Transforming High Volume Hiring: Compass Group's Approach with First Advantage and Paradox

Hiring large volumes of candidates can be a daunting task if your company hasn’t streamlined its background screening and onboarding processes. In the latest episode of FA Live!, our team had an insightful discussion with Jay Singh, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at Compass Group, and Matt Kauppi, Senior Client Success Manager at Paradox.

They shared their experiences and strategies for partnering with First Advantage to tackle the challenges of high-volume hiring.

Background

Compass Group is a leading global provider of food services and operates a variety of brands across the US hospitality sector. They hire roughly 140,000 hourly associates annually and have partnered with First Advantage for 15 years to manage their background screening and onboarding needs.

This is where Paradox, a provider of conversational AI-based hiring products, came into the picture. Before partnering with Paradox, Compass Group faced several challenges:

• With Compass Group’s centralized team of only about 16 recruiters, the high volume of hires was overwhelming.
• A long and complicated application process sometimes led to candidate drop-off, making speed a priority.
• Multiple brands and industries under Compass Group meant that a one-size-fits-all approach to background screening wouldn’t work.

To help alleviate these issues and provide a smooth, efficient, and easy experience to candidates from the start, Compass Group approached First Advantage to discuss implementing a new partnership with Paradox and made a collaborative solution.

Solution

Going into its new partnership with Paradox, Compass Group wanted to add new AI and automation-based technologies to its centralized system of hiring records, without over-complicating the process. Paradox’s mission is to automate administrative tasks through its conversational AI assistant, Olivia, to free up time for HR professionals to focus on what matters the most: their people. This approach made them a great fit for Compass Group.

For Paradox and First Advantage, providing the client with an appropriate support team was key to meeting Compass Group’s requirements from the start. In Paradox’s case, the support structure included an executive sponsor within C-suite, a customer success director to oversee overall success of the program, and a customer success analyst to manage day-to-day concerns. For First Advantage, it involved a dedicated customer success team to provide support and program optimization. For both First Advantage and Paradox, the goal was to help Compass Group with change management and post go-live support training.

The implementation process involved multiple customizations based on Compass Group’s unique needs. Due to the range of demographics and industries in which it hires, the company needed an application process that could meet candidates where they are.

For instance, some candidates did not even have an email address, which meant that the default of email communication would not be effective. First Advantage and Paradox rose to the challenge by implementing texting capabilities, allowing candidates to apply by texting a short code and receiving an application on their phone within minutes. Other customizations involved localizing services in other languages to support Compass Group’s workforce across the world.

In addition, as Jay Singh puts it, “It’s important to work with partners like First Advantage and Paradox that will continue to evolve with you and the market.” Solutions that were state-of-the-art two years ago could be outdated now. First Advantage actively monitors developments in HR technology, staying agile to meet changing needs.

Conclusion

We asked Compass Group what the most important thing that HR and Talent Acquisition (TA) leaders should consider when evaluating background check and TA solutions. The verdict: according to Jay Singh, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at Compass Group, HR leaders should prioritize the candidate experience. Through modern, user-friendly solutions customized to meet candidates’ needs, Compass Group was able to streamline the application process, reduce time-to-hire, and prevent drop-off early in the process.

Likewise, employers should be willing to reevaluate their program entirely , if necessary, to meet the needs of an ever-evolving workforce. As Tyler Lumaco, Senior Vice President of Sales at First Advantage, puts it, “Gravitate towards partners and vendors that are going to challenge you to think differently about what your program could look like.”

Are you ready to challenge your high-volume hiring program and drive meaningful change? Contact our team to learn more.