Episode 188
Kerstin Wagner on Transforming Talent Acquisition at Deutsche Bahn
Kerstin Wagner, EVP of TA at Deutsche Bahn, shares how a 800-person team hires 20,000+ annually across Germany. Learn how micro-innovations, learning culture, and human-centric tech strategy drive transformation in a tight labor market.
Episode Key Takeaways
Innovation isn’t one big idea—it’s fifty small ones. The team at Deutsche Bahn doesn’t wait for enterprise-wide AI solutions; instead, recruiters identify specific process bottlenecks and develop targeted use cases. This micro-app approach freed capacity for higher-value candidate engagement without requiring top-down mandates.
Kerstin built a two-level hierarchy with protected learning time blocked into every recruiter’s calendar. By institutionalizing Monday 8:30–10:30 AM as non-negotiable learning time, the team can rapidly deploy new processes—whether prompting techniques, RPA workflows, or data tools—without waiting months for adoption.
Germany’s labor market is split: acute scarcity in blue-collar trades, tech, and emerging roles like data science, paired with overcapacity in restructured sectors. This dynamic forced Deutsche Bahn to activate untapped pools: workers over 50, migrants, career-switchers, and cross-border hires from 15 countries since 2019.
Technology and human connection are not trade-offs. Even with maximum automation, candidates want dialogue with real recruiters who understand company culture and can answer questions about colleagues and working conditions—something no AI currently replaces at scale.
Discussion culture replaces problem lists. Regional meetings focus on Q&A and solution-finding, not presentations. When a challenge surfaces, the team moves immediately into a ‘solution room’ to brainstorm bigger-picture fixes, ensuring small friction points don’t compound into systemic drag.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
How do you scale recruiting across distributed locations in a tight labor market?
Spread the team geographically to stay close to candidates and business units. For small towns, relationship-building and community engagement replace large marketing campaigns. For specialized skills gaps, establish cross-border recruitment teams with native speakers and cultural knowledge to hire from 15+ countries, including language training and visa support.
What's the best way to implement AI in recruiting without top-down mandates?
Start with recruiters identifying real pain points, then experiment with use cases. Create an AI hub where team members collaborate on prompting, RPA, and data applications. Test at 80–90% readiness, learn from pilots, and iterate. This bottom-up approach builds buy-in and ensures solutions solve actual business problems, not just chase trends.
How do you maintain innovation culture in a large, distributed TA team?
Design the environment for it: establish a learning academy, block protected learning time weekly, model innovation yourself, flatten hierarchy to two levels, and run discussion-based meetings focused on solutions. Hire for learning mindset, celebrate experimentation (even failures), and move fast—implement decisions within weeks, not months.
What untapped talent pools should we target in a tight labor market?
Workers over 50 (in Germany, they work until 67—a 15+ year runway), migrants with language barriers, career-switchers retraining into new roles, and cross-border candidates. Each requires tailored activation: targeted campaigns, language/skills training, visa support, and integration programs. The effort pays off by expanding addressable supply.
How do you balance automation with candidate experience?
Use tech to eliminate manual, repetitive work—freeing recruiters to focus on relationship-building and dialogue. Humans should handle culture fit, expectations-setting, and nuanced questions. The goal is maximum efficiency paired with human judgment at decision points, not full automation of the hiring process.