How Intuitive uses data and AI to transform talent teams

About Intuitive

Intuitive Surgical pioneered robotic-assisted surgery 25 years ago, and continues to advance minimally invasive care through innovation, precision, and data generation. As VP of global talent acquisition during a 24% year-on-year growth period, Brad Cook discovered an innovation partner with a focus on solving talent challenges in Findem.

How too much technology hampered recruiting

Like most talent leaders, Brad Cook gets a lot of outreach from vendors. Most of them have a perfect solution looking for a problem, but the last thing Cook wanted was more technology. 

When he joined Intuitive, he found a hodge podge: an incomplete tech stack, siloed workflows, and no time for change management. He needed to hire fast, increase throughput of candidates, and reduce the time-to-fill to meet headcount needs of the business.

“I had more tech than I could deal with. But not the right tech to make a difference. People don’t have time for change with growth hiring goals to meet, and that left little room to innovate.”

Recruiters and sourcers worked in different systems with no common tools. Data was siloed in a 12-year-old version of Taleo ATS or the adjacent CRM universe (Avature). The only way to analyze across systems was through Tableau. The teams seemed to start every search fresh on LinkedIn and not leverage the existing goldmine in the inhouse systems (ATS/CRM). Repetition, manual processes, and switching systems slowed everyone down. 

“Findem was the first vendor to listen to our problems and say, ‘let us find talent for you.’ That’s how Findem became a strategic partner for us.” 

Cook didn't buy the tech at the start. He leveraged a managed service that proved it worked, and that sold him on the tech. Then he was ready to enter into a deeper relationship with Findem.

Scale throughput with precision search

Using Findem’s Talent Data Cloud for sourcing, Intuitive was able to build a talent pipeline with unmatched precision and intelligence. Findem uses attribute-based search instead of keywords to source from hundreds of thousands of internal and external data sources in a single search. 

By connecting Findem to their ATS, Intuitive could apply search to enriched profiles across inbound and outbound channels. No matter the source of the data, talent teams can be confident that it is up-to-date and refreshed in Findem. 

“The results speak for themselves. The team has increased throughput and reduced time to hire by 50% with higher quality candidates. We know, because hiring managers say “yes,” to more candidates.”

Streamline engagement and nurture communities

When Intuitive launched a new career site and needed to create a talent community in the adjacent CRM, Brad turned to Findem. 

“Every industry has a finite limit of the people it can hire. If we can build a database of qualified prospects with continuously enriched, precisely searchable profiles, we can build brand recognition so our best matched candidates think of us when they are ready to move.”

Cook brought their requirements to Findem and saw their vision realized in a CRM based on Findem’s 3D data that is fully integrated with their ATS. Now, they can capture qualified, ‘not ready yet’ talent, and nurture them to brand recognition, creating an ever enriching database. 

Automate data analysis to elevate insights

With Findem, recruiters have more time to do what they do best: close candidates. Findem’s 3D data tells the recruiter about the person and the companies they’ve worked for at the time they worked for them. They can add them to a shortlist for automated outreach, tag them for a community to nurture, and track their progress through the talent funnel. 

Talent pool analytics provide instant insight into attributes, including skills, diversity, and the size of the talent pool. Recruiters can even view connections to current employees to help them attract top talent. 

Sourcers, recruiters, and talent leaders have visibility to trusted data to make data-driven decisions without switching systems. They can focus on pitching the company to the candidate and the best candidates to the hiring manager, using Findem’s AI in a safe, responsible way.

“Findem insights makes it easy for recruiters to become data storytellers and advocate for top talent with hiring managers. Interactive candidate profiles and dashboards give them instant access to business and talent intelligence about a person’s whole career. No other talent platform can do that.”

The future of talent with Findem

Brad first saw Findem as a point solution to a real problem: find talent. Now, the Talent Data Cloud is the glue that brings talent acquisition and talent management together with unmatched talent intelligence. Instead of an ATS universe with an adjacent CRM universe, Intuitive’s talent team can tap into a repository of current and future prospects. The enriched profiles are regularly refreshed so that talent can be nurtured and engaged.

But Findem is not just improving efficiency and effectiveness for the talent team. It is helping recruiters enhance their value to the hiring manager. Advancements with AI will continue to automate administrative and manual tasks, so they will have more time to innovate and do what they love to do, talk to humans. 

“By partnering with Findem, Intuitive was able to consolidate technology, streamline operations, and reduce tech spend by 67%. The teams are firing on all cylinders. The business is feeling good about the candidates we are bringing to them and saying, ‘I’m at my headcount. Thank you.’”

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