The Hiring Room is a podcast about people strategy, profit, and smarter hiring systems.
Executive recruiter and host Renee Beckman sits down with real leaders for real talk about what actually works in high-stakes hiring: building stronger teams, leading with clarity, developing real bench strength, and turning people strategy into profit.
If you own the hires, the headcount, or the P&L, this room is for you.
He Left 16 Years At Levy Restaurants For One Test
Erich Kurschat spent 16 years in corporate HR at Levy Restaurants before he left to build a business around DISC assessments. In this episode Erich and Renee talk ...about what DISC measures, why it was never built to be a hiring tool, and how it's meant to be used instead: helping leaders understand their people and communicate with them better.
They also get into how introversion and extroversion get misread in interviews, a small language shift from Renee's counseling program that changes how people respond when you're trying to support them, and where AI is helping, and where it's hurting, hiring right now.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction and connecting through mutual friend Brendan
1:18 Erich's hiring philosophy and culture at Levy Restaurants
3:11 Why Erich left Levy to become an entrepreneur
4:06 Falling in love with the DISC behavioral assessment
6:26 Becoming Levy's internal DISC expert
7:33 Why companies actually invest in DISC
8:38 Why DISC is not validated for hiring or selection
9:29 How DISC results can be manipulated by candidates
10:03 The legal risk of using personality assessments in hiring
11:02 Why assessments should only be one piece of the hiring puzzle
12:41 Why assessments never really took off in the small to mid-market
13:12 PXT Select and Predictive Index as assessments built for hiring
15:01 Breaking down what DISC actually measures
17:07 The four DISC styles explained: D, I, S, C
19:29 The history of DISC and its creator, William Moulton Marston
19:42 Marston also invented the lie detector test and created Wonder Woman
21:10 Using DISC day to day to prepare for a difficult conversation
22:09 How DISC connects to diversity, equity and inclusion
22:42 How cultural background changes communication style
24:51 Renee's counseling grad school and cultural nuance with clients
26:19 The Golden Rule versus the Platinum Rule
27:55 The therapy technique for showing empathy instead of sympathy
30:37 Why staying silent can be the most powerful response
31:15 Erich's own struggle to just listen instead of fixing his wife's problems
33:38 Why therapists and coaches shouldn't give advice
35:00 Renee shares her own DISC results
36:12 What it means to suppress your natural style at work
39:03 Introvert, extrovert, and the idea of an ambivert
39:50 The Atomic Habits research on babies and stimulation
41:03 Why the popular definition of introvert and extrovert is wrong
44:33 How introversion and extroversion can be misread in interviews
47:16 Erich's take on AI's impact on HR and people work
50:33 Whether AI in hiring is helping or hurting candidates
52:10 Why candidates still need real human connection to stand out
56:48 Advice for the next generation entering law and accounting
59:59 The rise of AI insurance and AI liability
1:01:03 What leaders need to hold up a mirror to
1:02:36 Why Erich built the HR Hot Seat community
1:03:21 Growing to 4,600 members and 15 chapters
1:04:34 Closing thoughts on DISC after 20 years
About the Host
Renee Beckman is the Founder of MSeed, where she partners with growth-stage and mid-market companies to build disciplined, repeatable hiring systems.
With over two decades in executive search and talent strategy, Renee has interviewed thousands of professionals and built leadership teams across industries. Through her SearchOS methodology, she helps organizations reduce costly hiring mistakes and create structured hiring ecosystems that drive long-term performance.
Learn more at:
https://www.mseedinc.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-beckman/
#hiring #disc #hrleadership #executivesearch #talentacquisition #hrtok #leadership #recruiting #peopleleaders #assessments #introvertsvsextroverts #aiinhiring #hrcommunity #careeradvice #mseedShow More
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