With dozens of positions to fill in their new location and burdened with a time-intensive and outdated hiring process, New Holland Brewing Company needed a system that would quickly help them find top talent while reducing the time spent recruiting.

New Holland Brewing Company Accelerates Hiring With Hoops Talent On-Demand

ExEcutivE Summary

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Established in 1997, New Holland Brewing Company has grown from a scrappy two man operation to a thriving microbrewery recognized for its creativity and artistry. New Holland Brewing operates a production facility and pub in downtown Holland, Michigan, along with a new brew pub in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and sells its craft beers and artisan spirits across a growing national and international landscape.

THE CLIENT1

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New Holland Brewing Company was looking for exceptional talent to fill 200 open positions for their new location in Grand Rapids and they only had a limited time to do it. Because there is tremendous buzz about the craft beer industry, they were usually overwhelmed with resumes when positions became available. “We get dozens and dozens of applications and resumes when we post a job,” says David Byrnes, Human Resources Manager at New Holland Brewing. “Finding candidates who have both the desire and the skills required was taking us a long time.”

Not only was the hiring process long in terms of time to fill positions, but the time managers spent in the process reviewing resumes, conducting phone screens, and doing interviews was also lengthy. “Coordinating interviews between candidates and decision makers is tough,” says Heather Smith, Executive Assistant at New Holland Brewing. “We were spending too much time doing preliminary screening in the first interviews which extended the overall length of our hiring cycle. We definitely weren’t making the best use of our time.” Also, because there was no way to identify top candidates in the early stages of hiring, they lost time interviewing people who should have been knocked out earlier.

Hiring at New Holland Brewing was all done manually. Positions were posted on job boards, applications and resumes were received and reviewed, then candidates were called for initial phone screens and to setup the first of several interviews. “We needed more structure and consistency in our hiring process,” says Joel Petersen, Vice President of Marketing. “It was difficult to compare candidates since we didn’t have a way to ensure they were all being asked the same set of questions.”

With the opening of their new location looming, the management at New Holland Brewing Company needed a drastic upgrade to their existing hiring process, and they needed it fast.

THE cHallEngEs2

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After signing up with Hoops Talent On-Demand, the Hoops implementation team met with management to thoroughly review the current recruiting process. They worked closely with the hiring team at New Holland Brewing to create relevant questions based on the competencies and skills required for each position.

Next, customized messages were created that captured the unique values and culture of New Holland Brewing so candidates would be engaged with their brand from the beginning of the process. This included welcome messages, notifications about upcoming tasks, and updates about the company.

Finally, a timeline for the messages, questions, and notifications was created to keep applicants on track and moving through the system. Tasks were sent to candidates at pre-determined intervals with time limits to complete them. In addition to notifications, Hoops Talent On-Demand includes a dashboard where candidates can check to see where they are in the process, what they’ve completed, and what’s coming next.

THE soluTion3

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Almost immediately, the hiring team experienced the extraordinary impact of the Hoops Talent On-Demand platform. They were no longer reliant on resume reviews, phone screens, and initial interviews because the high definition profiles contained all the information they needed to make informed decisions about which candidates to pursue. This streamlined their recruitment process by eliminating those time-consuming initial steps and by helping them to identify top talent early in the process.

They also noticed that the quality of candidates that made it through were much higher quality because accountability was put on them to submit answers on time. “Before Hoops Talent On-Demand, we were the ones responsible for calling candidates to make sure they got through the hiring process”, says David. “Now, it’s up to candidates to complete tasks on time and follow instructions. They need to really commit to the process and put their best foot forward if they want to work for us.”

Another huge benefit was the ability to involve hiring managers early.“ The collaborative nature of the platform has been great,” says David. “ I’m not just handing off applicants to hiring managers who haven’t interacted with them. Managers are involved from the very beginning, which is critical since they know the kinds of candidates who would be great fits for their open positions.” Hiring managers were spending much less time in the process because high definition profiles and collaborative tools helped them make quick and informed decisions. That meant they could get back to work driving revenue and coaching their current staff members.

“I love everything about Hoops Talent On-Demand,” says Heather. “I was able to cut down the time it takes me to fill my positions by at least 75%! Plus, candidates really like the system – we’ve received lots of positive feedback from people who’ve gone through it. They appreciate the opportunity to tell us who they are and what they can contribute to New Holland Brewing.”

David was also impressed with the benefits of Hoops Talent On-Demand for both New Holland Brewing Company and the candidate pool. “Candidates today have an expectation that they will hear back about a job immediately, or at least be kept in the loop about where they are in the process. Hoops Talent On-Demand helps us speed up the hiring process tremendously, which is a win for us and a win for our candidates.”

THE rEsulTs4

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Hoops Talent On-Demand is a huge time saver! Rather than spending days tracking people down for a phone screen or spending a lot of time reviewing resumes, our hiring managers can focus on their day to day tasks. This is giving us back tons of valuable time.

THERESPONSE5“

The customer support team has been fantastic. When I call, I know that someone will pick up and things will get handled very quickly. It’s nice to have a company that really listens to us and helps with any questions we have. You don’t see that too often.“The video component that’s included in the high definition profiles helps us see the personality of each candidate which is critical because working at a brewery is such a different kind of culture and atmosphere. Videos help us determine if someone is a good fit early in the process and that’s really important to us.“

Want to get top talent for your open positions? Sign up with Hoops Talent On-Demand at www.hoopshr.com and we’ll connect you with prescreened, ready-to-go candidates for your business – fast!