Most large companies don't build their recruiting function intentionally. It grows organically, gets patched when something breaks, and ends up inconsistent across teams and regions. Lori Vickery inherited exactly that situation when she joined Bimbo Bakeries USA in 2016, and spent the next decade fixing it.
Today, as Director of Talent Attraction, she leads a full end-to-end recruiting function covering frontline bakers, delivery drivers, and merchandisers all the way up to the C-suite, across one of the largest baked goods companies in the country.
In this episode of Talent All Stars, Lori walks through how she diagnosed what was broken, where she started, and how she built something that works at scale without losing the human element.
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Connect with Lori: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-thompson-vickery-cdr-2ab13051/
Learn more about Bimbo Bakeries USA: www.bimbobakeriesusa.com
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[00:00:00] Lori Vickery: We have probably 10 to 30 seconds when a candidate sees our job out in the marketplace to capture them. So what do they wanna know? In my opinion, they wanna know about the culture. They wanna know about what they're doing in the role, but at the end of the day, it's what's in it for them, right?Â
[00:00:14] Dave Travers: So what does it really take for your business to attract world-class talent today? I'm Dave Travers, President of ZipRecruiter, and on Talent All-Stars, we shine a light on the people and the day-to-day processes behind recruitment and retention at some of the world's most influential businesses.Â
Today's talent all-star went from managing a Starbucks store to sourcing talent behind some of the most iconic baked goods brands in the country.
Lori Vickery is the Director of Talent Attraction at Bimbo Bakeries USA, where her team recruits the bakers, delivery drivers, merchandisers, and executives that put brands like Thomas English Muffins, Sara Lee Bread, and Intimate Donuts on the shelves. So in this episode, Lori shares how she built a centralized talent function, essentially from scratch, how she coached hiring managers to become better interviewers, and how to design a candidate experience that feels human even when you're hiring at an enormous scale. Lori Vickery, welcome to Talent All-Stars.Â
[00:01:11] Lori Vickery: Thank you, David. Thank you for having meÂ
[00:01:13] Dave Travers: So much to talk about today. I wanna start though back. You know, a few years ago when you first got into recruiting and talent acquisition. Tell me a little bit about what first drew you in and when all of a sudden it started to dawn on you that this might not be just like my current thing, but this could be a career and a calling.
[00:01:35] Lori Vickery: Sure. So I started my career. I was a Starbucks store manager for about eight and a half years. So always in the talent space of attracting talent, training, talent, performance reviews, um, the whole gamut. And with Starbucks, really. That was where the love for talent attraction started. As you, you know, you may be thinking with Starbucks, a ton of talent comes in, and a ton of talent comes out.
We had lots of high school students all the way up to, you know, individuals who are retired and just wanted something 20 hours a week. So I did that for eight and a half years. It was. An awesome ride, but retail, uh, is a different beast, and I really wanted to be able to focus solely on just the talent attraction part.
So fast forward, um, did a little stint in the private sector of hiring for an agency. That was fun. But I realized very quickly that I missed that culture that Starbucks, you know, had so fast forward. I joined BBU in 2016, dove right into to every recruiting. Um, I was a recruiter for the organization and quickly knew that I wanted more because when I joined the organization, we really didn't have a centralized function.
So I was very interested in the strategic part of the role and really building that function out. So that's kind of where it started, and I've been fortunate enough to be here for 10 years and, um, I'm enjoying every minute of it.Â
[00:03:04] Dave Travers: Awesome. So, talk a little bit about that, that not a centralized function in the lack of strategy. You went from starting out as a recruiter to then, you know, eventually now leading the entire function. How do you like as somebody starting out early in my career as a recruiter? That sounds amazing, but what does that really mean? Like, what does it mean to build a function and to build the strategy?
[00:03:27] Lori Vickery: Sure. So when I joined the organization, recruiting was kind of managed all over the place. So we had HR business partners throughout, you know, many functions in field and in corporate, and there was really no rhyme or reason or consistency to the process. So, um, I had a wonderful opportunity to really just look at what we were currently doing, look at what was working, and look at where we had gaps.Â
And that's really where I would say building the function out. And the strategy came into play. So we looked at, you know, what was the candidate experience like? What was the hiring managers experience like, really, how could we create processes that would help both?
So really creating a positive candidate experience, attracting talent to our culture, which, you know, I would be remiss to say if, you know, if I didn't say that. Our culture, I think, is that one of the best cultures out there. We treat everyone with the golden rule at the forefront. So treating everybody with trust and care, respect, and I think that really speaks volumes of the organization.
So we looked at, you know, how can we attract candidates to that culture? And then how can we ensure that our hiring teams are not only, I would say, nurturing that talent as we attract. Them, but really making it a positive experience to hire. So, you know, again, we looked at processes that we could create to implement that.
I won't say that we got it right from the get go. We always have to go back and look through a continuous improvement lens, find out where you can sharpen this all a little bit more. But, you know, fast forward, I think we have really come a long way. We started small with our professional roles and implemented that business unit by business unit.
You have to meet the organization where they're at. So really, you know, learning for. Each business unit and then implemented, you know, consistency in that process, and then brought our frontline recruitment along. So now it's, it's a full end-to-end recruitment function with all of our frontline as well as our professional, all the way up to the C-suite.
[00:05:26] Dave Travers: That is an amazing journey. I think what's really, you know, daunting about it at the beginning of that is if you are tasked as an individual contributor, sort of recruiter role to say, Hey, we think you're somebody who could really come up with a whole strategy for this entire function. Where to start, I think, is such a hard, daunting thing.
If you haven't done that before, and I loved the way you. Said, you know, first, like, what's the candidate experience, what's the hiring manager experience, and how do we make those better? And then the magic, of course, as you mentioned, is when you can do something that improves both the job seeker and the hiring manager experience.
Give an example of how you thought through, you know, one or two of those things, and what an example is of where you can improve something for both sides of that equation.Â
[00:06:15] Lori Vickery: Sure. So I think if I talk about the candidate experience first, because in my opinion, that has to be at the forefront of the work, right?
Because if you're having, you know, an experience that isn't positive for the candidates, they're gonna go tell their friends, their family, and we all know how that goes, um, with going down the line of telling people about a horrible experience. So..Â
[00:06:38] Dave Travers: Especially when you're a consumer brand, you definitely don't.
[00:06:40] Lori Vickery: Yes, yes. So, I, you know, I think for the candidate experience, what I learned very early on is that we had too lengthy of an experience. Our candidates would apply, they wouldn't hear anything for weeks or months or whatever the case may be. It was a clunky application process. You know, it was potentially questions that we really didn't need to be asking.
So we really honed in on that to understand what were other organizations doing out in the marketplace. What did their application process look like? Were they utilizing technology? What did their career site look like? We have probably 10 to 30 seconds when a candidate sees our job out in the marketplace to capture them.
So what do they wanna know? In my opinion, they wanna know about the culture. They wanna know about what they're doing in the role, but at the end of the day, it's what's in it for them, right? So it, it's really about, you know, capturing them quickly out in the marketplace. From a hiring manager perspective, again, we have a very large organization, we have a lot of functions, and I think with the other process, there was really no rhyme or reason, consistency.Â
So we wanted to create a process that would resonate with the hiring managers. But one of the things that was lacking that we, we identified very early on is. I think we took for granted that everybody knows how to interview, and that wasn't the case, right?
So we needed to solve for that. So we built a very robust behavioral-based interview toolkit, processes around that how to prepare for an interview, what the ask during the interview, really. Having the hiring managers be armed, um, with what a good interview looks like. So I think on either side, the candidate experience and the hiring manager experience, we've, we knocked it out of the park.
We've created something that's positive for both. And when you get that candidate that says, Hey, this is the best experience that I've had. Or you get that hiring team that sends an email on, you know, at four o'clock on a Friday to say, I just wanna let you know that your recruiters hit it outta the park.
It's a good feeling because I feel like we've come a long way from where we were back in 2016.Â
[00:08:40] Dave Travers: Those unsolicited positive feedback from the front lines and from the people experiencing it. You know, like that's the way to fill your cup on a Friday afternoon. No doubt about it. Okay, so I love that you've mentioned culture as being a strength a couple times already, and so if you're.
A recruiter or a talent leader at a company that, you know, it's a great place to work, but not everybody else who's applying or thinking about applying or in the interview process knows that. How do you start to capitalize on that? How do you explain, how do you get credit for having a great, you'll get credit once they're in the door, but how do you use that to effectively get somebody in the door and get the right people?
[00:09:20] Lori Vickery: Yeah, so I mean, I again. Our philosophy is that we follow the gold rules, so treating everybody with respect, fairness, trust, and care, and it's very, very visible throughout the organization. I'd share, you know, my initial process when I came to interview here, I knew. 10 minutes in that it was a culture that I wanted to belong at.
We have a very large organization, but it's still got that small family feel, and I think that really is, you know, attributed to the culture that group OB Bimbo has created. So I think for my team, it's really about sharing their personal experience and why they love the organization and why they stay here, because I think that's important to a candidate.
Again, we have 10. 30 seconds to capture candidates out in the marketplace. But I think the real story is that first interaction with the recruiter, and we have to make it count, right? So I think, you know, sharing personal experiences, sharing exactly what it does mean to work for Bimbo Bakeries USA and Grupo Bimbo really resonates with candidates, and they wanna join the organization.
[00:10:28] Dave Travers: Do you remember what it was in the first 10 minutes of your first interview that made you think, this is a place I wanna be?Â
[00:10:34] Lori Vickery: Yeah, I, I mean, I think for me it was just that. When I talked to individuals, and the day that I came for my first interview, I interviewed with six people. Each one of those people really cared about what I was saying and really cared to learn about me, and that's very unique to this organization.
I think people truly care. We work really hard, but we play really hard too. And what I mean by that is we really care about each other. I spend sometimes more time with people at Bimbo Bakeries than I do with my family because we're at work and we're doing all the things. I not only know the associates, but I know you know things about their family, their children, their grandchildren, where they're going on vacation. And it's not just to check a box. It's truly because we care about one another.Â
[00:11:22] Dave Travers: Yeah, who doesn't wanna be part of a culture like that where people are genuinely interested? You naturally wanna be genuinely interested in them, therefore, so as you rose through the ranks, then you were, uh, and you've been there over a decade now, as you rose through the ranks, as you took over the function.
You were an internal candidate, and sometimes I think it's difficult for internal candidates where people already know you and know you and your individual contributor more junior leader, and now you're becoming a senior leader. It's difficult to say, Hey, there are actually, even though we all know me and I know all of you, there are actually some things I want to change around here, like default as the internal candidate sometimes is just status quo.
How did you think about that? You didn't want to. Disrupt all the good things and the culture and things like that, but how did you think about what do you want to change and at what rate do you do that when you're an internal promotion?Â
[00:12:15] Lori Vickery: Yeah, so I think again, it goes back to really understanding your stakeholders and meeting everybody where they're at, right?
Because I think if you, you know, rip the bandaid off too quick, the change management gets too chaotic, if you will. So I think it's, it was more about where are the gaps? And you have to understand the gaps across the board, right? You can't just understand the gaps with the candidate or with the hiring manager, or with the HR business partner, or with the recruiter.
It's all the pie. It's not just pieces of the pie. So we did. Had, you know, a lot of, I would say, collaboration with all of those, um, respective teams to really understand what was missing in their world, right? Because if you're solving for only a piece of that pie, then I think things get missed and you can't, I think when you're standing up a structure, you really have to take all that into consideration.
So I think I created a space that. Everyone was comfortable collaborating and comfortable sharing, but I think at the end of the day, it's also really, really, really critical that you allow grace and space. You allow yourself the chance to fall down and get back up because you're not gonna get it right every time.
And really just continuing to focus on having a continuous improvement lens is a huge benefit.Â
[00:13:27] Dave Travers: Yeah, absolutely. I think, uh, I think that's so right because you have to realize that at the end of the day you're dealing with human beings and there's a rate of ch rate of change at which, you know, you can be successful in getting human beings to change and follow your vision.
[00:13:41] Lori Vickery: For sure. I also think, though, that you have to have senior [00:13:45] leadership's buy-in because they are the teams that are gonna help to drive that change. So I think along with really understanding where everybody is. And meeting them where they're at and creating that strategy based on where your gaps are, you have to have the buy-in from the senior leadership team.
And we were really fortunate that we did. They believed in the process and the need for consistency in the process. So that's a huge benefit to start out with as well.Â
[00:14:11] Dave Travers: So how do you do that? Like, you know, as a recruiter you are working individually with a hiring manager who may be a senior leader, but now you wanna make some changes.
You're the head of the function. And you wanna get buy-in from, effectively, every senior leader is impacted by the hiring process. So how do you go about doing that and building a coalition that is behind you?Â
[00:14:32] Lori Vickery: Sure. So, I mean, I think it's data, data, data. You know, you need to understand what's happening in the marketplace because we all know everyone that's in this space.
It changes daily, it seems like anymore. So you really have to understand what's happening in the marketplace, and you have to be able to utilize the data. So, you know, when you look at things like your time to fill, how long is it taking you to have, you know, the, not only attracting the candidates, but to have the candidates go through the process and then start, what's the benchmark [00:15:00] out in the universe of who's managed?
What, and you know, for us, when I stood up the structure, I was very intentional that it would benefit us to, to set up the structure by function. So we have dedicated recruiters for our sales function, we have dedicated recruiters for our operations function. And I think there's benefits of that, right? It gives the recruiters the opportunity to really get good at their craft, but it also gives the benefit of the hiring teams knowing those recruiters.
So I think it's two really important pieces. Is of the pie to think about? So I'd say data. Data.Â
[00:15:36] Dave Travers: I love that leading with data because it paints such a different picture. If you're going to a division leader and you need them to embrace some change management, say, we're gonna implement new technology, new process, or something.
If you just sit down and say, Hey, I just want you to know we're gonna implement a bunch of change, that's not as effective as saying, Hey, I see it takes you three months to backfill a manager when you, I imagine that's putting a lot of stress on your organization. Here that yes, of course it's putting stress on the organization, saying I've really been thinking about it and I've got some, some ways that I'm quite confident we can bring that down dramatically.
It's gonna involve a little bit of, you know, new technology and new process. All of a sudden, you have an avid day one supporter rather than somebody you're just giving an FYI to that there's gonna be some change.Â
[00:16:19] Lori Vickery: Sure. And listen, I think you also have to anticipate what the questions are gonna be, right?
I mean, I can pitch a process every day, but you have to anticipate what other questions are gonna come up. So how is it beneficial to them and what is it gonna solve for the organization, or I think a few questions that you have to anticipate being able to answer.Â
[00:16:38] Dave Travers: Absolutely no. I think showing that you've thought this through by thinking if I were in their shoes, division leader, whomever it is, you know, what would my big concerns be?
Like I'd really count on recruiter X to be the one who helps me. Do you know, do I get to keep her? Or whatever the case may be. Like I've thought through those big questions and that you've really thought it through. Gives a lot of confidence that, sure, I don't know what every change is gonna be involved in this process, but I'm, I'm bought in, I believe in Lori's vision.
[00:17:08] Lori Vickery: Sure.Â
[00:17:09] Dave Travers: Okay. We always end these episodes with a rapid fire section. So what I want you to do is imagine you're at corporate headquarters in Dallas now, I think, and you're making a cup of coffee, and the CEO comes up next to you and says, Hey, Lori. I was thinking about the TA function the other day and you, 'cause you're making a cup of coffee, you only have about 60 seconds to answer.
How should I, as the CEO, how should I be thinking about how do we measure the TA team and your team's effectiveness over the coming year? What should we be looking at in terms of data?Â
[00:17:43] Lori Vickery: Sure. So I mean, I think the two that stand out that the most in my mind is, again, candidate experience. How quickly are we moving those candidates through the process?
And I would say to quality of hire. I, I, I think, you know, we can pre child’s to candidates, passive candidates, candidates that are organically applying every day, all day, but are they staying? Are we hiring the right talent for the organization? So I think they're the two that stand out the most.Â
[00:18:11] Dave Travers: Yeah. And so quality, would you say that retention is the number one metric? For sure. Is that how you look at it? Yeah, for sure. And what's your favorite barometer of retention to look at?Â
[00:18:20] Lori Vickery: I think that there's a few different things that you can look at, right? Because I know back in my Starbucks days, we would look at thirty, sixty, ninety, a hundred, and twenty. I do believe it's more than that.
I mean, you know, we have our retention with this organization. We have many, many, many associates. They're here for decades. And again, I think that speaks volumes to the culture because if we're hiring the right talent. They wanna stay here because once they get here, they understand what a special culture, um, and organization they've joined.
So for me, you know, yes, you wanna measure the mark of the thirty, sixty, ninety, a hundred and twenty because I think that's a true indicator of quality of hire. But I think it goes beyond that to, to look at what does our retention look like for one years, two years, five years, 10 years. Um, and I think that's really when you get to the heart of quality of hire.
[00:19:09] Dave Travers: Absolutely. One more rapid-fire. Same scenario, CEO walks up to you and says, Hey, Lori, you know, I was thinking the other day. I'm interviewing people all the time, and I've heard you say even, you know, we can't assume that everybody's a good interviewer. I bet you have a ton of great tips on being a better interviewer.
I'm interviewing executives, board members, et cetera, et cetera. Give me your one best tip, Lori, to become a better interviewer.Â
[00:19:32] Lori Vickery: I'd have to say be prepared. Uh, so I think the worst thing that an interviewer could do is to walk into that interview room and not know anything about the candidate that they're interviewing.
They haven't reviewed the resume. I think that you can't get everything from a resume, but you can, sure prepare yourself on questions to probe. So be prepared. Recognize that sometimes the candidates that you're interviewing may not have interviewed in 10 years or maybe they're just graduating, [00:20:00] um, university, and this is their first interview out of university.
So I think it's really about being prepared and making them feel at ease. And then I think the rest will just take its place and go through the motions there.Â
[00:20:11] Dave Travers: Lori Vickery, it is so clear why you're a talent All-Star, thanks so much for joining us today.Â
[00:20:17] Lori Vickery: Thanks, David. Appreciate being here.
[00:20:22] Dave Travers: That's Lori Vickery, Director of Talent Attraction at Bimbo Bakeries USA. We'll put our LinkedIn profile in the notes below. And just a reminder, we put the video versions of these episodes on YouTube, also on the official ZipRecruiter channel. If you have feedback for us or ideas for future episodes, send us an email.
To talentallstar@ziprecruiter.com. I'm Dave Travers. Thanks for listening to Talent All-Stars, and we'll see you right back here next time.