Talent All-Stars

Catherine Petersen started waiting tables at a Shoney's in Birmingham, Alabama, when she was 14, and spent the next 15 years working her way up through restaurant management. The part of the job she loved most was helping people grow, but restaurants back then had almost no room for HR. So in her late 20s she walked away, enrolled in night classes, and started over at a staffing agency hiring tempsCatherine is now the Vice President of Talent at Groundworks, North America's leading foundation repair and water management company, where she leads talent acquisition and talent development for more than 7,500 employees. In this episode, she explains why she checks the company's sales numbers before she looks at yesterday's offers, how a COO who started as an installer changed the way her team approaches every interview, and why she expects AI to put her recruiters on the phone more often. You'll also hear: Why she calls TA "the fun side of HR" The weekly check-in calls she makes that deliberately avoid talking about work What it means that Groundworks renamed its corporate office the "field support center" The single KPI she uses to measure her entire team Connect with Catherine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-petersen-550a789b/ Learn more about Groundworks: https://www.groundworks.com Connect with us: 💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/ 💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter 🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter

Hollie Delaney didn't set out to work in HR. She wanted to train dolphins. When that didn't pan out, she landed in a casino job that turned into an accidental HR career, one she almost walked away from entirely before Zappos changed her mind about what the job could be. Hollie is the Chief People Officer at Power Home Remodeling, the nation's largest exterior home remodeler, where she leads people strategy for more than 5,000 employees. In this episode, she talks about the lesson from Tony Hsieh that changed how she thinks about failure, why she tracks turnover instead of retention, and why listening might be the most underrated skill in talent acquisition. You'll also hear: Why "the language of the business is its people" How to know when it's safe to let someone learn by doing, and when it's not The one skill she thinks every recruiter needs more of, and why AI can't replace it Connect with Hollie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollie-delaney-573b89a/ Learn more about Power Home Remodeling: https://powerhrg.com Connect with us: 💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/ 💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter 🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

Michelle Kligman didn't set out to run the “people strategy” for a nearly 16,000-person health system. She set out to be a clinical psychologist. Somewhere between a postdoc at Columbia and a stint profiling executives during mergers, HR found her instead. Michelle is the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer at Jackson Health System, the nonprofit academic medical system that treats anyone who walks through its doors, regardless of ability to pay. In this episode, she explains why she thinks about careers as a web instead of a hierarchy, how she gets CFOs to say yes to people strategy, and why the one skill she wants more of on her team has nothing to do with a resume. You'll also hear: Why liking people is the only real prerequisite for a career in HR How Jackson turned four values into badges, awards, and hiring criteria employees actually believe in And the two numbers she'd put in front of any CEO to prove the people team is working Connect with Michelle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellekligmanpsyd/ Learn more about Jackson Health System: https://www.jacksonhealth.org Connect with us: 💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/ 💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter 🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

Every employee at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, from the clinicians to the people cleaning patient rooms, is expected to give the same answer when asked what they do: "I find cures and save children." Dana is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, where she's spent nearly three decades helping the organization recruit and retain talent against biotech giants and coastal salaries it simply can't match on paper. In this episode, she talks about how St. Jude leans on mission instead, why a campus visit can change a candidate's mind in an instant, and how her team is thinking through AI without losing sight of the people doing the work. You'll also hear: Why she believes anyone can learn HR, but not everyone can learn resilience and relationship building How St. Jude's CEO uses the line "If not St. Jude, then who?" to recruit against for-profit competitors How St. Jude's AI council decides what gets piloted and what gets shelved Connect with Dana: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-bottenfield-5b38541/ Learn more about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: www.stjude.org Connect with us: 💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/ 💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter 🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

Mario Pennycooke never planned to end up in recruiting. He built a career in graphic design, sold cars at a Toyota dealership, then trained as an automotive technician before any of that pointed toward talent acquisition. Mario is the Director of Talent Strategy at Hendrick Automotive Group, the largest privately owned dealership group in the country, with over 100 locations coast to coast. In this episode, he talks about why he treats every open role like something he's selling, how he coaches a team that all communicates differently toward the same results, and why AI still can't replace the judgment call of matching a candidate to the right dealership. You'll also hear: Why he thinks every recruiter is secretly a marketer, whether they admit it or not How he decides when to enforce a company-wide standard and when to let a location do things its own way Where he thinks AI genuinely helps his team, and where it falls short What he tells young recruiters who are great with candidates but avoid the hiring manager relationship Connect with Mario: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariopennycooke/ Learn more about Hendrick Automotive Group: www.hendrickcars.com Connect with us: 💻 All Episodes: TalentAllStars.com 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziprecruiter/ 💼 Dave’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetravers/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziprecruiter 🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ziprecruiter Enjoyed this episode? We’d be grateful for a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.