This week’s brainfood is supported by our buddies at SmartRecruiters.

Do you know how to secure a YES for budget when talking with the CEO / CFO? SmartRecruiters have compiled a white paper on how their customers have managed to do it even during pandemic. I’ve had a sneak peak at this: it is an outstanding combination of research, insight and recommendation.

Download it - for free - here

Persuasive analysis from Gitlab’s Head of Remote: you actually need a person full time managing your business’s transition to remote work, because ‘it’s not a binary switch’. The organisational characterisations in the second half of this post are somewhat harsh but ….I suspect quite fair. Time to stop making it up as we go folks. H/T brainfooder Iwo Szapar for the share.

On the other hand, maybe just easier if we all just go back to the office and pretend 2020 never happened? Governments worldwide certainly hope so, as they realise that national economies will crater without the ‘office worker support economy’. However, the reversal of urban agglomeration is perhaps long overdue, and if we are serious about ‘levelling up’ economic disparity across national regions, perhaps it would be better smooth out the transition as best we can rather than get in the way of it. Full report from MIT, upon which this post was based, free to download here

Love this ultimate guide to remote working from brainfooder Jose Kadlec; comprehensive and accessible deep dive into the immediate considerations of remote working - that is, what kit, set up, apps and tech do I need to ace the game whilst working from home? Its a must read

What is more important: own the content or means of distributing that content? OnlyFans creators are figuring out what Youtubers, IOS app developers, Amazon e-tailers - and Reid Hoffman - have long known. Keep an eye on this theme - the ‘passion economy’ will be a legit pathway for many of us and we will encounter these same challenges in white collar work - not only how to produce the work, but how to distribute to folks who might want to buy it.

Stay Saasy is fast becoming one of my favourite blogs; it’s basically a series of non obvious truths, succinctly delivered in posts of 500 words or less. Join the club if you find yourself nodding along to this one….

Let’s face facts: a lot of us have been thinking about our future direction over the past 6 months. Probably not a bad thing to periodically do this in any circumstance, so this cool web app is a useful tool to help you check your alignment with your North Star. H/T brainfooder Martin Poole for the share

We’ve had ‘diversity’, progressed to ‘inclusion’, do we now need to move towards ‘belonging’? Josh Bersin thinks so (which doesn’t mean it is always so) but this is interesting brainfood regardless and great to keep building the conceptual toolkit for intentional culture building.

Big tech bad report, excoriating Amazon for using ‘employer surveillance’ technology to manage worker productivity. Which is another way of saying that they are tracking workers for signs of potential labour organisation and unrest. Productivity, profit and politics - sounds like a topic for a Brainfood Live at some point. H/T brainfooder Petar Vujosevic for the share

Candidate advice posts for passing interviews are often very good sources for recruiters on the other side doing the assessment. I think this one from Builtin falls into that category. Hiring for Product Manager’s? Have a read.

Three themes emerge from this Oxford University report for failing AI implementations…1) poor integration with existing workers & working procedures, 2) overly simplistic AI i.e. binary decision tree and 3) a lack of management transparency leading to employee lack of trust. Based on newspaper reports though….is that data ok? Download and read here

Interesting blog from LinkedIn on the rise of the Head of Diversity position - along with the rising trend line, we get a decent cameo portrait on the line items a Head of Diversity might be looking to tackle. Entire post is worth a read, skip to the middle if you want what is effectively a template for a job description of the of role.

And….I cried a little bit, at this story, and at that picture.

Sign in, set your bandwidth for work, and connect with other members of the community for side projects, collaborations or full time work. 800+ brainfooders signed up so far - free to use, so have at it here

Over 30 brainfooders have now shared their stories in the Tribune. This week it’s Jennifer van Riet and Arjen Spies turn to take 20 Questions With the Brainfood Tribune.

The awesome Christina Robinson is launching a podcast and I was honoured to be guest on Ep1. Haven’t heard this back yet, but I think we talk brainfood, marathon and tribune - so if you’re interested in background on these projects, this is as a good a source as any.

Excited to see my buddy Lars Schmidt relaunch his already excellent podcast series, this time with a new name and a new brand. Conversation quality remains top notch.

Two of my favourite people in conversation about a critically important challenge. David Green interviews Torin Ellis for My HR Future podcast - have a listen here

First time for the REC’s annual event. I’m in this, talking recruiting technology fit for the remote era. Or something. Free to attend, and open for non-members. Sign up here

“The World’s First Digital Transformation Conference in Virtual Reality” 👈 it’s the new frontier folks. 3 days of programming in next generation format for $99. Check out the agenda here, and grab a ticket here

2 half day conference brought to you by Kevin Grossman and the Talent Board team. Free to attend, so register here