The Talent Intelligence Collective Podcast
The one with Meta Mckinney from STRYKER
Alan Walker (the podcast host) described the podcast below:
Welcome to the 10th episode of the Talent Intelligence Collective Podcast! Our first ever episode in double figures!!
In this episode, Alison Ettridge, Nick Brooks, and Toby Culshaw co-hosted a cracking discussion with the wonderful Meta McKinney.
She currently works for Stryker as their Associate Talent Intelligence Manager, but before that, she worked for Allstate. The same place as our past guest – Lesley Rood (episode 8).
Starting off the episode in our typical fashion, with Toby updating us on the happenings within the world of Talent Intelligence, we started with a topic that will come as no surprise – flexible working.
With many companies announcing their future working strategies, flexible working is not something that will be going away soon.
“This decision should be related to the skills sets and the jobs that people are doing. Going remote also works favourably for companies who struggle to hire, as going remote opens their pool much more.”
ALISON ETTRIDGE
“Someone at work called it the great debate. And I do think Google backtracking on their initial statement and deciding to focus on flexibility and choice is smart. I think the listening to your employees’ aspect is more important than ever before.”
META MCKINNEY
Our conversation then moved on to a recent paper from Indeed announcing the projected loss of over 36million jobs.
“We have been talking about digitally reskilling the workforce for many years. Maybe this is the best chance for us to do it.”
ALISON ETTRIDGE
“I think this we should also be talking about transferable skills. Within the Talent Intelligence and Talent Acquisition industry, we are very good at looking at job titles, job function, but when it comes to looking at the skills required to do the job, we are pretty bad. So it’s time we stop looking at past companies or job titles and start looking at the skills people possess.”
TOBY CULSHAW
Could this shift from job titles and job functions to transferable skills and opportunities mean the end of the CV?
“It is definitely the perfect situation for us to move away from certain requirements. Like possessing a university degree. We are at a crossroads. And this is where we are going to start seeing how adventurous hiring managers are willing to be”
META MCKINNEY
Moving on to a completely new topic that we have definitely never addressed previously on this podcast, we discussed what Talent Intelligence is. And how it is being used within the industry.
“It’s interesting to me how loosely companies have started to use the term Talent Intelligence.”
TOBY CULSHAW
“It is driving me absolutely insane. I think there needs to be some definition around what it is and what it isn’t.”
ALISON ETTRIDGE
After this very heated discussion, I think it was time for us to find out more about our amazing guest, Meta. Finding out how Meta’s background in library services helped influence her transition into Talent Intelligence. While her creative background comes in handy when storytelling to the stakeholders.
Within Stryker, Meta is a one-woman team, taking on multiple projects for the entire 40 thousand plus company, so naturally, we were curious about the type of skills she would be looking for when hiring her next teammate and if she could share any tips about building a Talent Intelligence team from the ground up.
As always, we hope you enjoy the episode. We’re now in double digits, and we just can’t believe it! It’s flown by for us, but we would love to hear what you thought! What worked, what hasn’t, and what we should do differently for the next 10 episodes!
Stay intelligent!