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Transcript

Recruitment Automation That Works · The Science of Leading

• 0:00
  Hi everyone, welcome back to The Science of Leading.
• 0:02
  I'm Claire Monroe, and as always,
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  I'm joined by the quietly brilliant Edwin Carrington-Edwin,
• 0:07
  how are you?
• 0:07
  I'm well, Claire.
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  And I appreciate the upgrade to "quietly brilliant." I'll try not to
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  let it go to my head.
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  Just calling it like I see it!
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  So today we're digging into recruitment automation,
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  which...
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  I mean, let's be honest-it feels like a total maze when you're first
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  stepping into it.
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  Like, there are a million tools out there and they all claim to be game-changers.
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  Edwin, for hiring managers who are overwhelmed before they even open
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  a demo tab-what actually matters most when picking a platform?
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  That's a
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  good place to start.
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  In my experience-advising companies and also watching HR tech evolve
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  over the years-the key is this: prioritize the features that remove your
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  actual pain.
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  Not just what looks impressive in a pitch deck.
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  You want workflow automation
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  that shaves off hours-like moving candidates along your pipeline or firing
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  off reminders-without you having to babysit it.
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  Then there's AI-powered matching,
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  where the system actually reads your job requirements and flags top matches.
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  That's become a real force multiplier for lean hiring teams.
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  Yeah,
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  I keep hearing about interview scheduling too.
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  Like, how some tools just handle the whole thing?
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  Exactly.
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  Especially if you're dealing with volume.
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  Automated scheduling takes the email ping-pong out of the equation-it
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  finds availability, syncs calendars,
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  and books the call.
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  Done.
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  And I'd add recruitment marketing and reporting to that core list.
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  You need tools that get your roles out in the world and show you what's
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  actually working-without you having to cobble together data in a spreadsheet
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  every month.
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  Okay, that's actually a relief.
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  I always worry there's some secret "killer feature" I'm missing-but it
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  sounds like the basics, done well,
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  are still the big wins?
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  Exactly.
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  Automation.
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  Candidate matching.
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  Scheduling.
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  Marketing.
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  Reporting.
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  Nail those, and you're ahead of the curve.
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  And one more that's often missed-but
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  critical: integration.
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  If your platform doesn't play nicely with your ATS or CRM,
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  you're looking at a data silo nightmare.
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  Suddenly you've got duplicate entries,
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  missed updates, and friction every time someone tries to pull insights.
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  It's one of the biggest killers of adoption I've seen.
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  So integration
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  isn't just "nice to have"-it's like...
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  non-negotiable?
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  It should be.
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  Prioritize integration from the start and you'll save yourself months
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  of frustration.
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  Let me ask this-and maybe I'm outing myself-but why do
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  so many leaders get totally overwhelmed by these tools?
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  Is it just the jargon, or...?Partly.
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  There's a lot of buzzwords-"AI," "pipelines," "automated engagement"-that
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  sound impressive but don't always translate into clarity.
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  But more than
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  that, I think people try to solve everything at once.
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  My advice is: pick your biggest bottleneck and find a tool that solves
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  that well.
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  Start there.
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  Don't aim for a perfect system on day one-just one that removes friction
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  where it hurts most.
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  So focus over feature FOMO.
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  That helps.
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  Alright-let's get into the fun part.
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  What tools are actually standing out heading into 2025?
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  There's a lot
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  of movement in the space, but a few names rise to the top.
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  ClickUp is great for full-process tracking-especially if collaboration
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  is a big need.
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  Workable's strong if you want deep AI sourcing and solid
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  parsing.
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  And Greenhouse?
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  That's your go-to if consistency and scalable workflows are what you
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  care about.
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  They've really leaned into structured hiring.
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  Zoho Recruit's another one
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  I've heard a lot about-especially for teams that want to tweak everything.
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  And SeekOut, Manatal... they're both doing interesting things with AI pipelines.
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  At
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  my last job, we tested a couple platforms,
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  and-funny enough-it wasn't the "most powerful" one we ended up picking.
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  It was the one with the best onboarding.
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  That training support?
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  Honestly, it made all the difference.
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  That tracks.
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  A powerful tool that no one understands is just...
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  unused potential.
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  Training and onboarding should be on your evaluation checklist.
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  And you
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  mentioned ClickUp-real case study: QubicaAMF used their dashboards and
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  automation features and cut reporting time by about 40%.
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  That's not fluff-that's time back to your team.
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  That's huge.
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  And with Manatal, someone pointed out that their Chrome extension actually
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  shows when you've already reviewed a candidate's profile-inside the ATS.
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  Like a built-in memory so you don't waste time chasing the same person
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  twice.
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  Feels small, but it's such a sanity-saver.
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  Exactly.
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  SeekOut does something similar on the sourcing side-they're great for
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  niche roles or teams with complex hiring needs.
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  But even with all the tech,
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  don't forget the human side.
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  If your team finds the tool frustrating,
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  it won't get used.
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  Intuitiveness matters.
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  So the big idea here: there's no "best" tool for
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  everyone-just the right tool for you.
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  Match it to your process, your people,
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  your priorities......and how fast your team can get up to speed.
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  A tool that looks amazing in a demo but confuses your coordinators?
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  That's a slowdown waiting to happen.
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  Think: adoption,
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  integration, then advanced features-in that order.
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  That's such a good
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  mental checklist, especially for folks who don't feel super tech-savvy.
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  Alright, let's shift to the messy part: the pitfalls.
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  Because we all know software rollouts are never as smooth as the sales
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  team makes them sound.
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  Let's talk about it.
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  The biggest trap?
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  Assuming the default settings will magically fit your workflow.
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  They won't.
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  You need to customize: build workflows that reflect your stages,
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  craft screening questions that match your values.
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  Otherwise, the system starts working against you.
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  We ran into that!
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  Used a default four-stage pipeline when we actually needed six-and it
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  totally broke our visibility.
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  Reporting was a mess.
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  Took us weeks to figure out where things were falling through.
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  That's
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  common.
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  I hear similar complaints all the time-confusing dashboards,
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  limited reporting, or steep learning curves.
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  The better vendors-ClickUp,
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  Greenhouse, Zoho-they're investing in cleaner onboarding.
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  But still: always demo, pilot,
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  and get real feedback from the people who'll live in the system daily.
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  Yes.
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  Because "intuitive" means different things depending on who's clicking.
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  And if folks are scared to open the dashboard...
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  back to spreadsheets you go.
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  Exactly.
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  Now-can we talk about the elephant in the room?
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  AI.
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  It's not just hype anymore.
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  Roughly 92% of companies are already seeing measurable benefits from
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  AI in hiring.
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  We've crossed the tipping point.
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  But it raises a real question.
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  Claire-would you trust an algorithm to shortlist your next teammate?
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  Oh
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  wow-you're putting me on the spot.
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  I mean...
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  part of me says yes, absolutely,
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  for efficiency.
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  Let the system scan the pile, flag skill matches,
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  maybe catch stuff I'd overlook.
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  But full trust?
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  Nah.
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  I'd still want to feel the fit in an interview.
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  Chemistry, energy, those micro-signals-you can't code those.
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  At least, not yet.
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  And I think that's the future of hiring-using AI to
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  lift the heavy stuff, surface the right data,
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  move faster...
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  but keeping humans in the loop for the moments that matter.
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  Final calls, culture fit, intuition-that's where leaders still
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  lead.
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  Exactly.
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  Use the tech to get you to the moment,
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  not through it.
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  Edwin, what's your final word for folks eyeing new platforms this year?
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  Keep
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  it simple: choose tools that match how your team works today-not how a
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  vendor wants you to work.
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  Customize what matters.
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  Pilot early.
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  Train often.
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  And if adoption lags?
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  Don't hesitate to pivot.
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  There's no gold medal for sticking with the wrong software.
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  Couldn't agree
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  more.
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  And hey-if you're wondering how to actually put all this into action,
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  OAD offers behavioral assessments and hiring tools you can test for free
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  at o-a-d-dot-a-i.
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  It's a smart way to build better-fit teams without spending hours in
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  the weeds.
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  Highly recommended.
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  Especially if team alignment and smart decision-making are your north
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  stars.
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  Thanks, Edwin-and thanks to all of you for listening.
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  We'll be back soon with another episode of The Science of Leading.
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  Until then...
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  lead with intention.
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  See you next time.
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  Take care, everyone.