Hi ya,

Happy last day of October, friends! 🎃 

Can we talk about how quickly spooky season came and went????

I’ve been so buried in work that I barely got to make any cheesy Halloween jokes…which honestly feels like a crime. 

As we wrap up the month, here’s one last Halloween joke for you: 

Why did the HR ghost get fired? 

Because they couldn’t handle transparency. 👻

Alright, bad jokes aside, this week’s Q&A hits two pressure points:

• How talent teams can actually keep up with the nonstop AI chaos and use it to make better hires
• How fast-moving companies can keep KPIs aligned across teams without turning Slack into a digital circus

Let’s dig in before November sneaks up on us too!

Ready to submit a question? Send it in here, and you might be featured next Friday! 👀

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ASK AWAY

🤖 AI & KPIsCopy anchor linkCopied

✍🏾 What are the key components of AI tools that talent acquisition teams should be using? It seems near impossible to keep up with AI changes and new features but it's all the rage for TA people. What is the best way for us to leverage this tool in our daily work?

Context: Approx. 21,700 employees globally - 5.9 billion in revenue - Operations in over 40 countries - Provides information, software, and services for the financial, medical, and legal industries, business services

📣 Bethann DuBois, HR Manager @ Nipro PharmaPackaging Americas:

These insights are based on how we approach the use of AI for recruiting at our workplace:

1. Let AI Screen Candidates: Use AI to evaluate candidates based on skills, experience, and job fit. This reduces time-to-hire and promotes unbiased, consistent screening.
2. Leverage Calendar/Scheduling Tools: Allow candidates to view your availability and select interview times. This adds transparency to the process and gives candidates a sense of control.
3. Use Candidate Ranking Features: If available, use AI to rank applicants.
   This helps narrow down large candidate pools efficiently without manually reviewing every resume.
4. Ensure High-Quality Data: Make sure your talent acquisition system is configured with clear criteria for each role. Good data improves AI accuracy and relevance in candidate matching.
5. Use AI to Enhance, Not Replace, Human Judgment: AI should support decision-making, not make final hiring decisions. Maintain human oversight to ensure fairness and alignment with company values.
6. Utilize Real-Time Dashboards and Metrics: Use AI to keep dashboards and hiring metrics up to date. This helps track progress, identify bottlenecks, and adjust strategies as needed.

📣 Alex White, Regional Director, HR @ Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club:

Great question and honestly, one that every TA team is wrestling with right now. The truth is you don’t need to chase every shiny new AI tool; you need to focus on what actually solves real recruiting pain points.

The key components of AI worth paying attention to fall into three main buckets:

1. Intelligent Sourcing & Screening
   Tools that use AI to match candidates to roles based on skills, experience, and even potential fit instead of just keyword matching. Think hireEZ, SeekOut, or AI-enhanced LinkedIn Recruiter. They save time and widen the talent pool when used thoughtfully (and ethically).
2. Process Automation & Workflow Efficiency
   AI assistants that handle the repetitive work like scheduling interviews, generating candidate summaries, and drafting outreach messages. They don’t replace recruiters; they give them time back to focus on the human side of hiring.
3. Insights & Predictive Analytics
   AI that turns data into foresight like identifying bottlenecks, forecasting time-to-fill, or assessing offer acceptance likelihood. That’s where TA can shift from transactional to strategic.

But, and this is a big one, we have to stay mindful of the evolving legal and ethical landscape surrounding AI in hiring. Regulations are emerging fast (from transparency requirements to bias audits), and it’s our responsibility as people leaders to ensure AI enhances fairness and compliance, not complicates it.

The best approach? Start small, experiment responsibly, and stay informed. AI isn’t replacing TA; it’s redefining it. The recruiters who balance innovation with integrity will set the standard for what modern talent acquisition looks like.

Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.

✍🏾 In modern startups and fast-moving organizations, there is always a challenge of ensuring KPI alignment and consistent communication across hierarchies. How do HRs or management tackle this? What tools are people leaders using to support this unavoidable challenge?

Context: I work at a high-growth logistics-focused company that operates a last-mile delivery network connecting customers, cleaners, and drivers. I want to ensure that changes in KPIs or objectives are clear to the wider team to avoid any misunderstanding in expectations.

📣 Maleea Meden, HR Director @ World Centric:

I see this as the primary role of the Manager, and if they're not doing it then that needs more investigation. Assuming a role can impact these KPI's, they should be built into the performance management system, where each roles performance is directly connected. I realize this is often easier said than done, but I think that's the end goal. 

In a fast moving org, HR can promote the use a performance management system that has more frequent touch points, something like 15Five. If it's not integrated into the performance management, then at minimum it should be built into the 1:1's and team meetings.

📣 Stephanie Slysz, Director of People & Culture @ Galvanize USA:

Figure out what’s really going on. Misalignment or working in silos is often a communication, ownership, or process issue. I’ve seen organizations roll out “solutions” that technically address part of the problem but end up adding bureaucracy, confusion, or extra work. A half-day workshop or focused, facilitated session can help get to the root cause before you implement systems that create more headaches than they solve.

I love thinking about process balance. Too little structure = confusion. Too much = process overload. I like to think of it as people debt vs. organizational debt: enough process to provide clarity and accountability, but not so much that it slows the team down. Get that balance right, and KPIs stay meaningful and your team stays motivated.

You could also rethink and reinforce about how to track and share goals. Are you relying on static docs, or a goal system? Tools like Lattice, Leapsome, or 15Five make it easier to track KPIs and keep everyone aligned. BUT: Buy-in is everything. Without it, even the best system becomes a dusty database.

📣 Alexandra E, CHRO @ Credit Union:

Establishing a Clear “Cascade” of Objectives:

Leaders translate company-level OKRs or KPIs (e.g., on-time delivery rate, customer satisfaction, cost per delivery) into team- and individual-level goals. This ensures everyone sees how their work ladders up to company success.

Best practices:

Host short goal alignment sessions when new metrics roll out — even 30 minutes can prevent confusion.

Encourage two-way clarity: team members should restate their understanding of KPIs back to leaders (“teach-back” method).

Real-Time KPI Visibility:

How HRs and ops teams enable it:

Instead of KPIs living in spreadsheets or slide decks, companies are using live dashboards and integrated tools that give everyone visibility into performance.

Popular tools include, but not limited to:

• Notion, Coda, or ClickUp – for shared goal tracking and internal documentation.
• Lattice, 15Five, or Leapsome – for performance management and cascading OKRs.
• Asana, monday.com, or Jira – for operational alignment (great for cross-functional logistics teams).
• Google Data Studio / Looker / Power BI – for real-time KPI dashboards.

Pair dashboards with short weekly syncs (“KPI stand-ups”) so numbers get context, not just visibility.

Structured Communication Rituals:

Fast-moving companies maintain alignment not through endless meetings, but through predictable communication rhythms.

Examples:

• Weekly team stand-ups: Highlight KPI shifts, blockers, and wins.
• Monthly all-hands: Senior leaders reaffirm strategic KPIs and rationale behind changes.
• Async updates: Use Slack, Loom, or Notion for short video or written updates summarizing metric changes and impacts.

Make communication part of the operating cadence — not an ad-hoc scramble.

Enabling HR as a “Bridge:”

HR plays a crucial role in reinforcing KPI alignment through:

• Performance review frameworks linked directly to company KPIs.
• Manager enablement: training leaders to translate goals into actionable expectations.
• Pulse surveys: measuring if employees understand current KPI priorities, not just if they’re happy with the way things are.

Culture of Context, Not Just Metrics

Finally, alignment isn’t just about publishing the right numbers — it’s about ensuring understanding.

Modern leaders increasingly focus on narrative alignment — telling the story of why KPIs change and how teams can influence those changes positively or negatively. This builds trust and ownership.

Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.

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🚨 ON YOUR RADAR

🎧 New podcast season is officially here!! I sat down with Erin Grau, co-founder of Charter, to talk about what it really costs to be a mom at work: the bias, the burnout, and the brilliance that rarely gets recognized. Check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

🤯 Ever sat through an HR tech demo so shiny it practically needed sunglasses? SAME. The next HR Therapy is pulling the plug on the illusion! On Nov 19th, we’ll get explicit about what HR really needs vs. what tools actually deliver, without the BS. 

👻 Want to keep your best people from ghosting? Checkr can help! Your people are your competitive advantage, but talent shortages are coming for everyone. Their free checklist helps you audit your TA tech stack and spot the tools that actually move the needle on attraction and retention!

💰 Pay Transparency matters (but it's also difficult). That's why I created this course. Join the Safe Space community to access it, plus everything else you need to stay ahead of the curve.

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📝 RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

Each week I feature a resource I love from the Safe Space library that I believe would be relatable to this week's newsletter topic.

Today, we’re talking everyday interactions with Sergio Peña. Check it out HERE ⬇️

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FRIDAY FUN

🪄 i put a spell on youCopy anchor linkCopied

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hope work isn't too scary today. 

And if it is, your friends in Safe Space will get you through it! 

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That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed! If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I'm allll ears.

Reminder: Today is FRIDAY. 🙏