The Pit Stop is your chance to gain expert perspectives from our teams on the track! Today, hear from Vice President, Talent Acquisition & Retention KaTanya Williams-Robinson on listening, learning, and why recruiting and cooking are a lot alike.
You’ve built your career around relationships that span decades. Is there a secret sauce to maintaining relationships in our space for so long?
My secret is to never forget a candidate. I think it’s reasonable to spend an hour “screening” someone but it’s important to me that I find out what matters to them, their families, hobbies, and long term goals. My candidates feel they’ve made a friend who’s helping them find the right position, not a recruiter trying to fit them into a slot. I stay connected to them, whether I have a position or not. That way they remember me and the way I make them feel when the time comes they’re ready to make a change.
Recruiting often gets framed as filling roles, but your style feels much more personal. How do you approach helping people find the right fit rather than just the next job?
I listen, I empathize, and I don’t undermine their desires. Every candidate deserves what they want, even if I don’t agree or think it’s difficult. Vetegrity embodies the belief that retaining people is as important as hiring them and I’m invested in ensuring we’re placing them where their current skills can be utilized and where they can grow and gain the skills to prepare them for their next level or opportunity.
You bring a lot of energy and personality into the team—whether it’s events like Whiskey Wednesdays or just day-to-day interactions. How do you think about building Vetegrity’s culture with the rest of the team?
Engagement is critical. Our employees need to feel like Vetegrity is their professional family where they can be themselves and where there are people invested in their success- which morphs into Vetegrity’s success. With our employees working in various locations, it’s important that we remind them of their value to us whether that’s hosting fun events, sending them gift cards to help with gas prices, or listening to their concerns about a project. I’d also say that it’s easy to bring good energy to Vetegrity because I work with an awesome team of hard working professionals that don’t take themselves too seriously.
Tell us about the role of trust in hiring and recruiting. How do you think about it?
From my very first conversation with a candidate, I assure them that they can be transparent with me about what they want and how important that is to me identifying the right placement for them. I’m honest about what we and our customers can and cannot do, while always trying to figure out how to make it a win/win. I speak about integrity and how important it is in this industry. It’s no coincidence that integrity is a part of our name and I believe this philosophy is our discriminator.
We heard you love to cook! Do you see any similarities between what you do in the kitchen and what you do at Vetegrity?
Interesting question! It takes all of these things coming together to turn into a win for the company, much like a good dish.
- There is the process with no shortcuts (shortcuts will show up in the end result).
- It requires patience and diligence. You can’t rush a person to choose a new job or a prime to offer up a position. You also can’t rush good food.
- It takes all of these ingredients coming together perfectly. Every little dash of seasoning matters. The timing must be precise. In recruiting, it’s the right position coming along as the exact time a candidate is open to a change.
- When it’s all done, and that candidate comes on board… it’s delicious.
You’re known for your movie knowledge and references—so we have to ask: if recruiting at Vetegrity were a movie, what would it be and why?
Yes, I do love movies. I would have to say the Pursuit of Happyness because it tells a story of surviving rejection and keeping the “grit” in spite of. The wins in this space are hard, but when you do land an amazing candidate and they’re excited about their new opportunity with us, I feel like Will Smith at the end of the movie…it’s all worth it!
