– The RightThing Screens 20,000 applicants resulting in 200 hires –
Findlay, Ohio – August 8, 2005 -The Right Thing Inc., an end-to-end provider of employment process outsourcing, today announced the successful completion of its agreement with Cyberonics (NASDQ: CYBX) to hire a fully qualified team for its recently FDA-approved VNS Therapy System for treatment resistant depression. Resulting in a national team of more than 200 new personnel, The RightThing Inc. screened 20,000 applicants, conducted more than 4,700 phone interviews and coordinated close to 900 face-to-face interviews within a time period of 120 days.
This expansion, growing Cyberonics by more than 50 percent, from approximately 450 employees to 700 employees, was a company wide initiative that followed the theme, “An Opportunity of a Lifetime.” The RightThing capitalized on this theme by incorporating this Cyberonics-mantra throughout its entire recruitment process including recruitment brochures, the online application system, blast emails to candidates containing corporate communications and links to news releases and articles, and the hiring event packet which included a DVD with Cyberonics’ CEO Robert “Skip” Cummins touting “The Opportunity of a Lifetime.”
“We were tasked to deliver a specific type of candidate to Cyberonics,” said Terry Terhark, president of The RightThing. “Only top performers currently in the medical industry would suffice, leading us to develop an approach that would entice candidates to the company as a whole, not just the job itself. This approach allowed us to build a pipeline of candidates that not only had the basic job requirements but also recognized the value of being a Cyberonics’ employee.”
Using customized technology solutions and a dedicated team, at times consisting of 50 employees, The RightThing was able to meet the deadlines established by Cyberonics in order to immediately launch the new team as soon as FDA approval was received.
“The challenge of growing our infrastructure in such a short amount of time was approached strategically by partnering with The RightThing,” said George Parker, vice president of human resources for Cyberonics. “As our needs increased and our deadlines became tighter The RightThing was able to increase the scale of their dedicated team at a moments notice, something not feasible in a fixed human resources department.”
Terhark also adds, “Operating as a true extension of Cyberonics’ HR department, and not just a hired hand, added to our ability to operate and deliver results under such a tight timeframe.”
Specific services enlisted by Cyberonics included candidate sourcing, resume screening, phone interviews, applicant tracking, hiring event coordination and all logistics for final interviews.
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About The RightThing, Inc.
The RightThing, Inc. is an end-to-end outsource provider of recruitment, staffing and employment process solutions. Through a customized execution, The RightThing delivers design, administrative and consulting services to businesses spanning pharmaceutical, financial, consumer, transportation and public utility industries. For more information please visit http://www.rightthinginc.com.
About VNS Therapy and Cyberonics
Cyberonics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYBX) was founded in 1987 to design, develop and market medical devices for the long-term treatment of epilepsy, depression and other chronic treatment-resistant disorders using a unique therapy, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). Stimulation is delivered by the VNS Therapy SystemTM, an implantable generator similar to a cardiac pacemaker. The VNS Therapy System delivers preprogrammed intermittent mild electrical pulses to the vagus nerve in the patient’s neck 24 hours a day. The Company’s initial market was epilepsy, a disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. Epilepsy is the second most prevalent neurological disorder. The Cyberonics VNS Therapy System was approved by the FDA on July 16, 1997 for use as an adjunctive therapy in reducing the frequency of seizures in adults and adolescents over 12 years of age with partial onset seizures that are refractory to antiepileptic medications. The VNS Therapy System is also approved for sale as a treatment for epilepsy in all the European Economic Area, Canada, Australia and other markets. To date, more than 32,000 epilepsy patients in 24 countries have accumulated over 94,000 patient years of experience using VNS Therapy. The VNS Therapy System was approved by the FDA on July 15, 2005 “as an adjunctive long-term treatment for chronic or recurrent depression for patients 18 years of age and older who are experiencing a major depressive episode and have not had an adequate response to four or more adequate antidepressant treatments.” As part of FDA’s approval order, Cyberonics is required to conduct a 450- patient post-market dosing study and a 1,000-patient, five-year patient outcome registry. For more information on VNS Therapy for treatment-resistant depression, including the contraindications, warnings and precautions, see the Physician’s and Patient’s Manuals and other information at www.cyberonics.com or www.vnstherapy.com or call 1-877-NOW 4 VNS. The VNS Therapy System has been approved for sale in the European Economic Area and in Canada as a treatment for depression in patients with treatment-resistant or treatment-intolerant major depressive episodes, including unipolar depression and bipolar disorder (manic depression) since 2001. VNS Therapy is at various levels of investigational clinical study as a potential treatment for anxiety disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic headache/migraine and bulimia. The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has an office in Brussels, Belgium. For additional information please visit us at www.cyberonics.com.
Media Contact:
Sara Thigpen
The RightThing Inc.
Office-847-543-6834
Sara.thigpen@rightthinginc.com
Cyberonics Grows by More than Fifty Percent with the Help of The RightThing
