Lynda Slattery’s Post

In many organizations, hiring responsibilities are distributed across several roles. Recruiters manage sourcing. Human resources oversees the process. Managers conduct interviews. But in strong organizations, hiring is ultimately owned by leadership. This does not mean leaders manage the administrative side of recruiting. Recruiters and HR play an essential role in identifying candidates and managing the process. What it does mean is that leaders remain closely involved in defining what success actually looks like in the role. What capabilities matter most? What behaviors reinforce the culture of the team? What kind of cultural contribution does the team need? When leaders disengage too early, hiring can become a transactional process focused primarily on credentials. When leaders stay engaged, hiring becomes a strategic decision about the future of the team. Reflection for leaders: How actively are leaders in your organization involved in defining what a successful hire looks like?

One of the things I love most about recruitment is that it’s not just about filling positions, it’s about opening doors. Every day, I have the opportunity to meet people who never thought they had a real shot at a career. People who were overlooked, underestimated, or simply never given the right opportunity. Being able to see that moment when someone realizes they do belong here never gets old. At our core, we’re not just hiring talent, we’re developing future leaders. We invest time, training, and trust into people because we believe potential matters as much as experience. When you empower individuals with the right support and expectations, they rise. Watching team members grow, professionally and personally, reminds me why this work matters. Recruitment isn’t about resumes alone; it’s about believing in people before they believe in themselves. Proud to be part of a company that values growth, accountability, and building strong teams from the ground up. #Recruitment #PeopleFirst #LeadershipDevelopment #SecondChances #BuildingCareers #FutureLeaders #TeamGrowth #SPSCorporation

Leadership in recruitment is about more than filling roles. It’s about building trust, creating strategy, developing teams, and helping organizations grow through people. The best recruitment leaders don’t just react to hiring needs; they anticipate them. They partner with leadership, improve processes, strengthen employer brand, and create experiences that candidates remember long after the interview process ends. Over the years, I’ve learned that successful talent acquisition starts with listening: • Listening to hiring managers • Listening to candidates • Listening to recruiters on the front lines • And listening to what the business needs to achieve long-term success Great recruiting organizations are built on relationships, accountability, and data-driven decision-making. #Leadership #TalentAcquisition #RecruitmentLeadership #HealthcareRecruitment #Hiring #ExecutiveLeadership #PeopleFirst

I often see the fellow recruiters writing “Building XYZ Company” in their LinkedIn headlines. It made me pause and think — are we really building a company? The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. It depends on the kind of hiring you contribute to. For me, building truly begins when you contribute to leadership hiring. Because leaders are not just employees — 👉 they are the foundation of the organization 👉 they define the culture 👉 they influence the direction and decisions When you hire the right leaders, you’re not just filling a position. You are: Shaping the culture of the company Defining the approach to problem-solving Influencing the future growth trajectory That’s when recruitment goes beyond hiring. It becomes about: ✅ Building teams ✅ Building culture ✅ Building the future So yes — as recruiters, we can build companies. But that happens when we move from transactional hiring to strategic hiring. What are your thoughts ?? #TalentAcquisition #Recruitment #StrategicHiring #Hiring #HR #BuildingTeams

I've sat across from a lot of hiring leaders trying to figure out why a strong hire underperformed. The answer is almost never what they think it is. Most of them came up through operations the same way I came up recruiting inside Target: pattern-matching off the leaders who succeeded around them, hiring people who looked like the ones who worked before. What hiring leaders usually think a failed hire is: → A candidate who interviewed better than they performed → A market that's gotten harder to recruit from → A team that didn't onboard them well → A bad culture fit nobody saw coming What it actually is, almost every time: An operation that needed one type of leader - A hiring process that found a different type - A job description written for the role, not the chapter - A default profile bias the hiring leader didn't know they had There are roughly four leadership profiles that show up in operations: [1] the ones who build from nothing [2] the ones who steady the chaos [3] the ones who scale what works [4] the ones who find the next ten percent. None of them is better than another. Hiring the wrong one for what your operation needs right now is one of the most expensive mistakes in operations because it doesn't fail loudly. It fails quietly. Months pass. Momentum slows. Your team absorbs the gap. By the time you realize the profile didn't match the moment, you've lost a year. The best operations leaders aren't on job boards or actively applying anywhere; they're running operations right now, performing well and invisible to your current hiring process. Which is why every TalentQ, Inc search starts by naming the chapter before we ever go find the person. The talent you need exists. The match is what's missing. PS: Of the four profiles, which one do you think you default to hiring? Genuinely curious which one shows up most in the comments.

📣 Talent Acquisition Friends - something I heard in a recent training really stuck with me: 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩. Many of us have felt the pressure to “just fill the role.” And sometimes that’s necessary. “Urgent” can feel productive in the moment. But the teams that seem to hire well over time are usually the ones planning ahead—building pipelines, defining success early, and hiring with intention. Curious how others balance urgency with strategy. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠? #talentacquisition #recruiter #hiringmanagers #HR #HiringStrategy #WorkforcePlanning #Leadership

The Hidden Cost of a “Good Enough” Hire Not every hiring mistake is obvious. Some hires don’t fail. -They show up. -They do the job. -They meet expectations. On paper… everything looks fine. But over time, something starts to surface: • Progress is slower than it should be • Opportunities are missed or not fully leveraged • Innovation stalls • Stronger performers start carrying more weight Nothing breaks. But nothing truly moves forward either. And that’s the risk. 👉 The most expensive hires aren’t always the wrong ones… They’re the ones who are just good enough to stay. Because while the role is filled, the business isn’t advancing the way it could. Great hires don’t just maintain operations—They elevate teams, challenge thinking, and create momentum. That’s the difference between filling a position…and making a strategic hire. Curious to hear your perspective: 👉 Have you seen situations where a “good enough” hire held a team back over time? #HiringStrategy #Leadership #TalentManagement #Recruitment #BusinessGrowth #HRLeadership #VancouverBusiness

One of the biggest shifts in my work hasn’t been what I do—it’s how I create impact. I used to focus on helping companies hire. Now, I help them fix how hiring decisions are made. Because the truth is… Most hiring challenges aren’t about a lack of talent. They’re about broken systems behind the scenes. No structure. No consistency. No accountability. And even with great recruiters and strong candidates, the process still falls apart. But when you fix the structure, everything changes: ✔️ Hiring moves faster ✔️ Candidate quality improves ✔️ Leaders make clearer, more confident decisions That’s the work that actually moves the needle. If your hiring process feels heavier than it should… it’s probably not the people. It’s the system. #TalentAcquisition #HiringStrategy #Leadership #HRConsulting #Recruiting #BusinessGrowth

As leaders, we need to acknowledge a fundamental shift in how hiring works today. We’ve moved beyond just resumes and job descriptions. Hiring is no longer about checking boxes—it’s about making thoughtful, forward-looking decisions: • Skills over titles • Potential over perfection • Culture fit and culture add • Speed without compromising quality But the bigger shift is on the candidate side. Candidates are no longer just “applicants”—they are informed decision-makers. They research us as much as we assess them. They evaluate our values, leadership, and culture. And they expect transparency, authenticity, and respect at every stage. This means recruitment is no longer just an HR function—it’s a leadership responsibility. Every interaction, every message, every delay reflects who we are as an organization. If we want to attract the right talent, we must: – Lead with clarity and purpose – Build trust through honest communication – Create a hiring experience that reflects our culture—not just talks about it Because in today’s world, hiring isn’t just about bringing people in. It’s about giving them a reason to believe, stay, and grow. #Leadership #Hiring #TalentStrategy #FutureOfWork #EmployerBrand

I've come to believe that the hiring decision isn't solely about choosing between internal or external candidates; it's fundamentally about clarity. Too often, hiring is based on comfort rather than the actual needs of your organization. If your operation lacks consistency, discipline, and trust, an internal promotion might accelerate progress faster than any outside hire. Conversely, if your systems are stale, performance has plateaued, or standards have drifted, bringing in external talent can reset expectations in a way that internal moves sometimes cannot. It's a mistake to treat these as interchangeable decisions. They're not. Every hire either reinforces your current system or disrupts it. If you're not clear on which approach you need, you're leaving the outcome to chance. Strong organizations don't just hire talent; they hire with intent. #operations #distribution #opportunity #leadership