I took the 7:03am train from Fairfield, CT to Grand Central the other day to attend the annual Greenhouse OPEN, the recruiting event put on by ATS vendor Greenhouse Software.

After a short Lyft ride to the Javits Center I got there just in time to see CEO Daniel Chait take the stage and set the tone for the event. The theme was about “Talent Makers” which he defined as a leader who believes and acts as if talent is their top priority.

Chait lamented to the crowd of over 1,300 that he is still “not seeing enough progress in hiring”. One of the stats that flashed on the screen stated that 46% of new hires fail in the first 18 months.

Hiring is still broken he said because business leaders don’t understand its importance. Change must come from the top.

He challenged attendees to adopt what he called the “Talent Makers Mindset”…

• To be a good leader you must build and lead a culture of hiring
• Support programs that empower all employees in hiring
• Act as a magnet in attracting talent
• Leaders need to be come partners–give their time to potential candidates.
• Supply the right tools and technology to their recruiting teams

My favorite session was one on Employer Branding with the CEO of Builtin and the Chief Heart Officer of Vayner Media who dished some real talk to the audience on being authentic and transparent.

I’ll have some of that audio soon on the RecTech Podcast so be sure to subscribe today. Visit the Greenhouse Open site to hear about next years conference.

For my pics of the event visit our Facebook page. Below are a few of my favorite tweets from the week with the #ghOPEN hashtag.

If your job offer acceptance rates are below 60% you aren’t doing enough selling in the hiring process #ghOPEN

— Chris Russell (@ChrisRussell) June 12, 2019

70% of job descriptions are written in a male “voice”. Need to think about who may not be applying based on that subtle nuance. @TimSackett #ghopen @textio

— Dawn Hrdlica-Burke (@DawnHBurke) June 13, 2019

Here’s the ingredients for an awesome candidate experience! #ghOPEN ?

Thanks to @conveyiq’s CEO, @dweinblatt, @traslavina, Director of Executive Recruiting for @WholeFoods and @onemedical’s Head of TA, Saul Weiner, for a fun and insightful panel on the candidate’s experience! pic.twitter.com/SE8CIb9gXu

— Greenhouse Software (@Greenhouse) June 13, 2019

“If a candidate has a negative experience, they tell six or more people. If they had a good experience, they’ll tell two or more people.” – Danielle Weinblatt

Founder and CEO of @conveyiq explains the value of the candidate’s experience. #ghOPEN pic.twitter.com/X8tNVyZe5n

— Greenhouse Software (@Greenhouse) June 13, 2019