HHH_Kim Nicholas
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[00:00:00] Welcome to Hiring Happy Hour, where we celebrate the human side of hiring. I'm your host, Nicole Hammond, and together we'll pull back the curtain on people shaping the future of work, the innovators, the dreamers, the change makers behind today's hiring experience. These are the real stories behind the dashboards.
From leaders transforming talent acquisition to the everyday moments that remind us why we love hiring in the first place, to connect people with purpose, hiring happy hours. Brought to you by Smartrecruiters, an SAP company, the AI powered software for super human hiring, helping organizations hire faster, smarter, and we're human.
Nicole Hammond: Alright guests, thank you for joining me today for another episode of Hiring Happy Hour. Uh, listen Up. 'cause today we have a guest that has a great story to tell. Um, one that I feel unless you were born post COVID will be relevant. I think we all [00:01:00] have our trials and tribulations from the COVID period. Um, and as you think about TA and hr, we had our own. Trials and tribulations on top of the norm it comes to COVID. So she is a seasoned people and systems leader who has spent more than a decade shaping the future of talent. Uh, she leads a team of 27 plus across talent acquisition, HR systems, data and compliance. Payroll supporting 10,000 plus employees. Wow. 190 plus retail sites and multiple iconic New Zealand brands. They're supposed to be like a rah there. She has spearheaded major HR technology implementations, including the likes of Oracle Phenom, uh, and. All while developing an AI first approach to high volume recruitment.
Good for you. Way to get ahead of the curve. is our GM of Talent Acquisition Systems and payroll at the Warehouse group. [00:02:00] Please join me in welcoming Kim Nicholas. Welcome to the show.
Kim Nicholas: Uh, thanks for having me. That was lovely. Introduction.
Hello everyone.
Nicole Hammond: I mean, you
gotta get the rah rah in the background. All the
Kim Nicholas: I
Nicole Hammond: just like cheering you on. I just see like an arena for a sporting event. Just yelling your name,
Kim Nicholas: love it.
Nicole Hammond: All right. Um, so we have Chatted and I have loved our time and I'm so excited now to have you here for the real deal to talk more.
Uh, and listeners out there are now familiar with our concept here at Hiring App Hour, so I'm going to just dive right in, ask you the question. Uh, Kim, what is your hiring Happy hour.
Kim Nicholas: Yeah, I, uh, when we chatted it was quite interesting thinking back and taking an opportunity to really. Think and see what it does for yourself, um, as a leader, as a person, and everything that we've been through. Um, I think for me it's going back to, as you said, that [00:03:00] 2020 year. So it's not really a happy hour, more a happy many hours across that whole year.
Um, and it was, it was a year that really, um, changed and grew me, the team, the business, the country, the world really. Um, if we think back, but at the, at the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, before we knew about this big thing called COVID, um, we decided as business that we were going to move into the world of agile.
Be one of the first retailers globally to go into Agile. It's super exciting. Um, lots of reasons as to what to do, but man, it's a big change when you take, You know, a whole business through this change. Um, we were all set and ready to go. Everybody's working in the office. We're ready to, You know, do four days career fair in front of everybody and explain what this is.
Along comes COVID and we're all work from home and we suddenly have this change and suddenly we're closing stores. So we've told people that they're getting dis established. This [00:04:00] is about 1,200 people. Um, we've told them they're going through change and now we're throwing this multitude of change at them.
Um, so. Starts the journey there. Um, we, fun little fact in between, sorry, I'm going off tangent here. Um, but we had to then change this agile, um, career sphere type of thing into a bootcamp of, um. It was two days with Zoom. So we were the first people with Zoom
Nicole Hammond: is a
Kim Nicholas: to go, um, Hey, can we do this? Something like that.
Pulls people into rooms that we can chat to them. Um, hilarious. Right? And now it's one of those things that we just do all the time and here we are. So, yeah.
Brilliant.
Nicole Hammond: Real quick before we go in, can you explain to our listeners, uh, and our viewers what agile means for those that may not be
Kim Nicholas: Oh yeah. we are agile is where you've, instead of having really a hierarchical structure, you have more of a, [00:05:00] a really flattened structure. Um, and you have, um, tribes and chapter areas. So you sort of split it. If you were a leader, you would split your leadership role into a craft and then delivery.
Because some people are really good at delivery and some people are better at craft and leadership. So it sort of splits that type of approach and you work more in a, um, a, a team approach to get things done.
Nicole Hammond: It.
Kim Nicholas: Um, yeah, so very, very cool. Unfortunately, we're now out of agile, just to throw that in the mix five years later.
But we're agile light. I think there's some really fantastic things that we've learned through that journey as well, which is, which is brilliant, but it, it is a mind shift change for Alon of people.
Nicole Hammond: heard of it referred to as pods too, like SME groups that you work with as well. So very helpful to know. And um, yeah, COVID could throw a wrench in that. So.
Kim Nicholas: It does. Yeah. So, and I mean, it was a fantastic journey at that stage, like I say, but we did have to pause everything, but we couldn't pause for [00:06:00] long. We stopped. We, um, with COVID, we paused the project, but only for a month. Um, so we were still able to kick off and, and hit go on the 1st of September. Um, in between that, for the two months prior, while we're getting this all set up, we're obviously going through the COVID changes.
So closing stores, setting them up, dealing with, um. You know, I got jealous when people were able to take a few weeks off and not work 'cause they weren't able to where we were doing
Nicole Hammond: sure.
Kim Nicholas: massive amounts of hours. Right. Um,
Nicole Hammond: Yep.
Kim Nicholas: but yeah, so, so a difficult time for many, but a fantastic time of, of growth. Um. Agile.
We've been, like I say, first September we moved into Agile. We then had to take people through this change. But, um, from a recruitment and team perspective, having disestablished everybody and then trying to explain what these new roles were. The other thing with Agile is what they do is you don't, you're not, if I take a, a tech role, a developer, you're not a junior developer, mid developer, [00:07:00] senior developer.
You're just a development chapter member. And so people had to be okay with then having the same title as all these other people. It was your contribution level that changed,
Nicole Hammond: Wow.
Kim Nicholas: another very big mindset change for people and how we had to go through that change process and really explain, and we made sure we did Alon of education.
I think that was one thing that made that change such a success, um, big learning curve
I
for, for us.
Nicole Hammond: I, I think about that time, right? And, and we all can take a moment to put ourselves back in 2020. Fun fact, my son was born in 2020, so like I also have pros and cons of that time.
Kim Nicholas: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: but I think what is very relevant from a change management perspective and. Again, change management. Very near and dear to my heart is you're already going through these forced changes from COVID,
Kim Nicholas: Mm-hmm.
Nicole Hammond: having a different way of living and now you're throwing on top of that your personal plus professional way of living is now changing [00:08:00] with title change, the way you work, how you're communicated, to how you're engaged with, I mean, I would be curious what percentage of these individuals' lives was right?
Kim Nicholas: none percent.
Nicole Hammond: yeah, yeah, yeah. But it makes for great kind of throwing your arms up in the air and saying, okay, fine. Like, let, let's do this. Right. Uh,
Kim Nicholas: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: you
Kim Nicholas: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: that some of COVID and I, and I'm not trying to make it glass half full, but may have helped with embracing change?
Kim Nicholas: I, uh, it, it, to me, the, the words of that year were resilience and change. There was other horror, like, You know, but from a business, from a learning development perspective, I think, I think that's exactly where it is. Um. To, to slightly follow on the, the, my year of craziness is the fact that at that same stage, we then the end of the year decided we were going to do a big, um, lab operating model change within our biggest brand.
So [00:09:00] impacting about six, 7,000 people across our stores. We just established all. Them and put them into a new roster network. Of course it was the right thing for people to then be able to apply and go through that process and do everything. But that in itself, again, at that same time, within the same year, um, was another big, big learning curve to throw in.
You've gotta get it done and you've gotta get it done right, because these are people's livelihoods. So it was just amazing. But to your point about change in resilience, I think that journey prior, although. I was shattered by the end of the year. It really built you ready for even that next stage of that next big project coming in.
Um, yeah, And so it was, it was a massive year, but great, fantastic learning selfishly within that as well, and for Alon of other people within my team and business.
Nicole Hammond: I mean. Kudos to you because I think, again, as I opened up, like [00:10:00] this is huge. I think whether you're in retail or high volume and you were in the industry during COVID, you all experienced some sort of pivot. hear more about how, how did you do this, right? I mean, you have Agile thrown at you. You have Zoom and COVID thrown at you.
Um, and then like your wonderful organization. I just love how flexible. How you're just kind of in the Sure. Why not embrace it changes the entire, um, approach at the end of the year. But, but how, how did you do this?
Kim Nicholas: Oh, there's so many answers to that. I am, I'm gonna sidetrack to someone though.
Nicole Hammond: Alcohol.
Kim Nicholas: Wine. Wine, friends. Wine.
Nicole Hammond: That's why we call it hiring. Happy hour. Just gotta
Kim Nicholas: Exactly. I, um, do You know, it's fascinating. I love retail. Like retail is one of the most, um, exciting dynamic industries in my opinion. Um, maybe a bit biased, but it really is like the. We had to, like I say, close our doors and then, [00:11:00] um, we were able to open some again, but we within like five days and we were able to then open for essential items.
We needed, um, elderly heaters, blankets, we had babies being born. They needed items like why we could open and that. So it was a whole big journey. Our store network, they turned things over within 24 hours, had, um, worked out how we can have people lining up have. Click and collect processes have lines set up how they were gonna work in different teams.
For the teams to come into the office who couldn't 'cause they're vulnerable at home. I, it was fascinating seeing because the store network's Alon more structured versus, You know, maybe the head office where you can kind of be in a bit more gray. But man, the way they turned things around was just beautiful.
And you see those things and it just pushes you to go, if they can do this, we can do this. It takes teamwork and it takes collaboration, and sometimes it does take these [00:12:00] things to just go, what's the end goal? How are we gonna get there? And how are we gonna make it work? I think sometimes I've seen other projects where you might even have the same group of people, but because you've got time and you overthink things, you actually don't always get things done as quickly as something just getting thrown at you that needs to get hit.
Yeah,
Um.
that.
Yeah. And then just putting that people hat on, people hat on and their change management hat on, because if you don't have the, that part of the process, you could do really well with the consultation,
Yeah.
then people forget about the fact that you've got that next phase of, of process to do.
Yeah.
So it's, it's just, it's getting everything aligned with the right people.
Nicole Hammond: I love that. I mean
Kim Nicholas: Hmm.
Nicole Hammond: their own right. Tell us, uh, how many people, right? Like we talk about retail, we talk about this decentralized model, we talk about these individuals, You know, putting on their people hat and just doing and executing, which I absolutely love, but how big, like how many people are we talking.
Kim Nicholas: Probably depends on the project when [00:13:00] with, I think the, again, when we're in that agile structure, and even if we were to think working in a, if you're gonna work in a project, you'd work this way anyway. You know the scrum type of mentality. Um. Having your core and then pulling people in as your SME as you need to is critical.
Too many people, too many cooks, right? Um, but have a good process flow. Have a GaN chart. I love a GaN chart, especially when there's too many things happening. A bit of, a bit of a systems and data geek, but at the same time, if you don't. Stick to that. It's okay. So you've gotta have that gray, you've gotta have that ability to have that ambiguity, change things quickly and be okay with it.
Um, build bridges quickly and don't hold onto things. 'cause otherwise you're not gonna get through. Um, but I think you need a good call. You need and a mix of people, I think a mix of thought, thought leadership, um, different SMS that can come in, that can really drive that. And people who are able to have feedback.
Given in a nice way. 'cause we've [00:14:00] also had, or should probably had feedback given in the wrong way. Um, but You know, where we can have debates and at the end of the day understand why that decision was made. So I think if you can collaborate and really work well as a core team, then you can bring the right smears in as you need. Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: I love that. I mean, to your point, dealing with uncertainty, but having the same goal in mind and always coming back to that, whether your conversations go awry or there's disconnect. Um. I wanna hear about your successes. So I think what I've found with everyone on these, um, podcasts is you are all so very humble and you have all done so many amazing things.
I just imagine, You know, You know, with the little like muscle emoji of, of what you've done these trials and tribulations, from COVID, from all this change, was the outcomes?
Kim Nicholas: Yeah, there's um, there's Alon of small things that when You know when something's happened and you. And it's [00:15:00] succeeded has been great. I think one of the, one of the ones I'm most proud of, um, it's probably our HCM. So we put in our Oracle, um, HCM system, which for anyone that's put in ERPs will know that it's, it's a journey.
It's a journey with ups and downs and learnings along the way. Um,
Nicole Hammond: Quote,
Kim Nicholas: but
Nicole Hammond: journey
Kim Nicholas: um, the, we actually did it in budget, which.
Nicole Hammond: that's, an
accolade.
Kim Nicholas: Is very surprising.
Nicole Hammond: yourself
Kim Nicholas: Yep, yep. Imagine.
Nicole Hammond: in.
Kim Nicholas: Yeah, I know. Um, but also we, and we did go out of time a little bit, um, but I think the really good thing again with teamwork is you, with produce as well, you should have stop start moments and, You know, working in sprints and.
Sprint cycles and, and retros and all those things are, are really good, especially with tech or
Nicole Hammond: Sure.
Kim Nicholas: types of, of systems. And I think we stopped, we looked, we went, actually we can't, especially with an, an HR system, you [00:16:00] can't just, oh, well it's 70%. Okay, let's go. Um, so we needed to make sure it was, it was working.
And we still went live only with MVP in the core and we we're adding on modules as you go. Um, but I think it was, it, it was again, a journey through Alon of change. We wanted to make sure we could impact people, um, enough for them to be impacted and want to use the system. Um, and I, You know, there's a, there's some learnings I took outta that process as well, but at the end it was really nice to see it, um, come to light and come to light with.
Everything has a few issues. Some, I don't wanna sugarcoat it, but yeah, it, it was a good success. So that was, that was one of the nice ones. Um, and then taking those learnings and being able to put them into some of the projects that we've rolled out since, um, has, has really helped.
Nicole Hammond: I love that. I love that. Um, one of the things that we talked about when we last spoke was. Your candidate engagement journey. Um, and I would love for you to kind of share those numbers [00:17:00] of, You know, where you went from, no candidates to massive candidates, um, as it relates to that progression and that success.
'cause in my mind, um, you should also be very proud of that. Mind you, Oracle is the platform, the foundation there. But building upon that, to your point and continuing to optimize, uh, tell us a little more about that.
Kim Nicholas: Yeah, we, um, so we use Smartrecruiters. We don't use Oracle recruiting for our recruitment side of things. Um, and which I am gonna Flex Smartrecruiters 'cause I do love them. Um, and it's a great ATS for us. Um, but the integration that we, so within, over the last New Zealand's been a very. I know Alon of countries have, but we, um, are currently in very high volumes of candidates.
So, um, back in 2021 where the market just went crazy, um, we had about 95,000 applications a year at that stage, which was really low. Um, now we've got up to 225,000 applications. But with less [00:18:00] jobs and less hires. Um, And so you've gotta manage that. I mean, those are our customers and, and customers are our candidates.
So at the end of the day, we need to make sure that that experience, that journey for them is, is there,
Yeah.
um, I'm very lucky. I've got a fantastic head of TA who really drives the team and, and we work really closely together. Um, and EX is absolutely her passion as well. So it's, it, it definitely helps having the right people on the team.
Um, but we, we've. We just make sure that we wanted to really drop the time to hire, drop the applicant, processing time so that at the moment also in the economy, it's not great. And retail's not doing great either. So if we're not looking after our candidates, they're not gonna wanna shop with us. So it was really a big thing of how can we make an impact to the business when we're not the ones that decide the product goes in store, in store, but we can help the experience of who comes in.
Yeah.
Um, And so we've, we've really changed and, and dropped that hugely over the, the last little while. Um. [00:19:00] We also within that implementation from candidates and more that onboarding experience for when people are hired. So we've gone from great that we've been able to drop that candidates for people who aren't approached, but obviously that onboarding and making sure people come in correctly and they can do that is.
Just as important. We know that a good onboarding means higher engagement. Um, And so we've done an implementation as well as, um, with Smartrecruiters into Oracle. Um, we built like a, a payroll platform that took a bit of time to build in between so that we could have notifications if things weren't in there correctly to the hiring managers.
We just smoothed over Alon of those journeys so that time was, um, quicker
I
for people to be able to get in. And I think that sort of helped with that hiring.
Nicole Hammond: I mean, you hit on so many great things, right? We think about, first of all, your brand being very well known in your country, in the regions, and then to your point, those first impressions. I think application is the first impression. Onboarding is [00:20:00] that second, first
Kim Nicholas: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: And it is so important as you think about representing your brand in every aspect of the business. Um, and it's phenomenal to see with those huge. Numbers and high volume that you're still able to manage, uh, You know, with automation, ai, et cetera, but then also have those touch points, um, and build customization to support it too.
Uh, I, I, I love it.
Kim Nicholas: Thank you. I think the other biggie, just to, before I forget about it, You know, my mind kind of jumps everywhere when we're chatting away, but, um,
Nicole Hammond: gonna go everywhere. That's what
Kim Nicholas: the, the, I think the other thing, like, tech's great. Is obviously great. There's some, I mean, pros and cons if you put it into quickly and people dunno how to use it and all of those types of things, which is another whole hour conversation.
But, um, one of the things we really drive, 'cause we're a very lean team. Um, so for 7,000 hires a year, like I say 225,000 applications, we're a team of nine.
Nicole Hammond: Wow.
Kim Nicholas: we have to really drive our hiring managers. We, the, the hiring managers [00:21:00] drive their. Middle part of the recruitment processes, they're the ones that are interviewing and phone screening and having those reference checks for their stores.
Every store is different, every brand's different and the needs. So we, we really pushed Alon on training. How can we train and push and drive our hiring managers to really understand? 'cause recruitment's not their bread and butter. For some of our small stores, they might recruit only once in six months.
Our big store's Alon like Christmas Peak. Obviously we. Some stores do 20 to 30. I mean, we're talking 2000 hires in in three months, right? So that, that goes through. But the, the actual training, the understanding, the, the gaining their build on EX and why it's so important was also a, a big one for us that we really wanted to focus on.
'cause without their help, the numbers wouldn't have been, been there.
Nicole Hammond: And we are seeing across industries, not just retail and not just high volume hiring managers, more engaged in the hiring process. To your point, it's not their day [00:22:00] job, but it is a role that they should take pride in
Kim Nicholas: Hundred percent. Mm.
Nicole Hammond: times. I'm a hiring manager and. I do it because I have to practice what I preach. But I think share with us, You know, training is important, but what are those touch points where you truly do see that engagement and what drives them, right? What
Kim Nicholas: Um.
Nicole Hammond: feel ownership of? That truly helps to get the shorter time to hire and get them to engage in those points in the process.
Kim Nicholas: Oh, a few things are coming to mind. I think the, um, the one thing is the fact that AI is great for people that have Alon of that in the screening process. We've got part, so we're still quite heavily involved with, with some of those sort of aspects, but we can help hiring managers get the, um, You know, maybe the top candidates that we would recommend they go to first.
I think the, the interesting thing is how o one of the bits that we've really pushed is interviewing. [00:23:00] Has to be, and I think really will come up Alon more. Again, it always is critical and has been, but where we've got ai, where we've got people creating cvs out of AI agents, they can read AI comments and screens.
'cause we can, we've all got stories of that too. Um, you can't just ask the question of, tell me a time when, because trust me, they can read that they know that they've been given an answer. Deeper question. Like what did you learn from it? What would you do differently? How did that work for you? That they won't have prepped, that you could really get that, that understanding.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah.
Kim Nicholas: Um, and we also really pushed Alon on just reminders of attitude. Now, I know that sounds silly, Alon of people know it. We're a youth recruiter. We are people's first jobs. Um, attitude matters. And I've got a fun little story. One of our. Not only brand. I remember a home manager just saying to me, uh, last year said, You know what, Kim?
I always used to go for somebody that had to have sales experience, they had to have, um, experience selling laptops. [00:24:00] He said, but I listened to you. And I went in and I met somebody and she was a young girl. Um, come out of still in school last year of school. But she was, there was just something about her and she's like, she's my top salesperson.
She had no experience, but she went in, she wanted it. She was a learner. She learned, and I was like, love that story. Can we just put that on a poster and send it to everybody?
Nicole Hammond: Throw everything out. Go with your gut.
Kim Nicholas: Go with your gut.
Nicole Hammond: No, it's, it's true. I mean, I think we find across a number of companies that they are weary to engage hiring managers, and one of the main reasons is they can't control what a hiring manager's. Says what a hiring manager writes. And so of course there's guidelines, right?
We can put rules of engagement, we can put friendly reminders, we can enable them. Um, but at the end of the day, we have to hold our hiring teams and our hiring managers accountable. I love that story because I think sometimes hiring managers also too, wanna follow directions, okay? Hiring process. [00:25:00] You're gonna get me top of funnel candidates.
I'm going to interview them, I'm gonna provide my feedback, and then we're gonna hire someone. But then they get that person and they're like, well, that's not what I need. That's
Kim Nicholas: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: want. Or While this person rated higher, I have a better feeling about X. And so it more conversational, making it a little more flexible, and to your point, seems like what everyone does at the Warehouse group is just allows for that conversation, that flexibility at
Kim Nicholas: Yeah,
Nicole Hammond: in the hiring process.
Kim Nicholas: absolutely. And I think we need to have trust. I mean, our hiring managers will make mistakes, but how can we. Support them through that and, and make it a learning.
Nicole Hammond: yes, yes,
Kim Nicholas: Um, and they run their own businesses. I mean, retail stores are, are many businesses, so they, they have to be able to to drive that themselves too.
And, and we need to give them that trust, I think. Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: that.
Kim Nicholas: But yes, we've, we've all got some fun stories, I'm sure.
Nicole Hammond: Oh, Kim, you have achieved so much. Thank you for going back to the COVID days, but sharing that [00:26:00] amazing story of overcoming trials and tribulations and going beyond to kind of leverage that time of change to through more change, uh, and outcomes that are just. blowing, right?
Like candidate engagement hires. I'm sure if we went into the topics of quality candidates, retention, it would all be there, even with seasonal hiring. but I wanna switch and talk more about you. Uh, let's see. What drives Kim to be the amazing leader that she is? Uh, and tell us outside of work, thinking about personal, thinking about getting outside, what is your happy hour?
What brings you bliss?
Kim Nicholas: Yeah, I am. I mean, I. Probably should say kids, right? No, I don't, You know, um, no, they do. My, my kids are great. So I've got two, two boys, nine and 11. Um, they keep me on my toes. They're fantastic. It, it's brilliant. Um, and it's nice to see their growth and [00:27:00] everything, but I, um, I play hockey, so, um, yeah, I, I.
Keeps me active. Um, and it's, it's something that can just take you away from work. Otherwise we can sit in there for hours on end. So you go out, I can tell me to go for a run and I probably won't 'cause it's on my own. I'm not that type of person. Put me on a hockey field. I'm like, yep, I'm there. My friends are there, I'm there.
Um, and yeah, it's brilliant. So I, I just love.
Nicole Hammond: Um, Kim, you don't know this, but, uh, every person that I speak with, I kind of source information internally from our teams that work with you and. going to say it. They said, look out. She is badass. Like she is just a power out there. So while I see this beautiful, like gentle Kim right here, I am picturing you with that hockey stick and out on that arena, just wrecking it.
Good for you.
Kim Nicholas: Uh, no, it's good. And you need to wish me luck 'cause I'm putting my name down for New Zealand for Masters and busy going through
Nicole Hammond: [00:28:00] Can
Kim Nicholas: trials and processes, so I, I wish we could vote. No, it does come down to skill obviously,
Nicole Hammond: Oh,
Kim Nicholas: but voting would be fair,
Nicole Hammond: I mean, that's a fair application process, I would say.
Kim Nicholas: You know.
Yeah, so that'll be fun.
Nicole Hammond: send you all the luck and
Kim Nicholas: Thank you.
Nicole Hammond: what? Bringing it back to the kids, that's what makes you a better parent.
Kim Nicholas: Yeah,
Nicole Hammond: Right?
Kim Nicholas: we we're a sporty family. It's, it's great. I can,
Nicole Hammond: Yeah,
Kim Nicholas: these days, kids can get on too many devices and all these things and yes, they still have it because we not need them to. Um,
Nicole Hammond: with you.
Kim Nicholas: but getting out and about is so important and that mental health that while we're still going through all this, we talked about change and resilience, you actually can't deal with resilience if you don't have your mental health.
Okay.
Nicole Hammond: I'm with you. And it's a good reminder because I think all of us that work hard and starting the new year with new goals, um, cannot forget that, right? We need
Kim Nicholas: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: US time to be better parents, to be better professionally, and to your point, just to mentally be well.
Kim Nicholas: [00:29:00] Yeah,
Nicole Hammond: I'm
Kim Nicholas: matters.
Nicole Hammond: I'm with
Kim Nicholas: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: just got back from Japan. Um,
Kim Nicholas: Fun.
Nicole Hammond: it was amazing. It was amazing. And
Kim Nicholas: Fuck.
Nicole Hammond: people here, and I'll speak for the US 'cause that's where I live. Um, we try to have this. Way of living and, and take this mindset. But there, I call it a state of mind. It's permanent.
Kim Nicholas: Hmm.
Nicole Hammond: they have always done things. It's how they do things. Um, and it is so genuine And so. and kind and thoughtful, I'm trying to bring that back. My kids, like I, I'm hoping this cultural experience brings them to a better place in their world and their adventures. But, my zen is gone And so I'm trying to get it back with every moment,
Kim Nicholas: That's brilliant.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah.
Kim Nicholas: you though, you do need to put New Zealand on your bucket list and come over. You really do. And I'll take Island, which is a beautiful [00:30:00] winery island, so we'll. We'll,
Nicole Hammond: I'm in, You know, I went for, um, the millennial. My mom was a flight attendant, and I
Kim Nicholas: brilliant.
Nicole Hammond: Zealand on her flight. I will go back. My husband says if he could pick anywhere to live in the world, it would be New Zealand. And I'm
Kim Nicholas: Uh, look.
Nicole Hammond: of your candidate growth was because everyone wanted to move to New Zealand after COVID. Like, I am, I am down for a visit. I think we need reconnaissance here. I think so. I think that'll happen. all right, Kim, we're gonna switch into the final and my favorite part of this called this or that. Are you ready?
Kim Nicholas: I think so. Let's see. No judging people
Nicole Hammond: Okay. No, no judgment. Hey, you are allowed to clarify answers. You are allowed to go off script.
I mean, this is for you about
Kim Nicholas: go,
Nicole Hammond: all things. All right? First one, resume or LinkedIn profile.
Kim Nicholas: oh, LinkedIn profile.
Nicole Hammond: Okay? Okay. All right. Next one. AI or no? [00:31:00] Ai.
Kim Nicholas: Uh, can we do combo
Nicole Hammond: Sure.
Kim Nicholas: I'd rather have ai, but not all ai. You need to have that human factor.
Nicole Hammond: Amen. Amen. We, we talk about AI automation with that human touch at the
Kim Nicholas: Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you don't have automations or ai, you're gonna be falling behind, but human factor. Yeah. Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: the way. Um, find me or find you.
Kim Nicholas: find me.
Nicole Hammond: I mean, recruiter perspective, like high volume, I would, yeah, find me. All
Kim Nicholas: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: path or whatever comes my way.
Kim Nicholas: I'm, whatever comes my way, girl.
Nicole Hammond: Me too.
Kim Nicholas: It has been. It's just I, yeah,
Nicole Hammond: It's great.
Kim Nicholas: No,
Nicole Hammond: you to
Kim Nicholas: go for it.
Nicole Hammond: Hey, love it. Um, all right. interview or live human.
Kim Nicholas: Life human. Yep.
Nicole Hammond: is one of my favorites and I love hearing people's responses. Reward or recognition.
Kim Nicholas: Recognition
Nicole Hammond: Okay.
Kim Nicholas: me.
Nicole Hammond: Okay. Good manager or [00:32:00] fun job.
Kim Nicholas: Good manager. I think you can have a fun job, but if you don't have the right team around you, it's not gonna be fun and you're not gonna enjoy it.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah,
Kim Nicholas: you're not gonna be motivated. Yep,
Nicole Hammond: I hear you. I hear you. All right. Uh, ooh. Four day work week or work remote.
Kim Nicholas: four day work week. I couldn't work remote. I am such an extrovert. I need people around me. Put me in the office any day.
Nicole Hammond: I love it. I love it. Um, all right, beach or mountains,
Kim Nicholas: Uh, I live in New Zealand. It's gotta be a beach.
Nicole Hammond: but your mountains are right there,
Kim Nicholas: We do have lots of good mountains. Yes. Yeah. And I love going for hikes and I love mountainous things, but something about the water
Nicole Hammond: Yes.
Kim Nicholas: around.
Nicole Hammond: with you. I I'm a water girl too. All right. Uh, and my favorite question, wine, beer, or spirits.
Kim Nicholas: Uh, is there an all of the above option? No, I'm a, I'm probably more of a wine girl, but after a hockey game, oh, nothing. Bits a copier.
Nicole Hammond: Okay. And, uh, local winery that we should all look up.
Kim Nicholas: Anything in [00:33:00] New Zealand. New Zealand wine. Beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. It depends if you want reds or whites, but anything in New Zealand, you will not go wrong. Trust me.
Nicole Hammond: I love it. I love it. Oh, Kim, um, this has been epic. I absolutely love this and I am hearing a trip to New Zealand to do some live podcasts is coming in our near future.
Kim Nicholas: Absolutely. Thank you.
Nicole Hammond: Um, tell people where can they find you, where can they connect with you?
Kim Nicholas: Yeah, on LinkedIn, definitely come connect with me more than happy to chat away. Um, email, wherever I, I, I'd love to connect in with people and if anybody wants to chat, um, and often around in different events in New Zealand and Australia too.
Nicole Hammond: I mean, even if you wanna go watch her play hockey and qualify for the team.
Kim Nicholas: I shouldn't have said that, should I?
Nicole Hammond: Oh, I love it.
Kim Nicholas: We'll see. I'll let You know how I go later in.
Nicole Hammond: I would like a snippet, please. I would like to snippet to see you being a badass. I, I really would. I really would. thank you. This has been amazing [00:34:00] to our listeners, I hope that you learn from this. I think we can all resonate with the COVID period and how we pivoted. Um, And so hopefully there's something that you've taken from Kim's experience and the warehouse group. If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out to her or myself. Um,
Kim Nicholas: Yes.
Nicole Hammond: you again. This has been another episode of Hiring Happy Hour, and we will see you next time.
And that wraps another episode of Hiring Happy Hour. Thanks for tuning in and for believing like we do that hiring isn't just about filling jobs. It's about the impact we make. To catch more stories and show notes, visit hiring happy hour.com. This episode was brought to you by Smartrecruiters, an SAP company, an AI powered platform for superhuman hiring.
Until next time, stay curious, stay kind, and keep humanizing hiring. [00:35:00] Cheers.