Get your questions answered at this year’s HRO Today Forum.
By Debbie Bolla
Leading by experience: It’s a central theme of the upcoming HRO Today Forum. The conference is set to bring together thought leaders in the industry to share their experiences. It offers the opportunity to glean advice on how to grow and drive the HR business forward. As Cindy Fiedelman reveals in the cover story, Piloting Success, HR is the central business unit to drive strategy around talent management and growth.
- Want to find out how to lead initiatives in employee engagement, internal branding, and talent management for 62,000 employees? Michelle DiTondo, senior vice president of human resources for MGM Resorts International will be sharing her secrets on stage. Your organization may not be to the scale of this hospitality leader, but DiTondo’s advice will surely be transferable.
- Perhaps building culture and aligning human capital management with strategy are part of your goals for 2014. Then pick the brains of leaders Michael Pilnick, executive vice president and head of human resources for First Advantage; Joe Cabral, senior vice president and CHRO for North Shore-LIJ Health System; John Murabito, executive vice president of human resources and services Cigna Corporation; and Carole Slover, senior vice president of human resources for UniTek Global Services. Pilnick has a narrow focus on leveraging HR to aggressively grow revenue in existing, emerging, and unsaturated markets for the screening provider. Cabral works to drive the firm’s business objectives, vision, and values forward in all aspects of talent management and HR. Murabito helps drive growth through effective human resources and people strategies, planning, staffing, talent management and succession processes. Slover casts a wide net, owning responsibility for the telecommunications firm’s talent management, employee relations, performance management, training and development, among others.
Talent management, benefits, healthcare staffing, technology, workforce planning, big data, and social media: These are all major hot topics central to HR. Here’s how each will be explored at the Forum—and the key takeaways that will be delivered.
HOT TOPIC: TECHNOLOGY—VIDEO INTERVIEWING
Video interviewing is creating some major buzz in talent acquisition. Christopher Young, CEO for Async Interview, says it’s a quickly trending technology that has a plethora of benefits—like time and cost savings—as well as its share of challenges.
What will be some key takeaways?
- Feedback from three different talent acquisition teams; and
- How video interviewing ties into the broader recruitment strategy.

HOT TOPIC: TALENT MANAGEMENT—PASSIVE CANDIDATES
What are strategies and solutions to reach passive talent needed to fill difficult positions? Bruce Morton, head of innovation for Allegis Group Services, says building a framework for a talent community can help hit hiring targets.
What will be some key takeaways?
- How to understand key candidate demographics;
- Deliver an employer brand; and
- Establish talents core interests;
- How-to’s of talent mapping.

HOT TOPIC: HEALTHCARE STAFFING—CONTINGENT LABOR
Is contingent labor the answer to the changes healthcare reform is set to bring?
Ralph Henderson, president of healthcare staffing for AMN Healthcare, says contingent labor can help fluctuate with demand, seasonality, and census.
What will be some key takeaways?
- How changes in the healthcare environment are driving the increased and effective use of contingent labor;
- Best practices on how to manage contingent staff in a variety of healthcare facility settings; and
- Ways to maximize the value of contingent staff.

HOT TOPIC: TECHNOLOGY—BENEFITS PROGRAMS
How do multinational organizations manage benefits globally, while also acting locally by offering benefits relevant to each individual country in which they operate? bwin.party Digital Entertainment enlisted a global benefits and rewards program management strategy as the company expanded internationally.
What will be some key takeaways?
- Strategies, tools, techniques, and technologies to face and conquer challenges of multinational benefits management head-on.
HOT TOPIC: TALENT MANAGEMENT—WORKFORCE PLANNING
Workforce planning continues to be seen as the “holy grail” of talent management. Ananda Baron, HR director, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, says there are great frameworks, but questions how to apply them. And how do you prioritize the various facets of workforce planning?
What will be some key takeaways?
- Potential ways to phase in workforce planning and earn adoption from line of business leaders; and
- How to leverage data and analytics through an in-house tool.
HOT TOPIC: BIG DATA—BENCHMARKING
In the era of big data, HR leaders can claim their seat at the executive table by promoting strategies and solutions. Pinstripe & Ochre House will demonstrate a metrics-driven understanding of industry best practices and benchmarks.
What will be some key takeaways? National benchmarks on:
- Employment branding;
- Preferred technologies;
- Value proposition creation and evaluations;
- Big-data preparedness; and
- Talent systems alignment.
HOT TOPIC: TALENT MANAGEMENT—RECRUITING STRATEGIES
Today, recruitment isn’t just posting jobs, screening resumes, and interviewing candidates, says John Wilson, CEO of WilsonHCG. RPO has been redefined to focus on building a comprehensive talent acquisition program and go-to-market strategy.
What will be some key takeaways?
- Techniques to build talent communities to nurture a talent pipeline;
- How to develop an employment brand that will attract top candidates and retain employees; and
- Why conducting market research is a critical tool for targeted sourcing and workforce planning purposes.
HOT TOPIC: TECHNOLOGY—RECRUITING
Which technologies can help organizations engage top talent, market their employment brands, and attract individuals with a positive candidate experience? Elaine Orler, president and founder of Talent Function Group, reveals those technologies that do—and which ones do not.
What will be some key takeaways?
- Current positive talent acquisition trends, enhancements, and resource models;
- How to select the right recruiting technology enhancement to suit an organization’s needs, and
- How to integrate and leverage technology enhancements to streamline internal processes.
HOT TOPIC: BENEFITS—COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
Employers spend millions of dollars to offer their employees benefits, and often spend a surprisingly small amount to ensure employees understand and appreciate their value. Mary Schafer, vice president of benefits consulting services, shares effective employee communication strategies.
What will be some key takeaways?
- How ineffective communications can impact employee engagement;
- How to evaluate the financial impact of communications; and
- Effective communications strategies and tactics to improve employee satisfaction and drive loyalty.
HOT TOPIC: TECHNOLOGY—SAAS
The rapidly changing landscape of HR technology is driving significant change in the availability and ease-of-use of HR applications. However, there is little reliable data on what types are being deployed and the results achieved. Julie Fernadez of ISG will describe market trends and the major factors that influence client solutions.
What will be some key takeaways?
- Service provider capabilities and how are they evolving;
- Software platforms with the greatest adoption;
- Gaps that must be closed and which service providers really have experience.
HOT TOPIC: TALENT MANAGEMENT—STRATEGIES
Leading gases and engineering company Linde is in a very specialized industry, always in search of scarce talent. Valerie Egan, head of resourcing for Linde, will share sourcing strategies with impact.
What will be some key takeaways?
- Tactics driving sourcing innovation;
- The do’s and don’ts of winning skeptical hiring manager support; and
- Managing expectations of role requirements and salary.
The HRO Today Forum will be May 5 – 7th in Philadelphia. See www.hrotodayforum.com for more details.
