Collective Bias’s customer story
Managers heavily involved in their own recruiting. Needed a streamlined approach to hiring.
HireHive allows recruiters to manage candidates allowing Hiring Manager to be involved.
40 new hires in 2015 using HireHive.
Collective Bias’s customer story
HireHive allows recruiters to manage candidates allowing Hiring Manager to be involved.
40 new hires in 2015 using HireHive.
Collective Bias has about 150 employees, with its HQ in Rogers, Arkansas and offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and London. Helping grow the team at Collective Bias is Angelique O’Bryan, Director of HR and Operations.
Angelique has worked with startups and small businesses from the get go and started her career with a medical clinic and spa in her local area. That role required an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach, which helped steer her into human resources. From there, she continually focused on education and professional growth. When an opportunity arose at Collective Bias, she was a natural fit for a HR role.
When she joined the team, Collective Bias was at a stage in which all managers were heavily involved in their own recruiting. During that time, a manager discovered HireHive and decided to test it for managing job postings.
“Our initial reason for using HireHive was just to manage external postings. Their service offering has continued to expand since then, and we now use HireHive for all communication with potential candidates as well as general management of the recruitment process.”
That ease of communication with candidates was something that attracted Angelique to using HireHive.
“I think that to track candidates manually, as I’ve done at times in the past, can be hugely cumbersome and can clutter up your inbox. That makes it difficult to keep on track.”
Another aspect was the ability to comply with US laws and regulations where there is a requirement that every resume received be held for a minimum of one year. HireHive provided a ‘database’ for all this information.
The interview process at Collective Bias typically starts with an internal posting, as emphasis is placed heavily on promoting from within.
“We believe that best candidates are often internal ones; we try to promote from within and provide opportunities to the people who have dedicated their time to us.”
If there are no internal candidates, the role is posted out to job boards including Indeed.com and Glassdoor. The Collective Bias interview process starts with a 20-30 minute phone screening, which is is used to determine if a candidate is showing interest in the company and the role rather than just looking for ‘any’ job.
Following the phone screening, the recruiter meets with the hiring manager and narrows down the candidate pool to a list of top candidates. Interviews are then scheduled, and depending on the role, skills tests are arranged.
The Culture Fit Interview is the final step – that is typically an on-site panel interview. The panel is made up of various employees from departments across the organization. The purpose of that stage is to educate the candidate on what it’s like to work at Collective Bias from an environmental and cultural perspective. Determining cultural fit is at the forefront of the entire interview process.
“Not only does the Culture Fit Interview give our candidates a chance to make a very informed decision should they receive an offer, it also gives our employees a chance to get to know who’s joining their company. We believe that is vital to our process.”
It’s clear that Collective Bias places a huge emphasis on employee engagement and positive corporate culture. A glimpse of that can be seen from photos on their social media channels and website; plenty of ice cream, puppies, and friendly faces. The positive corporate culture is most obvious, however, when speaking with anyone who works there.
The culture is truly formed by the employees working at Collective Bias; they come up with ideas and share them with management, and that’s how most of the ‘perks’ at Collective Bias developed. Some of the things that Collective Bias does to foster a positive work environment include having a dog-friendly office, keeping a stocked kitchen, and planning social events for their employees and their families.
Collective Bias also hosts yoga classes every Wednesday and food trucks in the parking lot every every Friday. Focusing on the little things is important, and the company is very open to employee feedback and suggestions.
Angelique predicts approximately 45 new hires in 2016. She says that hiring great candidates for their Headquarters in in Northwest Arkansas is relatively easy – the brand is well known and Collective Bias has a very strong presence there. However, when they enter new markets like Chicago, New York and London, the search for talent can require a bit of strategy.
“There’s quite a bit of competition when it comes to sourcing for talent. Collective Bias uses both online and ‘on the ground’ networking to promote their brand to potential candidates.”
That, along with fact that Collective Bias is becoming well known in its industry, allows them to hire more effectively. Angelique also sees other trends emerging in HR.
“What I’m seeing is a trend toward a more progressive type of Human Resources. With that, I mean an HR person isn’t only expected to maintain records, and deliver requisitions. Rather, they’re now building retention strategies and creating a more positive corporate culture and work environment, and are expanding into a comprehensive business strategy approach. That’s a really positive thing.”
“HireHive makes the team a lot more productive. We’d be lost without it. Team Leaders can do it all themselves if needed or jump in at the right time and know exactly where everything is and what’s happening.”
Hilary Dempsey Head of HR at Life Credit union