Valerie Capers Workman

▶0:00IntroWelcome to the Built by People Podcast, where we share the stories and insights of the world's top HR leaders. Join us as we dive deep into the minds of HR executives, uncovering their strategies, challenges, and triumphs in shaping today's workforce.

▶0:39HostI'm excited to welcome Valerie to the Built By People podcast. Valerie, thank you so much for joining us. And as a starting question, I always love to ask if you could share a little bit more about your career journey.

▶0:50GuestSure. And thank you so much for having me. I am so thrilled to be with you. I'm a fan. My career journey is a bit different to HR. I started out in compliance. So I was a compliance attorney for several years, ultimately becoming the chief compliance officer for Tesla. And then during that time, I was promoted, voluntold, volunteered to lead people. And there I was charged with growing the organization at hyperscale. So, we went from 25 to 50,000 to 100,000, 50 to 100 while I was leading people there. So, I had a very unique intro to HR. So, right now I'm at Handshake and I am the chief talent engagement officer for Handshake. And I work with CHROs and CMOs and talent executives And basically, I advise them on their talent strategies, how to figure out how to scale for the current workforce and for the future. I love what I do.

▶1:44HostValerie, why do you view it as important for employers to develop early talent hiring strategies, and how does Handshake help organizations connect with Gen Z candidates?

▶1:56GuestSo the number one issue that is facing virtually every employer right now is the fact that Gen Z is going to make up 30% of the workforce in the next 5 years. At the same time, baby boomers are hitting that retirement cliff. And so any employer that wants to be prepared for the future has got to get a hold and a handle on how to attract and retain Gen Z. It's imperative if they wanna survive and thrive. And so what Handshake does is we work with employers, we have the Fortune 500, We have small businesses, we have startups. There are almost a million employers on our platform, and we help them craft strategies that will enable them to find, locate, and recruit the talent that they're looking for within the Gen Z space.

▶2:42HostWhat insights have you gained from your interactions with CHROs regarding their top concerns and priorities in talent acquisition?

▶2:52GuestWhat I've learned in having access to the 18 million students that are on the platform and the 1,800 colleges and universities and working with these employers, two things that we're finding are very critical to employers. Number one, the understanding that they have to build their employer brand. They're beginning to realize that although they think they're known or they may think they're well-known or they may not be known at all, they understand that having a a talent brand that speaks to Gen Z so that Gen Z knows who they are and what they do and what's important and why they should want to come work for these companies is as important as a recruiting strategy. So it's really interesting helping companies come to terms with the fact that they have to have a talent brand strategy. And then also the importance of internship programs. And this is getting a little controversial at this point, which is odd, but there are companies that are not grasping how critical it is to have internship programs. But when you present to them the fact that, okay, you've got this retirement cliff, you've got 30% of your workforce is going to be Gen Z, they're coming to terms with the fact that an internship program is not a nice to have, it's an imperative.

▶4:02HostValerie, what strategies have you seen work with employers helping to support Gen Z employees transition from college into the workplace?

▶4:11GuestYeah, one, number one is internships. It's so critical for them to get an understanding of what it's like to have a professional career. Career. What it's like to be to work on time and how do you communicate and what does a professional wardrobe attire look like and all those things they can learn best during the internship program. So I think it's become very clear that helping them transition, an internship is a key way. Another key way we're seeing is the importance of the onboarding process. Onboarding used to be, how do you get paid and how do you set up your 401(k) and how do you get benefits? But now it's become, What's it like to work here? What's a day in the life? What do we expect of you? The orientation process is becoming way more important than it used to, particularly when it comes to helping early talent understand what it's like to get their first job.

▶5:02HostValerie, what advice would you like to share with our community?

▶5:06GuestThe parting advice I would say is it's okay to not have an understanding of what AI strategy your company wants to embrace and utilize., but you have to acknowledge that you're going to need to hire talent that has AI acumen and AI skills. So you don't have to know it all. You don't have to know what your company's going to do with it once they arrive, but you have to understand that part of your recruiting strategy must include sourcing for talent that has some sort of affinity, some sort of acumen with AI skills. Very important right now.

▶5:42HostValerie, thank you so much for joining us on the Built by People podcast. It was a pleasure to have you involved.

▶5:47GuestOh, thank you so much for having me. I enjoyed it. Thank you.