Wolseley Canada

Jessie Victoria

Jessie Victoria has enjoyed year-long journey at Wolseley Canada, where he leads a team of nine  Talent Acquisition (TA) professionals. They hire for positions across all 10 Canadian provinces where Wolseley stores are located. Prior to joining Wolseley, Jessie held a similar role as a Talent Acquisition Manager at Bath Fitter's corporate office in Quebec, overseeing hiring for manufacturing plants, corporate offices, and stores.

Despite challenges, he's passionate about talent acquisition for its positive impact on people's lives and careers. Over the last 13 years, Jessie has gravitated towards this dynamic and rewarding field.

In an interview with Manage HR Canada magazine, Jessie shares his insights on the challenges and emerging trends in the talent acquisition industry and the experience he has gathered in the domain. 

What, according to you, are the major pain points affecting the talent acquisition sector lately?

The arena of Talent Acquisition (TA) has undergone significant changes, especially during the pandemic. Recruitment paused initially, then swiftly transitioned to online methods. This shift varied across companies.

Upon joining Wolseley amid the pandemic's uncertainty, predicting the future became complex. Planning ahead is vital in talent acquisition, but the ambiguity of the coming years posed a challenge. The main struggle has been preparing for the unknown, hindering proactive strategies.

Could you explain some of the emerging industry trends that help tackle these pain points?

There are a couple of things: technology and data really help to tell a story.  At Wolseley, we pay close attention to data to identify trends in the business. We look at how many requisitions are opened at certain points in the year, how many hires we have made, and we partner with business leaders to predict what we may see next, based on these trends.

“We do what's best for our employees because that is what's best for the company as well.”

In the last year at Wolseley,  we had a number of new storeopenings as well as we have new Market Distribution Centre  opening up in the GTA. We have been collaborating very closely with leaders in the business to plan ahead for these iniaitives.  

By utilizing data about the stores, we effectively forecasted and crafted robust plans, factoring in typical recruitment durations for those specific areas. This proactive approach is a cornerstone of effective talent acquisition.

Would you like to talk about any successful project initiative that you were or are a part of?

The role of TA extends beyond mere requisition closure and staff hiring. While these aspects hold significant importance, it's crucial not to undervalue them. They remain core to our expertise and accomplishments.

Our talent acquisition team here at Wolseley was involved in many projects that I believe really moved the needle forward and helped the business.

We have a project right now to enhance our talent acquisition dashboard and our metrics. We use an external Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which we’re trying to utilize  to get better metrics and dashboards and to see more into the future, find trends, and try to plan better.

We are also constantly looking at our screening and interview guides for candidates. What can we do? What can we ask differently or better year over year so that we can really pinpoint and find great talent that fits us? Those are just two examples; there are so many more, but those are just a few.

How do you envision the future of the talent acquisition sector?

Technology is definitely playing a vital role in the advancing TA segment. I'm trying to stay close to all the AI advancements coming to TA. I think you should make sure that if you do go with technology and TA, it's right for the business and right for your candidate experience. I'm really excited to see how technology can enhance the candidate experience and help streamline the interview process.

From your experience, what piece of advice would you like to share with your peers and upcoming professionals?

One thing that we talk a lot about on our team is being good partners to the business. We're not there to fill seats, we're there to be a business partner. I really believe that if you look at TA that way, it can really make a difference. The more you can learn about the roles and areas that you're recruiting for, the better you'll do. It's all about learning, understanding, and focusing on doing what you think is right.