Building the Workforce of Tomorrow

Becoming a global employer of choice is a journey. Recruiting the best and brightest — and keeping them — requires a next-gen, people-centric approach to talent acquisition. Don’t miss Javier Rodriguez, senior director of Global Talent Acquisition at KBR, as he discusses the evolving talent landscape, the increasingly important role of technology, the need for close alignment between talent acquisition and business needs, and more in this all-new episode.

Transcript

IN ORBIT: A KBR PODCAST

Season 5, Episode 3

Building the Workforce of Tomorrow

INTRODUCTION

John Arnold

Hello, I'm John, and this is In Orbit.

Greetings and welcome to the podcast. Wherever you are in the world, whether this is your first time tuning in or your 63rd, we're grateful that you're with us and staying in our orbit. Before we get going, I hope you'll pardon me if my voice sounds a little wonky or bassier than normal. I'm a little under the weather at the moment, but the show must go on and we've got a great one for you. We talk a lot on the podcast about how KBR's people develop and use cutting-edge technologies to solve some of the world's biggest problems, but it's the people part of that that's the most important. You can't deliver solutions that change the world without talented people. KBR recognizes this and has been on a journey to become a global employer of choice and a place where all its people can belong, connect, and grow.

Now, as our president and CEO, Stuart Brady will tell you, there's always room to improve, but we have made significant progress in that journey. KBR has been repeatedly recognized by the likes of Glassdoor, Forbes, Fortune, and the Workplace Culture Authority, Great Place to Work as being, well, a great place to work. But as I said, it's a journey and that requires discipline, agility, close alignment between talent acquisition and business needs and effective use of new technologies. That and more is what we're going to feature on this episode. What you're about to hear is a previously recorded interview from a few days ago when I sounded less like death, and it features Javier Rodriguez, senior director of Global Talent Acquisition with KBR's People team. So, sit back and enjoy.

TRANSITION

John Arnold

With me here today, I'm very excited to welcome Javier Rodriguez, senior director of Global Talent Acquisition with KBR's People team. Welcome, at last, to the podcast, Javier.

Javier Rodriguez

Thank you for having me, John. I know it's been a little bit of back and forth. I appreciate your patience with me.

John Arnold

Man, I'm excited that we're finally making this happen, and I think that it'll be a valuable podcast experience for people to hear about what KBR is up to from a people standpoint. But before we get into that, I wonder if you'd just share a little bit about yourself. Tell us about your career and how you landed at KBR.

Javier Rodriguez

Awesome. John, again, thank you. Thank you for having me. So, I guess just a little bit about me and my current role, and then I'll jump into the career piece. So obviously, as the global director of Talent Acquisition, my main responsibilities are to lead and drive the global recruitment strategies across all regions. Typically, my role involves working closely with business leaders, and as you know, it's understanding talent needs and ensuring we're attracting the best talent to support KBR's growth and objective. Most of the stuff that I would be responsible for, is basically looking at our processes and making sure that we're efficient, ensuring that we're leveraging the best technology and tools, and that we create an exceptional candidate experience, which is typically top of mind for some of our folks looking at our company.

So, I spend a lot of time focusing on future of work, looking at emerging skill sets, specifically areas like cloud, cybersecurity, data science, things like that. And then again, making sure that myself and our teams are positioned well enough to attract individuals into these fields. So again, at the end of the day, the goal here is to make sure that KBR's recruitment strategy is global, inclusive, and then obviously, aligned with our evolving needs of the business.

Now, in terms of my career path, my career path is just like many, hasn't really started with the traditional going to school and moving from there. But looking back, every step has led me to where I am today. So as most, I started my career in the restaurant business and serving food for the old popular Chili's Restaurant. Just like most teenagers, trying to find my way in life, and that's actually where I fell in love with sales. There's something about connecting with people and understanding what they need and delivering a great experience that really, for whatever reason, clicked with me. The love for sales I would say, pushed me to take an opportunity at that point to sell baseball equipment for schools across the state of Texas. So I was traveling, building relationships and helping coaches and teams get what they needed for their respective seasons, and that was actually a lot of fun.

That's actually where I had my first plane ride, which was probably around when I was 27, 26. So I hadn't been experienced, I'm a little bit of a late bloomer in some of these things. But then I had a buddy that graduated from Texas A&M in College Station, and he got hired at a staffing agency. He and I were having lunch one time and he told me, "Hey, you'd be great for this recruiting thing." He's like, "You should check it out." And actually, that was my foot into the door for a company at the time that was called, or still it's called Aerotech. And from the moment I started actually, I felt like I was in the right place. Recruitment wasn't just about sales. There's so many different things that come with it. It's about strategy. There's relationships, and at the end of the day, shaping people's careers.

And even from a business perspective, hiring the right people can lead them into direction that many, for whatever reason, can either make or break or make them successful. And I knew that early on, which for me, just helped me navigate towards being successful in what I am today. So I worked my way up through different roles, eventually moving into more global TA leadership roles and more of the corporate environment. I've worked in the oil and gas space. I've worked in the aerospace and defense industry, as well as the agricultural industry and a lot of manufacturing and operational type thing.

So, the funny thing is though, I've always heard of KBR, I've always been on the customer side, so I know we've leveraged the technology at our refineries, at our ammonia facilities. So when I was approached by KBR, it made a lot of sense just because I felt like I knew the company, I felt I knew the technology, and I felt like the industries that we played in was a good match for sitting on the other side of the spectrum and joining the KBR family.

And so, I know since I've been here, which has been about a year and a half going on two years, the impact that KBR has is on another level from any organization I've been a part of. I feel like we're not just filling jobs, that we're not putting just butts in seats, we're bringing in talent that are solving some of the world's biggest challenges. And the nice thing is, we operate in many different industries. So whether it's defense, engineering, space, or maybe even sustainability, it's a great place to be and I love the work that we do, and I love the people that are here. So it was an easy choice for me to make the transition.

John Arnold

That's awesome. I love hearing about people's nonlinear journeys to where they finally feel like they're supposed to be. That seems to be a common theme on the podcast, and I too am a late bloomer. Don't worry about it. It's like just, the things happen in their own time. So that's fascinating. You've mentioned some things we're going to get into in the podcast, so that's exciting. But first, I want to set the stage for our listeners. The pandemic, as we all know, caused a huge shift in so many areas, and a lot of those we're still feeling right now, especially in our pocketbooks with supply chain issues and things like that. But also, changes in the workforce were some of the most, I don't know, predominant remarkable ones that were happening at that time with the ways that people work, where they work, how the factors like those affected talent acquisition.

We saw the “Great Resignation.” The war for talent is still a term that I feel like gets used a lot, and to attract workers, and KBR did some of this too. Companies said that they'd never go back to business as usual. A lot more working and flexible options. And now, a few years on, some of those companies are walking it back and it's like ... sort of — eh — to go back to the way things were. But I'd love to hear from you and give our listeners an opportunity to hear about KBR's approach to talent acquisition, how it's changed over the past few years, especially since you've been here, because you've hit it at a time where it really has the talent acquisition process and all the initiatives and stuff that have been launched. It's a big time for the company. So wondering if you could just tell us about what the state of the union is at the moment.

Javier Rodriguez

I appreciate that question because I think you hear about the pandemic, it seems like it was so far ago, but a lot of the stuff we're still seeing now. So, I think at the time, if I think back, I wasn't here during the pandemic at KBR, but I definitely was... I've experienced everything that you've mentioned so far. So I know the pandemic didn't change where we work, it changed how people think about work, which was nice. So we saw the Great Resignation, as you mentioned, this massive shift towards remote and hybrid work and an increased demand for flexibility, which I guess, at the essence, had put the employee in the driver's seat at some point. I know from, just in my experience at KBR, I know we took a step back and asked, how do we evolve our approach in hiring in a way that makes sense for the future?

I'd say one of the biggest changes we've seen has been shifting from more of a reactive hiring to more strategic planning. Our thought is from, at least since I've been in this seat, instead of just filling roles as they open, we're thinking ahead and we've been pushing teams to start thinking ahead around what skills we will need within the next six months from now, a year from now. What are the things that, as we continue to look in the future, that could potentially shift our business if we have the right people in place? So we've invested in a lot of tools that help us determine where we can find the skill sets that matter most to us. But we also have the ability to influence how the business actually approaches its bids for new business.

There's a lot of things that, from what I keep telling the business as well as some of our TA leaders is, in talent acquisition, we've got so many different opportunities, so many things that we have. It's not just, again, just making phone calls and putting people in place. There's tools, there's resources, there's analytics, there's technology that we can also be a little bit of an extension of the business as they start to go and look for growth opportunities. We can also help. So we've changed that mentality in how we approach it. We're trying to get more of a seat at the table, again from a business standpoint to make sure that the business understands that TA can provide that capability.

We've also leveraged technology, as I mentioned, more than ever. And hopefully, we'll get into here in a bit, around AI and automation, that's helping us streamline processes, but at the same time, we're still careful to keep the human element at the center of recruiting.

And I would say the last thing, we've taken a global first mindset. The pandemic proved that we're not bound by location, we're hiring from a broader pool of candidates. We're offering more employees different opportunities for flexible work. We're highlighting also as well as our internal mobility opportunities across different regions. It's important for our employees to understand that whether you're located in the U.S. or Australia or in the U.K., we do operate in many different regions that if the timing is right and the opportunity exists, we've got some global roles that we could potentially look at for you to continue down and building your career.

To your question around the state of things now, it's a balancing act, right? We're embracing flexibility where it makes sense while also ensuring we maintain a strong culture and collaboration across our global teams, which as you can imagine, we're at least 35,000 employees. We stretch many different countries. So being able to build the global reach and then have our employees understand their partner on the other end of the globe has really been successful and it has changed our approach and how we operate.

John Arnold

Yeah, I'd love to hear about that balancing act and the shout-out to the global mobility program here at KBR. Had the opportunity to be a part of that social media campaign last year that spotlighted that ability to be more flexible and give people opportunities as they presented themselves if it makes sense for their business. So, for KBR, one of the big things to happen post pandemic was refining the employee value proposition, which is such a huge part of talent acquisition and making sure that we're attracting the best and brightest folks. Can you tell us about KBR's employee value prop and why it's important for talent acquisition and retention?

Javier Rodriguez

So at KBR, we know that people just don't want a job, and it's a lot of feedback that we've received either through our internal employees as well as our external candidates. Is, they want a place where they feel valued, supported, and have the opportunity to grow. That's why we've built our... I would say we've built our EVP around three key pillars.

Hopefully, you've heard at this point around Belong, Connect and Grow. Everyone wants to feel like they're part of something bigger, right? For us at KBR, belonging means being part of an environment where people are respected, included, and empowered to bring their full selves to work. So whether you're working in an office or maybe you're working remote or a project site, we want every employee to feel that we are an essential part or they are an essential part of the success of the company. So we have a lot of different things we're trying to make sure that we're communicating employees a value that they bring. We also want to emphasize, connect, right? Relationships matter. We foster an environment where employees can build meaningful connections. We've got mentorship programs. We've got a lot of teams that are collaborating on different projects or programs where there's teamwork. There's just a lot of global opportunities for collaboration, and we're intentional about bringing people together.

So, again, whether it's professional networks, if it's things that they're doing outside of work, we're simply just trying to make it easy to engage with leadership and peers, so that way, again, employees feel that they're connected and they're part of something bigger.

The last part of it is grow, and that's where, in essence, where I would say more of where my opportunity, or I guess, my role comes in as well as our talent development team. But careers aren't meant to be static, and I think we've heard that again in a lot of our surveys, that people want to continue to grow. So one of the things that we're continually invest in is learning and career development. So whether it's, again, internal mobility, as we've discussed, leadership training, upskilling and emerging technologies, tuition assistant programs, right? There's pathways for employees to advance and evolve their careers. So, when you think about the EVP, that's really the stronghold of where a lot of our content comes out.

So having a strong EVP, I think for us, is really important for both attracting talent and keeping the great people that we have. For most people, it's not about just about salary and benefits. Don't get me wrong, I think that's a significant portion of what people look for, but it's also about creating a sense of belonging, giving people the opportunity to connect with others. And what we've seen is providing pathways to grow in their careers, that's really where the bang for the buck, I would say, comes in. For TA or talent acquisition, solid EVP helps us stand out and connect with candidates that really align to KBR values and culture. We have a lot of content that goes out, and a lot of our initiatives are centered around our values and cultures, and we want to make sure that people on the external side know what they would get if they become part of the overall KBR family.

So when people understand what we stand for, that's probably the reason why they get excited to join us, right? The strong focus has led us to receive some highly valued awards, which a lot of companies are seeking. So most recently, we've been awarded Glassdoor's Best Led Companies for 2024. Most recently for 2025, Glassdoor has been giving us the honor of Best Places to Work. And then I would say, within the last couple of days, we've also been named to the Fortune's World Most Admired Companies list. And all of that, that's not easy to attain those particular areas. A lot of it is employee feedback driven and just the feedback that we're getting from the markets in general, which has been really great to see, and something that we, on the recruiting front, will obviously tag on to make sure that we're putting some content out from social media and ensuring that people are aware of some of the recognition that we're getting.

And I guess, again, lastly on the retention side, strong EVP obviously, helps us keep people engaged. When people or employees feel like they're part of something bigger, they can grow with us. And that's really what matters. Their work isn't just something that they come in and clock in and clock out. If they feel like their work matters, they're more than likely to stay with us for long-term. And that's exactly the goal that we're trying to get to. We're trying to create a workplace where people feel supportive and feel valued longterm and that they see us as an organization to stay with. But again, at the end of the day, our EVP isn't just a recruiting tool. We just don't leverage it to put social media LinkedIn ads out. It is part of what makes KBR such a special place to work.

John Arnold

That's fantastic. You mentioned this earlier, and a lot of people who don't know, over the past few years, KBR has really undergone this revolution from, it's not your granddad's just straight up EPC company anymore. It's really, KBR has become a global tech provider and expertise provider in a lot of different areas, and so, I'm excited to hear you talk about this. You're talking about the shift away from reactive hiring just to fill seats and really focusing on what business needs are specifically from a technological expertise standpoint with these digital tools. So yeah, KBR has put a lot of emphasis on the importance of what the talent acquisition folks and the people team call the skills of the future. And you mentioned cloud AI, things like that a couple of moments ago. So, I wondered if you'd tell us more about what those skill areas are and about what KBR strategy is to both hire skilled workers and to do what you were just talking about, which is to grow those skill sets and help employees that we already have, upskill in those areas.

Javier Rodriguez

Yeah, that's perfect. So I'll spend a little bit of time, just bear with me here because I'll give you a little bit of an overview of those skills and what we've determined would make sense for us as we move forward and what the business has told us to prepare for. So as you know, the workforce is evolving and again, things that KBR... We've identified key skills that will drive our business forward in the years to come, which is nice, right? Anytime you've got such a business that's forward-thinking, and I know every strategy meeting that I'm a part of with our executive leadership team, there's always some type of forward-thinking, not even within the next two years. It's five to 10 years from now.

So, it's nice to see that our executive leaders are thinking that way, which for me, it's more motivation to make sure we've got the right tools and the right technologies in place to meet those demands. But as you know that these skills are critical not only for staying competitive, but also, to delivering the innovative solutions. At the end of the day, we wouldn't be who we are if we didn't deliver our solutions to our customers.

And so, what we've deemed to be the five key areas for us that we've been focusing on, and again, as I mentioned, I want to double down as we start to evolve more and more, that these either may change as industries or the world start to change. But as you know it, we've been making this shift into these key priorities. So we're focusing on building these out. So, one of which, as I mentioned, was cloud computing, right? As more organizations migrate to cloud-based infrastructures expertise in these cloud-based architectures, security and optimization is in high demand. We're seeing just more and more postings out on the external career sites, just focusing on cloud computing, which is good. It just means that demand for that skill set is relatively high, and it's not just something that KBR is pushing. It's nice to see that that's the direction from an industry that we're headed.

The other one is cybersecurity. Protecting data, networks. The system has never been more important as you start to see some of these folks seeing ... you've got more hackers going in and just infiltrating systems. So it's whether it's securing critical infrastructure or ensuring compliance within industry regulations, cybersecurity skills are a top priority for us as we continue going down the technology path. And I would say this next one here, data science and analytics is another one that we deem to be critical. Again, we're doing all these cool things from a technology perspective, we're collecting all this data, but at the end of the day, what do you do with it, right? The reason you're getting data is to either analyze it and moving forward and be able to give your business the competitive advantage to make decisions moving forward. So the ability to analyze a vast amount of data and extract insights and drive decision-making is transforming how business operates.

I'm using it today from a TA perspective and diving into the data, and I know we're investing in professionals who can leverage AI, machine learning and predictive analytics into their day-to-day work. So digital engineering, there's so many different concepts around that. And then being able to leverage those and understand which concept is needed for the program that you're working on is becoming a skill that, again, that we're going to continue to double down on.

And the last one that we've seen, and it's pretty important for us, is around program and project management with large scale global projects, at times. Having effective program or project management skills ensures that we deliver on time and within scope that we've agreed to some of our bids and some of our projects. So having strong leadership, risk management and problem-solving skills are essential for this particular skill.

And so, we're focusing a lot of that and trying to make sure that we're either one, hiring the right folks into these skillsets, but also two, as you've mentioned, trying to build a skill from within. So our strategy is really twofold. We're hiring top external talent with deep, deep, deep expertise while also investing in our current workforce to build these capabilities from within. So we don't want to go too, too much on one end and then lower on the other. Again, as I've mentioned, it's a balancing act, right? We've got to be able to bring the right amount that'll meet the expectations of our customers. So, a lot of the times, what we're doing is we're doing either targeted recruitment efforts, we're being more strategic in how we source talent. We're leveraging AI platforms a bit more. We're building partnerships with universities and focusing on employer branding to attract professionals with these skills because they're in high demand. What's it going to take for them to come to KBR versus going to any one of our competitors?

So, we're really trying to invest in some of our marketing and making sure that we're very targeted in who we approach, because not one particular deal or one ad is going to hit every single skillset that we're looking for. So we're trying to be very diligent in how we move forward from there. As I've mentioned, we're upskilling and focusing on internal mobility. We believe in growing talent from within. I think that's been pretty clear with some of the internal processes and things that we've put in place. We offer employees access to cutting-edge trainings, to certifications that we're trying to get out and make sure that we've got some folks aware that these exist. There's leadership development programs that we are trying to focus around technical skills as well as operational skills.

So whether it's cloud certification, cyber security boot camps, or hands-on experience with AI or data science, we're giving employees the tools they need to expand their skills, which has been great. But a lot of the times, just like any other organization, our struggle is just making sure that we also promote those to our employee base.

As most are doing right now, we've got a lot of collaboration with industry and academia. So we partner, again, as I mentioned with universities, industry groups. There's partnerships that we've got. There's technology providers that'll help us to stay ahead of the emerging trends that ensure our employees have access to the latest knowledge and best practices. So, there's a whole ecosystem behind the scenes that we're trying to get things going. The reality is though, the future of work is changing fast and our ability to build, attract, and retain talent in these areas will define KBR's success moving forward. That's why we're taking more of a proactive approach, I would say, not just reacting to the market, but shaping the workforce of the future. That's how we think we're going to go and get the right folks in the right time.

John Arnold

That's really exciting. And it sounds like there's tons of opportunities. And so, especially for people that are already internal at KBR, already part of our team of teams to go on Workday and explore those tens of thousands of modules and learnings in all kinds of different areas, including these critical skills of the future. You've already mentioned data analytics, AI, and some of these other digital tools. So, I wonder if you'd tell us about how those kinds of tools are figuring into our candidate experience, how we're using those to recruit new talent. I'm really interested to hear about that.

Javier Rodriguez

Yeah. I appreciate that discussion, and I think as you've mentioned, I almost feel like every article that I read or any type of event that I attend here within the last, I would say year has been AI-focused, right? It's been AI, AI, AI. You've got to either come up with the time or you're going to be left behind. And quite honestly, from what I've seen, and whether it's the vendors that we utilize today or just events that we're attending, AI is definitely changing the landscape of talent acquisition. We're excited about the opportunities it may bring, and we're also focused on using AI to enhance the candidate experience and hire more efficiently, all while ensuring we stay in compliance with global regulations. I would say that's probably more of the caveat for us. We're not just operating in one particular region. We've got to see how the technology operates in these different markets, by the way, they've got different expectations in how they recruit their particular individuals to their business areas.

But one of the biggest advantages I would say that AI gives us is speeding up the hiring process. With the AI power tools that we've incorporated, we've seen benefits like we can screen resumes pretty quickly. We like to match candidates to the right roles, which has been a great asset to us because nine times out of 10, we'll log into our platform and it'll also have recommendations on... The system will do a quick search in a database and pull up roles, or excuse me, resumes that already exist that might be a match. So that's actually already cutting the sourcing time it takes for our recruiters to potentially look at new roles.

It's also streamlining our scheduling process. So there's things that we're looking at now where we can use some of our AI chatbots, we can use some of the things on the backend to help, again, our recruiters work more efficiently and effectively to where they can spend their time on what matters the most for us, which is relationships with the candidates and hiring managers. So we're trying to look at investing in some of those tools at this point. And again, that'll help us reduce the time it takes to hire. But it's not just about speed, which I think is what most of the time, you'll hear of the improvements that AI will give, which is true. But it's also about improving the experience for candidates too, right? Our AI driven, we've got chatbots on our careers page today that help our candidates answer questions. They guide candidates through the application process and keep them updated on questions they may have regarding KBR or on the recruitment process.

And we've seen a lot of success from there. Some of our chatbots, they're intelligent enough now where if you start a application with us and for whatever reason, don't finish, we've got the things on the backend that'll send you an email, and our chatbots will just follow back up with you to make sure you complete your application. And that's all being created through the AI systems that we have today, which is great because this creates a more engaging and personalized experience for our job seekers.

At the same time though, we're very mindful of the importance of compliance because I think the AI world, there's a lot of things that come with it. Everyone's excited about it, but there are some concerns around, does it exist or can it fit your compliance needs? Especially since we, as KBR, operate globally, as I've mentioned. So the AI tools are built to meet global hiring standards, or there's data privacy regulations like GDPR that again, make sure that we are operating the way that we need to in those particular regions.

We also work closely with our IT and compliance teams to ensure that the tools we have or that we're currently utilizing, are fair and don't introduce any bias into the process. So ultimately, while AI helps automate and speed up certain aspects, we want to make sure that there's always human oversight, right? Recruiters and hiring managers are still very much involved in the hiring decision making process. So we're excited about it. We want to make sure that we implement the right tools, but we also want to be cautious that those tools will make sense for us as we continue to grow.

John Arnold

That's awesome. Just a couple more questions for you before I let you go. I would love to hear what's on the horizon for KBR Talent Acquisition in the near and long term? What's up next?

Javier Rodriguez

Yeah. So I would say in the near term, we're focused on probably three big priorities for this year. So, it's just like every other year. Our focus number one is to make sure that we optimize our talent acquisition technology, and that's anywhere from making sure that we identify and that we implement enhancements within our tech stack to improve efficiency, reduce friction, and at the end of the day, enhance productivity for our hiring managers, recruiters, and ultimately, our candidates. You never want a candidate to say "It's taking too much time to fill out an application." Time is money. So any way that we can look at our tech stack and making sure that we're creating it as efficient and effective as possible is great. And we look at that if not weekly, daily. You name it, we're on it and we know where our system has hiccups and we're looking at additional resources to be able to fill that gap for us.

Our goal at the end of the day is to execute on our prioritization. Is optimizing these projects in hopes of strengthening candidate engagement and functionality. So really, just focusing on our tech stack and then again, making sure that anybody who uses our tools finds it to be a seamless process.

The second one I would say is continuing to elevate our KBR's employer brand. As any other strong talent acquisition team, we want to make sure that we continue to deliver our global recruitment strategies, and while ensuring alignment with KBR's overall brand initiatives. Our global recruitment marketing strategies need to be in line with those particular markets. So, we've got a lot of investigation that goes on. We've got a lot of vendors and resources at our disposal, that we can go into those markets and truly understand what those particular employees or those candidates would be looking for and we can make modifications on our recruitment strategies to make sure that we're hitting the needs of those particular individuals.

Just like we mentioned on the EVP, if there's a way for us to make sure that our candidates early on, understand KBR as a whole and making sure that same expectation is met throughout the recruitment process, all the way to their first day, is our goal from a talent acquisition perspective. Because then nine times out of 10, we're going to be the first person or persons that connect with the candidate and introduce them into KBR as a whole. So we want to make sure that that reputation is good, especially in the markets that we're seeing growth. When we look at overseas, the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, you've got all these great initiatives, and so we just want to make sure, again, from our employee standpoint that we are an employer of choice as we enter those markets. And again, at the end of the day, we'll help our business in those markets that we want to operate.

And the other, I would say our focus again now, is just around internal mobility skills of the future. We want to make sure it's easy for employees to understand where and how they can learn about what all KBR has to offer in career moves, but also, help them understand what training is available to them. And so, one of the things that hopefully, you've heard and most employees have heard by now, we're doing a lot of this through establishing our KBR pathway sessions. Now, that's a form for our employees to learn about different skill sets needed to grow development and advance their career. At the end of the day, our aim with that particular program is to educate, inspire, and engage employees who are ready to make a career move or to enable our people to refer others to open positions. Really, it's an opportunity for us to highlight some of the cool things that we're doing and put focus on some of the initiatives that I know will be important for us within the next few years, if not in five to 10.

I think longer term though, to your question, we're thinking about how AI and data can help us make better and more strategic hiring decisions, right? We're also looking at how we can further align our talent acquisition strategies within the business to ensure that we're always ahead of the workforce trends. So we're seeing a lot of our teams now be part of business bidding process discussions. We're providing more data to the business to make sure to help educate them on things that they need to be able to make their bidding processes more efficient and to be more, I would say, specific into what we're looking for. But it's been really good to see. Our teams were equipped with quite a bit to be able to assist from a business partner perspective to help our HR teams as well as our business to move in the direction that they want to. So again, I would say the future of TA isn't just about filling jobs, right? It's about shaping the workforce that will drive KBR's success in the years to come.

John Arnold

It puts it into perspective, and I have a whole new appreciation for what you and the Talent Acquisition folks do, because in many cases, even if someone comes to KBR by word of mouth, you guys are the first ... not necessarily, the gatekeepers, is not the right term, but the first experience that people have with a new company is with talent acquisition and making sure that you guys are telling that story to them. And that's very, very cool. And also, very interesting to hear about the KBR Pathways and how we're equipping people to learn more about those skillsets and to make career moves if the opportunity should arise.

Javier, before we wrap up as our listeners so far to this season will be aware, and as I'm sure you're aware, KBR right now is in the midst of a global awareness campaign, and the central message of that is, we do things that matter. So I wonder, in sharing your final thoughts with us, what's your elevator pitch to both potential employees and to talent acquisition professionals that are looking at KBR? Like what's the message that you would send to them about KBR doing things that matter?

Javier Rodriguez

Yeah, John, I would say at the end of the day, talent acquisition is about impact, right? It's about bringing the right talent to the organization, helping people grow their careers, and making sure that the work we do as recruiters contributes to something bigger. For job seekers out there, KBR is an incredible place to build a career. We're working on some of the most exciting projects in engineering, defense, space, and technology, and we're always looking for great talent.

So again, I would encourage anybody out there, if you're listening, to go to our careers page, speak to a recruiter and let us tell you about all the wonderful things that KBR has to offer you. I would say for any of my fellow TA professionals, keep evolving. I think this field is consistently changing, and the best recruiters are the ones who will embrace new tools and strategies while staying focused on the people behind the process. Again, I think TA, for the most part, has had a pretty rough year from an industry perspective, but I strongly believe that the role itself is ever evolving, and the good ones will stay on top of the trends and the good ones will help the business move forward and be successful as they put their plans in place. So, John, that's for the most part all I have. Thanks for having me. It's been great conversation, and again, thank you for being patient and having me on.

John Arnold

Javier Rodriguez, we appreciate you being on the podcast. Thanks so much for spending some time with us today. Just like it's not your granddad's KBR, it's not your granddad's approach to human resources. We want to thank Javier Rodriguez for taking some time to speak with us about KBR's next-gen approach to talent acquisition that really mirrors KBR's tech-forward approach to solution delivery.

If you're interested in learning more about careers at KBR in some of the areas that Javier mentioned and want to join an awesome global team of teams, you can head over to kbr.com or check out think.kbr.com/careers. We will have more episodes in the near future about KBR's approach to people and culture, so please be sure to be on the lookout for those. In the meantime, if you have an idea for an episode or just want to drop us a line, you can email us at inorbit.kbr.com.

As always, we want to thank you, our listeners, for your support. We know there's a lot out there competing for your time and attention. Just know that we appreciate you listening and keeping us in your orbit. Be kind to each other and take care.