The Talent Economy Podcast

As more teams are settling into their remote work experiences, a number of challenges have surfaced: prolonged workdays, increased time spent in meetings, feelings of loneliness among employees, and frustration from managers struggling to effectively manage their distributed teams.

In this episode, we are joined by Shiran Yaroslavsky, CEO and Founder of Cassiopeia, a startup that empowers managers who lead fully or partially remote teams to maximize their workplace experience through data. Cassiopeia offers a solution that delivers actionable insights to help boost team collaboration, belonging, and mental health by analyzing communication patterns within and between teams. A former product manager, Yaroslavsky was featured in 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Israel.

She discusses how Cassiopeia is utilizing data to help teams better navigate how they work and how they want to work. She also shares her professional journey from intellectual property litigation to tech CEO, a transition inspired by Yaroslavky’s desire to connect directly with people and wanting to pivot “from advising to creating.”

Links

• Cassiopeia
• Shiran Yaroslavsky - LinkedIn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Think outside the box” is a famous adage. Yet many of us—as we advance in our education and begin to specialize in our careers—begin thinking more within the boxes defined by our areas of expertise. While our specialties are important and necessary, they can often create blind spots. It turns out that the majority of the problems faced by large organizations are solved by people outside of the organization. Companies are engaging talent from the gig economy and crowdsourcing platforms to partner with internal experts and tackle issues.

HeroX, a spin-off of XPRIZE, is the world’s largest problem-solver community and number one crowdsourcing platform. They empower everyday people to create, compete, share, and work with some of the world’s largest companies to solve some of the hardest problems.

HeroX Co-founder and CEO Christian Cotichini is a four-time founder with more than 20 years of experience leading startups and high-growth technology companies. He joins Paul to discuss remote work, the (literally) out-of-this-world problems that HeroX is helping to address, the future of work, and the innovative opportunities Christian believes crowdsourcing allows organizations.

Questions I ask:

• What was Christian’s stance on remote work and the talent industry when he was running his previous companies and how has it evolved?
• What are examples of problems that have been solved by the HeroX platform?
• How does Christian convince organizations that it’s “ok” to seek help outside of their team?

In this episode, you will:

• Gain key insights into how to foster a strong organizational culture within a remote/hybrid organization.
• Learn about the HeroX platform, the benefits of crowdsourcing, and how you can get involved.
• Understand how working with non-experts and tapping into their diversity of thought can help organizations address challenges.

Connect with Christian:

• Christian's LinkedIn
• HeroX
• HeroX - COVID19 Central
• Why Work Sucks (Cali Ressler & Jody Thompson)

Abundance (Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we are launching Toptal’s “Rise of Remote” series, a special edition of The Talent Economy Podcast, featuring advice and perspectives from experts in remote work. Prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic that has accelerated the gradual advance of remote work into a stampede, we thought it was extraordinarily relevant to create a special series dedicated to hearing from experts on how to succeed when working remotely. In this episode, I speak with Mike Dowhan, VP of SMB sales at Toptal.

Mike is responsible for developing winning go-to-market strategies, coaching excellence, and for driving growth within the small and mid-sized clients incorporating inside sales, sales operations and enablement, account and relationship management, and outside and specialist sales roles to continue Toptal’s hyper-growth trajectory. He brings more than 20 years of experience in management, sales, operations, and technology from Morningstar, The Boston Consulting Group, and Goldman Sachs.

Mike and I discuss what it takes to be successful in consultative sales, how Toptal is helping its small business clients with their remote work transition, the importance of flexibility, and the opportunities that it can afford talent, and we share insights into best practices for working remotely.

Questions I ask:

• Would you help me understand your previous roles (at Morningstar and others) that were in more traditional and on-location environments?
• What are you hearing from your clients with regard to current events?
• How do you work with the other cross-functional leaders in this distributed environment and how is that different than having all of the executives sitting in an HQ?
• If we look out 18 months from now, what do you think will change about the way your clients (small-mid size businesses) get work done?

In this episode, you will learn:

• About some of the challenges a distributed sales team experiences.
• How the “watercooler conversations” can be modeled in a remote environment.
• About the tools and resources Mike uses to manage his globally distributed sales team.
• How Mike promotes a sense of workforce balance in a fully distributed global structure while still meeting client needs.

Connect with Mike:

• LinkedIn
• Email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we are launching Toptal’s “Rise of Remote” series, a special edition of The Talent Economy Podcast, featuring advice and perspectives from experts in remote work. Prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic that has accelerated the gradual advance of remote work into a stampede, we thought it was extraordinarily relevant to create a special series dedicated to hearing from experts on how to succeed when working remotely. Today, I’m speaking with Toptal’s CTO, Ismael Peinado.

Ismael leads the company's engineering organization, driving process and culture to ensure top-quality delivery from our team of world-class engineers. Ismael was formerly the CEO and co-founder of Blue4, a distributed multimedia system used in the aerospace and entertainment industries. He leverages more than 20 years’ experience in providing commercial, operational, and technical leadership for B2B, B2C, and government organizations from early-stage startups to large, high-growth market leaders.

Ismael and I discuss his past fears about remote work, how flexibility can allow for more efficiency and support work-life balance, and the importance of creating a culture designed for a remote work environment—one that promotes collaboration, autonomy, trust, and empowerment.

Questions I ask:

• When did you start to realize that remote and distributed teams were an opportunity?
• How would you describe this current moment in time as it relates to broader remote work?
• What tools does your team use and how are they different than what is used in an on-location environment?
• How do you incorporate culture in a team that’s all around the world and still wants a social aspect and a feeling of belonging to a team?

In this episode, you will learn:

• How Ismael’s point of view about the need for location-based engineering has evolved.
• About Toptal’s solution for structuring a remote work environment.
• How remote work/flexible schedules can be a huge selling point for attracting top talent.
• About Ismael’s framework for supporting and fostering a culture of work-life balance.

Connect with Ismael:

• LinkedIn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Founded in 1963, Comcast has grown into a leading global media and technology company with hundreds of millions of customers and viewers across its range of products and services. With its blend of innovative technology and captivating entertainment, Comcast provides a collaborative, forward-thinking work environment, which achieved ninth place on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list in 2023.

As Executive Vice President of Human Resources for the company’s connectivity and platforms division—including Comcast Xfinity, one of the largest Internet providers in the US—Bill Strahan has been at the forefront of delivering an ambitious employee benefits package and ensuring Comcast continues to innovate.

Drawing on his three decades of HR expertise, Strahan speaks to Toptal’s Chief People Officer Michelle Labbe about the universal truths of his profession and how to lead the way with integrity.

Some Questions Asked:

• How does Comcast contribute to fostering an innovative corporate culture?
• Why are Comcast jobs well suited for millennials and younger talent?
• How will AI innovation impact the HR function?

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Why the most critical element of HR is “allowing people to reinvent themselves.”
• How Comcast’s Project UP aims to achieve digital equity across the US.
• How Comcast chooses the employee benefits to include in its range of work perks, including tuition reimbursement, theme park tickets, pet insurance, and employee assistance programs.

Links:

• Bill Strahan - LinkedIn
• Comcast - LinkedIn
• Michelle Labbe - LinkedIn
• Toptal - LinkedIn
• Staffing.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.