Bold Change with MaryAnne Pelland of Citizens

Contagious passion, gratitude and optimism for the future of Talent Acquisition characterize my discussion with MaryAnne Pelland, Citizens Head of Talent Acquisition Strategy and Services, in Episode 36 of the Big Fish in the Talent Pool Podcast.  I’m always interested in why TA Leaders decided to specialize in Recruiting, which is the challenging mix of creative + transactional HR skills.  Interestingly, MaryAnne studied Biology, intending to be a doctor, but morphed her passion for helping others into an early career in staffing scientific talent, then insurance, then banking – where she’s been making a difference for 17 years. 

In addition to her early experiences that formed her unique approach to leadership, we talked about all that MaryAnne’s team is innovating around customer empathy, diversity/equity/inclusion, and candidate experience.  Skeptics of AI driven candidate engagement and skills matching software will want to listen closely to the well-thought-out use cases Citizens has constructed to essentially transform the candidate experience with TA technology.  Equally inventive is their bold approach to retraining and repurposing branch banking employees during the pandemic. MaryAnne bakes practicality and fresh thinking into a progressive and fascinating TA model. 

On taking calculated risks to innovate, MaryAnne wisely says: “In every opportunity (and outcome), good or bad, you should reflect and think about what you gained from it. Sometimes that gain is what not to do, but sometimes it is just recognizing that you pushed yourself to do the hard and scary things.”  And all that…leads to progress!

Be sure to look for the “Easter Egg” in this Big Fish conversation…from a surprise (four legged) guest!

Big Fish in the Talent Pool Episode 36

We hope you enjoy the fast-paced chat on Big Fish in the Talent Pool on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher, or wherever you access podcasts.  And when you do, please be sure to rate and review us.  We’d love your feedback and it will help others find us.

Erin McDermott Peterson is a Partner with PeopleResults helping clients as a Talent Acquisition Consultant, Interim Leader, and RPO Advisor. She has led TA and RPO globally for some of the most successful organizations in the world including Accenture, Aon Hewitt, and Amazon. She translates her unique global experience to help clients with TA strategy, emplo

yment branding, onboarding, candidate experience, and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) decisions.

Follow her on Twitter @ErinMcPeterson, connect via linkedin.com/in/erinpeterson or email at epeterson@people-results.com.