Episode 16
Successful High Volume Hiring with Jennie Shephard
When frontline workers ask about safety before salary, your hiring strategy needs to shift. Jennie Shephard, VP of Talent at Sunrun, shares how to compete for construction, sales, and field talent when the rules have fundamentally changed.
Episode Key Takeaways
Candidate priorities have inverted. Where compensation and career progression once dominated the conversation, safety protocols, flexibility, and organizational values now determine whether someone accepts an offer—or even applies. This shift isn’t temporary; it reflects a permanent recalibration of what workers demand from employers.
Jennie points to a concrete challenge: application flow dropped sharply in July, forcing a pivot from broad job board advertising to direct sourcing and storytelling that addressed safety, remote flexibility, and human-centric benefits. The recovery came only when messaging aligned with what candidates were actually searching for.
High-touch recruitment now competes directly with cost reduction. Most TA teams face pressure to cut budgets in Q4 planning, but doing so while candidates expect personalized, transparent communication creates a false economy—winners will be organizations that invest in recruiter capability, marketing skills, and programmatic outreach.
Frontline workers are solving problems your organization hasn’t thought of yet. Empowering field crews, retail staff, and construction teams to surface their own safety and operational needs—whether cooling fans on roofs or flexible scheduling—becomes a recruiting differentiator and a retention lever.
Automation of administrative work is no longer optional. If recruiters are drowning in manual scheduling, application processing, and CRM data entry, they cannot deliver the storytelling and high-touch candidate experience that now separates winners from the rest. Tech stack investment directly enables human-centered hiring.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
How do you attract hourly and field workers when remote roles are more competitive?
Blend roles where possible—retail staff can split time between in-store and virtual selling. More importantly, lead with what remote-only competitors can’t offer: safety protocols, community of practice, bite-sized learning access, and flexibility around childcare or family care. Emphasize the human-centric support, not just the paycheck.
What questions are candidates asking now that they weren't six months ago?
Safety measures, PPE provision, and organizational values top the list. Candidates also ask about support if they catch COVID, childcare contingencies, and how the company navigates the new normal. They’re evaluating whether the organization puts their wellbeing first—not just compensation or title.
How do you maintain high-touch candidate experience while managing costs?
Automate everything that isn’t human: scheduling, application screening, CRM workflows, reporting. Redeploy that time to storytelling, hiring manager coaching, and personalized outreach. Recruiters must become marketers and talent advisors, not administrators. This requires upfront investment but reduces cost-per-hire long-term.
What changed about how Sunrun acquired customers during the pandemic?
Retail channels closed, so the company pivoted to virtual selling and direct sourcing. Sales staff now work in blended roles—part in-store, part remote. Employees needed training on new technology platforms. The innovation stuck because it proved flexible and candidates embraced it, expanding the talent pool beyond traditional retail.
How do you handle application volume fluctuations tied to stimulus payments?
Recognize that economic stimulus can suppress applications when payments rival wages. As stimulus decreases, application flow typically recovers. Don’t assume low volume means low talent availability; it often reflects financial safety nets. Adjust messaging and sourcing strategy accordingly, and prepare for volume recovery as external conditions shift.