Onboarding not as a Tech Play - but as a Service! Talentwise bringing a new perspective!

These guys were all over the place, it was awesome to see the pace at which they were working, and it was really cool to sit down with them to understand what Talentwise is doing that is so exciting - which is bringing an entirely different perspective to Hiring. 

William Kerr, CEO and Todd Owens, President and COO of Talentwise

Okay, so not sure this will be appreciated, but meeting these two is kind of like meeting Batman and Robin (I will let them fight out who is Robin) - but ignoring that piece - they are the Dynamic Duo. Within every company there is often a challenge of finding folks that can do the whole finance game and maintain shareholder value, and actually have a great business idea and operation. Bill has been a Senior Executive for many years, sits on a number of boards - and worked in the Private Equity space (e.g Forstmann Little - which is kind of like playing basketball for the Miami Heat). To prove this isn’t just anecdote - He just closed another $25 Million in funding! 

Todd the COO also has a rockstar resume - Naval Officer, Academy Grad, Harvard MBA, Senior Executive at Siebel and has been recognized by HRO Today as one of the Superstars of HR. When you talk with Todd - you immediately get the impression that he will deliver from an operations perspective!

Why all of the gushing on these two guys? Part of the wonder of my hobby is getting to meet such fantastic people and knowing how amazing the industry will continue to grow.  (Plus I am in HR - it is always about the people first - smile)

But is Talent Wise doing something cool? Minding the GAP!

Part of the challenge is meeting so many companies, is that they often say they have a unique approach on the market - and initially I struggled in understanding what Talentwise was doing different - but finnally it clicked! 

There has been a ton written on how the migration of Talent Management suites have been developed. You had some companies that started as ATS companies and grown into Talent (e.g. Taleo) and you had some companies that started as Talent groups and grown to Applicant Tracking systems (e.g. Successfactors) - but there has always been this Gap - which is the preboarding process. So everyone has built basic systems to bridge the process, and they vary in complexity - and/or companies by third party solutions which are really robust (e.g. Silkroad’s redcarpet). 

Here is the Talentwise innovation - Hiring as a Service - not a tech play. 

Talentwise originated as a Background Screening and Compliance company - and they do this very, very well. They have won Top Screening Provider by HRO Today magazine for the last years. They also do the form compliance (e.g. I-9, W-4, etc.). So what they have seen, as they have been involved in the onboarding process for years, is that it vastly can be improved - so they have now gotten involved in the HIring process. 

So they have a single platform that integrates all of the compliance aspects that you would want, and it is not a software play but a Software and Service play. So you and I may build a process in a onboarding software to try and make sure someone can get hired in three weeks, and in the system it triggers 3rd party systems - but at the end of the day - no one group is responsible for making it all work efficiently. This is the Talentwise difference. This group is now integrating all of the key elements together and making sure it all gets done - so a one vendor approach... 

Not a bad play - get a hiring process that will work, that you know will be compliant to the regulations AND get a top screening process company with it!

How is it working for them as a business offering? They are privately held, so they don’t issue financials - but they did confirm that their growth is well above double digit sales growth!