Madeline Laurano: Unlocking Skills-Based Hiring: A New Era in Recruitment: Unleash 2025
We proudly share #thePOZcast interviews from Unleash 2025 in Las Vegas with guest host Rhona Pierce!
Madeline Laurano is the founder and principal analyst of Aptitude Research. For over 18 years, Madeline’s primary focus has been on the HCM market, specializing in talent acquisition and employee experience. Her work helps companies both validate and re-evaluate their strategies and understand the role technology can play in driving business outcomes. Before founding Aptitude Research, Madeline held research roles at Bersin by Deloitte, ERE Media, Aberdeen and Brandon Hall Group. She is the co-author of Best Practices in Leading a Global Workforce and is often quoted in leading business publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Yahoo News, The New York Times and The Financial Times. She is a frequent presenter at industry conferences including the HR Technology Conference and Exposition, SHRM, IHRIM, HCI’s Strategic Talent Acquisition conference, Unleash, GDS International’s HCM Summit, and HRO Today.
Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinelaurano/ #thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale.
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Summary:
In this episode of #thePOZcast, Rhona Pierce interviews Madeline Lourano, founder of Aptitude Research, about the evolving landscape of skills-based hiring. They discuss the challenges companies face in validating candidate skills, the role of AI in improving hiring processes, and the future of recruitment strategies. The conversation highlights the importance of structured approaches to hiring and the need for companies to adapt to new technologies and methodologies to enhance their talent acquisition efforts.
Takeaways:
- Only 12% of companies are effective at validating candidate skills.
- Many companies are fatigued with the skills conversation.
- A structured approach to interviewing is often lacking.
- The resume is still the primary source for hiring decisions.
- AI can help infer and validate skills effectively.
- Companies are seeing real results from skills-based hiring.
- There is a community aspect in the HR tech industry.
- Improvements in the quality of hire are linked to skills validation.
- Transparency in assessment providers is crucial.
- The future of hiring is moving towards skills-based approaches.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Skills-Based Hiring
02:56 The Challenges of Validating Candidate Skills
06:02 The Role of AI in Skills Assessment
09:04 Future of Skills-Based Hiring and Best Practices
