The Headcount Experts
A Podcast on Headcount Excellence
Helping you build an exceptional headcount process, one episode at a time.
World-class workforce management & headcount planning strategies are out there. This podcast delivers them straight to your inbox.
The Headcount Experts consolidates 40 combined years of workforce planning experience from the biggest companies in the world. In each episode, you’ll gain valuable insight into how processes are built and how you can make that success your own.
About the hosts
Eric Guidice and Chris Mannion are ex-operators from Fortune 500 companies who turned their workforce planning & headcount management playbook into industry leading software solutions
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Featured Episode
| Podcast Metadata Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Podcast Series | The Headcount Experts |
| Episode Number | Episode #19 |
| Episode Title | TA Data for Workforce Planning |
| Speaker 1 (Host) | Chris Mannion - Ex-Global Head, Talent Acquisition Process Innovation at Meander |
| Speaker 2 (Host) | Eric Guidice - Ex-Head of Recruiting at headcount365 |
| Special Guest | Ian Jones - VP Talent Acquisition & People at HackerOne |
Missed an episode? Catch up on past conversations about headcount, hiring, and workforce planning.
Optimizing Recruiting Capacity: RPO Strategies and the Future of Headcount Planning
Talentful co-founder Chris Abass joins the team to analyze how volatile market conditions impact enterprise capacity planning. The discussion outlines a structured "barbell strategy" that separates automated pre-call workflows from high-touch, relationship-driven candidate experiences. Listen to the full episode to learn how leading organizations manage fluctuating headcount plans and evaluate the true bottom-line ROI of AI token spend.
Operationalizing Headcount Planning with Real-Time TA Data ft. Ian Jones from HackerOne
In episode 20 of Headcount Experts, hosts Eric Guidice and Chris Mannion sit down with Ian Jones, the VP of TA and interim head of people at HackerOne. Drawing from his extensive background scaling talent at tech giants like Amazon and HubSpot, Ian shares a masterclass on how to effectively bridge the gap between talent acquisition data and the broader corporate workforce planning process.
How AI is Redefining the Finance and Headcount Playbook
Traditional workforce planning is dying. Reed Gilbert, CFO at Reprise, reveals how he utilizes AI to compress months of financial modeling into minutes and why he’s trading headcount budget for AI tokens. If you want to understand how to increase your ARR per employee and build a hyper-productive, lean team that outpaces the competition, this is a must-listen.
Bonus Episode: Ask A Headcount Expert
This week on Headcount Experts, Eric Guidice and Chris Mannion dive into the latest insights from industry leaders including Emily Gransky, Chris Abbas, Kate Stewart, Logan Marsh, and Reggie Williams.
Headcount Data can make or break your QBR
In a market where profit-to-productivity ratios are under intense scrutiny, this post provides the framework for diagnosing organizational inefficiencies before they become fatal to the bottom line. Headcount is no longer the bottleneck to adding productivity.
Using Headcount Data to Secure a Promotion
Most people think a promotion is a reward for doing your current job well, but the reality is much more strategic. In this episode, we go behind the curtain of executive calibration meetings to show you how to use headcount data as a lever for career growth. Discover why performance is only half the battle and how "potential" is measured through the lens of data, communication, and business impact.
Incorporating Headcount Data in Your Dashboards
Move beyond static reporting by applying human-factors design to your data. This episode reveals how to build persona-based dashboards that align recruiting velocity with financial headcount targets, ensuring your data signals critical risks before they impact company revenue
Headcount Data is a New Dataset
Headcount plans generate a unique, evolving data set through the constant changes created during execution. Whether it’s shifting finance targets or hiring manager reshuffles, extracting insights from this variance allows Finance and TA leaders to eliminate stale data, hit current targets with precision, and build high-fidelity workforce plans for the future
Headcount Execution and Finance
Master headcount execution by bridging the gap between annual planning and monthly delivery. Learn the five-step operational loop—including snapshot mapping, prioritization frameworks, and capacity-demand matching—to ensure your recruiting team meets business goals with credibility and data-driven precision.
How to Build a Recruiting Capacity Model (part 2)
Transition from reactive hiring to proactive business planning by adopting a "People Supply Chain" model that quantifies capacity and attrition in real-time.
How to Build a Recruiting Capacity Model (part 1)
In this episode, Eric Guidice and Chris Mannion unpack key inputs to making capacity work and why predictable hiring requires more than just adding recruiters.
Best Practices for Hiring Plan Kickoff
The first Headcount Experts episode of 2026 breaks down the five operational best practices that turn a hiring plan into a predictable, executable workforce strategy.
How Portfolio Context Changes Headcount Planning
How does headcount planning change when you operate inside an Alphabet portfolio company? In this bonus episode, Jason Gingrich of Intrinsic breaks down how moonshot teams plan hiring, align with finance, and model recruiter capacity using data instead of guesswork. Listeners will walk away with practical ideas for forecasting, prioritization, and defending hiring plans with confidence.
Building a Headcount Execution Strategy
Execution is where plans succeed or fail. In this episode of Headcount Experts, we break down how recruiting capacity, financial constraints, AI, and org design collide after Q4. If you are planning for 2026, this is the conversation you need to hear.
Managing Stakeholder Dynamics in Headcount Planning
This episode explains how every stakeholder, from Finance to HRBPs to hiring managers, shapes the headcount plan, and why data, ROI, and communication determine whether planning succeeds or collapses.
8 Steps to Close Out This Year’s Headcount Plan
This episode explains the full lifecycle of closing out your annual headcount plan — from data cleanup and prioritization to finance alignment and cross-functional communication. Eric and Chris walk through the eight essential steps TA, HR, and FP&A leaders must take to create a clean transition into the next plan year. Listeners will learn how to manage variance, set expectations, navigate global nuances, and build a predictable Q1 launch.
Five Universal Best Practices for Headcount Planning
This episode translates headcount planning from theory to an executable system. You’ll get a practical five-step framework and hear how Ashby’s Jim Miller operationalizes a rolling, revenue-anchored model that smooths recruiter workload, improves forecast accuracy, and keeps leaders aligned.
Metrics, Data & Analytics Unique to the Headcount Dataset
When headcount analytics are constrained on spreadsheets, forecasts fail, NPS drops & costs rise. Hear how our experience shaped the way software revolutionizes this part of the business.
The Importance of Variance in the Headcount Planning Process
How to use last year’s variance and capacity data to build a more accurate, defensible headcount plan for the year ahead.
Headcount Planning Approaches & Methodologies
We break down the three major styles of headcount planning and how TA, Finance, and HR leaders can use data and collaboration to navigate Q4 planning.