Skip to main content
Pink Squirrels!

Pink Squirrels!

By Sapia.ai

The Pink Squirrels! podcast is your guide to the future of HR, HR tech, and big HR ideas. Join the Sapia.ai team for a weekly dive into Ai recruitment technology, Ai ethics, change management, candidate experience, tech implementation, employer brand, and more. The Sapia team is joined regularly by experts in HR, technology, science, and psychology.
Available on
Apple Podcasts Logo
Spotify Logo
Currently playing episode

Effectively improving candidate experience (with Lars van Wieren)

Pink Squirrels!Oct 27, 2022

00:00
34:06
Diversity, the future of recruitment, and more: Australasian Talent Conference recap

Diversity, the future of recruitment, and more: Australasian Talent Conference recap

This ep features two additional Sapians: Toby McKinnon, CMO, and Rhonda Zoef, Head of Growth. We discuss our recent appearance at the illustrious Australasian Talent Conference in Luna Park, Sydney. The team spoke to many thought leaders about diversity, recruitment efficiency, the future of talent acquisition, and more – and we're thrilled to share it with you in a compact session.

Nov 17, 202213:05
How to implement a game-changing Ai solution (with Keri Foti)

How to implement a game-changing Ai solution (with Keri Foti)

Barb Hyman is joined by Keri Foti, Head of Talent Acquisition at Woolworths Group. Woolworths is Australia’s largest private employer, and they use our tech to screen and interview a million candidates per year. They talk about the logistics of implementing a game-changing tech solution: Why to do it, how to get a big business united behind the project, how you measure return on investment, and more.

Nov 03, 202233:26
Effectively improving candidate experience (with Lars van Wieren)

Effectively improving candidate experience (with Lars van Wieren)

This ep, we’re talking candidate experience with Lars Van Wieren, CEO at Starred. Sapia and Starred’s solutions are quite complementary, in that they solve for candidate experience issues in similar and different ways. Today we talk about candidate experience, but less about the ‘DO IT NOW’ and more about the ‘How to do it at your company’ - because we hear from a lot of people that the issue is not desire, but capability.

Oct 27, 202234:06
How to lead change as a CHRO (with Meahan Callaghan)

How to lead change as a CHRO (with Meahan Callaghan)

Barb Hyman is joined by Meahan, CHRO at Redbubble. Meahan Callaghan is a 30-year veteran of HR and talent acquisition. She has worked and consulted for major companies like Seek, AMP, and Mecca.

This episode may be entitled ‘how to lead change as a CHRO’, but it's perfect for you if you aspire one day to be a leader in HR. We talk about how to keep employees engaged, how to embrace technology at an org level, how to tackle the talent challenges of the future, and much more.

Oct 20, 202237:43
HR change management and future planning (with Kyle Lagunas)

HR change management and future planning (with Kyle Lagunas)

Kyle Lagunas has more than a decade of experience leading GTM planning, change management, and innovation at some of the world's biggest companies. 

In the wake of COVID, many companies are in survival mode. The temptation is to stick with established processes and systems, even if they're not working. Problem is, when it comes to your people and talent strategy, that's not going to cut it anymore.

Find out how HR and people leaders can start a useful and robust conversation about change at their company; how to select and implement the right tech; how to build a change management strategy, and much more.

Oct 12, 202234:22
Building EVP, good employee engagement, and more (with Jennifer Paxton)

Building EVP, good employee engagement, and more (with Jennifer Paxton)

We're joined by Jen Paxton, VP of people at Smile.io and mastermind behind jamyr.com. In times like this, Jen knows the value of really investing in employee engagement – and that means going beyond periodical surveys and boilerplate questions. We talked about how to build a solid EVP, novel ways to build an employer brand – including a really cool thing you can do with video – how to stop people from leaving, and much more.

Oct 05, 202225:49
Smarter talent acquisition in a scarce market (with Dan from HR)

Smarter talent acquisition in a scarce market (with Dan from HR)

To win in this talent-short market, you need to change your strategy. Learn from Daniel Space, Tik Tok thought leader and veteran HR Business Partner. Dan has helped some of the world's biggest companies (like EA and Spotify) transform their hiring.

Learn his tips for smarter talent sourcing, how to think about soft skills, why employer brand should leverage marketing team skills, and much more.

Sep 26, 202227:49
Better recruitment and personal branding with Russell Ayles

Better recruitment and personal branding with Russell Ayles

This week, we're joined by Russell Ayles, 20-year recruitment veteran, Director at Unrivalled, and one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices for 2022. Russell offers recruiters and TA managers practical tips to improve hiring successes, efficiencies, and personal brand.

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I really want to get my brand out there on LinkedIn, but I don’t know where to start, or I’m a bit self-conscious,” then start here.

Sep 14, 202245:54
TikTok for recruitment and employer brand with Ashley Herd

TikTok for recruitment and employer brand with Ashley Herd

Ashley is the mastermind behind Manager Method (dot com), and specialises in content on HR, the future of work, recruitment, candidate experience, and much more. Her short, snappy videos have garnered 1.9 million likes and 112.1k followers on TikTok – so you know she knows her stuff. On this episode, Ashley offers practical tips to HR leaders who want to understand and tap into the huge recruitment and brand building opportunity in TikTok. You’ll learn how to get started, how to produce TikTok friendly content, how to reach Gen Z, and much more.
Sep 06, 202233:43
Navigating the bright future of ethical Ai with Shea Brown

Navigating the bright future of ethical Ai with Shea Brown

When it comes to recruitment – and perhaps in general – Ai is one of the most misunderstood and unfairly maligned technologies humans have ever created.Sapia takes its approach to ethical Ai seriously. It’s why we’re talking to Shea Brown, who’s a renowned Ai ethicist, as well as the CEO and founder at BABL AI. In this ep, you’ll learn:Why not all Ai systems are fundamentally biasedHow you create an ethics framework for an Ai systemHow to vet Ai tech providersWhy (and how) any one person or team can place an ethical framework on something with moral implications, andHow HR leaders can navigate the use of Ai in hiring.
Aug 30, 202255:49
Getting smarter with HR tech with Rich Lewis-Jones

Getting smarter with HR tech with Rich Lewis-Jones

Rich Lewis-Jones is SmartRecruiters' Director of APAC. He’s a super interesting guy with a wealth of knowledge on HR tech and recruitment. This episode is particularly timely, because Sapia and SmartRecruiters have just minted a brand-new partnership, based on the integration of our Smart Interviewer with the SmartRecruiters marketplace. Everything’s just super smart over here.We talked with Rich about his passions: People, process, technology, transformation. You’ll want to pay close attention particularly if you’re starting to look into improving the sophistication of your HR tech, because Rich has some helpful pointers.
Aug 26, 202242:52
Cracking the quality of hire code with Madeline Laurano

Cracking the quality of hire code with Madeline Laurano

Ask any HR leader or recruiter: Quality of hire is the holy grail stat of recruitment. But it's also tragically misunderstood. Is it about speed to productivity? Is it about work output? Over what period of time do you analyze an employee on quality? What does 'quality' even mean, and can you even benchmark it?Many people have many answers, but none have cracked the code. In this episode with Madeline Laurano (Chief Analyst, Aptitude Research), learn how to measure quality of hire, why structured interviews matter, and much more.
Aug 17, 202239:02
Transforming candidate experience with Steve Gard

Transforming candidate experience with Steve Gard

Do you like being ghosted? Nobody does of course, which is why Steve Gard started the Circle Back Initiative (dot com), a joint movement of employers who have vowed to get back to every single candidate they interview. When he’s not being the HR equivalent of Batman, Steve is a recruitment veteran and has some helpful tips to share on candidate experience, implementing the right HR technology, and why you should avoid breakfast meetings at all costs.
Aug 10, 202227:58
Expert tips to win at hiring and candidate experience with Kim Seeling Smith

Expert tips to win at hiring and candidate experience with Kim Seeling Smith

Nate Hewitt is joined by Kim Seeling Smith, renowned speaker and CEO at Ignite Global (dot com). Kim is a veteran recruiter and expert on leadership, talent acquisition, and change management. Kim offers HR leaders actionable tips on improving hiring and candidate experience. Learn how to streamline processes, succeed without competitive ad budgets, make your organization stand out through storytelling, empower people leaders, and much more.
Aug 03, 202227:56
How industrial organizational psychologists can lead change in recruitment with Matthew Malter Cohen

How industrial organizational psychologists can lead change in recruitment with Matthew Malter Cohen

Ai! Oooh, scary! Well, not for the world's forward-thinking industrial organizational psychologists. The belief in Ai is there, but it can be hard to know where to start. Barb Hyman is joined by Matt Malter Cohen, Head of Recruiting and Selection Analytics at Capital One, to discuss the future of Ai in recruitment, and how industrial org psychs can lead effective change with this revolutionary tool. Matt has a PHD in Neuroscience, a Masters in Psychology, and around two decades’ expertise in behavioral assessment, artificial intelligence and prediction.
Jul 28, 202224:03
The HR leader's guide to practical Ai ethics with Matthew Newman

The HR leader's guide to practical Ai ethics with Matthew Newman

For HR leaders, navigating and understanding the world of ethical Ai is not always easy. On this episode, we're joined by Matthew Newman (TechInnocens), world-leading expert on the organisational application of Ai ethics. Matthew explains how HR leaders and companies can benefit from the insight of an AI ethicist, what companies are getting wrong with regards to Ai, the risks of an insufficient ethical focus, and how we can learn to better trust Ai technology for recruitment.
Jul 27, 202233:56