new targets. Their thinking became my new standard. Environment is stronger than willpower. Here are 6 ways to upgrade your circle today: 1. Join Communities of High-Performers Seek environments where excellence is the minimum standard, not the exception. I've found that when you're the least accomplished person in the room, your growth accelerates exponentially. High-performance communities create natural accountability that no app or system can replicate. 2. Attend Events Where Your Heroes Gather The magic rarely happens during the presentations, it's in the lobby conversations, the dinners after, the unexpected connections. I met one of my most influential mentors not during his keynote, but while waiting for coffee at an event I almost didn't attend. Proximity creates possibility. 3. Create Value Before Asking The moment you shift from "what can I get?" to "what can I give?" everything changes. I spent six months helping others in my industry before ever asking for anything in return. This approach built a reservoir of goodwill that continues to overflow years later. 4. Share Your Work Publicly Building in public isn't just about transparency, it's about signaling. When you openly share your journey, values, and systems, you naturally attract aligned people while filtering out those who don't resonate. My most valuable relationships began when someone reached out after seeing something I'd shared. 5. Be Genuinely Curious Curiosity is the hidden superpower in relationship-building. I've found that asking thoughtful questions and truly listening creates deeper connections than any amount of impressive talking. People remember the person who made them feel understood, not the one who tried to sound intelligent. 6. Invest in Relationships The relationships that transformed my business weren't built over a single coffee meeting, they developed through consistent investment over time. I block time every week specifically for relationship nurturing, treating it with the same importance as any business-critical activity. I've seen this play out over and over with founders in our community. When they upgrade their circle, their business transforms almost automatically. Your network isn't just your net worth. It's your thinking, your standards, your opportunities, your energy, and ultimately, your future. Who are you surrounding yourself with? __ Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Matt Gray for more. Want to become better at networking? Join our community of 172,000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/e7xR_ZTu

🌑 Aria spent 8 months building the strategy. Daniel spent ten minutes repeating it, and walked out with the credit, the mandate, and the promotion. Wed. 10 am, 14 executives sat around a polished oak table at ABC Inc. for a High-stakes quarterly review. 👩💻 Aria, Director of Strategy, had been up since 3 a.m., rehearsing her pitch for the firm’s new client retention model. 8 months of research, and the weight of knowing this idea could define her career. She presented it flawlessly: “By shifting from acquisition to lifetime value, we can double retention and cut churn by 18% in the next two quarters.” Silence. Nods. Paper shuffling. The CEO glanced at his phone. The agenda moved on. 🧑💼 10 min. later, Daniel, VP of Sales, leaned back in his chair. “So what if we pivoted to focus on lifetime value instead of acquisition?” He said. The room lit up. “Brilliant!” “Exactly what we need!” “Daniel, can you lead a task force on this?” Aria sat frozen. Heart pounding. Words caught in her throat. Did no one realize? Did no one care? By 12:12pm, Daniel was walking out with a new mandate, and Aria was walking back to her desk, wondering if she’d imagined the entire thing. .... ❌ Women’s contributions are routinely undervalued in meetings. Studies show men are interrupted 33% less, their ideas are credited faster, and they’re more likely to be perceived as “thought leaders” for the same points women already made. As a result: • The women doing the work aren’t the ones remembered for it. • The men remembered for it aren’t the ones who built it. • And why companies keep losing the very women who could transform them.    💡Here’s 3 ways to make sure your ideas stick to your name and no one else’s. 𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 • Send a pre-read to key stakeholders: “Looking forward to sharing my proposal on shifting retention strategy to lifetime value metrics in today’s review.” • It creates a paper trail and primes the room to connect the idea to you before anyone else repeats it.    𝟮. 𝗖𝗼-𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 • If someone repeats your idea, bridge back to yourself w/o confrontation: “Yes, building on what I shared earlier about lifetime value…” • Subtle, but it reframes the narrative: you introduced it, they added color.    𝟯. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 • Brief allies in advance and agree to amplify each other’s points: “As Aria mentioned earlier, her retention model could cut churn by 18%.” • This doubles down your voice so it’s impossible to steal 👇 If you want to stop being the ghostwriter of other people’s success stories and start being recognized as the architect of your own, join the waitlist of our next cohort of ⭐ From Hidden Talent to Visible Leaders ⭐ https://lnkd.in/gx7CpGGR 👊 Because being the smartest person in the room means nothing if nobody remembers you said it first.

You don’t just marry a person. You marry a potential career advantage. A Washington University study tracked 4,500+ couples for 5 years—and found your spouse’s personality can influence your job satisfaction, income, and promotions. 🧵 1. The Big Idea: Disciplined and dependable partners don’t just make good spouses. They quietly help their partner succeed at work. And the effect holds for both men and women. 2. The study tracked: ✅ Job satisfaction ✅ Income ✅ Likelihood of promotion ...and matched it against each spouse’s personality traits. One trait consistently stood out. 3. The secret sauce? Being disciplined and dependable. Partners with these qualities predicted: -Higher income -Greater job satisfaction -More frequent promotions Even after controlling for the worker’s own personality traits. 4. How does it work? The researchers found 3 key ways this plays out: -Outsourcing – They take on more of the home load, freeing up mental space. -Emulation – You start mimicking their good habits. -Stability – A calm, organized home improves your focus at work. 5. What about other traits? Being nice (agreeable) or emotionally stable had less impact on career outcomes. It wasn’t about charm—it was about consistency. 6. And this wasn’t just for traditional households. Dual-income couples showed the same benefits. Even when both partners worked full-time, having a steady, structured spouse made a difference. 7. Bottom line: You bring yourself to work. But your partner shapes how well you show up. If you’ve got someone who’s steady, reliable, and disciplined—thank them. They’re helping you win behind the scenes.

Boeing just announced they are cutting 17,000 people from their global workforce. This is a huge lay off—representing more than 10% of the company including many immigrant workers. Layoffs hit everyone hard, but for immigrant workers, the consequences can be devastating: 1/ Most visa holders have just 60 days to find a new job or leave the U.S. 2/ Visa-dependent spouses lose their work rights if the principal worker is laid off. 3/ Layoffs can derail the green card process, forcing workers to restart with a new employer. 4/ L-1 visa holders can’t switch companies—they must find a similar role within the same company or leave. 5/ Despite paying into benefits, visa holders can’t access all social services. If you’re a visa worker facing a layoff, here are a few options: - Ask for nonproductive paid status: Some companies will keep you on nonproductive paid status, extending your 60-day grace period to find a new job. - Change to a B-1 visitor visa: B-1 visa lets you stay for 6 months. While USCIS takes 10+ months to process, you can remain in the U.S. during this time and change back if you find a new job. - Change to an F-1 student visa: Enroll in a degree program while you search for a job. You can stay in the U.S. while your status change is being processed. - Start thinking about long-term status & lock in priority dates: There are options to get long-term status without employer sponsorship. For example, you can apply for an EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver). This green card option allows advanced degree holders or those with exceptional skills to apply without a job offer. Fields like dentistry, VR engineering, and education have been approved. Layoffs are tough for everyone, including U.S. citizens. However, for visa workers, layoffs carry even greater consequences—it’s not just about losing a job; it could mean losing their chance at the American dream. Being an immigrant is hard, so let's be kinder to our immigrant friends & neighbors.

Treat your recruiting team the way you'd want them to treat your candidates. Your recruiters can only deliver what you enable them to deliver. No clarity from hiring managers means no clarity for candidates. Here's what this principle actually means: 1. Give them real ammunition, not job descriptions Recruiters can't sell what they don't understand. Yet most hiring managers hand them a JD and say "go find someone." Then wonder why candidates aren't excited. Do a real kickoff. Create an intake doc. Brief your recruiters like you'd brief your sales team. Why does this role matter? What will this person actually build? Show them the real impact. When recruiters understand the mission & the role, candidates feel it. 2. Stop making them chase you for answers Imagine if you applied somewhere and waited a week for every response. That's what recruiters face internally. They message candidates "we'll get back to you soon" while waiting days for your feedback. They look incompetent because you're not responding. Every delayed decision is a recruiter losing credibility with a candidate who has three other offers. 3. Your urgency becomes their urgency When a CEO personally joins a recruiting standup or sends a quick note about why a role matters, everything changes. Recruiters move faster. They push harder. They believe more. Send emails on their behalf. Jump into nurture sequences. When hiring is treated as "HR's problem," recruiters feel it. And so do candidates. The energy you bring to hiring is the energy candidates feel in the process. 4. Let them shape the process, not just execute it Recruiters see hundreds of interviews. They start to see which questions actually predict success. They spot patterns you miss. Too many companies treat them like admins. Include them in designing interview loops. Let them flag when your process is losing good people. They're your early warning system if you actually listen. 5. They're selling your company 100 times while you're building it Every recruiter conversation is a brand moment. Every rejection handled poorly is a Glassdoor review. Every candidate who feels respected tells ten friends. Even your rejections matter. Give real feedback. Close the loop. Your recruiters are having more conversations about your company than anyone except customers. Treat them like the frontline brand ambassadors they actually are. When recruiters feel like partners, candidates feel it too. When they feel like order-takers, your hiring shows it. The best companies don't have recruiting teams. They have talent partners.

The best founders do one thing brilliantly... Hire. Here’s how we think about finding & attracting A-players for our portfolio companies: Most owners hire like they're running a restaurant. They think more cooks = faster service. Instead, they get a kitchen full of people bumping into each other, burning food, and blaming everyone else. That’s why hiring isn’t a numbers game. You don't need more people. You need the RIGHT people. It’s impossible to build a worthwhile business with mediocre talent. Over the years, we've developed a framework to find, attract, and close the top 0.001%. I call it the 4 C's to Top-Level Talent: 1. CURATE Start hiring before you start hiring. Follow smart people in your niche on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn. Bookmark stuff that makes you say, "Damn, I wish I wrote that." Treat talent like a portfolio. Study first, invest later. The best hires happen when you're NOT desperately hiring. 1. CULTIVATE Engage without being weird. Compliment their stuff. Comment. Ask smart questions. Send them ideas. The best talent moves when THEY'RE ready, not when you need them. Plant seeds early. Water them consistently. 3. CLOSE When it's time to close the sale, go HARD. Fly them in. Meet their spouse. Pay more than you're comfortable with. I wasn't even looking for a company President when I met Marc. I wanted a CRO. But after one conversation, I knew he was our guy. So I changed the org to fit HIM. That's how good hires work. They change you. Don't squeeze top talent into your current structure. Bend your business around exceptional people. 4. CONTINUE Top performers won't always stay forever. That's okay. Even when they leave, keep them close. My old Head of Content now runs a 7-figure business. We still trade notes. They send better talent than any recruiter ever could. As someone who’s hired 100s of people, take it from me: Your best hires won't walk in the door with a resume in hand. They're already working somewhere else, crushing it. It’s your job to go find them. Hiring the right people is one of the most powerful growth levers for any business. If you want to see exactly how we attract and retain top-tier talent across our portfolio, I’ll be breaking it all down in an upcoming workshop. This is just one of several proven scaling strategies we’ll cover— more info here: https://lnkd.in/e4xUbkV9

I've spent 10 years helping scientists communicate their research. I've never once thought that doing so could put their funding at risk. Until now. The US Office of Management and Budget has proposed a rule (Docket OMB-2026-0034) that, if it passes in October 2026, would fundamentally change how science gets funded in America. And I mean fundamentally. Here are the key points: 🔴 Political appointees, not scientists, decide which grants get funded. Peer review becomes advisory only. A political appointee can override the scientific community's judgment with zero explanation. 🔴 Active grants can be cancelled at any time, for any reason. Mid-project. No misconduct required. Just "doesn't align with our priorities anymore." 🔴 International collaboration is severely restricted. Travel, partnerships, joint research with scientists in dozens of countries: presumptively banned or requiring political sign-off. 🔴 Publication fees are unallowable. That means federally funded scientists may not be able to publish their findings Open Access. And then there's the one that hit me hardest as a science communicator: 🔴 Science communication could effectively be banned for federally funded researchers. The proposed rule prohibits using federal grant funds for any public communications that could be labelled "issue advocacy." Given that the rule's own preamble classifies climate science, public health research, and DEI research as "divisive ideology," a researcher speaking publicly about their own federally funded findings on any sensitive topic puts their entire grant at risk. NOTE: this is not yet law. The public comment period is open until approximately 13 July 2026. But this is what's being proposed, right now, for one of the most influential research ecosystems on the planet. At Animate Your Science, our mission is to help researchers communicate their work in ways that reach beyond journal paywalls and conference rooms. That mission only matters if scientists are allowed to communicate. What's being proposed here is a direct threat to that. I'll keep making noise about it. Please read and share the original breakdown by Elizabeth Ginexi. It is detailed and calm. And sadly it is worse than this post makes it look. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gNT2stY6