Woody Siddall, senior director of Atwell, says in an uncertain market, TA leaders must use many levers to get ahead. 

By Debbie Bolla

HRO Today: What is the biggest hiring challenge you are currently facing and what are you plans to overcome it?   

Woody Siddall: The biggest challenge right now is uncertainty in the market, and we can’t take a wait-and-see attitude; we must lean in and drive forward even in tougher markets.  The industry is almost self-correcting as we rely on data such as interest rates for the housing market or investment into infrastructure for the power sector. We must be in front of the data and draw strategic efforts to focus on the new and best. We have been working with data centers for a long time and identifying the next big push is key to marketing ourselves an industry impact driver. The biggest difference is we lean in and invest in things that might work in hopes of being on the front end. Right now, we are focused on small modular reactor research, sodium battery technology and always looking into water infrastructure as data centers need a lot of water—not just power—to keep those moving.  

In TA, we must be thought leaders and part of the research and development team to drive the strategic direction. Everyone at Atwell is a recruiter. We continue our $5,000 referral bonus for any hire and it helps bring in great and known talent. Currently about 31% of our hires are from referrals.   

HROT:How do you align talent acquisition with broader business goals?

Siddall: We have a seat at the table and are involved in all major team meetings and events.  Our recruiters and TA team members are absorbed into the culture of the region or group they support, and we help guide and direct the strategic plans from the early stage to the execution stage. We are in the middle and held accountable for our part. We label each start is worth about $230,000 for headcount driven into the team based on last year’s revenue divided by headcount, so if each start is worth 230K and the group wants to grow say 500K, they need two plus hires to make that happen. We do that for every office and location.    

HROT: How do you forecast talent needs and build a robust pipeline?

Siddall: We build a talent pool inside out ATS and typically try to forecast the needs for the year and build around that all year. We know that in 2025, we need 492 organic hires and at today’s pace, we will have 152 from referrals so we need roughly 49 starts per our seven full-time recruiters. We only have six recruiters charged with recruiting 40 hours a week, so the number is slightly higher. We look for four starts a month per recruiter to hit 50 for the year and we have to keep resumes coming in so we are posting on social media not just the posting, but fun videos and tik tok trends to keep driving traffic. A huge part for us is getting out to industry events and networking face-to-face, hitting career fairs, and really not just sitting at your desk sending LinkedIn messages as that technique is pretty well played out. I preach phone calls, but I am still old school.   

HROT: What’s your competitive differentiator?

Siddall: Our ability to include everyone into the talent acquisition model and not just the 10 people responsible for driving candidates. We truly get out in front of our 2,000 or so employees and ask for help, for referrals, and stay active in the industry at events and adding potential candidates to our CRM. Recruiting everywhere should be a team effort and Atwell has the best team out there. I truly believe the 10 TA professionals at Atwell right now are the best we have ever had.   

HROT: What are you currently reading? And what is your favorite way to spend free time?

Siddall: I am currently reading “Making Mavericks,” a book about Frosty Hesson, a surfer from Capitola, CA that found Mavericks near San Francisco and snuck in and surfed 40-plus foot waves. It is a wild true story, and they have made a movie out of it as well. I love to spend time with my three kids and cycling as much as possible. I had a bilateral lung transplant one year ago and am on the move as much as possible to make sure I stay healthy and continue to perform at a high level.