Hey, everybody. And welcome back to Pro AV today. I am your host, Ben Thomas, as always. And today's discussion is one that I've been looking forward to having, for a while. And it's one place that a lot of folks in our industry all the way up from the executive level to the individual end user installer operator level. We get questions about all the time, and that's hiring, retention, staffing, recruiting, things like that. And it's a world that just has so many questions, it's especially in the world of B2B, especially in the world of B2B technology. So I said, look, I I do not have all the answers, but I know somebody who can help point us in the right direction. So that's my next guest. Shelby Gardner from TransUnion. Shelby, thanks so much for coming on today. Thanks for having me, Ben. Excited to be here. Well, look, we we're so excited to hear your voice today and really kind of lending, maybe just some of that extra experience from from things that we've learned outside of maybe the traditional blue collar b to b worlds and finding some ways that we can help apply some of those strategies into our recruiting. So first question, would love to kinda start with a general one. Right? When you think about the world of b to b, a lot of times, that world skews very blue collar skews vary in some cases rural. There are so many different places, or so many different ways that it differs largely from the B2C community, especially when you segment out b to b technologies. It's on kind of specific vertical. But on a high level, what are some of the challenges that you're seeing especially in macro trends and hiring, that that the b to b world is maybe slow to adapt to or some of the things that that we can learn from even on a high level. Yep. Absolutely. I think you're spot on that in some of the more rural areas, we do see a lag behind, you know, East Coast, West Coast, large cities, across the country where employers and and b to b, distribution models are quicker to adapt some of the custom technologies. That are more tailored to an individual's specific needs. Unfortunately, some of those resources are are a bit more in rural areas. And so we like to believe that we feel a niche in that regard, with our ability to provide tailored specific products that allow a member, an employee, an individual to really take control of, their their own destiny when it comes to all things digital, fraud identity related as well. Well, the great thing about the technology world is that from time to time, we like to bridge the gap between, maybe some of the the traditional b to c trends and the more hyper niche, b to b, even more rural and blue collar spaces. So we kinda tow that line from time to time. But in, you know, have you seen people roll out strategies to affect kind of bridge that gap. And and what does that look like? Absolutely. I think a a common, issue, or hurdle that that many companies are required to face is quiet quitting. It's been a key challenge for many And I think that the ability for an employer to reiterate the importance of being able to accommodate remote workforces, hybrid workforces, different varying return to office policies, allows for that employer to have a better finger on the pulse of how employees are needing their employer to interact with them. I think quiet hiring strategies have also helped employers to confront many of these challenges. So internal promotions, I'm sorry, upskilling and functions of this strategy so that there are bumps in compensation and there are newly created benefits that go above and beyond maybe just your traditional medical life insurance type of benefit, as a strategy to really engage that population. Well, one of the things that I I've found at least anecdotally in my world is that you know, the world of benefits and benefits packages tend to mean a lot more maybe than they did even five to ten years ago. Right? Because you've got things like wellness benefits, and you've got you know, obviously things like work from home or, all sorts of maybe financial training, things like that. What are some of these benefits that you're seeing kind of crossover into the hiring, world specifically over in the b, in the b to b side. Great question. I think many partners are utilizing benefits packages as part of their recruitment strategy. They want to align with the workforce' expectations. So in talking with our benefit brokers and our our consultant partners, who partner with Transunion on a day to day basis. We're seeing a really reinvigorated focus on the total wellness of employees, as a method to to attract and then to retain that top talent. Employers are enabling work life balance with a renewed figure, but they they're also getting creative with physical, mental, social. And as you mentioned, financial health benefits as well. So employers are willing to invest more in their employees at the end of the day. And earn their loyalty and their engagement. So I think a key example from our perspective, worsening financial coaching come on to the voluntary benefits seen in a really, really big way. What's interesting is the willingness for employers to offer this as a paid benefit even. So, particularly, among those focused on inclusion, and equity, they're realizing that employees who may benefit from this this program most are oftentimes the very same employees who might not be able to afford it. And again, that can that can reach from white collar, clear through blue collar industries as well. Well, then before we we dig into kind of the the digital transformation and digital nomads side of things. I wanted to kinda ask, because I know we've we've probably got some people, listening right now saying, okay, you know, this all sounds great and fan tastic, but I'm, you know, a small rep firm in, Iowa. Right? I I might be somewhere that may traditionally not offer a lot of these benefits, people wanna know where to start, and maybe how can they build that on ramp? Right? We'll talk, like I said, a little bit more about the digital transformation side of things in a second, but You know, what what advice do you have to someone who might not even be remotely considering this who might say, you know what? Maybe I should look into something like this. Yep. Absolutely. I was just up the road for me. I'm a Kansas City gal. So I That was not on purpose, by the way. Perfect perfect plug. For those who are wanting to consider a a more innovative and robust package, but aren't really sure, where to start. You're you're not alone. There are employers that we work with every day that are trying to crack the code between how to manage work life balance for their employees alongside productivity be. At the end of the day, productivity is very important. And I know that employers are wanting to do the right thing by their employees by providing the ability to to accomplish work life balance. So everyone recognizes that a that a happy employee that feels recognized and appreciated is going to most likely be a more productive employee. That's why employment structures and benefit programs that reduce those stressors, like financial struggles, can can become increasingly popular, and and are continuing to do so. So I do believe that our partners across the country you know, no matter where it is, are having those conversations with their counterparts to say, hey, what are you finding successful maybe in the Atlanta market? How can we implement that in Des Moines? How what are our counterparts doing in Denver to accomplish this? And so just the continued dialogue and willingness to share those ideas amongst peers. In the industry is really driving the conversation forward in a great way. Well, that's a fantastic answer, and I I really appreciate kind of the insight there. And and I wanna even take that to the next level. Right? And I I'm afraid I'm probably about to open a can of worms. So traditionally in the world of b to b. It's no secret, especially in the blue collar fields. Remote work, digital nomadism, whatever you wanna call it, hasn't historically been something that's been, popular or possible, right, for for one reason or another. And you see that continuing to be one of the benefits that people offer, but How can people balance that? Hey, I'm a I'm a plumbing firm. Right? I I can't do remote work. How have you seen people bridge that gap? Maybe it's through platform access, maybe it's through, you know, technology grants and benefits. What are some of the ways that you're seeing folks bridge that gap that maybe can't traditionally offer that work from home? Yeah. Absolutely. It it's it's an important question. It's one that's being raised more and more frequently. I think that even even though we can't meet everybody where they are, unfortunately, or where they need to be met to to best interact with a product, we can certainly take strides to attempt to. And to learn from those approaches. So, I mean, hyper personalization of a benefit or of a service is one of the consistent threads that's running through our daily interactions, with technology, whether it's meeting that employee in their remote or hybrid work arrangement or when they're in a in person in the office or in a factory, from applications to online marketplaces, I think the the internet of things to anonymous, I'm sorry, services, employees have become accustomed to being seen and treated as distinct individuals. With distinct goals and distinct needs. So voluntary benefits, insert here, are being transformed by this as well. So through the integration of these hyper personalized features and functions of a product, they're becoming more valuable, more attractive and easier to opt into at the end of the day. So it's all about communication and making sure that people understand what's available to them and how they can best benefit from it regardless of their their, work situation. Shelby, I love, you know, that that idea of hyper personalization. Right? And I I kinda wanna ask in that world. So when I'm maybe if I'm a recruiter or I'm on the HR does that normally the hyper personalization process? Does that happen during the recruiting phase? Does that happen, you know, during your your traditional, you know, you know, yearly opt ins for health care and all your benefits, or is that something that you can adjust in real time? How does that typically work for, maybe an employee specifically? Yep. I think we're seeing a trend towards a hyper personal personalization of the entire life cycle, from recruitment, onboarding, you know, going through those first sixty to ninety days and making sure an employee feels that this is a right fit, clear through retention of that, top talent. So in the in the digital world, if if this digital revolution, if you will, has taught us anything, it's that there's value in feedback loops. So TransUnion, like many people centric organizations, is driven by data. Many organizations are driven by data. And that definitely impacts the way in which we innovate. In the benefits space. So it's going to impact the way in which we recruit. We retain, we attract that top talent through those robust benefits packages and just making sure that it's it is custom and tailored and specific to the the population at hand. I love I love, you know, kinda you mentioning the feedback loop there. Right? That I would say that's paramount whether no matter what industry you're in, a paramount for a healthy employee employer relationship. What are some of the strategies in b to b specifically where you've seen that feedback loop? Right? A lot of times, it might be something where, everybody's in office every day and, hey, maybe I've got it once a week with, my boss, whatever. But what are some of those strategies that you've seen to to be successful, especially when it comes to providing and asking for feedback. Yep. Absolutely. So for us, an example of how we we value and and enact this would be the way in which we've evolved our identity protection solution to deliver user level intelligence. And that's going to be on the risks faced by a specific particular employee. So again, we're we're moving away from addressing a population as a whole, and we're getting back to remembering that everyone's human and addressing everybody at their own individual level. So just to further dive into that example, my risk for identity theft, and my needs as an employee are going to be very, very different than yours, for instance. And that's because there are different pieces of our our personally identifiable information that have been exposed or stolen in unique ways. So the the more times and the more ways in which we can interact with employees, that are specific to them and their vulnerabilities. The the trust is gained and the interaction with the product and the services or the experience in the instance of onboarding and and recruitment. Is all the more successful because of that? Well, in the spirit of feedback and and hyper civilization, do you typically find, especially one of the challenge with hyper personalization, is that when you get too far removed, maybe from an employee or too high up the food chain, you lose a little bit of that. Right? Typically, in cases like this, especially where you you are offering hyper personalization and benefits and recruiting and and things like that, do you typically find that that happens on a macro level at the HR side, or do you see that a lot more times happen, maybe the managerial and and, supervisor role? Yeah. I I think it happens across the board, in successful organizations. There's an attempt to have it happen across the board. Right? So we're we're wanting you to feel that your experience is unique. Your plight is unique, and the way in which we can help solve any of the issues that you're facing is also unique and tailored to you. So again, any cross communication between departments from top to bottom where they can accomplish that, is a win at the end of the day. Well, Shelby, I'm gonna ask you to take your crystal ball out here for just a second. Perfect. Let me just drop. Yes. Go ahead. Take it out. Obviously, the last five years, have accelerated a lot of the trends happening, in, in hiring across every sort of industry. Right? But one of the things that you've seen pretty rapidly evolve is the use of technology, right, whether it's AI, whether it's, resume tracking, whether it's, predictive analytics. Right? There's all sorts of different ways that these technologies are being used. If you were to to say, hey, let me guess five, ten years in the future, What sorts of technologies do you anticipate folks rolling out, or maybe even strategies using technology, rolling out during their hiring recruiting, retaining processes? Absolutely. I think, employers as they, true, attempt to evolve, and meet the market at its greatest need, in the future. We'll see employers that are financing and funding not only just involuntary benefits voluntary benefits, but also that they're expanding the number of voluntary benefits that are offered to employees. So instead of making a blanket decision, for the entire population to say, here are the benefits that we feel might be important based off of our own individual needs. They're taking into consideration the needs of others. So as we see, of and we think and reflect on a growing appreciation for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Those are all fantastic things. And employers recognize that what's important to someone nearing entirement is going to be quite different than someone who's maybe fresh out of college or, planning their young family. So the further recognition, and, again, using data, and analytics to inform their decisions based off of their their employee population, is going to help, employers to have a more robust and well rounded approach to recruitment and retention. Well, Shelby, Shelby, we we appreciate you giving, your time today and answered a lot of the questions that I know I've heard from our community Wanted to ask before we let you go, where can people find out a little bit more, not only about you, but maybe some of the the ways that they can better serve their, their b to b hiring communities. Absolutely. Yeah. You can find out more about TransUnion by simply visiting our our website. I work with the IdentityForce product for TransUnion. And so that is identity theft protection, and fraud prevention. So again, a great recruitment strategy, a great innovative product and offering that we see a number of our brokers, our consultants, and our employer partners offering to their employees. Financial wellness and inclusivity is a huge focus for us. I do think we'll continue to see that to trend into the future. As the economy is as it is. We we want to be able to provide those resources to employees, to an individuals. To set goals and accomplish them. And the fact that you can differentiate by making products available to consumers and employees really sets apart an organization as industry leading as cutting edge as caring about their employee workforce which goes a long ways towards recruitment and retention as well. I couldn't agree with you more, Shelby. I think that that's a great place for us to wrap up our conversation today, especially focused in on, the individual employee and empowering the individual employee because at the end of the day, they are the backbone of our b to b communities. So Shelby, thanks so much again for coming on the show today. We look forward to having you again soon. Thank you so much, Ben. And thank you all for tuning in. Like and subscribe and check us out next week on ProV today.
