Devyn Mikell [00:00:04]:

Hey, this is Devin Mikell with the Hire Quality podcast. Super excited to be interviewing you. So could you introduce yourself, your role in the company that you work at?

Arielle Grupe [00:00:14]:

Hello. My name is Ariel Grupe. I'm Senior Director of Talent, Solutions and Agility. And I work for Ascension.

Devyn Mikell [00:00:22]:

What is top of mind for you as a talent leader at your organization?

Arielle Grupe [00:00:26]:

What's top of mind for me right now as a recruiting leader? Oh, there's so many things. I would say a big one is how do we tighten the gap on our talent shortage? Especially when you look at skills, particularly in healthcare, where I'm focused at. So looking down the line two, three, five years and saying, how are we going to have enough healthcare workers to take care of our aging population?

Devyn Mikell [00:00:55]:

What's something unique about you as a talent leader at your organization that makes you a perfect fit for that job?

Arielle Grupe [00:01:02]:

What makes me uniquely the perfect fit for my current job? I'm definitely unique as far as perfect fit could be debatable. However, I do take pride in my ability to empathize as well as put myself in multiple different pairs of shoes. And I do love shoes. Meaning it's not just one sided. I'm not defending recruiters and recruitment to the death on things. It's really understanding what's their challenges, what's their obstacles, what motivates them make successes, but also all of the other shoes that we either support or collaborate with.

Devyn Mikell [00:01:42]:

We made it to the last question, and this one's a fun one. What is the worst question you've ever been asked in an interview?

Arielle Grupe [00:01:50]:

All right, what's the worst interview question I've been asked or seen asked? This isn't a fun one, but it's kind of one of my pet peeve worst interview questions. And it's quite common where we ask, what's your weakness? Or what's your top three strengths versus your top three weaknesses. And I have never seen value come out of those weaknesses as everybody tries to spin them as a positive. So I do have a lot of interviewing fun stories, but specific questions, I would say that is the worst one, and it just will not go away. Is what is your weakness? Or whatever your top weakness is.

Devyn Mikell [00:02:32]:

What's up, everyone? I'm Devin Michael, co founder of Qualifi and the host of the Higher Quality podcast. Super excited that you're here listening. Today I am joined by Ariel Groupie, the Senior Director of Talent Solutions and Agility at Ascension. And I'm super excited for this conversation because we have a lot to unpack. Ariel, can you give the audience a better intro, a little more? Sizzle, on top of what I said for your job title, I know there's more underneath that, so just why don't you take the floor and tell them a little bit about yourself?

Arielle Grupe [00:03:03]:

Oh, goodness. Sizzle. I would just say I really love process and I love reporting and I love making an impact. So it's really how many pieces can I get my hands onto to either affect a process that affects reporting, how to take reporting, to really say, hey, what can we do better to make a bigger impact? So that's really what most of my job is. And the solutions part is what gaps do we have? Right? What are we not doing today? Whether it's innovative, whether it's what a competitor is doing, but it really goes to the basis of what do our associates want and how can we get closer to all of their wants and needs within, obviously, a realistic way.

Devyn Mikell [00:03:45]:

Key point there. So earlier in the interview, which they just heard, you said that you love shoes. Most people say they love to wear multiple hats, but you went with shoes, which I like. So first question is, do you actually love shoes? Or was that just your analogy?

Arielle Grupe [00:04:02]:

I love shoes. I love shoes so much. They're fun. Me too. You can be so fun. You can have the most boring outfit and spice it up with shoes. So that's why I love that's.

Devyn Mikell [00:04:11]:

Actually, my strategy is I wear all black and then I let my shoes be loud. Exactly, yes, it's a strategy. What's your favorite pair of shoes that.

Arielle Grupe [00:04:19]:

You have that's hard? Because it changes per season. It changes every year. I do have shoes that I've had for like 20 years, which makes me feel old now, but I would say my new favorite pair. I got these red blinged out boots last year and actually wore them to New York in Christmas time. And I got so many compliments, like they are very in your face, but I love them. So those are my favorite pair. Right.

Devyn Mikell [00:04:44]:

Nice. Nice. I just started watching Yellowstone. Well, I didn't start. I'm almost done. So now I'm slightly considering, is there a future with me and cowboy boots? I don't think so.

Arielle Grupe [00:04:54]:

But I want to be Beth. Like, how can I be a badass like her? Because that's amazing.

Devyn Mikell [00:05:01]:

She is legit. She's probably one of my favorites, for sure. But anyways, so you mentioned multiple pairs of shoes, loving two or wearing multiple hats, whatever you want to call it. You kind of mentioned it in your intro. You're also mentioning it in the interview. So it's very clear, like, you do a lot of things for a lot of people at the same time. I'm guessing if you could break down, not your day to day, but more so what is it specifically? What are these shoes looking like in ascension for you today?

Arielle Grupe [00:05:31]:

Oh, goodness. Again, I think it's really taking a step back and it's a heavy side on the strategy. Right. Where have we been? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? How do we get there specifically in my world, in reporting standpoint and how do we take that reporting, really understand it, tell a story with it. Tell the why behind it so we can have an impact taking processes. That, again, recruitment, you always have to be how do you improve, how do you make more efficient so you can get things through quicker or get quality through. So really kind of looking at that, which reporting can tell you what can be broken in your processes. And then the other part is more of understanding our talent, labor and landscape and how dynamic it is today and what people are really wanting and what do we provide today or what should we be providing and how can we create solutions and implement them.

Devyn Mikell [00:06:23]:

How do you think about should? The word should, I like because I think the future of talent should be a lot of should. Where do you get your guys'data from? Is it mostly I mean, there's a few options, right? It could be from your recruiters at the ground floor, just telling you. Or is it more from the actual candidates themselves telling you?

Arielle Grupe [00:06:43]:

It's all I mean, everything is tracked, right? So from our ATS and really building out what are all the pieces we need to track, right? It's using external research and data and bringing that and layering that in. It's taking what candidates say right, from certain aspects and bringing that in. And again, we've got other systems that are involved, whether it's the recruitment advertising, whether it's your Ashcro, HCM and layering all of that together. So a lot of data complex.

Devyn Mikell [00:07:12]:

Yeah. Which is why we see the year long implementation cycles.

Arielle Grupe [00:07:15]:

Yes, absolutely.

Devyn Mikell [00:07:17]:

Got to love it. Okay, so you obviously do a ton today, but maybe it wasn't always like that. I asked this to almost everyone. It's like, did you think when you were, let's say, in college or sometime around that age, did you think that you were going to be in talent acquisition or talent no.

Arielle Grupe [00:07:36]:

Firstly, I don't even think people realize it's a job.

Devyn Mikell [00:07:38]:

I don't either.

Arielle Grupe [00:07:39]:

That's my everybody I've met has fallen into recruitment. Right? And it was actually kind of funny because I graduated college with a marketing degree. I've always worked I worked since I was 14. So it was very much like, got my degree, now I want to do this. I didn't want to do marketing, even though that was my degree. And I had a friend like, oh, this person's looking for recruiter. And I'm like, what is that? And then recruit for technical people. And I was like, I can barely open up Microsoft Word and you want me to find technical people? And so it was pretty funny because I was like, there's no way I'm getting this.

Arielle Grupe [00:08:15]:

I got the job. Didn't know anything about technical recruitment, but you learn it. And I ended up loving it because I didn't have to code. But I got to talk to so many different varieties of technical folks and understand their world a bit more and what they're looking for and their aspirations and so that's how recruitment started and how I got into this industry got you.

Devyn Mikell [00:08:37]:

So you started as a technical recruiter. That was like your first role in recruiting. Yeah, which is I feel like that's rare. Most people are like, I started in the staffing where I'm just hiring manufacturing jobs, hourly jobs or something like that. But she started in a really high skill. Do you remember what your first role that you ever got?

Arielle Grupe [00:08:56]:

Probably that makes sense. I mean, at the time, there's a lot of Java development was big. You had SQL, you had business analysts, project managers, and again, like anything, I think the big part was how do you understand it enough and know what you know and know what you don't know? Like, I'm not going to go talk to a developer about coding. I'm not going to ask. I don't know what the right answer is. But learning how, which is recruitment, learning how to listen, let me let you talk and I can understand what you've been doing, high level, what you want to do, and kind of connect that with what the leaders requests are gotcha.

Devyn Mikell [00:09:30]:

Yeah, that's legit. So you started as a tech recruiter.

Arielle Grupe [00:09:34]:

Yes.

Devyn Mikell [00:09:34]:

And now we're at Ascension, which for those who don't know, Ascension is one of I don't even know what number ranking you might feel like. We three and four floating as far as health systems goes. And so how did that switch happen? And tell me about it.

Arielle Grupe [00:09:51]:

Yeah, that was a big I did technical recruitment for about four or five years, and then from there I worked at another large organization, Career Builder, actually for about ten years. And so really, the arm of Career Builder that I was in is more of their RPO. We partnered very closely with multiple different clients, big, small, multiple different industries, and really listened to be like, what are you trying to solve? What type of talent are you trying to hire? What's the volumes? What's the timing? And so, again, started there as a technical recruiter, worked up to project management, to actual management, to director level enterprise director, and then kind of felt like I hit my cap there. And I always said, if I'm going to leave, I'm going to leave for healthcare or I'm going to leave for tech, and ended up running into finding an opportunity with Ascension, which is no joke. March of 2020, I started in healthcare the day after Chicago shut down for COVID.

Devyn Mikell [00:10:47]

Wow.

Arielle Grupe [00:10:48]:

I know. Great timing on my behalf there.

Devyn Mikell [00:10:54]:

Yeah, you jumped straight into chaos.

Arielle Grupe [00:10:56]:

Right into it. Why not? Let's just go for it.

Devyn Mikell [00:11:00]:

In that moment, did you have any idea that that was what's about to happen? Or was it like, literally, I'm like, oh, shoot, I just jumped into the hardest industry in the world right now.

Arielle Grupe [00:11:09]:

No, you have no idea. I mean, nobody could prepare for COVID, let alone, like, switching jobs and getting in there. But you did feel, especially as months went by, a huge sense of pride because obviously I'm not a clinician. I can't be there in the front lines to help, right? And so you just felt like this, how can I help? Right? And that was the fact that we were recruiting and that was our focus. How do we get more nurses, more patient care, tax, more tax, anything to help the patients, to help the communities? And so it was a very prideful moment to be like, I can contribute and this is how I'm going to contribute. And so it was very rewarding as much. It was also very heartbreaking because you were very close to it too.

Devyn Mikell [00:11:55]:

Yeah, for sure. I have a similar story in the sense of jumping in. So I went full time with qualify the week before the shutdown. So it's like, man, we were going through summer. We're like, oh man, we're not going to have a business after this. And so it was crazy to walk through that. And I'm sure it's way crazier for you. I had to imagine, like, your onboarding was way shortened because you're like jumping into the weeds maybe right away.

Arielle Grupe [00:12:23]:

And it was but you still have so much compliance and regulatory, so it's like you can't really cut corners. They have to go through certain. So honestly, it would depend on regulatory, like if you can clear people. But honestly, that was one of the things I kind of walked in. I was like, how do we make this process as short as possible and as least burdensome for hiring leaders who are obviously out there serving the community? And so that was a big driver as well. It's not just how do we push volume through, how do we make it easier, how do we make it better? And as much of a great experience for our new hires too, because it's not like there's this nice, easy ramp up time. Everybody's giving all hands on deck at any moment in time for this.

Devyn Mikell [00:13:03]:

Yeah. So living in the strategy realm, I think is exciting. It's probably I don't know if you feel it, but maybe it's sometimes frustrating because you don't get to actually execute as much. But talk to me about some of the big wins that you've seen since you've been there, as far as that you've had a hand in shaping a change in Ascension's processes or in their strategy for recruiting or for talent. What are some of the things that you've driven that have been great for the company?

Arielle Grupe [00:13:30]:

Yeah, I think honestly, overall, not just ascension, but I think any organization that I've worked for and it's how my brain work, is really how do we become more efficient with what we have, whether it's tools and technologies, whether it's process. And people I'm not afraid to question like, why do we do that? And people are like, oh, just because we always did well, it doesn't make sense anymore. And so every click you can take out every new system that can help either convert more or get more or ease administrative burden from somebody to how do we decrease steps that candidates because at the end of the day, they need to have a great experience, right. Whether they're getting hired or whether they applied, and we're not selecting them. So I would say with any of the work that I've done, that's how my brain works, is how can we build this out if it's already built? How can we make it more efficient and a bigger impact in solution overall?

Devyn Mikell [00:14:21]:

Yeah, I'm biased, but I'm not even going to say my bias. What a perfect segue. Do you have like, a thing that you're like, this has got to end through recruiting in general for me, I'm like a big proponent of never having a candidate enter their resume information. If you ask for a resume, for example. Right, okay. Do you have anything that you're just like, almost like, it grinds my gears kind of deal. I want to end this thing.

Arielle Grupe [00:14:52]:

Mine's a unicorn too. Especially coming from where I was prior to ascension. There is not one fully I don't want to even say integrated because that's the problem you have, oh, we can integrate. There is not one full recruitment machine. When you think of technology, it's all piecemeal because everybody only invests so much time and energy and money into one piece. So you're really good at an ATS, but you don't have the onboarding technology or you don't have the front end career site conversion technology. You don't have interview scheduling technology. Right.

Arielle Grupe [00:15:31]:

It's all piecemeal. You don't have market intelligence and data intelligence feeding into this to say what is your supply and demand? And so there's been a few that I'm aware that have tried it, and again, it just kind of becomes this vague where these three pieces are good, these aren't. And so that to me is like, how has this not been solved yet or created? And obviously I think that goes to the other piece where it's like, it is so complex. Recruitment is not simple. It is not matching person to employer or position. It is so complex. And that's why I feel like this hasn't had a full line and a full life cycle solve yet.

Devyn Mikell [00:16:10]:

Yeah, I would say I want to say I wish, but then I'm like, I don't know if I want that problem. As a technology founder, I'm like, I don't know if I would ever want to go after that. And I think they have the work days of the world that are claiming it, but there's pieces that are just not there.

Arielle Grupe [00:16:31]:

So then you always have to get something else and snap it on and integrate. And that doesn't always feed well. And so that's the challenge that you're left is inefficiencies, right? And they're out of your hands because you want the best. So you do this, but it's not always the best.

Devyn Mikell [00:16:47]:

Yeah. So you talked about this too, in your interview, in your pre interview. So we'll call it the talent shortage for healthcare is no secret by any means, but you did say something about skills that I thought was interesting. So how are you thinking about approaching skills? First mentality is kind of what I'm getting from that. Is that what you're thinking or is it something else when you're thinking about how do we tackle this talent shortage in healthcare?

Arielle Grupe [00:17:13]:

Yeah, I think it's both. Right? So you have the immediate need, right. So you have to start approaching things differently. How do we train? How do we develop? There's the new term, what quiet hiring, where organizations are really taking people and skills that they have and upskilling into different roles. Not being like, I'm upskilling. You be like, hey, we're going to pop you here and have you grow into this type of role, which I think is great and it's natural, but I think it all comes to a very big disconnect. And it's a disconnect. And this is no qualms against anything.

Arielle Grupe [00:17:47]:

This is just what I see of just education overall and matching it up with what's? Our need for the future of our workforce. And that's where I feel like there's the biggest gap. Right? If I was to go in college and you were to be like, I was like, oh, I want to be marketing, if somebody would have sent me like, no, there's not going to be that many jobs here. If you should go into healthcare, hire or you should go into vocational schools here, this is where the need is. Should go into Stem, right? And so I feel like having that misalignment, that's what we continue to see. And then you see bigger pushes in, like healthcare. Right. At the end of the day, we've got a retiring population and an aging population.

Arielle Grupe [00:18:24]:

How are we going to take care of them when we don't have enough? So, again, what can you do now to say, how can I hire? How can I develop knowing they're not going to have the exact skill set I need? And what are those programs which a lot of organizations are putting in today or their funding? Education. But I really do think it starts like when you're 18 and about to go to a college, how are they directing you to say, this is where you can get a job versus you get another psychology degree, which is what everybody gets, and there's no jobs for.

Devyn Mikell [00:18:54]:

You, just shade to the psychology.

Arielle Grupe [00:19:00]:

I love that. I would have loved to get a degree in that. It's so fascinating and interesting, but it's demand versus supply. And are you aware of what that demand is? If the university isn't saying, this is where you should get your jobs versus everybody just thinks, I'm going to go with my passion? Does that align with a job and a career and what you're really looking for?

Devyn Mikell [00:19:25]:

So do you think future of talent is education? I guess it's like, hey, the future of talent is not there is no talent unless we create it kind of deal.

Arielle Grupe [00:19:36]:

We have to create it. Yeah, I do. And again, it doesn't mean it's a college degree. I mean, we're short staffed in skilled labor because we pulled that bridge too far to the other end, saying, like, you have to have a bachelor's degree, and now we're short in technicians and all of that. So I do think it's more of how do you educate those that are coming out of high school to understand what the demand is so they can really take an educated next step in aligning their career.

Devyn Mikell [00:20:04]:

Got you. Yeah. I love that because I feel like it's the shift that has to happen, and I think what also can happen as a result of this and here's selfishly, why I love it is because I think it leads to more opportunity to have diverse pipeline because there's talent out there. I think Darian, my brother, co founder, CEO, he said this the other day, and when we were on another podcast, he said he believes talent is actually there. Like, there's a talent shortage only because of what you're used to getting is short. Right?

Arielle Grupe [00:20:34]:

Yeah.

Devyn Mikell [00:20:34]:

And I feel like that was insightful. I was like, I don't know if he's right, but I do think there is opportunities to expand what we think fits the mold and then helping them get there, if that makes sense.

Arielle Grupe [00:20:46]:

And there's other aspects to your point. I don't know. I mean, I saw stats a stat, right? 95% are made up. But I saw somewhere, like, you could still fill all of our jobs in the US with unemployed, and we still wouldn't have enough talent. Right. But I think that there's so many other variables right. That I can't contribute to the workforce if I can't get childcare or if I can't afford it. Right.

Arielle Grupe [00:21:08]:

So there's so many of those socioeconomic factors that need to be taken into a play for somebody to actually join the workforce and participate.

Devyn Mikell [00:21:18]:

That's a good point. I have not thought about that. I feel like I've thought about a lot of things. I've never thought about that. That's cool. So switching gears a little bit, but this is just a moment to brag on yourself, which I've gave you that moment in the pre interview, and I'm giving it to you again. What is your talent triumph? I think this is like, what is the moment where you were like, I am good at this.

Arielle Grupe [00:21:42]:

What is the moment that I was good at this? I don't know. This one, I might have.

Devyn Mikell [00:21:50]:

You might have a prep dance. That's okay. It could be. What is the moment you knew you were great at this or it's like, hey, what is one of the best moments that you've had in talent acquisition?

Arielle Grupe [00:22:00]:

Best moments I've had, so I would say there's a couple of pieces when I realized, okay, I really like this and I enjoy it. And I think it was more of like when you can consult and you can feel free to share knowledge, expertise and data intelligence like that, to really back up how somebody can get to the solution. And I love that. And I think I really saw that the last, whatever, five plus years of my career is gaining that. However, I would say the actual moment where I was like, I want to stick with this. This is a meaningful industry and career path was actually pretty new and pretty early in my career. And if you're around, which I'm sure you were, 2008 was rough. It was very rough, and it was rough for a lot of people, regardless if you were a new grad or you had 30 years of experience in an industry.

Arielle Grupe [00:22:54]:

And I kind of looked at it as like, it's a job. It got me to move it up to Chicago by myself. It was great. And then 28 hit, and I was lucky enough to keep getting jobs. I was getting laid off, but I'd get another one. And I worked for Crew Builder at the time, and we were doing these hiring events, and we were doing them for engineering company and a large It company, too. And we would give offers the same day. And that was something I was very proud of.

Arielle Grupe [00:23:21]:

It was something we pushed hard. Like, you got to make a decision. You can't just sit on these people. And I saw so many grown in my mind, my little young mind grown adults, cry, cry, so grateful, so thankful. And it was like that moment where you're like, I'm helping make an impact in somebody's life. This isn't just filling a job. It's not just appeasing an organization to fill a job. So that to this day, I have vivid memories of tears and people crying, and people have come from other countries and have visas, and they're like, this is going to keep me here.

Arielle Grupe [00:23:56]:

It was just very impactful. And so I would say those are very key moments across that whole year that kept happening, where people are like, I've tried to get a job for a year and they have so many skills, and to get that job and to see that reaction, I was like, I like this. This is how I can make an impact. And was very passionate ever since.

Devyn Mikell [00:24:16]:

I love it. Yeah, I think that's why you can go either way with recruiting. There's some frustrations, there's some great things, but I think that at the end of the day, I think the fact that it's great people is what's at least got me drawn towards the group. I think everyone's like, nice which has its drawbacks when you're trying to sell technology, everybody's nice, so no one tells you no. But also there are some really just genuinely great people and talent. So I think that's kudos to you, but I kept you on the high mountain and now we're going to go the other direction.

Arielle Grupe [00:24:52]:

Hire we go.

Devyn Mikell [00:24:54]:

So you have peaks and valleys in your career in talent acquisition. Talk to me maybe about doesn't have to be company specific, but a horror story, or if that's too dramatic, some hard moments that you've had in talent as it relates to the job.

Arielle Grupe [00:25:11]:

I have lots of horror stories, but I don't know that they're as relevant. You probably laugh. I tore my cornea at an actual hiring event, had to get rushed to the hospital, had to go on a plane to get back home where I couldn't see. So I have lots of funny horror stories like that, but like actual work related. I think things that were kind of low points that I have taken lessons from was really to be more transparent, to be uncomfortable having uncomfortable conversations, which seems general and generic, but it really does. When you start off in recruitment, you've been in it for a couple of years. Sometimes you just feel like you're an order taker. This is what a leader wants, or this is what an organization wants and I need to go find that puzzle piece and present it and hope that they like that.

Arielle Grupe [00:25:58]:

And you do that for a while and you realize there's a lot of mistakes that come with that. And so having uncomfortable conversations up front like, you are not going to find this purple squirrel. Somebody had to give you a chance at your current job, at your current size of an organization and develop and grow you. You need to do the same for others. And so it's really kind of advocating with data and intel to say, here's what's realistic, let's set the right expectation with you and with candidates. And I have seen so much growth and so much more positivity on that impact and filling jobs and with the right people than I have. Just saying, taking at face value what somebody wants, even though in the back of your mind, like, there's no way you're going to get that. So I would say that that's my biggest it took a lot of beatings, right? Because at the end it comes back on me.

Arielle Grupe [00:26:51]:

Like, you couldn't fill my job, you couldn't do this. Even though you're asking for something impossible to just be very open and honest upfront about what the expectation should be.

Devyn Mikell [00:27:00]:

This must be a healthcare thing because I swear I've had another conversation with Jeff Green, whose episode was very similar in the sense of the hiring manager issue. I'll call it the issue. I don't know if it's actually an issue, but I don't think it's unique to healthcare. But I think the. Way that you both have just described it was crazy similar.

Arielle Grupe [00:27:22]:

And honestly, I get like, I got pushback in engineering a lot. Like, this person doesn't have the skill set I need. And I'm like, you're going to talk to them, they're really good. And then I've had again, in my mind, it's like these grown men mad that I've scheduled an interview for somebody I feel is a great fit and they don't match all their calls. And they've come back and they're like, I am so sorry, this is the best candidate I've ever talked to. And it's like, thank you. Just listen. Of course it is.

Arielle Grupe [00:27:49]:

Yes, healthcare seems that, but honestly, I've seen it across the board in all of the industries I've ever helped support.

Devyn Mikell [00:27:55]:

Yeah, pushback. Yeah, I love the pushback from being order taker. I think that's too easily. I feel like recruiters fall into, like I don't even know how to describe order taker is a good way to describe it because it's like you're just kind of processing you're in the weeds all day and you're not getting strategic. And then you mentioned earlier efficiency. And I think when I think about the future of recruiting and what recruiters are to evolve into is going to be consultants and more consultative, more strategic. But they can't get there unless they get more efficient and out of the weeds of the admin work. So when you think about efficiency, what is the reason that is so important to you in your work and how you think?

Arielle Grupe [00:28:35]:

I think to that point, efficiency with anything means you can do more in the areas that are more impactful. So to get out of the weeds on administrative work means you can actually provide a better candidate experience. You can give more time to them, you can give more time to leaders. Right? So efficiency makes you quicker, right? Like, you think efficient, you think quick. How can you get things through, whether it's a candidate throughput getting them through that process quicker, getting them to start quicker, helping ease burden from a hiring leader like this is one aspect of their job is to hire. That is not 50% of their job, 40% of their job. So how do you make it quick and efficient and easy for them to find the right talent to help fill their roles and be a part of their team? So I don't know if that answers your question, but again, I am very big on efficiency. I've never liked busy work.

Arielle Grupe [00:29:27]:

Right? Nobody likes busy work. Nobody likes administrative burden. How do you get rid of it so you can focus your talents and efforts, your consultation, in a more meaningful, impactful way?

Devyn Mikell [00:29:37]:

I could go on for days about that one. Again, bias, but I think it's the most overlooked weirdly, it feels like the most overlooked and game changing thing a recruiting team can do for themselves is like efficiency, because everyone thinks efficiency means bad candidate experience. And I feel like those have always been like at odds and I don't know why that's the case, but teach their own on their thought process. But we'll move into the final segment of the show. Hire, I don't know if you knew this, but we like to give the audience a chance to get involved in the episode. So we do a question of the week. I ask it to you first. You get first pass at it and then there's a link in the description for the audience.

Devyn Mikell [00:30:22]:

So those who are listening, you can go to the link, click it and you'll get an interview question from me where you can give your best answer and if it's good enough or if it's the best, I'll put it on the show and you'll get some sort of reward from yours truly. So your question, Ariel, for your week is what is a unique way you measure the success of your talent acquisition?

Arielle Grupe [00:30:46]:

OOH, I'm going to state this as a generality because there's a couple I don't know, this is a tough one. What is a unique way that.

Devyn Mikell [00:30:56]:

Measure success in your talent acquisition efforts?

Arielle Grupe [00:30:59]:

Your talent acquisition efforts? I don't know if this is unique, but that's the hard part. Sometimes you think things are unique and sometimes they really are, is really the candidate experience. Right. How do we measure the candidate experience not only with ourselves, but with their whole process of onboarding and starting. And I think that's a big struggle with a lot of organizations in general is like, how do you create that experience? Not just, again, through the pre boarding, I call it prior to stay one, but your 1st 90 days of employment. It's so key that they feel warm and welcomed and have all the tools and resources. And so I feel like we really do focus on measuring that. So that way we're not just like, oh, look at us, we're doing great.

Arielle Grupe [00:31:46]:

It's like, where are the flaws? So we can continue to work on those flaws. And a lot of times it's very individual. It's not a broken process, it's not a broken leader. It's something small and minute that we would have never thought of. So I would say really measuring their experience and taking the bad grades and growing upon those to make it better. Because again, just like I would want to be treated as a new candidate and I had a great experience in my onboarding, I want the same for everybody else.

Devyn Mikell [00:32:15]:

I like it. So the unique part, if I'm spitting it back at you, is keeping a special eye on the bad grades.

Arielle Grupe [00:32:22]:

Yes.

Devyn Mikell [00:32:23]:

I think everyone's going to navigate to the A pluses and they're like, oh.

Arielle Grupe [00:32:26]:

We're doing a great job. This doesn't tell us anything. Again, great. But where do you always want to grow and develop? And you can only grow and develop if you look at the bad grades. If you look at the flaws, you look at your mistakes and say, how can I do this better? And so focusing in on that, I feel like will make you stronger versus just saying, oh, I think we're doing a good job. We're mostly positive. And hanging your head up to that.

Devyn Mikell [00:32:49]:

You get the unique stamp. I'll give you that one. I appreciate your time. So moving towards the end, I think everyone that hears this episode is going to want to connect with you. How would you like for them to keep up with you, learn from you continuously and follow you?

Arielle Grupe [00:33:06]:

Oh, my goodness. I mean, I'm on LinkedIn, right? Facebook's mostly a personal, but I'm on Facebook too. I would say LinkedIn is the main channel, unless they can contact you and you could be my admin and just forward people to me as well. Would that work also?

Devyn Mikell [00:33:21]:

I mean, that works. If you want it, I'll do it. We could try it. No, I'm a good gatekeeper.

Arielle Grupe [00:33:29]:

No, I don't even need a gatekeeper. You could tell I'm an open door. If you're in recruitment, you love people, you love making connections. You love learning a lot. I know I do. And we learn a lot from others and banding together, even if your competitors are not like, we're all in the space and we all have to help each other out because we can't solve a talent shortage or a skills gap one organization at a time. We got to work together.

Devyn Mikell [00:33:57]:

You heard it here first. It's a fact. Work together, solve problems, make recruitment better. That is my thing. So, Ariel, appreciate your time so much. It's been great. I've learned a lot, and I've already talked to you before, and I've learned even more. So I know you're going to get some followers out of this.

Devyn Mikell [00:34:14]:

If you are listening to this episode, make sure to follow her. Connect her on LinkedIn. She is an open book, and she will actually accept your request, I'm sure. And then don't forget to participate. Do the interview of the week. It's a link in the description below. And then if you like this episode, you saw value from this. Please hit the subscribe button so you never miss a beat.

Devyn Mikell [00:34:34]:

And we'll see you on the next episode. Thanks.

Arielle Grupe [00:34:36]:

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Likewise.

‍