--- title: Paying Down Talent Debt description: Our friends over at Madrona VC firm in Seattle shared a blog post that included some of our CEO’s thinking. image: https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/hubfs/6d754c9b-0e74-485e-b897-1f783a449188_1024x1024.jpg --- [![RT-Logo-400x282-1](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/hubfs/RT-Logo-400x282-1.png)](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/) - [Training](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/) - CUSTOM-BUILT TRAINING FOR RECRUITERS & RECRUITING MANAGERS - [Overview](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/) - [Talent Advisor Training POPULAR](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/talent-advisor-training/) - [Recruiting Leadership Training](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/recruiting-leadership-training/) - [Diversity Recruiting Training](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/diversity-recruiting-training/) - [Selling and Closing Training](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/selling-closing-training/) - [Online Recruiter Academy](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/online-recruiter-training/) - 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[Bar-Raisers and Quality Control Mechanisms](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/consulting/#bar-raisers) - [Resources](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/resources/) - BECOME AN EXPERT - [How to Be a Talent Advisor](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/resources/how-to-be-a-talent-advisor/) - [How to Be an Effective Recruiting Leader](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/resources/how-to-be-an-effective-recruiting-leader/) - [How to Leverage Bar Raisers](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/resources/bar-raisers/) - FREE RECRUITING BEST PRACTICES - [Our Resource Library](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/resources/) - [Recruiting Toolbox Blog](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog) - [Recorded Webinars and Conference Presentations](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/free-best-practices-webinar-videos/) - [Event Attendee Downloads](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/resources/event-downloads/) - STUFF WE LOVE - [Bookstore and Stickers](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/store/) - [Clients](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/clients/) - CLIENTS - [Who hires us?](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/clients/) - TESTIMONIALS - [Client Testimonials](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/clients/testimonials/) - [ARE YOU A SOLO RECRUITER, AGENCY, OR PART OF A SMALL TEAM?](https://staging.recruitingtoolbox.com/clients/solo-recruiters-agencies-small-teams/) - [How We Support Small Recruiting Teams](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/clients/solo-recruiters-agencies-small-teams/) - [About Us](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/about-us/) - WHAT WE DO - [How We Help Companies Recruit Better](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/about-us/) - WHY CHOOSE US - [Why Companies Hire Us](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/about-us/why/) - OUR TEAM - [Meet Our Team](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/about-us/team/) - [Connect With Us](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/about-us/connect-with-us/) - [Ask Us to Speak at Your Event](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/speaking-engagements/) - [Contact](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/contact/) # Recruiting Toolbox Blog # Paying Down Talent Debt [Recruiting Toolbox](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog/author/recruiting-toolbox) February 22, 2023 1 minute read Our friends over at Madrona VC firm in Seattle write a great “Hooked on talent” blog, and included some of our CEO’s thinking in their latest post on paying down talent debt.  They’re framing “talent debt” around a concept many startup engineering leaders know - technical debt.    John shared:    *“So many leaders talk about raising the bar on talent, but they’ve not actually done the hard work upfront to define what good looks like. Yes, they may have general values and behaviors they screen for — good, that’s part of it. But equally important is driving alignment on things like how hands-on an engineering leader needs to be, how to weight things like tech vs. soft skills, how to balance speed with quality and diversity, what’s a dealbreaker, and what’s easy to train on. Defining is hard. Aligning the teams is harder and takes a ton of leadership. But once you get that figured out, you get quality, at scale, because it’s embedded in everything talent related.”  -  [John Vlastelica](https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fjohnvlastelica%2F&data=05%7C01%7Caudra%40madrona.com%7C594e838c19b3426d7f1208db104f2d8b%7Cfe52808032c647bb81a00cd64f4a38ce%7C1%7C0%7C638121704498469038%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=B2Cd3a43vUbQ0Fc6wXZeElB4LBTF7GSSVR4Kx3d7nes%3D&reserved=0), CEO of consulting and training firm [Recruiting Toolbox](https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frecruitingtoolbox.com%2F&data=05%7C01%7Caudra%40madrona.com%7C594e838c19b3426d7f1208db104f2d8b%7Cfe52808032c647bb81a00cd64f4a38ce%7C1%7C0%7C638121704498469038%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qJOXRh0SbRC7eLCCbdxUulTRGe9CcLHC8WnBu4FWpRw%3D&reserved=0) and former Amazon Talent Leader. *   Read the rest of the article[here](https://audraaulabaugh.substack.com/p/hooked-on-paying-down-talent-debt?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1242034&post_id=103394198&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email) to hear what the Madrona Talent team recommends founders and engineering leaders do to reduce talent debt.    [Interviewing](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog/tag/interviewing), [Strategy](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog/tag/strategy), [Bar Raisers](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog/tag/bar-raisers), [Startups](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog/tag/startups) ## You might also be interested in... #### [The Debrief: John Vlastelica on Raising Your Hiring Bar](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog/the-debrief-john-vlastelica-on-raising-your-hiring-bar) #### [Don’t Waste Constraints: How Challenging Times Can Drive Change](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog/dont-waste-constraints-how-challenging-times-can-drive-change) #### [Is It Time We Required a License to Hire?](https://blog.recruitingtoolbox.com/blog/license-to-hire) ## About Recruiting Toolbox Recruiting Toolbox, Inc. is a specialized management consulting and training firm that helps [companies](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/clients/) recruit better, from startups to world-class brands. Our [consultants](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/about-us/team/) – all former corporate talent leaders – partner with you – heads of recruitment and HR – to improve speed, hire quality, candidate experience, and diversity hiring ROI. And it’s all tailored to your talent goals, culture, budget, and resource model. We work with clients across the globe – 20 countries so far – from our offices in the US. ## Popular Training Programs - [Talent Advisor Recruiter Training](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/talent-advisor-training/) - [Recruiting Leadership Lab](https://labs.recruitingtoolbox.com/) - [RLL50 (Heads of TA)](https://labs.recruitingtoolbox.com/rll50/) - [Interviewer / Hiring Manager Training](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/interviewer-training/) - [Online Hiring Manager Training](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/training/online-interviewer-training/) ## Best Practices - [What is a Talent Advisor?](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/what-is-a-talent-advisor/) - [How to be a Talent Advisor](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/resources/how-to-be-a-talent-advisor/) - [Talent Advisor Diagnostic Tool](https://go.recruitingtoolbox.com/talent-advisor-diagnostic-tool) - [Hiring Manager Maturity Model](https://go.recruitingtoolbox.com/downloads/white-papers-best-practices/the-hiring-manager-maturity-model) - [Interviewing Diagnostic Tool](https://go.recruitingtoolbox.com/interviewing-effectiveness-diagnostic-tool) ## Contact Us Interested in learning how we can help your teams recruit better?  [Contact us](https://recruitingtoolbox.com/contact/). 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