Why Purpose & Understanding Drive People to Want To Work For Your Company with Casey Welch of Tallo

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Listening is the most critical interview tool you have. Not listening to respond (which we all do) but listening to understand.

Think of the interview as an opportunity to gather evidence to support your decision and when you understand a person’s pain & desire first, you can accurately position your opportunity as the answer to their problems.

Why do you need to understand the person before you hire them? Isn’t it enough that you know that they have the skills that are needed?

Because not understanding the values of the individual is what ultimately results in bad hiring decisions.

Our guest today: Casey Welch, Co-Founder & CEO of Tallo.

A digital platform and app that connects 1.3 million+ students and professionals to opportunities offered by colleges, companies, and organizations. Since its inception, Tallo has pioneered early talent engagement, facilitating career discovery and guidance for a diverse talent pool.

Under Casey’s leadership, Tallo serves as a virtual ecosystem leveling the playing field for all students and job seekers, regardless of traditional geographic and economic barriers. Casey is a leading expert on Generation Z in higher education and the workforce, and his insights have been featured in Forbes, FastCompany, ZDNet, and SHRM.

Today we discuss:

• The importance of proper positioning when hiring
• How to build understanding into your interview process

Challenge today? (Reactive hiring and approach to talent)

• People want to find careers that are purposeful
  • After more than a year of grinding stress, workers are increasingly looking to find new jobs. In fact, according to research by Monster, 95% of workers are thinking about finding a new job, and 92% would consider switching industries for a new position.
  • Gen Z agrees with this overall sentiment. According to Tallo’s recent survey of over 1000+ Gen Z individuals, 69% of Gen Z said over the past year it's become more important to find a job that is personally fulfilling.
• Products that will help people, change peoples lives
  • Gen Z wants a career that brings them purpose and meaning, not just a job. They also want to make a social impact with their career, not just work the 9-5. Tallo data found that one of the three most important factors for Gen Z when thinking about their future work environment includes making an impact socially and economically (47%)
  • In order to attract members of Gen Z, employers need to show prospective new employees will bring a positive change from a social and economic standpoint. This is an opposite mindset from their predecessors Millennials, who focused more on company name recognition
• Finding the workforce that is going to stay
  • The top three most important factors for Gen Z when thinking about their current or future work environment include:
    • Having a fair and ethical boss (72%)
    • The ability to be heard (61%)
    • Making an impact socially and economically (47%)
  • Hybrid work environments are key: 63% of Gen Z is interested in working in a hybrid setting, while 27% want to work in the office full time and 8% want to work remotely full time.
• Pandemic changed people's views
  • More than one out of every three Gen Zers reported in a Tallo survey that they are reconsidering their career choice due to certain industries being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Culture & environment are far more important
  • The three biggest factors that motivate Gen Z to take a job include salary (78%) interest in work (70%) and work life balance (58%).
  • Addressing social issues + diversity equity and inclusion in the workplace is vital. Tallo data found that Gen Z listed the following as the most important DEI initiatives they look for in an employer:
    • Women in leadership (59%)
    • Training and discussions (58%)
    • People of color in leadership positions (53%)

Why is this important to the company?

• Understanding what the modern employees wants and needs are, and then meeting those needs is critical to improve retention and reduce turnover.
• People are leaving their companies faster than the employers can fill, which is why there’s a high demand for jobs but no supply of experienced candidates. In order to fill these positions, employers must begin a double-pronged approach of employee retention and employee outreach – and focus their efforts on Gen Z.
• When asked about future workplace settings, only 8% of Gen Z want to be fully remote. 63% want hybrid and 27% would want to be in the office full time

Rick’s Nuggets

• Understanding leads to truth
• Every person has a different set of values
• Evidence eliminates
  • Assumptions
  • Bias

How do we solve the problem? (Creating a proactive approach and system to hiring)

• Mindshift
  • Away from transactional relationship (Two people can want to get married, doesn’t mean they want to get married to each other)
  • Care more about experience and about people
• Using tools for measurement
  • Purpose & Meaning - what they like and want to do
  • Skills - What they CAN do
  • A focus on reskilling, upskilling and learning & development (L&D) opportunities:
    • Employers need to provide all their employees with new and innovative ways to reskill and upskill – especially when it comes to soft skills.
    • 74% of Gen Z think soft skills (such as critical thinking, analysis, problem solving, leadership, and communication) are more critical for success in our current economy.
• Some different L&D opportunities employers can explore include:
  • Technical (science, technology, engineering, software development, and design);
  • Leadership (communication, management, and critical thinking);
  • Learning new languages; and
  • Agile (collaboration, user experience, experimentation, and continuous learning).

Rick’s Nuggets

• Mindset : who are you really?
  • Blind conversations are the most fruitful & eliminate bias
  • Interview questions that surface value alignment
• Behavioral Interview that is tied to values!

Key Takeaways -Value:

• Employers must place a heightened focus on recruiting the next generation of leaders into the workplace: Gen Z
• The most important factors to drives people to come work for you include considering a hybrid work environment, addressing and emphasizing the important of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and providing a means for employees to reskill + upskill
• Employers must fully understand what today’s modern employee wants – from salary to benefits to work environment – and meet those expectations

Guest Links:

Casey Welch: LinkedIn

Company: Tallo Facebook Twitter Instagram

This show is proudly sponsored by Criteria Crop