Rebecca Warren, Brian Willets, and Josh Rock discussed high-volume hiring strategies. Brian emphasized the importance of proactive hiring and internal talent development, while Josh highlighted the need for strategic, long-term planning. They both agreed on the significance of maintaining a human touch in the hiring process, including quick responses, personalized interactions, and thorough onboarding. They also discussed the role of AI in streamlining tasks like scheduling and interviewing, freeing up time for recruiters to focus on high-value activities like coaching and candidate care. The key takeaway was to always be hiring and to treat candidates with respect and care.

Introductions

• Rebecca Warren provides housekeeping instructions, including using widgets, Q&A, resources section, and registering for future sessions.
• Rebecca introduces the two speakers, Brian Willets and Josh Rock, and asks them to introduce themselves.
• Brian Willets shares his background as a Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for Smokey Bones, highlighting his journey from a cook to a server and his passion for the hospitality industry.
• Josh Rock introduces himself as the Talent Acquisition Manager for NUS Truck and Equipment, detailing his transition from advertising to HR and his experience in healthcare and transportation.

Question of the month: Alien invention

• Rebecca Warren introduces the question of the month: “If aliens landed tomorrow, what’s the one human invention or creation you would show them to impress them?”
• Brian Willets initially considers paper and pen but ultimately chooses the internet and AI for their global communication capabilities.
• Josh Rock discusses the thermos and art, emphasizing the uniqueness and creativity of human inventions.
• Rebecca Warren reflects on the importance of art, music, and the human touch in showcasing our achievements to aliens.

High volume hiring: Challenges and strategies

• Rebecca Warren transitions the discussion to high volume hiring, emphasizing the need to avoid the cycle of burnout and churn.
• Brian Willets and Josh Rock discuss the importance of proactive hiring and succession planning to avoid reactive, panic hiring.
• Brian Willets highlights the need for internal talent development and continuous hiring to maintain a strong team.
• Josh Rock emphasizes the importance of strategic hiring and the need for leaders to think beyond immediate needs to long-term organizational goals.

Human element in high volume hiring

• Rebecca Warren and the speakers discuss the importance of maintaining the human element in high volume hiring processes.
• Brian Willets suggests daily check-ins with the ATS, automatic text messages to applicants, and in-person interviews to keep candidates engaged.
• Josh Rock emphasizes the importance of personalized onboarding, including explaining benefits and providing resources to new hires.
• The speakers agree on the need for quick responses and meaningful interactions to make candidates feel valued and cared for.

Balancing speed and quality in hiring

• Rebecca Warren and the speakers discuss the balance between speed and quality in high volume hiring.
• Brian Willets warns against the vicious cycle of reactive hiring and the importance of a virtuous cycle of proactive hiring and effective training.
• Josh Rock highlights the need for quality hires and the potential risks of prioritizing speed over fit.
• The speakers agree on the importance of using data to identify trends and improve hiring processes.

Culture and internal mobility

• Rebecca Warren and the speakers discuss the importance of culture and internal mobility in high volume hiring.
• Brian Willets emphasizes the role of leadership in driving results and the need for coaching and succession planning.
• Josh Rock highlights the importance of internal mobility and providing opportunities for growth and development within the organization.
• The speakers agree on the need for personalized interactions and continuous improvement to maintain a strong company culture.

Tech and AI in recruiting

• Rebecca Warren and the speakers discuss the role of technology and AI in high volume hiring.
• Brian Willets shares his positive experience with AI tools like Ellie for scheduling and interview transcription.
• Josh Rock emphasizes the need for AI to manage advertising and source tracking to improve efficiency.
• The speakers agree on the importance of using AI as a tool to support human decision-making and improve processes.

Actionable advice for high volume hiring

• Rebecca Warren asks for one piece of actionable advice to improve high volume hiring.
• Brian Willets advises always being proactive in hiring and planning for future needs.
• Josh Rock emphasizes the importance of treating hiring as an investment and focusing on the human element.
• The speakers agree on the need for continuous improvement, strategic planning, and maintaining a high touch approach in high volume hiring.

Rebecca Warren 00:00

Welcome to this month’s Talent Table. We are talking about all things high-volume hiring. We have two fabulous speakers here. We’ve got Brian and Josh. I’m going to ask them to introduce themselves, and then I have our question of the month. So Brian, let’s have you kick off. Tell us a little bit about yourself, and then we’ll head on over to Josh.

Brian Willets 01:03

All right, good morning, and you know, thanks for having me for sure. Appreciate you. I’m Brian Willets. I’m the Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for Smokey Bones. It’s a restaurant company, mostly on the southeast side of our country. I’ve been in the hospitality business my whole life. And the one story that I shared with you earlier was, I went to Friday’s—I was a culinary guy, and I went to Friday’s to apply as a cook, and they said, ‘We don’t need cooks,’ and they held up a pen, and they said, ‘Sell me the pen, and I’ll hire you as a server.’ And I don’t remember my answer, but I got hired, and then I caught a bug for hospitality. Been in it ever since I was a kid, and just love what I get to do every day. So again, thanks for having me.

Rebecca Warren 01:46

Yeah, moved out of serving into the TA space. Never left. Love it. All right, Josh, tell us a story.

Josh Rock 01:54

Oh, Rebecca, you know, I got tons of stories. We go back 20 years. So Josh Rock, Talent Acquisition Manager for NUS Truck and Equipment. We’re a Mack and Volvo heavy-duty dealership group here in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Missouri. I, like many here listening in today, fell into HR. I was in advertising for 16 years, was a vendor in the HR tech space for many of those, and then pivoted to becoming a practitioner. Did about 10 years in healthcare and mid-COVID said, ‘Enough is enough,’ at 9,000 hires a year. Went to transportation, where we were doing 40 hires a year. Ridiculous downshift, but I enjoyed it. I’m sitting here in Minnesota, where it’s a balmy minus 21 degrees. So anybody who’s complaining about their weather, eat it. We’ve got the worst today. We’ll just leave it at that.

Rebecca Warren 02:45

And Rebecca Warren enjoying the Phoenix weather, which still feels a little chilly, but yeah, it’s nice here in Phoenix. So Rebecca Warren, I lead the Talent Table. I have worked at Eightfold for coming up on five years—will be five years in about two weeks. And so I am in a group called Talent-Centered Transformation, where we spend time talking about looking at work through the lens of skills, and less about through the lens of jobs. So what are we thinking about in terms of what’s happening in the industry? Where are people thinking about AI, about the future of work? We spend a lot of time talking about those things.

Before we jump into our topic, we have the question of the month. And I came up with a super wacky one that actually made me really think. It took me a while to come up with an answer. So here is our question of the month: If aliens landed tomorrow, what’s the one human invention or creation you would show them to impress them? So what are we doing to show the aliens how cool we are? Who wants to start? Brian, you want to go ahead?

Brian Willets 03:56

Yeah, sure. Yeah, I’ll start off by saying, Rebecca must be seeing fall the talk about that on the news every once in a while, like we might have this happening here soon. So yeah, it was hard for me to think about it. And, you know, I came up with a cheesy one at first, and I thought about a Chunky bar or something like that. And I was like, you know, really, paper and pen, right? Because communication is key. But then I’m like, ‘That’s good enough.’ Then I’m like, ‘All right, well, the internet and AI, right?’ And you think about those advancements of how we communicate, not just one-on-one, but across the globe, right? And maybe interstellar here in the future. So I think that’s what I would say.

Rebecca Warren 04:42

I like it. That’s amazing. All right, Josh, what you got? You gonna show me something hockey related?

Josh Rock 05:01

I’m going to find a game based on a half-inch of steel. Not only did I think about your question, I brought Show and Tell—hockey skate, three inches of rubber.

Rebecca Warren 05:20

I love it. Okay, hockey and hockey skates. I love it. So I spent some time talking about this, and I actually asked my husband, and he said, ‘The thermos.’ And I’m like, ‘The thermos?’ He goes, ‘Like, how does it know? How does it know to keep hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold?’ And I was like, ‘Okay, that’s your answer.’ But I started thinking about this, and I thought about art, what art looks like, right? Whether it’s creating books, whether it’s pictures, whether it’s paintings. Like, I think, I’m thinking about aliens coming down. They’ve already got tech that’s way better than us, because we didn’t go to them, they came to us, right? So they don’t care about our tech, unless maybe they’re trying to, you know, take over the world and use our tech to do that. But I just thought about, like, what is unique to us, what comes out of our brains and our minds and our hearts and souls, and that’s art. So I would want to show them—I’m not sure what art. Like, would I take them to a museum, or would I just show them, like, ‘Hey, here’s the picture that my friend drew.’ Like, I don’t know, but I think for me, the answer is art.

Josh Rock 06:27

So don’t forget music to go with your art.

Rebecca Warren 06:32

Yes, exactly. So like, that’s all creation, and that’s all part of who we are, individually and unique. So hockey skates, communication, art, great answers.

Brian Willets 06:44

I was wondering this real quick too, because it’s interesting. And my other one was baseball, the other one was music, right? Like instruments. So it’s really interesting that it’s all tied together. That’s awesome.

Rebecca Warren 06:55

Yeah, because, like, I was even asking the question, like, is our writing books—is that considered art? And we came up with the answer yes. So, okay, you need to see the Broadway show ‘Art,’ a commentary on friendship and what art is. I’m going to go find that after I get off of this webinar. Love it. Okay, so who’s in it? That’s who’s in it. I love it.

Josh Rock 07:22

James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris. And I can’t remember who the third guy is, but yeah.

Rebecca Warren 07:30

Love it. Okay, let’s get into the topic. So let’s talk about high-volume hiring and get some definitions down, shall we? So when we talk about high-volume hiring, let me ask you what that means to you. So Brian, when we say high-volume hiring, what does that mean at Smokey Bones?

Brian Willets 07:52

Yeah, absolutely. So high-volume hiring for us, in the restaurant industry specifically, means continuous recruiting. It’s not just, you know, we have a peak season and then we’re done. It’s year-round. We’re constantly looking for talent because turnover is just part of the industry. So we’re always hiring. We’re always building our pipeline. We’re always talking to potential candidates, even if we don’t have an immediate opening, because we know we will soon. So for us, it’s really about building that always-on recruiting mentality and making sure that we have a steady stream of qualified candidates ready to go.

Rebecca Warren 08:38

I love that. So it’s proactive versus reactive. Josh, what does high-volume hiring mean for you?

Josh Rock 08:45

Yeah, so for me, high-volume hiring is really about scale and efficiency. When I was in healthcare doing 9,000 hires a year, that was high-volume. Now I’m doing 40 hires a year in transportation, which is definitely not high-volume. But what I learned in that high-volume environment is that you have to have systems and processes in place. You can’t just wing it. You need automation. You need technology. You need a really solid process from beginning to end. And you need metrics. You need to know what’s working, what’s not working, where candidates are falling out of the funnel. All of that data is critical when you’re hiring at scale.

Rebecca Warren 09:35

Yeah, so it sounds like high-volume hiring is not just about the number of hires. It’s about having the right infrastructure, the right processes, the right technology to support that scale. And I think that’s really important for people to understand because a lot of times people hear ‘high-volume’ and they just think about the number. But it’s really about how you’re set up to handle that volume efficiently and effectively. So let’s talk about some of the challenges. What are some of the biggest challenges that you face in high-volume hiring? Brian, want to start?

Brian Willets 10:15

Yeah, I think one of the biggest challenges is maintaining quality while also maintaining speed. Right? Because when you’re hiring at volume, there’s this pressure to fill positions quickly. But you can’t sacrifice quality for speed. You still need to make sure that you’re hiring the right people, people who are going to be a good fit for your culture, who are going to perform well, who are going to stay. So that balance between speed and quality is always a challenge.

The other thing is candidate experience. When you’re hiring at volume, it’s easy for candidates to feel like they’re just a number, right? They’re just another application in a stack of hundreds. So making sure that we’re providing a really personalized, human experience, even when we’re hiring at scale, that’s a big challenge. And I think technology can help with that, but you still need that human touch.

Rebecca Warren 11:15

Yeah, absolutely. Josh, what about you? What are some of the challenges you’ve faced?

Josh Rock 11:20

I think one of the biggest challenges, especially in high-volume hiring, is burnout. Both recruiter burnout and hiring manager burnout. When you’re constantly hiring, it can be exhausting. And if you don’t have the right systems and processes in place, it can feel like you’re just spinning your wheels. So making sure that your team has the support they need, the technology they need, the resources they need to be successful, that’s critical.

The other thing is data. When you’re hiring at volume, you have so much data coming at you. But if you don’t know how to use it, it’s not helpful. So making sure that you’re tracking the right metrics, that you’re analyzing the data, that you’re using it to make informed decisions, that’s a big challenge. A lot of organizations just don’t have the analytics capabilities to really leverage all that data effectively.

Rebecca Warren 12:25

Yeah, so we’ve got quality versus speed, candidate experience, burnout, data management. Those are all really critical challenges. So let’s talk about solutions. What are some strategies that have worked well for you in addressing these challenges? Brian, what’s worked for you?

Brian Willets 12:47

Yeah, so a few things. One is being proactive. Like I mentioned earlier, we’re always recruiting. We’re not waiting until we have an urgent need. We’re building our pipeline constantly. So when a position does open up, we already have candidates in the pipeline that we can reach out to. That helps with speed without sacrificing quality because we’ve already done some of the vetting work upfront.

The other thing is leveraging your internal talent. Before we go external, we’re looking internally. Do we have someone who could move into this role? Do we have someone who could be developed for this role? That internal mobility piece is huge, especially in high-volume environments, because it’s faster, it’s cheaper, and those internal candidates already know your culture, they already know your systems. So that’s been a big strategy for us.

And then the third thing is really investing in the candidate experience. Making sure that we’re communicating regularly, that candidates know where they stand in the process, that they feel valued and respected. Even if we don’t hire them for this role, we want them to have a positive experience so that they’ll apply again in the future or they’ll refer someone else to us.

Rebecca Warren 14:10

I love all of those strategies. Josh, what about you? What’s worked well for you?

Josh Rock 14:15

Yeah, I think technology is huge. Having the right ATS, having the right tools to automate some of the more manual, repetitive tasks. That frees up your recruiters to focus on the high-value activities like building relationships, coaching hiring managers, improving the candidate experience. So technology is critical.

The other thing is metrics. You have to know your numbers. What’s your time to fill? What’s your cost per hire? What’s your quality of hire? Where are candidates dropping out of the funnel? All of that data helps you identify where the bottlenecks are, where you need to improve. And then you can make data-driven decisions about where to invest your time and resources.

And then the last thing I’d say is really about partnership with hiring managers. In high-volume environments, your hiring managers are critical partners. They need to be engaged in the process. They need to understand what good looks like. They need to be responsive. So investing time in coaching and developing your hiring managers, helping them understand how to interview effectively, how to evaluate candidates, that’s been really important.

Rebecca Warren 15:40

Yeah, so we’re hearing proactive hiring, internal mobility, candidate experience, technology, metrics, hiring manager partnership. All of these things are critical components of successful high-volume hiring. And I think what’s really interesting is that none of these things are specific to high-volume. These are all best practices that apply to any hiring environment. It’s just that in high-volume environments, if you don’t have these things in place, the cracks show up a lot faster and a lot bigger, right? Because you’re hiring at scale, so any inefficiency in your process gets magnified.

So let’s talk a little bit about metrics because Josh, you mentioned this. What are the metrics that you’re tracking? What are the ones that really matter? Brian, what are you looking at?

Brian Willets 16:35

Yeah, so we’re looking at a few key metrics. Time to fill is important because we need to fill positions quickly, but we also need to make sure we’re not sacrificing quality. So we track that. We also track source of hire because we want to know where our best candidates are coming from. Are they coming from job boards? Are they coming from referrals? Are they coming from our career site? That helps us optimize our recruiting spend.

We also track candidate conversion rates at each stage of the funnel. So how many people are applying? How many are getting screened? How many are getting interviewed? How many are getting offers? How many are accepting offers? That helps us identify where we might be losing candidates and where we need to improve.

And then we track turnover. We track 30-day, 60-day, 90-day turnover because if we’re hiring people who are leaving within the first 90 days, that’s a problem. That tells us either we’re not hiring the right people, or we’re not onboarding them effectively, or there’s something wrong with the job or the environment. So those early turnover metrics are really important for us.

Rebecca Warren 17:55

Yeah, that 90-day turnover is such a critical metric, especially in high-volume environments. Josh, what are you tracking?

Josh Rock 18:03

Yeah, so similar metrics. Time to fill, source of hire, conversion rates. I also track recruiter productivity metrics. How many reqs is each recruiter managing? What’s their time to fill? What’s their quality of hire? Because in high-volume environments, you need to make sure your recruiters are working efficiently and effectively.

I also track candidate satisfaction. We send surveys to candidates after they go through our process, whether they get hired or not. And we ask them about their experience. Did they feel respected? Was the process clear? Was communication timely? That feedback is really valuable because it helps us identify where we can improve the candidate experience.

And then I track manager satisfaction as well. Are hiring managers happy with the quality of candidates they’re seeing? Are they happy with the speed of the process? That partnership with hiring managers is so critical, so we need to make sure they’re getting what they need from us.

Rebecca Warren 19:20

Yeah, I love that you’re tracking both candidate and manager satisfaction. I think those are often overlooked metrics, but they’re so important because at the end of the day, recruiting is a service function. We’re serving both candidates and hiring managers, and we need to make sure both groups are having a positive experience.

Okay, so let’s shift gears a little bit and talk about technology and AI because that’s a big topic right now. How are you using technology in your high-volume hiring processes? What tools are working well for you? What are you exploring? Brian, want to start?

Brian Willets 20:05

Yeah, so we use our ATS for the basics—job postings, application management, all of that. We also use some automation tools for things like interview scheduling, which has been huge for us. Taking that manual back-and-forth off recruiters’ plates has freed up a lot of time.

We’re also exploring some AI tools. I mentioned earlier I use a tool called Fireflies for interview note-taking. It records the interview, transcribes it, gives me a summary, pulls out key highlights. I can also send a recap to the hiring manager. That’s been really valuable because it means I can focus on having a conversation with the candidate instead of frantically taking notes. And then I have a complete record of the interview that I can go back and reference.

We’re also looking at some AI screening tools that can help us with that initial resume review and candidate matching. We haven’t implemented anything yet, but we’re exploring options because when you’re looking at hundreds of applications for a single role, having some AI assistance to help identify the best candidates could be really valuable.

Rebecca Warren 21:30

Yeah, I love that. Josh, what about you? What technology are you using?

Josh Rock 21:35

Yeah, so similar. We use an ATS. We use some automation for scheduling and communication. One thing I wish we had that we don’t is better source tracking. My ATS doesn’t have great source tracking capabilities, and that makes it really hard to optimize our recruiting spend. So that’s something I’m constantly advocating for with our vendor.

In terms of AI, I think there’s a lot of potential there. I think AI can help with things like resume screening, candidate matching, even initial interviews. But I also think we need to be really thoughtful about how we implement it. We need to make sure it’s not biased, that it’s fair, that it’s enhancing the candidate experience rather than detracting from it. So I’m excited about the possibilities, but I’m also cautious about making sure we do it right.

Rebecca Warren 22:35

Yeah, I think that’s really important. AI is a tool. It’s not a replacement for human judgment. It’s not a replacement for human connection. It’s there to augment what we do, to make us more efficient, to help us make better decisions. But at the end of the day, hiring is still a fundamentally human process. It’s about relationships. It’s about connection. It’s about culture fit. And you can’t automate all of that.

So I think the key is finding that balance between automation and human touch. Using technology where it makes sense—for things like scheduling, for things like initial screening, for things like data analysis—but keeping humans in the loop for the high-value activities like interviewing, like relationship building, like coaching and development.

Okay, so we’ve talked about a lot of different topics. Let me see if we’ve got some questions coming in. And we do. So let me jump to a few of these. First question: How do you balance the need for speed in high-volume hiring with maintaining quality? Brian, you touched on this earlier, but can you elaborate a little bit more?

Brian Willets 24:00

Yeah, so I think the key is being proactive. If you’re always recruiting, if you always have a pipeline of candidates ready to go, then when a position opens up, you’re not starting from scratch. You’ve already done some of the work. You’ve already identified potential candidates. You’ve already built relationships. So you can move quickly without sacrificing quality because you’ve already done the vetting upfront.

The other thing is making sure you have clear hiring criteria. What does good look like for this role? What are the must-haves versus the nice-to-haves? When you have clear criteria, it’s easier to evaluate candidates quickly and consistently. So you’re not wasting time on candidates who aren’t a good fit, and you’re able to move the right candidates through the process quickly.

And then the third thing is involving your hiring managers early and often. Make sure they understand what good looks like. Make sure they’re responsive. Make sure they’re providing timely feedback. Because if hiring managers are slow to respond or if they’re changing their requirements halfway through the process, that slows everything down.

Rebecca Warren 25:20

Yeah, that makes sense. Josh, anything to add to that?

Josh Rock 25:25

Yeah, I think the other piece is having a really solid screening process. If you can identify early in the process whether someone’s a good fit or not, that saves everyone time. So having some kind of initial screen — whether that’s a phone screen, whether that’s an AI screening tool, whether that’s a skills assessment—something that helps you quickly identify who should move forward and who shouldn’t. That helps with both speed and quality.

Rebecca Warren 26:00

Yeah, absolutely. Okay, next question: What role does internal mobility play in high-volume hiring? Brian, you mentioned this earlier. Can you talk a little bit more about how you’re leveraging internal talent?

Brian Willets 26:15

Yeah, so internal mobility is huge for us. Before we post any role externally, we look internally. Do we have someone who could do this job? Do we have someone who could be developed for this job? And we encourage our employees to apply for internal opportunities. We make it really easy for them to do that.

The benefits of hiring internally are significant. It’s faster because you don’t have to go through a long external recruiting process. It’s cheaper because you’re not spending money on job postings and advertising. And the quality is often higher because these are people who already know your culture, they already know your systems, they already have relationships with their colleagues. So they can hit the ground running.

The other benefit is retention. When employees see that there are opportunities for growth and advancement within the company, they’re more likely to stay. So investing in internal mobility not only helps you fill positions faster, it also helps you retain your best talent.

Rebecca Warren 27:35

Yeah, that’s such a good point. Internal mobility is not just about filling open roles. It’s also a retention strategy. Josh, what’s your perspective on internal mobility?

Josh Rock 27:47

Yeah, I think internal mobility is critical, especially in high-volume environments. But I think it requires some infrastructure. You need to have visibility into what your internal talent can do. You need to have a way to match internal talent to open roles. You need to have a culture that supports internal movement. So it’s not just about saying, ‘Hey, we prioritize internal candidates.’ It’s about actually building the systems and processes to make that happen.

And I think skills-based approaches can really help with this. If you’re tracking skills instead of just job titles, then you can see what someone is capable of, even if they’ve never done that exact job before. So you can identify internal candidates who might not be obvious fits based on their current job title, but who have the skills to be successful in a new role.

Rebecca Warren 28:45

Yeah, that’s a great point. And I think that’s where technology and AI can really help, right? If you have a platform that can map skills across your workforce, that can identify internal candidates who have the skills for open roles, that can make it so much easier to leverage your internal talent.

Okay, so we’re getting close to the end of our time, but I want to make sure we get to a couple more questions. This question around, you know, people are like, AI is going to take my job, and our new phrase is, no, AI is not going to take your job, but somebody who knows how to use AI will, right? That’s the new line. But let me ask you this question: In an aspirational world, if you had to pick one task that AI should take off a recruiter’s plate tomorrow, what would it be and why?

Brian Willets 51:50

Yeah, I’ll go and I’ll let you close it out, Josh. But you know, first off, like you said, it’s technology, it’s a tool to help us make better decisions. It’s not making the decisions, but it’s helping us make better decisions, just like any other technology that we’ve had in the past that we’ve learned to use and can’t live without. You know, I think that timing, scheduling, things of that nature is definitely not my favorite thing to do. And when I become the middleman and I’ve got to go back and forth, it takes up a lot of time.

You know, the other thing that I shared with you is I use Fireflies. I’m a big fan of it. It records the notes. It records the interview. I can go back. I can get a transcript. I can ask it to tell me highlights of the interview. I can also send a recap to the hiring managers. It recaps the conversation for me, and I can really fine-tune what kind of recap I want. So it’s, again, it’s a good tool. But if you were to ask me specifically, what can I help with so that, you know, some of the admin and the scheduling, I think that that’s just crucial.

Rebecca Warren 52:58

Scheduling is huge. Being able to take that off the plate. So you would automate scheduling. Josh, what would you say?

Josh Rock 53:06

Scheduling, I can definitely piece it together and make it easy for the candidates. You know, what I’d love for AI to do is just to manage all of my advertising, putting it in the right places, because I’m going to write, you know, I can hit B2 and miss it by just a little, you know, by one. So I would love for it to be able to say, ‘Hey, here’s where your best avenue is going to be.’ But unfortunately, my ATS doesn’t have source tracking, and so I have to do that each and every day because I can’t tell where that’s at. And trust me, I’m on the product council for my provider. I drill on that every day and every quarter when we have our meetings. I’m like, ‘Give me the tools to make my spend that much more effective.’ Yeah, put me in a place to be successful.

Rebecca Warren 54:09

That totally makes sense. And I know one of the things that we’re talking a lot about, and everybody’s talking about, is they have an AI interviewer now. But I really do like that idea of being able to interview at scale. And we were — we had questions like, ‘Are people going to get scared about that?’ And the numbers are surprisingly positive, where folks say, ‘I would love to be able to do an interview on my time. Know exactly what it’s going to look like, not have to worry about the coordinating of the schedule, all of that kind of stuff, right? I can just jump on, I can do the interview.’

And then, especially if you’ve got, like, a full platform, then it ties back into their profile. So you could theoretically interview every single person, and even if they’re not the right fit for the role, then you’ve got that in your talent pool to be able to go back and look at. So I think automating scheduling, I think using an agent to do the interviewing—those pieces are all coming, and I think it’s going to make life easier, especially for folks who have maybe non-traditional schedules or things like that.

Okay, so let me ask this next question. If — let’s just, we’re going to make another supposition — if AI could give recruiters back, let’s say, 10 hours a week, where should that time go? Like, if you had the opportunity, Josh, for yourself, or Brian, for some of the folks that are on your team and in your space, what are those high-impact, high-human-value activities that recruiters might be able to do, right? Is it outreach, community building, mapping markets, mobility, candidate care? Like, what should folks be able to think about if they have that extra 10 hours a week? This isn’t about eliminating their jobs. It’s about eliminating work that isn’t as value-added as other things. So what are those high-value things that folks should be thinking about if AI was able to take 10 hours off their plate?

Brian Willets 56:09

I think yes and yes.

Josh Rock 56:11

I’m saving mine for now. You sure? Go ahead, it’s okay. All right. You know what I use my time savings for is to check in with new hires and do 30-60-90 day reviews. What are you encountering with our organization? What are you encountering with your teams and your leaders? How can I improve what is going on in the system? Or how can I celebrate what’s going right in the system? After you’ve been hired, I tell my candidates all the time, ‘Even though I’m done hiring you, I don’t go away. I don’t disappear. You’re just going to use me differently.’

Rebecca Warren 56:46

I love that. I love that. That was a practice I always did as well in my TA teams. Let’s check in with you and find out, are you connecting to the right hiring manager? Did you have your one-on-ones? Are there things that you feel like you can’t bring up to your manager that still need to be addressed, and I can be that middleman? I think that personal touch would be a great use of time if you had an extra 10 hours on your plate. All right, Brian, what do you think?

Brian Willets 57:12

Yeah, I mean, I couldn’t agree more. And I was, you know, what I was thinking was checking in with new hires. But formally, 30-60-90 days, even better. The other thing is really understanding hiring needs. And again, coaching, coaching the leaders. I think that’s a missed art. And in our business, we have a manager-in-training program. You know, what’s missing in the manager-in-training program? How to lead people. So, you know, I think a lot of organizations are the same way, right? So being able to spend some time on talent and helping them understand what works best.

Rebecca Warren 57:43

All right. So I’ve got one closing question, but what I hear from that is really about making it that high-volume touch, right? Like, high-volume with that high-touch process, even if it’s a high-volume hire. So I like the fact that you’re saying that’s how we build the culture, that’s how we make people feel cared for, is that we see you. You’re not a number, you’re not just, you know, one more hire or an object or a, you know, a number in the system. You actually matter, and we see you.

Okay, so I’m going to have to skip a whole bunch of questions that we didn’t get to, but we’re going to get to the closing question because we’re right at time here. So give me 30 seconds on this answer. What’s one actionable piece of advice you’d give to today’s audience to improve high-volume hiring tomorrow? What’s one piece of advice? So Brian, go, and then Josh, wrap us up.

Brian Willets 58:36

Look, I’ve talked about it before. If you feel like you need someone, it’s just too late. You’ve got to be proactive and always be hiring.

Rebecca Warren 58:43

Okay, great. Josh, what’d you say?

Josh Rock 58:49

Stop making it a transaction. Yeah, people are an investment. It’s not about high volume. It’s about care behind what you do and the people you’re bringing into your organization.

Rebecca Warren 59:00

Love it. Love it. All right. Appreciate you both. I think we might need to have another session or three to talk about all the things that we didn’t get to. Maybe I’ll do a summary blog post and then throw the questions out there. I know y’all are awesome. Appreciate the conversation. So Talent Table is out for 2025 — that’s crazy to say. Looking forward to seeing everybody for our January edition in 2026. Thanks to our guests. Have a wonderful day. Take care, all.