November 30th, 2023 | Sterling

Back from the Buzz at the HR Tech Annual Conference

#TeamSterling is back from another exciting HR Tech Annual Conference! This year’s show in Vegas drew over 10,000 senior HR and IT professionals, all eager to see the latest HR technology designed to help them to hire efficiently and with confidence. Our team enjoyed meeting attendees at our booth, while our session, “Simplified Hiring,” showed our audience how identity verification is helping organizations improve data integrity and the candidate experience.

Today’s HR leaders came in search of new, versatile solutions to screen candidates, reduce the rate of candidate drop-off, and gain velocity when hiring. We came to Vegas to show attendees all the ways Sterling is meeting these needs. Our end-to-end technology solutions streamline hiring programs, simplify processes, and create a positive experience for organizations and candidates.

So, what were the biggest HR trends at this year’s show? Let’s explore what our team heard from attendees.

What’s the Buzz?

Naturally, our visitors were all looking ahead to 2024. What was on everyone’s mind? 

• Improving the candidate experience
• Reducing turnaround time for background checks
• Leveraging HR integration features
• Incorporating identity verification into screening
• Hiring and screening globally 

As you can see, the candidate experience tops our list, and for good reason. Attendees were already well aware of how important it is to provide their candidates with a positive, seamless experience when applying to work for their organization.

HR integrations are always a hot topic at HR Tech. Thanks to our global integration partner ecosystem, Sterling helps thousands of clients increase hiring efficiencies and optimize the candidate experience with our easy-to-use, flexible ATS/HRIS integration options.

Ideally, your background screening provider should be equipped with the technology and services needed for a simplified hiring and onboarding experience. That’s why our award-winning, highly-rated Candidate Hub delivers an easy, engaging, and seamless data collection process for candidates — at any time, across any device. 

When employers verify identity upfront in the screening process, they ensure accurate candidate information and improve screening results, which reduces employment fraud and increases safety. In fact, recent results from early adopters uncovered an average of 45% more criminal results across 110K background checks when identity verification was completed as part of the hiring process. 

During our session at HR Tech, “Simplified Hiring: How Identity Credentials Are Changing the Game,” we revealed how employers can seamlessly integrate identity verification upfront in the screening process with an eye to building trust and safety, while also improving the candidate experience. Hear what Meg Wilson, Chief Product Officer at Sterling, had to say to session attendees:  

What challenges do attendees plan to overcome in 2024?

At HR Tech, we always enjoy meeting up with our clients and new faces to talk business challenges: everyone has them, and everyone needs to solve them. Which ones stood out this year? Jenna Barnhart, Client Success Partner, RSF, shared her observations:

“A major challenge that a lot of our visitors at HR Tech shared was the lack of customer support or service from their current vendor. It’s frustrating when you don’t know who to contact when you need an answer. We shared with visitors our customer support model, which Sterling has closely developed and implemented with our customers, and many of them found it was a compelling reason to make the switch.

“Another challenge faced by many show attendees is that their candidates are keying in the wrong information, either by mistake or by intentionally entering inaccurate background results. People were very interested to learn about our partnership with ID.me, giving them the ability to determine exactly who their candidate is at the beginning of the process rather than at the end using only manual means. People really enjoyed learning about the benefits of rolling this out in their own programs.

“Lastly, everyone I spoke with was interested in gaining the ability to do away with the need for manual intervention (manual monitoring, for example) during the onboarding process. Specifically, they wanted to streamline the onboarding step where the I-9 information matches the background information. This is a convenient feature of our identity verification solution.”
Jenna Barnhart, Client Success Partner, RSF

What tech capabilities were our visitors seeking?

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to be a hot topic at industry and partner conferences, and our visitors at HR Tech 2023 were no exception! Companies across all sectors are exploring ways to strategically leverage and mindfully incorporate AI into their business solutions on a deeper level, without being intrusive or compromising security and privacy data. As AI transforms over the next several years, it will be interesting to learn of the use cases, successes, and cautionary stories.”
Kimberly Chochon, Director of Strategic Channel Partnerships

“A big focus of attendees was about learning new ways to make the hiring process faster and more efficient for both HR and candidates. There was particular interest in AI-enabled technologies and how they can be embedded into various HR related tasks to improve processes.”
Brett Martine, Director of Strategic Channel Partnerships

“I spoke with people from many different organizations concerned about the number of clicks it would take a candidate to complete their identity verification, background check, and I-9.

“Ease of use for candidates was definitely top of mind, especially with how competitive the labor market is right now. Customer support was also very important to these HR professionals. Many companies told me just how vital this is for their organization, and how they need the ability to escalate items when needed. Fortunately, we have the solution to these business-critical challenges.”
Madison Morris, Sales Executive, Healthcare & Life Sciences

What kind of screening providers are companies seeking to partner with?

“People from many companies I spoke with at HR Tech are looking for a truly global program, consolidated through a single recruiting platform. They’re also trying to ensure they receive the highest levels of customer service, but unfortunately they say that’s just not possible with their current vendor.”
Harris Bornstein, Strategic Alliances & Channel Partnerships

“After speaking with HR Tech attendees, it was clear that even though our world keeps getting smaller, many HR professionals still say they haven’t yet worked with a screening partner capable of delivering global screening solutions that can accommodate global fulfillment, expertise, and support.”
Chad Birmingham, Sales Executive, Financial & Business Services

“I heard a similar theme from our visitors about the lack of quality customer care from their current background screening providers. Turnaround times were also a big issue. So many people shared with me that their current provider is slow to respond to phone calls and emails, and changes to their program are taking too long. Others shared that their criminal records turnaround times are inconsistent around the country, and are slowing the overall background report. That’s a major roadblock when your company is trying to hire at speed and scale.”
Steve Waldvogel, Enterprise Sales, Government & Education

HR Tech Final Thoughts:

As always, #TeamSterling enjoyed meeting with our visitors at HR Tech, and we’re proud to support our clients to accelerate hiring and build strong cultures. We’re already looking forward to returning to Vegas for next year’s HR Tech Conference! Learn how our identity verification and background screening services can help your organization to accelerate hiring and contribute to a culture of trust and safety, or contact us today.

Sterling is not a law firm. This publication is for informational purposes only and nothing contained in it should be construed as legal advice. We expressly disclaim any warranty or responsibility for damages arising out this information. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific needs. We do not undertake any duty to update previously posted materials.