HHH - Derek Del Simone
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Nicole Hammond: Hi everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I am happy. I am more than happy. I am over the moon excited to have our guest.
He is an accomplished chief talent officer with over two decades of global experience across the broader Asia Pacific region. His expertise spans talent [00:01:00] acquisition, leadership development, organizational design. DEI strategy, employer branding and workforce analytics, and much more. His company was named to the HR Director Hotlist. He was named to the top 55 HR leaders in Australia, woo woo. And he has received the TA Team Excellence Award in 2025 for best use of technology. but certainly not least, the TA A and Z Awards for Excellence in Candidate Experience. Best Tech Stack. Please join me in welcoming Chief Talent Officer at AO healthcare, Derek Dell.
Simone, welcome to the show. Derek.
Derek Del Simone: Thanks, Nicole. Gee, what a way to start my Tuesday morning.
Nicole Hammond: I mean, you gave me so many accolades, I just had to keep going with it. Right.
Derek Del Simone: ~Uh, very cool. It's very, it's, it's,~ it's humbling to s to hear those accolades 12 months on, well, a couple, couple months on for some of them. So, uh, so that's really nice. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm really excited to be here and, uh, [00:02:00] part of, part of the podcast.
Nicole Hammond: Oh, I'm so excited to have you, and we've had a few conversations, so it's just great to get to see you again as well. Um, so I'm gonna jump right in because we, we've talked a little bit about this, but I think that viewers and listeners wanna hear from you. Uh, we've talked about hiring happy hour. So this moment in your career that you think about as a blissful moment, proud achievement, and you've had many, or that moment that you just.
Rise a little taller because of something that you reflect on that you've accomplished. Uh, I want you to share with us, Derek, what has been that hiring happy hour for you?
Derek Del Simone: That's a good question. I, I think definitely, definitely this year, um, has been. The highlight for me, I think, I think, I can't put it down to, to one specific period, but I think, you know, definitely coming out of the award season with the Iters here in Australia, uh, and having the recognition for the team that of, of the awards that we were nominated for and, and taking [00:03:00] home three awards, um, was probably the.
The highlight for me for this year, I'd say, 'cause it, it's been two years of hard work of transformation. Uh, digging in deep and just having that accolade for best tech stack, uh, candidate experience and innovation has really kind of solidified that we are on the right track and the industry sees that also.
Nicole Hammond: And I love that because your accolades are not. Just in one specific area, right? Like candidate experience. It's around, across seamless tech. It's across that user experience. And so when you speak to this two year transformation, share with us more some of those milestones that you can reflect on that really reflect these accolades that you've received.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, so, um, so I was brought into transformer a really reactive and underperforming talent acquisition function. we had a. terrible tech [00:04:00] stack when I first started. And, we, do joke because my CEO that brought me across-I had worked with him before-and the agreement was, 'cause I've got a track record of doing this, is that I wasn't allowed to ask for a new tech stack within the first 12 months of employment.
Two weeks in, I was asking for a new tech stack. So, that's Milestone one. and probably now, as, we're gearing in, where we're, what we're eight, nearly 18 months, live with Smartrecruiters and seeing the. return on investment in regards to getting candidates getting our dentists quicker into our organization and seeing the team able to deliver more quickly on candidates has been probably, that, milestone that has made it all worthwhile.
And yes, there's been some tears and laughter along the way, but, um, I think, um. You know, [00:05:00] the transformation evolution is, is, you know, it's, it's a 1218 month process and, and we're, we're now there and it's, I don't know if I can reflect on the last 18 months anymore.
Nicole Hammond: You're like, we just wanna have a cocktail and celebrate the future. Right.
Derek Del Simone: Yes.
Nicole Hammond: We can do that too. Um, I wanna break that down a little bit though, because there are some specific components as I think about that and I think about others going through transformation that we've heard from before around how do you do it right?
And first I wanna start with just stakeholder engagement and really just getting the permission to pivot or transform,
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: What can you share with our audience about key things to consider and also just prepare.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, so for me. I mean, the first one, and I'm, I'm quite vocal about this one, is, is having a voice, uh, and being, um, being the the ambassador. Um. For ta ta and I kind of, you know, my leadership style I is a [00:06:00] steward leadership, so I very much feel that my role is about building something for the future, for future gen generations to, to come in and, and deliver on that.
It's not about delivering for now or in the next few months. And I think, you know, my learnings over the last 10 years has really been, you know, my first transformation project. I didn't get the tech stack that I wanted. And you know, and that wasn't a Smartrecruiter tech stack at the time either.
And it was just, you know, that, learning was, really pivotal for me. 'cause it was kind of like, you need to fight for what you want. And sometimes, as TA we get, You know, a, platform that is because of, if it's a, you know, part of another platform or the HR team got, their HRS system put in place and it had a recruitment module in there and it doesn't suit what you're doing in the TA function.
And I'm a firm believer that ATS suites, you know, they, could be right for one team, but they're not right for another team. So you gotta really dive into the right, right tech stack for yourself [00:07:00] there. Um, and I think for me, I've kind of. Over the last 20 years, I've, I've learned that we've had to have a voice.
And so I've, I've positioned myself into an, into an executive leadership role. And, um, I think as TA leaders, we need to sort of branch out from being part of a HR team into A-A-A-A-A division itself. And, and we generate revenue for organ, organ organization. We bring people in that generate revenue. Um, so it's really important to have that voice.
Nicole Hammond: I love that and I, having a change management background from Deloitte really resonate with that because I think that there is a lot there too, ensuring the right stakeholders are brought in early, that they get on board and come with you on this journey. So let's skip to. The end of that journey.
Journey. 'cause you're talking about ROI
Derek Del Simone: Mm.
Nicole Hammond: And I think this, this is pivotal in today's world where everything is, you know, technology resources are being scrutinized. Um, to save a dollar, let's be honest.
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: And that ROI is so important throughout the journey, right? To start up front and say, here's what's [00:08:00] possible.
And then to your point. Prove it later with the efficiency resources saved ai, I will say that word. Um,
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: More about how you went through that journey, uh, with one of these transformations, leveraging ROI.
Derek Del Simone: I've learned that you need to put everything back to a do dollar figure over the last eight years and everything has to, you know, when you're talking to A CFO, they see dollar signs and so you gotta talk dollar signs. So you talk to a CEO, they're thinking growth, they're thinking dollar signs.
So, talking about time to fill. You know, two weeks doesn't mean anything to them, but you know, if you say time to fill, I'm generating an extra 50k worth of revenue for you. That's what's gonna hit, the mark. And so for me, you know, I've gone into, this is my third transformation, second time around with Smartrecruiters I was kind of familiar with, the ROI there for me. what I, did was. I looked at the historical value of it and then I, made an assumption of this is what we think we can do. And, you know, partnered really closely with the Australian, sales team at [00:09:00] Smartrecruiter for this one, and, got the data that I needed to get and really transformed and showed the, you know, the, value of.
Reducing agency's fees 'cause we're nurturing our candidates better through our smart, through our system. Bringing people on earlier, you know, the revenue impact on the bottom line or, now that we are looking at, retention in the team also, you know, reten bringing better quality candidates.
What's that retention rate and what's the value of the that to the business? Um, so I've gone through. What, we're 18 months now, so I've just done my first official review, of, the business and, really sort of demonstrated back what I'd predicted and where we are now. we're ahead of schedule, which is great.
So, um, I'm happy with that. I'm happy with that. I wasn't, um. I wasn't being chastised by the CFO in a meeting, which is good. He's a lovely CFO. He so shouldn't say that. But, um, you know, it's, uh, um, you know, it's, I think you've, you've gotta show your value and you know, I think when we [00:10:00] go into tough operating markets, we do, especially in Australia, we see recruitment teams decimated.
You know, they've made redundant because they don't seem to have a value to the business. But we have such a great value to the business 'cause we're about their people.
Nicole Hammond: Yes. And you touch on people. And I think as I think about ROI, 'cause we do this with many customers as well as prospects, is adoption is almost innately there because you are getting that. Time to hire, time to fill quality candidates, right? The volume shows adoption, but also you can look at that as another marker of ROI. we talk about implementations and transformations and what's the point if no one's gonna use the system, right?
Derek Del Simone: Exactly. And I think, you know. I've learned that over the last three transformations that you've gotta bring people in on the journey. 'cause they'll come kicking and screaming. Um, I've still got people kicking and screaming thinking I've got it right. But you do have to bring them in on that journey 'cause it makes life so much easier if, if they're part of that
Nicole Hammond: Yes.
Derek Del Simone: Making and [00:11:00] part of that journey.
Nicole Hammond: So let's talk about my favorite topic, change management. Um, and we think about it from the perspective of people, process, technology. This is something that you mentioned to me, but I wanna kind of, um, throw you a bit of, I don't think it's a curve ball, but a little addition and flavor as we think about ai, the world today.
You can find many people on this journey in different places, but I think if we were to take the bookends, it's risk averse, like afraid of AI and others that are leaning in, diving in. Gosh, uh, running a marathon to get to that ai. Um,
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: Does your organization sit and how would you support those different audiences?
'cause they all exist within an organization.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah. Interesting. So, uh, you know, mentioned before I was on a, um, panel this, this last week about a, um, ai uh, powering TA in the in in the future landscape. Um, uh. For us, you know, I've really thought about this. You know, we've brought in an [00:12:00] AI council within the organization 'cause we have so much AI being thrown at us from various departments.
So we formed an in-house AI council that is there not to bring AI into the business, but to help govern and help execute it across the organization. So, you know, if a department's bringing in ai. You know, is there crossover of other departments? Should we be looking at building our own agents?
Should, you know, we, TA is very siloed and we've, obviously brought in, Winston into the organization. we've also brought in a couple other ai products within, Abano But now we're kind of looking at great work. if we have a service desk, you know, can that, can, that, can that agent be talking about HR policies and law or can they be talking about, you know.
Helping an IT person, helping someone fix an IT issue. so yeah, so for us it's, very much managing the pace of how much AI is being talked about in the organization and making sure [00:13:00] that we're not making rash decisions because it's the newest thing and coolest toy in the playground.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah. Uh, that's interesting because I haven't heard of many customers setting up their ai, their own AI council, right? They
Derek Del Simone: Mm-hmm.
Nicole Hammond: Um, they may be part of a trust committee, but how do you get started with that? How does that evolve for organizations out there looking to do something like that?
Derek Del Simone: I joke that you need to find the TE geeks in your, in your business who, who like ai.
Nicole Hammond: Not a.
Derek Del Simone: Um, and for us, yeah, for, for us, it was really, it was easy. I mean, obviously our, our it, our technology team are in there, but it was, it was the key people that are using, using AI tools at the moment. So that, so, you know, that was myself, our projects team, um, we're looking at AI within our clinical environment also.
So, um, we looked at representing, having people from. Various, you know, every main department within the organization and someone who's passionate about, um, transformation and, and that change 'cause, you know, AI's here to stay and, and you've gotta [00:14:00] get on board. And it's better to be on board early than get on late.
'cause you know, uh, especially in talent, you've, you've gotta be head of, head of the competitors.
Nicole Hammond: If I had a dollar for every time I wanted someone to say that, like, it's so true. And our CEO Rebecca says the same thing, right? I mean, uh, part of some of the ROI that we do for others is. The cost of not transforming Right. And the cost of
Derek Del Simone: Hmm.
Nicole Hammond: Adopting ai. So I'm right there with you. Get on board. Um, back to this council though.
Tell me more about topics, right? So we see new legislation every day. We see trends in the market. How is this facilitated amongst this council? Is it a monthly meeting? Is it topics that are presented in q and a? Or like, how do you. Get this across. Do they vet and validate everything with an audit for any AI tool coming in?
What's their role?
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, so for us, we're, we're three months into the council, so it's, it's [00:15:00] relatively new. And, uh, the first one, um, our first session was really to find, define our AI policy for the future and, and, and what, what we're looking to do. Um, we're not there, you know, to bring. AI tools into the business. What we wanna do is, is have the business identify those tools and, and bring the business case to, to us, to, to, to a then review, discuss, uh, and approve from there.
Um, you know, it's really important for us that. We're not, you know, the gatekeepers and the people that bring in the tools, you know, we want the rest of the business to bring those tools in 'cause they're the ones who are dealing with the systems every day or dealing the issues that we have every day. So for us, you know, our, our agenda now is.
You know, we're, we've just had a third meeting. We meet monthly on a, on a regular basis. We have a, we have a teams chat, uh, channel chat that we talk about, things that are happening in the market space or new tools that come into market space so people are aware of what's happening. Um, and you know, we, we are looking now at, um, call center agents.
[00:16:00] You know, we working in our, we know we, we've got a call center within, within the organization, you know, so we're now, you know, that person is the person who's, who's leading that project is off looking at, at tools, but then we're talking about it. What, what do we need as a business and can there be any overlap within other departments so that we're not bringing in various other tools that can be done by one tool
Nicole Hammond: I
Derek Del Simone: from an AI perspective.
Nicole Hammond: that cross dependency awareness, et cetera. Um, we have that here too, and I think. a company that really looks to help others invest in ai, we have to practice what we preach. So we also leverage a number of AI tools ourselves, but to your point, leveraging across regions, cross functions for different use cases, et cetera, all with the end goal of efficiency, um, and really just making our lives easier.
Derek Del Simone: Easier. Yeah, definitely. And look, I think, I think the controversial thing this week for us was, um, um. You know, we we're a mixed use organization between Microsoft Co-Pilot and Chat, GBT. And, um, the decision is that we start moving towards [00:17:00] Microsoft, uh, co-pilot. Um, so a few of us have been up in arms about that decision, but it's, it's having a robust conversation and, you know, and being able to what is best for the organization and what's gonna give you, um, the best results in the future.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, I, I can feel that one. We have Slack and teams, so it is a world that is divided and I'm just adopting both.
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: Don't know if that's efficient, but We'll, we'll go with it for. Now, um, I wanna transition because we've learned a lot from you. Uh, but part of this hiring happy hour is to learn more about you. Uh, and I did my research not only about your accolades, but just personality traits, characteristics. And I hear you are a dive right in, lean in kind of guy, and, and I love that. But if we were to reflect on the life of Derek, where do you think that came from?
Derek Del Simone: gee, you have done your research. You're asking the tough questions on a Tuesday morning. Um, look, I think, [00:18:00] uh. Look, I, I, you know, I do have to put that back to my heritage. You know, I'm a first generation Australian. My, my parents are Italian. Um, so I have that traditional migrant, hardworking work ethic and, um, always be the first one to sort of lean in and, and get stuff done.
Uh, and I've kind of learned over the years, I've had some great leaders that I've worked for and I've had not-so Great leaders who I've also worked for, but I've learned a lot from them also, if they haven't been great. And I think, you know, the ones, the leaders that I've followed or I've respected, that they've always leaned, lent in and always been the first one to sort of put their hands up and, and get their hands dirty.
And I actually think my team hate it because I'm in Smartrecruiters every day. I shouldn't be, I don't recruit. But I mean, they're tinkering around having a look at what's happening in the system. So, I, think you gotta be curious also, you know, you've got to, for me, I just always been a curious person.
I like science, I [00:19:00] like tech. I couldn't be a scientist. I couldn't be a, medical doctor or anything like that. not my, gig, but I, like the curiosity of it.
Nicole Hammond: I love that Ted lasso. Be curious. You'll, you'll hear
Derek Del Simone: Be curious.
Nicole Hammond: a lot. He's, he's fabulous. Um, but I can tell just you're a builder, you're a doer and glass half full speaking to leaders that may not have been great, but you learn from them and, and I love that so. We're gonna switch the question then to outside of work.
Okay. No, no more work.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: What is your happy hour? What is a fond memory moment that just makes you smile? I.
Derek Del Simone: Uh, that one has to be this year. So this has been a bit of a personal journey for myself and, and you know, I've, I've, I've mentioned in our, our catchups before that, you know, I've historically have valued work life balance within my team. And I think, you know, you need to have work life. Life balance. Uh, but I never truly did that for myself.
So, uh, I've never had a [00:20:00] proper four week holiday break. You know, I've always had a week here, two weeks there, uh, short stints to sort of get me through. And I've had a four week holiday this year to to to Italy. And, um, it has been the best happy hour that I've had in my life. So there's a few negronis in there, um, and a few pasta bars.
Yep. Uh, uh, so yeah, so, you know, that was probably, you know, I'm 47 and, and a bit of a realization that, you know, while as a leader I talk about self-care and taking time out for yourself and work life balance, that you've also gotta talk, you gotta talk, you do what you talk about. Also, uh, you can't just talk about it.
So.
Nicole Hammond: I mean, it's good to practice what you preach and I think we are probably all guilty of, of not doing that. So even hearing you say that inspires me to keep myself accountable in that regard. Right. Turn it off even if it's just for a holiday or something to, to separate. But I wanna dive more into this [00:21:00] Italy and now I'm craving Italian for dinner. I wanna hear more about where you went. Um, what were your favorites? Parts. I mean, this is something where I think even if people are listening, maybe it will inspire them to plan a trip to Italy.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah. Uh, so we were four weeks on the ground in Italy and we did a week with my family up on the Swiss border above both the, uh, the Lakes district. Um, so where they got the Winter Olympics coming up. So. In that area. So we were there for a week and we did the Dolomites, uh, lake Garda went down to Poya.
Um, and in Poya, I actually, um, I love Poya. It's, it's the first time I was there and it's such a gorgeous, uh, part of Italy. I joked that I, I, my trip became a work expense because I, I found too little dentist clay figurines, and I'm like, I've recruited two dentists and so I purchased two little though about, you know, five euros each.
But, um, I was joking that it's become a work trip, so I'm claiming my tip, my trip back in [00:22:00] tax at the end of the year.
Nicole Hammond: I love it. Do you have them with you? Are they good
Derek Del Simone: I don't, I've got them, I've got, got them in the office, but, um, the cute little figurines, but, uh, they've got a little dentist written on them.
Nicole Hammond: It.
Derek Del Simone: Um, so yeah, so it's a, it's always, always recruiting.
I always think, you know, um. It was, it was good to just have time to just recharge and think about things, but always, you always think about recruiting the team back, back home who are doing the hard yards. Uh, and then we ended up in Rome, Sienna, and Florence, and then we came home. I'm seven weeks home and I wanna be on holiday.
Still
Nicole Hammond: I bet.
Derek Del Simone: That's probably the worst part, part about it.
Nicole Hammond: Are you planning another trip back?
Derek Del Simone: Uh, we are planning a trip. We, so we we're deciding, deciding at the moment, we're getting the, um, the Christmas lights and decorations from family on the family chat. So, uh, we're now thinking we need a Christmas holiday
Nicole Hammond: There you
Derek Del Simone: over there.
Nicole Hammond: There you go. I mean, if you
Derek Del Simone: So.
Nicole Hammond: People can come in and let us know their recommendations for you.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, [00:23:00] always, always great we're, we've got Canada on the list at some point and uh, we've got, got the team leaving for New York on Thursday. We we're at the Greater New York Dentist Conference at the end of the month, and, um, they're so excited about being in New York for
Nicole Hammond: Christmas. I bet the markets, the lights, oh, times square. That will be epic. Um, my family's planning a trip to Japan for skiing and uh, we're going over the holidays, so we will be in Tokyo for New Year's with three kids and I am excited, nervous, and just, more excited to expose them to culture, but it'll be the memory.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, Japan's. Japan's amazing. You'll have an amazing time over there.
Nicole Hammond: Very excited. Very excited. And I'm also hoping it'll remind me to slow down a bit and, um, teach my kids more manners. Um, so I wanna learn more about just. [00:24:00] Introspection, right? We've talked about what brings you joy. We've talked about all these things. We've talked about Italy, and again, still craving Italian, and I love that you have those reminders on your desk. But you were to look forward, um, five years from now, and I'm gonna ask you this personally and then professionally, where do you see yourself?
Derek Del Simone: Um, yeah. I'm not a, I'm not a. BAU type person. So I, I, I like finding, finding challenges and jumping into, into the challenge. So for me, you know, I'm loving, loving my role at the moment. I'm loving the, the challenge that we have and, and the, you know, I've, I'm, I'm lucky. I've got a private equity owner of the organization who, who challenges me on a, on a weekly basis to, to do more and to do it differently.
And, um, so for, for five, in five years time, um, I still want to be. At the forefront of change and transforming and helping the industry. Do I, you know, I think we're at, at [00:25:00] a add that pivot of some significant change in our industry. You know, I, I don't know whether job boards will have a big place in the future for us, in, in TA and, uh, you know, with what?
AI is coming through. I think we're on, on an exciting journey with ai. So I think, um, the next five years, and this is gonna be my happy place, I, I'm deep in transformation and put bringing new products and looking at new products for within ta and personally, personally, um, enjoying my job and enjoying life.
Enjoying more holidays.
Nicole Hammond: Or holidays.
Derek Del Simone: More holidays. Maybe I can have a, have a role where I can actually work from Italy for three months a year.
Nicole Hammond: Hey, not a bad idea. Okay? Everybody out there that has a role where he can
Derek Del Simone: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: Italy for three months, please, please reach out. I love the way you think, Derek, and being on the forefront of transformation and I'm, I'm gonna switch us back to just like the professional realm because I want others to get help from you because I think you. [00:26:00] Got the secret sauce to it, right? You figured out how to be heard in an organization. You figured out what's important as you go through transformation. And now as we think about everything that's changing, where do people start educating themselves on, on what's coming? Trends, what's real, what's not real, um, and how to just stay on top of all that.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, so for me, I think it, it's engaging with your peers and understanding what's happening in the market space. Um, you know, I, as I mentioned before, I think there's so many, so many tools out there and, and I probably get 20 or 30 marketing emails. A week in regards to new tools and new products coming to market space.
Um, so you have a lot of information being thrown at you and I think you've just gotta be curious and, and sort of explore what's out there, what's happening. Um, partner with good providers like smart recruiters who at the forefront of, of the tech, tech stack and, you know, and the partners that you guys partner with also are, are great.
And you know, we were. [00:27:00] Um, last year we had hiring success in Melbourne. Uh, we then had, uh, an event afterwards with some, some of the smart recruiters customers, and that's where I learned about, you know, two of our products that we have in the, in the platform now that we use. So it was about their experiences and I was looking at AI interviewing tools at the time.
Um. I was banging my head against a brick wall in regards to some of these products. And then, you know, um, one of the partners there was Lizzie at Starbucks and she was like, well, this is what I use and have a look at these guys. And went and explored and, you know, we've now brought, brought a p AI into the business.
So I think you've gotta be curious and you've gotta look at everything, you know, you can't just say no. And I think I reflect back to. Many years ago when I was a young boy in recruitment and you know, online referencing came in in and I was like, I hate the idea of online referencing. And now I'm just like, love it.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah
Derek Del Simone: You know, it's the best thing out there.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah.
Derek Del Simone: You know, you're sourcing candidates from it, you know, bang my head, have you asked a referee if they want a job or [00:28:00] not? And now the tool just does it for you automatically. And it's, you know, we're getting some great references out there and, you know, there's more AI coming into our background references now, which is really cool.
So, um, I'm rambling.
Nicole Hammond: No, no,
Derek Del Simone: Have I answered? You answered the question.
Nicole Hammond: Yes you did. And I think, again, thinking about our audience, where they start, I mean, how many hours are you curious a week? Right? Like, 'cause I would say everyone's busy, right? Everyone has a hundred things to do. We help get AI to leverage some of those activities, but it also takes us, and I'm a post-it girl of writing down what we need to accomplish in the day.
Right? Three things. Just three
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: Then. And you feel accomplished. I mean, how much time. Best practice or something just to get people's feet wet, should they look to spend a week on being curious and doing their research and talking with others.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, I do. I, I generally give myself an hour a day.
Nicole Hammond: Okay.
Derek Del Simone: To, to do my research. And I, um, I've moved off post-Its because I've, I've got terrible handwriting and then I look at [00:29:00] my Post-It note and go, I can't read it. So, um, so I've got a, I've got a Word doc, so, um, as soon as I see something or hear something, I, I put it into the Word doc.
And I'm probably about 10 pages on that Word doc now of links. Um, you know, I, I read most articles in the morning. I follow some, some great people over the market space. Um. On LinkedIn and you know, they get their blogs, so I, I read their blogs most week and just, you know, just see what's happening in the market space.
Uh, and just to attend events, you know, we're seeing a lot more talent acquisition conferences and seminars coming out to market space of, especially here in Australia. Um, and just going and, and listening and learning is, is pretty cool.
Nicole Hammond: I'm gonna call that document Derek's Deep Thoughts.
Derek Del Simone: Yep. Dunno how deep they are.
Nicole Hammond: Lots of references. Okay. You heard it here. Everyone get started. Hour a week. Set the time aside to be curious. Um, ask friends, ask colleagues, um, ask some tech that you're [00:30:00] using because they do have the research. They do have the understanding of what's in the market. I mean, I think the world of. Talent acquisition especially, is very connected and we wanna support each other, um, but more importantly want to help our customers and everyone else to solve problems.
So, um, very, very great. Um, okay, Derek, uh, any other thoughts before I take you through our favorite this or that?
Derek Del Simone: no, I, I think we've, we've, we've had a good, good coverage of it. I think, you know, I think tr, I mean, I love transformation. I love TA transformation. I think that's, that's the best part of the job. Um, but even if you are an. Business as usual type organization, BAU every day. There, there's still ways you can improve, improve what you do on a daily basis and make it more enjoyable for your team by using technology.
So have a have a quiz.
Nicole Hammond: Have a squeeze that needs to be on a
Derek Del Simone: Yep, yep.
Nicole Hammond: Have a squeeze into the cocktail with the lemon or [00:31:00] the lime. Right?
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: So this or that, basically I give you two options. You choose the first this, or you choose the second option that,
Derek Del Simone: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: Okay. Resume or LinkedIn profile.
Derek Del Simone: Oh geez. Uh, look, def definitely, uh, I'm still a resume person. I think I might have said LinkedIn last time, but, um, definitely resume.
Nicole Hammond: are old school, but so cool, right?
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: Hey, we've gotta support both. We've gotta support
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: All
Derek Del Simone: We gotta do
Nicole Hammond: I know where you sit on this one, but I wanna hear you say it. AI or no, ai.
Derek Del Simone: AI a hundred percent. Didn't even have to think about it,
Nicole Hammond: but now we're gonna take it a little further. AI to meal plan for you or book your vacation, your next vacation,
Derek Del Simone: Meal plan
Nicole Hammond: okay?
Derek Del Simone: I do like my food.
Nicole Hammond: Yes,
Derek Del Simone: if it's, if it's, well, hold on. Let, let's just clarify. Meal plan. We're not talking about eating healthy, you know, we're talking about booking good [00:32:00] restaurants.
Nicole Hammond: I mean, like any other ai, you put the inputs in there, right? Like
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: Can work this through. Okay.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, it's interesting, interesting you talk about it. One of the, um, Jared, who's our customer success manager at Smart Recruiters when we caught up and he, he's off, he went to Japan this year also, and, uh, he, he highlighted an AI tool app that, um, that he uses for travel and it, you put in where you go and it makes recommendations based for other people's travel plans and itineraries.
Um, and it was really cool. So like, um. So there's that tool out there already that does meal planning, tells you which restaurants are in the area and what are cool.
Nicole Hammond: Okay, I'm gonna have to
Derek Del Simone: Um,
Nicole Hammond: Jared on that. Um, all right. I
Derek Del Simone: yeah. Very cool.
Nicole Hammond: about the translating tool where I hold up almost like taking a picture and it translates into English,
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, that's very cool.
Nicole Hammond: that will be necessary. All right,
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: one, find me or find you.
Derek Del Simone: Find you.
Nicole Hammond: Okay. I, I could have guessed that. Leaning in, diving in, you're not gonna wait
Derek Del Simone: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: [00:33:00] Um, career path or whatever comes my way.
Derek Del Simone: Uh, whatever comes my way, I think because that's, uh, I think some of the opportunities have been left field for me in my career.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah. And, and what a path, right? If you reflect on that path, it's not straight, it's not planned. It's, it's this beautiful picture.
Derek Del Simone: It's, it's all over the shop.
Nicole Hammond: Zigzags are
Derek Del Simone: a, in a, in a structured way.
Nicole Hammond: um, automated interview or live human.
Derek Del Simone: Uh, automated interview.
Nicole Hammond: Okay. Okay. But a human touch at some point. Right.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, definitely. And I think, I think that that's the key part, isn't it? You know, when. You know, with AI there still has to be humans involved. And on the panel this week, someone mentioned that, you know, we bring ai, they have to be onboarded just like you onboard a human. So you know, our humans are there to onboard AI to make their lives easier.
Nicole Hammond: Yes. It's almost getting through that top of funnel, bringing it down, getting 'em all the way to the point where you get to be that person that [00:34:00] says, congrats. We want you. And here we go. Here's the next chapter in our
Derek Del Simone: Yeah,
Nicole Hammond: I'm
Derek Del Simone: yeah,
Nicole Hammond: I'm
Derek Del Simone: definitely.
Nicole Hammond: All right. Uh, reward or recognition? I mean, you've gotten both, so this might be hard.
Derek Del Simone: Yeah. One.
For me, it's probably the, you know, I probably lean more towards the reward side, but also the recognition for the team. 'cause I think, uh, for me it's, it's about the team and, and where the team's going and having that recognition is really important for them, for all the hard work. Sometimes I walk in with their hair-brained ideas and they jump on board without asking questions.
So having that industry recognition is, is good for them. It's good for them to see that what we're doing is, is best in the industry or best for class.
Nicole Hammond: You're taking my, this or that, and you're turning it to this and that.
Derek Del Simone: Sorry,
Nicole Hammond: It's okay. it's fun.
Derek Del Simone: Indecisive.
Nicole Hammond: Um, good [00:35:00] manager or fun job.
Derek Del Simone: Good manager.
Nicole Hammond: Yeah. You've learned that lesson, huh?
Derek Del Simone: Yeah. Yeah. Looks, uh, definitely
Nicole Hammond: All right. This one after your four week holiday, four day work week or work remote.
Derek Del Simone: four day work week.
Nicole Hammond: Okay.
Derek Del Simone: It's controversial. I know.
Nicole Hammond: I, I love a little bit of controversy and conversation, right. Um, yeah. I mean, one would argue we have the Thanksgiving holiday in the US uh, this week, and I feel like my week has been pushed into two or three days.
So
Derek Del Simone: Yeah.
Nicole Hammond: Reality of a four day work week might look a little different, right?
Derek Del Simone: Yeah, and I mean, for me, I. Even though I'm a bit of an introvert, I do like being around people and I do have a love hate relationship with my Fri at home, so it's kind of like I must be in, prefer to be in an office and, and see people and, and have that. I think those engagements are better if I have to do another Zoom or Teams call.
Sometimes I'm just like, just gimme [00:36:00] a real person.
Nicole Hammond: Yes, yes. Um, when we did go into an office, which it's been a while, but we have our quarterly get togethers, feel like I get a lot more done in a setting with a group because it's all the little to do ticks that I can do when they're all there. Okay, this person needs to prove, this person needs to know everybody's on board.
Here we go. Right?
Derek Del Simone: Yep, definitely.
Nicole Hammond: And FaceTime's not bad. There's no more
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: Cooling though. Oh, well this has been absolutely wonderful. Everyone. Uh, you can find Derek on his LinkedIn page at Derek Del. Simone one or the company website. We will have it all for you after this. Uh, I just wanna say a huge thank you to you, Derek.
This has been absolutely lovely. Uh, I hope the audience has learned something from our conversation today. I know I have. Um, and please, those of you listening, watching, laughing with us, cheersing [00:37:00] with a cocktail, uh, please tell someone about this podcast and share our hiring happy hour moments. Um. And you know what?
I will have one more, this or that, Derek, for you. We're gonna talk cocktails 'cause we did a little bit whiskey or gin,
Derek Del Simone: Gin, a hundred percent gin.
Nicole Hammond: which makes my heart happy, although I would have to be an and on this one as well.
Derek Del Simone: Yep.
Nicole Hammond: Uh, thank you again for being here. Uh, this has been another exciting episode of Hiring Happy Hour and we will see you all next time.
[00:38:00]