Episode 176
How Hilti Is Transforming TA to Hire 60,000 People by 2030
Hilti’s global head of talent acquisition shares how a construction company is overhauling hiring to support 60,000 new hires by 2030. Learn the org redesign, process cuts, and people-first strategy that cut time-to-hire from 83 to 43 days.
Episode Key Takeaways
A 157-step hiring process with 30 candidate touchpoints and 16 handovers became the visual wake-up call. Mapping the entire workflow on conference room tables revealed bloat that was preference-driven, not candidate-centric. Stripping it back to essentials and asking ‘would we design this today?’ unlocked the speed gains that cut hiring timelines in half.
Centralizing a decentralized TA function took over a year to sell internally, not because the logic was flawed but because the emotional resistance to change was underestimated. Moving from regional silos to global hubs with aligned processes, targets, and capabilities meant losing local autonomy—a harder sell than the business case alone could overcome.
Territory fill rate and time-to-fill became the business language. Al’s team quantified the impact: a 10,000 Swiss franc monthly revenue loss per vacant account manager territory. That math—showing how hiring speed directly tied to sales revenue—gave TA the credibility to secure resources and board-level buy-in that process optimization alone never would have.
Investing all transformation budget into people, not technology, paid measurable returns. Readiness labs, physical materials, reskilling programs, and engagement initiatives lifted TA team retention and NPS scores. The bet was that engaged recruiters would deliver better candidate experience and hiring manager partnerships—and the KPIs across every region proved it.
One million interviews to land 60,000 hires. Walking hiring managers through the funnel backwards—asking them to guess the volume required—reframed the scale of the challenge. It shifted stakeholder mindset from ‘send a LinkedIn message’ to understanding the operational complexity and top-of-funnel work required to hit the mandate.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
How do you cut hiring time without sacrificing quality?
Start by auditing every step in your process and ask: is this for the candidate or for us? Remove preference-driven steps, consolidate handovers, and simplify touchpoints. Hilti cut 157 steps to a streamlined workflow by designing from scratch rather than incrementally patching. The result: faster movement without lower quality—just less friction.
How do you get regional teams to accept centralized TA?
Centralization faces emotional resistance, not just logical objections. Build the case over time through stakeholder engagement, coaching conversations, and showing how specialization by trade (or segment) benefits recruiters and hiring managers alike. Expect 12+ months of change management, not just announcement and rollout.
What metrics should TA report to the business?
Territory fill rate and time-to-fill are table stakes, but connect them to revenue impact. Hilti quantified the monthly cost of vacant territories and showed how hiring speed directly affects sales. This reframes TA from cost centre to revenue enabler and unlocks budget and executive attention.
Should you invest transformation budget in people or technology?
Prioritize people. Engaged, well-trained recruiters deliver better candidate experience and hiring manager partnerships than new software alone. Readiness labs, reskilling programs, and team engagement initiatives lift retention and KPIs. Technology amplifies good process; it doesn’t fix broken teams.
How do you sustain energy over a multi-year transformation?
Inject fun, surprise, and delight into the work itself. Weekly ATS rollout videos, physical materials, community-powered forums, and visible progress on metrics keep momentum alive. Avoid change fatigue by finishing one phase before opening the next, and use coaching to help teams see their role in the bigger purpose.