Harnessing Data Analytics in 2024 with Maisha Cannon

Maisha Cannon joins Keirsten Greggs in HRchat episode 671 to discuss the importance of data analytics in talent acquisition. Maisha explains ways analytics can help talent acquisition professionals examine data sets and draw conclusions and insights. She emphasizes the importance of moving beyond traditional metrics such as time to fill and source of hire and focusing on more meaningful metrics that demonstrate the value of talent acquisition. 

Listen as Maisha also shares her go-to data analytics tools and techniques, including applicant tracking systems, CRM tools, and text analysis tools. She highlights the curated and intentional nature of Talent Acquisition Week and shares her favorite moments from the event. Maisha concludes by inviting listeners to connect with her on LinkedIn and participate in her upcoming courses and networking events.

Key Takeaways:

1. Talent acquisition professionals should move beyond traditional metrics and focus on more meaningful metrics that demonstrate the value of talent acquisition
2. Data analytics tools such as applicant tracking systems, CRM tools, and text analysis tools can provide valuable insights for talent acquisition teams
3. Talent Acquisition Week stands out for its curated and intentional approach, allowing participants to dive deep into specific topics
4. Networking events and trivia games during Talent Acquisition Week provide opportunities for professionals to connect and have fun

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome everyone. I am so thrilled to be here.

Speaker 2: 0:30

I am so excited to be joined by my next guest, mayisha Cannon, the dynamic founder of the Collab Lab Inc. She is a trailblazer in the recruiting industry and her enthusiasm for learning and sharing knowledge is nothing short of infectious. Mayisha has delivered powerful presentations at some of the most prestigious conferences in her field. She has captivated audiences at SourceCon seven times, recruiter Network six times and GEM Summit two times. As an industry leader, her expertise has been displayed in publications such as Recruiting Daily, recruiting, brainfruit and SourceCon. Mayisha's innovative approach to sourcing has not gone unnoticed. She has been honored as a finalist in the SourceCon Grandmaster Challenge and as the third place winner in the world's greatest source or competition. In her current role, mayisha designs transformative learning and development programs that enable talent teams to source with greater precision and less stress. Three things Mayisha is great at listening, learning and laughing loudly, and she also has two impact projects that we just can't get enough of Tracing her roots and designing journals for black girls. Please help me welcome Mayisha to our podcast today. Mayisha welcome.

Speaker 3: 1:54

Thank you, Kirsten. Great job on the bio. That was a mouthful.

Speaker 2: 1:59

I loved it. I couldn't stop like saying all these things about you. They're awesome. So if you wouldn't mind in case I missed anything. Can you please introduce?

Speaker 3: 2:08

yourself. Sure thing, you covered it. Well, you covered it all. But I am Mayisha. Mayisha means life in Swahili, and I am from Los Angeles, california, living here in Vancouver, british Columbia now. And, like you said, I'm the founder of the collab lab, which I started after 20 plus years in corporate America. So, learning all the things while I'm unlearning all the things. That's where I am right now.

Speaker 2: 2:36

I love that Learning all the things while unlearning all the things. So we have you here to again help us to recap what was a phenomenal talent acquisition week. You were on the panel that closed out day five. That was talent acquisition data analytics day. For those who are not familiar, what is data analytics and how are TA teams using it?

Speaker 3: 3:05

Yes. So data analytics is really just this field that allows us to examine data sets and then draw conclusions and insights. So it's really exciting to me because, having been in recruiting since the 1900s, I didn't always have data at my fingertips. Right, we'll be receiving resumes via fax, right? We didn't have to count how many came in through a certain channel. So it's really exciting to be able to now, with tools like Jim you know, track the source of hire and track the time and stage that people are spending, and so that's pretty much how TA professionals use it to measure those recruitment patterns, candidate behaviors, and then to optimize their hiring processes.

Speaker 2: 3:50

It wasn't until you said it that it dawned on me that I too went from the 1900s of recruiting, that's right. And now that we are in the 2020s? Of recruiting it amazes me that some TA teams are still at a point where they're only gathering and reporting metrics such as time to fill and source to hire, or source of hire, I should say what analytics better position and demonstrate the value of TA.

Speaker 3: 4:27

That's such a good question and I don't know that I have the answer, though I have some thoughts on it. When you talk about the value of TA, I think about what John Blaselica talks about on the social talent platform when he talks about becoming a talent advisor, right, so it's kind of elevating our role from order taker which we can serve as as a recruiter, right. We go into an intake meeting, aka a strategy session, and we take down all of the must haves from the hiring manager and then we go out. There's this expectation that will bring back exactly what was ordered. But I think as we develop our roles much more broadly to the value of TA, we'll come away from some of those like time to fills metrics. Maybe source of hire will stay, but maybe we'll go into the outreach activity.

Speaker 3: 5:15

What was the quality of our outreach? What were our response rates, even at the top of funnel, when people are still saying no, right, we still connect with people as ambassadors for the brand. What are the conversion rates from stage to stage? And then taking some of that spotlight off of the recruiting team, that's killing it often and then saying well, where does the breakdown happen? Isn't that usually around the hiring manager interview stage. So now let's focus on those metrics deeper in the funnel. Right that hiring manager conversion rate in as the panel of interviewees starts looking at candidates? Does that align with what we heard early in the recruitment at that intake or kickoff stage? So I think if we get more critical about what we've been doing which is the same way hiring has been done since I started back in the day we get critical about that and kind of take a step back, we'll probably come up with, you know, 10x more types of metrics that are more meaningful, that are worth measuring.

Speaker 2: 6:14

Thank you, those are. That was an excellent response. Appreciate it. What would you say are your go-to TA data analytics tools and techniques?

Speaker 3: 6:25

Well, now that GPT has become my bestie, I'm thinking of different ways to even measure. But you know some traditional tools that you'll use will be embedded in your applicant tracking system. So the last ATS I used that I was happy to use was Greenhouse. I won't mention the last one that I used begrudgingly, but Greenhouse Leather. They have great analytics just built in. That reporting you can pull from your applicant tracking system. Gem CRM is great. Other tools like GEM would be like Gamerie, where you can see that candidate relationship management that happens before the prospect becomes an applicant. So those tools are great.

Speaker 3: 7:07

And then there are a lot of like one-off tools, depending on how flexible your IT team is, that you can start dabbling in as a recruiter or if you're independent, you know, to just measure your response rates, the quality of your messaging. You know I get data, even from tools like a Hemingway editor. Right, it's not numbers, but I'm getting data on my outreach. Am I speaking too much in passive voice or how can I make this more lively? There's some tone tools that you can use like a Textio. There's some free versions of like that tone analyzer to make sure that your messaging isn't too masculine, you know, and that it's not using language. That would be exclusive. So I think we can integrate that the data within our TA stack at multiple points in the process. Just depends on how much time you got right, how you're trying to make those numbers.

Speaker 2: 8:03

Thank you so much and I hope everyone who's listening has taken the time to write down all of those tools that she mentioned, because she did mention some great ones and some that I am quite familiar with and some that I know, some amazing TA professionals who work at the companies that she mentioned the tools. So take a look at them, try them out. And then, of course, our favorite, chat GPT. If you don't follow my Asia, please make sure that you do go to her LinkedIn. Follow her because she gives a great deal of assistance with utilizing chat GPT for recruiting. As I mentioned at the top of this episode, you presented as some of the most prestigious TA conferences. In your opinion, what differentiates talent acquisition week from other talent acquisition conferences?

Speaker 3: 9:03

Such a good question. I think Kara at TA Week just did a brilliant job of just the curation. I was just impressed at not only the breadth of topics that were covered but also the depth that we were able to go into with that thematic day kind of feel right so you can dive deep into social recruiting one day, dive deep into sourcing the next. So it felt much more, just much more intentional, I think, than a lot of conferences that try to give you a little bit of everything and crammed into a day or two. So with five days, even though it was virtual, we all had time to kind of sit with the content, let it breathe, and though it felt overwhelming as you and I were both in the chat, seeing people kind of feel like information overload, but we still had time to step away. The recordings were available immediately. It was just very well put together and curated and made with love. So shots out to the TA Week team.

Speaker 2: 10:01

What was your favorite part and or day of the most recent talent acquisition week?

Speaker 3: 10:09

I think. So there were two moments that stand out. One was Sunday night when I was top three in the leaderboard. I was quickly wiped away by Monday morning, but I was fitting the weekend getting connected. It was a really cool platform I think called Hubelo, so you could earn points for engaging with people, connecting, sending messages. So I was all over that and then woke up Monday morning. I think I was like number 10. But being in the top three before conference, that was a really great way to kind of infuse that energy into the virtual event. And then the other highlight involved you, kirsten. So this was like your. I think this was the way you hosted. We ended up in a networking table together and we played a fun trivia game. I think it was on Kahoot Kahoot the platform. But yeah, that was just really fun, even though it was virtual, you know, just connecting with TA peers across industries, being competitive with each other in the chat and then celebrating Kirsten who ended up winning trivia that day.

Speaker 2: 11:11

Well, I can't see what I am dancing. I wasn't going to toot my own horn, but yes, there is a rumor that I won Kahoot's on day three the second time. So, wow, you have dropped so many jewels in such a short amount of time. I can't believe we're at the last question already. Kirsten, where can we go to learn more about you and the collab lab Inc?

Speaker 3: 11:43

Yes, it's a tongue twister, isn't it? I know I didn't think about that when I was being creative using the monic devices to come up with a name for a company in December. You can visit the website at tricollablabcom, and if you're looking for a course, just as an individual learner, you'll find me there. On LinkedIn at myeciaCcom, you can go right to my LinkedIn with my first name, last initial, and yeah, I'm always sharing content on my LinkedIn around recruiting, sourcing and technology. So if you're interested in that kind of intersection, would love to learn from you and share with you.

Speaker 2: 12:23

Thank you so much, Myisha. You are an extraordinary guest. You gave us so much important information and insights for the town. Acquisition professional or HR professional in general.