“What’s your why?” – A series celebrating talent professionals

3 mins, 13 secs read time

The world (and especially the world of work) is full of a lot of ambiguity right now

The current hiring landscape is unlike anything we’ve seen before. If you’re feeling strained and uncertain, you’re not alone. Really. We’ve recently heard from an overwhelming majority of hiring managers that they’re feeling more pressure than ever and they believe hiring is only going to get harder in the months to come. And we know that whatever hiring managers are going through, it’s just as challenging, if not more intense and stress-inducing for the talent acquisition professionals who are working tirelessly behind the scenes to build people-first companies.

More isn’t always better

Talent teams face more and more pressure and responsibilities, yet organizations are slow to recognize the impact of their role or to provide necessary support.

How are you responding to the record-breaking numbers of job openings and voluntary departures of the Great Reshuffling? The temptation might be to prioritize speed and volume: move faster, get more applicants. But for us here at Greenhouse, that’s not how we see it. For us, it’s an opportunity to return to our core values. We were fundamentally and intentionally built around creating a diverse, accessible and fair approach to hiring and we remain committed to these values.

Talent professionals are key to business success

At Greenhouse, we take a holistic approach to hiring. Hiring doesn’t only fulfill a temporary need. It creates a human impact that extends far beyond the talent search. We have always believed that hiring decisions are business decisions.

And those very critical business decisions are led by the talent professionals – from recruiters, to talent acquisition managers to sourcers to recruiting operations managers. They are the ones creating the makeup of an organization that will decide its fate. The hiring function should be celebrated to get the support and validation they deserve.

What’s your why?

Talent acquisition professionals are often the unsung heroes of their organizations – but it’s time for that to change. It’s time to elevate and celebrate all the hard work that you do behind the scenes. Our new campaign is a video series that invites talent acquisition professionals to answer a critical question: What’s your why?

We’re exploring the work that talent professionals do to fulfill their business’ demanding hiring needs, and the passions and reasons that drive them.

You’ll hear from Kathryn Thane at Samsara, who has helped her company expand from 16 employees to 1,600, Marvin Roque at Fastly, who is committed to giving opportunities to people from underrepresented backgrounds and Wayne Lindsay at Lyft, who believes his role is fundamentally about helping people grow.

I’ve been lucky enough to get great career growth opportunities so I really love helping other people find that for themselves as well.
– Kathryn Thane (she/her), Recruiting Operations and Program Manager at Samsara

What can we do as recruiters to make a bigger impact?
– Marvin Roque (he/him), Senior Recruiter at Fastly

I’m not just looking for someone to solve problem X. I’m looking for people to grow.
– Wayne Lindsay (he/him), Head of Central Recruiting at Lyft

Our hope is that these stories give you support, validation and confidence to take on the pressures you’re facing – in the current landscape and beyond.