The POZCAST: Decoding Success with Adam Posner · NHP Talent Group, Adam Posner

Inside Enterprise HR & Talent Strategy with Toshiba CHRO Jason Desentz (Live @ Unleash 2026)

April 7, 2026·24 min·2 clips

Jason reveals why HR leaders who don't understand business can't debate and risk getting run over.

Live at Unleashed 2026, Adam Posner gets right to it. Jason explains that he leads HR for Toshiba across the Americas, and the cold open goes straight to business fluency. HR leaders need to understand the business well enough to challenge it. Otherwise, they get steamrolled. The excerpt keeps circling one hard truth: HR and TA lose ground when they cannot tie hiring asks to budget and market reality. Compensation is where the conversation gets sharp. Jason says it can be simple to tell a leader the pay is below market, but it gets harder when the role and the salary are living in different worlds. Adam spots the recruiting trap right away. They talk through the familiar ask: find someone who can do director-level work, but pay them associate-level money. That kind of search is in trouble before it starts. Adam brings the consultant angle, saying he used to turn down work when the assignment was clearly set up to fail. Spinning wheels helps nobody. Jason moves the conversation toward options. If the salary gap is real, he looks for ways to reach the candidate's dollar value, such as a sign-on bonus or a later revisit if they prove themselves in the year. Budget approval still matters in the room. Total compensation gets a real look too. Traditional benefits do not always carry the same pull. Adam points to pressure in advertising and media. Jason says younger candidates may not respond to benefits the same way, so HR has to pay attention to what matters now. PTO, volunteering time, parental leave, and other benefits become part of the offer when salary cannot carry it alone. The live-show feel stays loose. Jason sends people to LinkedIn, and Adam closes the first of 23 interviews over the next 16 hours, already wondering if the energy will hold.

As heard by us

A practical HR conversation about business fluency, compensation reality, and smarter talent strategy.

Jason Descens argues for a more business-minded HR function, and the conversation stays close to compensation, recruiting, and benefits. Its clearest section comes when it weighs the gap between leaders asking for director-level talent and paying associate money, then treats…

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Want a no-fluff HR chat about money, business, and hiring reality?

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