First Student is North America’s largest provider of school transportation, moving millions of students every day across the United States and Canada (more than every major airline combined). Leading the people side of this operation is Renee Boydo, Vice President of HR Experience, who guides the teams responsible for hiring, training, and supporting the drivers and staff who keep children safe.
In this episode of Talent All Stars, Renee shares how her team strengthens trust and retention through thoughtful use of technology, clear processes, and a consistent focus on people. When “the world’s most precious cargo” is on the line, finding people who want to make a positive impact in their communities is essential.
You’ll learn:
Connect with First Student: https://firststudentinc.com
Connect with Renee Boydo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-boydo
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[00:00:00] Renee Boydo: These are the most precious cargo that we have in the world, and so we've gotta make sure that it's scalable and that it's personal.
[00:00:07] 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.
Our guest today is Renee Boydo, VP of HR experience at First Student North, America's largest provider of school transportation every weekday. First student brings millions of students, including my daughter, to and from school. Pulling that off requires a huge talent acquisition operation, a lot of technology, and an all-out focus on safety.
Today, Renee shares how First Student does all of that, and how she shifted from early roles in customer service and training into HR leadership. So let's bring in Renee Boyfo. Welcome to Talent All-Stars.
[00:00:57] Renee Boydo: Well, hello, Dave. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:59] Dave Travers: So excited to have you, so much to talk about, and you are in an industry that a lot of parents really care about because you help kids and others get the places they need to go, including getting my daughter to school, um, every day.
So thank you for that, and providing the drivers and everybody else who makes that possible. But before we dive into that and First Student, I wanna talk a little bit about how you got here. So, you know, when in your journey as an individual contributor and then a leader, when did this recruiting and talent acquisition thing start to feel to you like something that could really be a career?
[00:01:35] Renee Boydo: Yeah, absolutely, Dave. So interestingly, I really didn't start my career here in HR. I come from the safety side of things. I spent my. Early part of the career, kind of in safety in the pipeline industry, and then in transportation. But it's an environment where, you know, precision accountability and protecting people were really kind of non-negotiable.
And I think over time, I realized that safety really just isn't about protocols. It's a people business, and the people business businesses really. It's about culture, and it's about communication, and that's where leadership really impacts outcomes. And that's where I knew I really wanted to be part about shaping other leaders, shaping the full employee experience, and not just one piece of it.
So that's really where making the jump into leadership and into HR really was a purposeful, driven decision for me.
[00:02:26] Dave Travers: Do you remember a particular moment along the way when you were like, wow, this people thing is really kind of cool? Like, I might wander over in that direction even though I didn't start there?
[00:02:34] Renee Boydo: Yeah, so, you know, there's an old story about NASA where someone walks into a building, and they hear about the janitor talk about, well, what do you do for, for a living? And he goes, well, I put people in space. Well, that's what safety and HR is for me, it's leadership is about every single person really is there to do the same thing.
And I think for me it's that pivotal moment of going into every single room that I'm in and knowing that everybody is there to be part of that same team. And there was a moment one time working at Koch Industries where I really noticed that every single person, no matter what role that they had, they all really wanted that same end result.
And that was safety. And then once moving into the transportation world, being part of the communities, that was something that I think everybody here it, it's just part of our daily world.
[00:03:26] Dave Travers: Absolutely. And so you are one of those people who didn't just, as you said, go straight up from starting in recruiting specifically, and then work your way up.
You made some lateral moves and some changes from safety and working in other areas into talent acquisition. What advice would you give for somebody who's taking the leap into talent acquisition for the first time, coming from another area? Like, how would you advise someone to start? What's the first day? What's before the first day?
How do you think about the first hundred days? How do you approach that?
[00:03:56] Renee Boydo: I would say don't underestimate the value of your lived experience. I think when I moved from safety to HR. I didn't leave my skillset behind. I really kind of brought it with me. I understood risk and accountability and how to build trust in any kind of high-stakes environment, and that's what all leadership really is.
So I think that translated really, really well into the talent and people leadership business. So my advice is lean into what you're really good at and what you know. And be open to what you don't ask questions and build relationships.
[00:04:27] Dave Travers: That's a great piece of advice. One, have the confidence of knowing even if you don't come from talent acquisition, you've been hired before, you've had done an interview before.
So you bring some different experience from the hiring manager and candidate side of things, and that have the guts to ask the curious question that'll, and see where that leads you. That's, I think, great. Do you remember like a really good question that you asked along the way, or that you would encourage someone else to ask if they're joining your team from some other function?
[00:04:55] Renee Boydo: I would say a really, really good question to always ask is why, and I know that that's something that we kind of think about is cliche, but the why behind everything is what keeps us moving. And so when we ask the why, it also challenges the things that are always kind of stale in our business as well.
[00:05:14] Dave Travers: Yeah. Amen to that. There's always another layer to uncover, and you really can figure out who knows what they're talking about. When you ask 'em why two or three times in a row you really say, yep.
[00:05:23] Renee Boydo: When you get to that third, why, right?
[00:05:24] Dave Travers: Yeah. Now you're really talking like, have you really thought this through?
I love that. Okay. One of the things, speaking of why is the world changing so rapidly around us in every single business, including in transportation is technology, and so that is affecting your industry in somewhat different ways. Some of the talent acquisition changes in technology are the same for a lot of people who listen.
To this podcast, but for you and for First Student, how does that impact you and how are you approaching, where should we use technology and where does that human element that you referenced earlier of being so important come in?
[00:05:59] Renee Boydo: I think my mindset on technology, especially AI, which is obviously the buzzword in every industry, but especially ours.
I think my mindset on that is it's gotta be intentional, and it's gotta be human-centered. I think AI and technology is incredibly powerful, and it can streamline your processes. It's gonna surface a lot of insights, and you're gonna learn from things, and it's gonna help you move a lot faster. But it's not a magic wand and an hr.
In particular, especially in high-volume environments like ours in the TA space, it's easy to get caught up in those shiny tools, and you can forget the people behind the process. So I'm always gonna ask everybody on our team, will this technology help us care for our employees better? Is it gonna make the experience better, and will it make our teams feel more supported?
[00:06:48] Dave Travers: I love that. And I think the two things you've said so far are, you know, sort of are super interesting to think about in tandem. One is you've talked about safety and how important that is your background in the mission of your company, et cetera.
And two is using technology to move faster. I think intuitively, for a lot of us. Those two things could be in conflict. Are those two things moving faster and and safety? Are those two things that you're are balancing all the time or are there actually ways to make them work together?
[00:07:17] Renee Boydo: Yeah, I think especially in our industry, 'cause here's a fun nugget for you that we have to think about every day is here at First Student, we transport more daily student trips every day than all of the major airlines do on a daily basis. Wow. Which that's, yeah. Wow, was Right, right. So when you think about that volume, and you think about that speed and you think about the technology coming in and you think about safety, you've gotta balance all of that together.
'cause these are the most precious cargo that we have in the world. And so we've gotta make sure that it's scalable and that it's personal. And I think our Halo platform does that. And with our technology and the way that we've built it in, it is designed to meet our candidates and our employees where they are.
So no matter where they're at, if it's a rural town or a major metro, they get that same quality and consistent experience. And I think that's where I feel like we've done a really good job about bringing that technology in.
[00:08:17] Dave Travers: So I think the consistency that technology and the measurability that technology provides to create candidate experience, which includes the human element of, but being able to monitor and match, you know, experiences across different geographies and all that by using technology to ensure that all the elements of candidate experience is really powerful.
I couldn't agree with that more. Another part of the piece of the whole puzzle, though is not just recruiting people, it's also retaining them. And I know that's something you've thought about, but. When it comes to technology and people, how have you applied what you've learned to help out with retaining people as well?
[00:08:53] Renee Boydo: Yeah, you know, retention has got to start on day one. I think every single touch point that you have, whether it's that very first interview, in our case, the first day that they're driving a bus to pick up your kids to school in LA, it really is about how can we help them feel empowered to be part of the community?
And so equipping drivers with not just the training, but the tools and the technology and the support that they need to actually serve the community safely. I think that's really where. No pun intended, the rubber meets the road. Right? Yeah.
[00:09:26] Dave Travers: Amen to that.
[00:09:27] Renee Boydo: Yeah. They really have to be, you know, supported to be able to have the autonomy to be able to use that technology in a way where they can do that in a safe way.
[00:09:37] Dave Travers: Yes. Uh, and I think that having a great piece of technology that then isn't used by the end user is something all of us have seen as consumers and felt as people trying to implement technology. So that is the critical thing. When you have such a dispersed workforce, these aren't people who are coming into the office for an all-hands every day that you can look 'em in the eye.
How do you make sure that the technology you're providing is actually gonna be used? How do you even approach that?
[00:10:03] Renee Boydo: Yeah. Well, and to your point too, it has to be. You used a word a minute ago about consistency. I think every time you bring in technology, especially when you have such a dispersed workforce, it has to be consistent and predictable.
So consistency and predictability are two words that we use a lot in our business and at our company because every touch point, not just with our candidates, but every touch point with our employees. That builds and influences our trust and our culture and that in turn builds our retention of our employees when they have technology that they can use.
So I think having an entire community of trainers and a great IT department that really, really, you know, Sean McCormick is our CIO and he has done, he is won all sorts of awards and done great jobs here at the organization, but I think it's because he goes out into the field and listens to our teams and talks about.
What they really want and what he can then do to help the teams to be more successful.
[00:11:01] Dave Travers: If you're a fellow TA leader somewhere and you're hearing this and you think, I think the next big thing opportunity for us is to really up our game in terms of retention. Where would you start that process? Like, how would you kick off a project?
If you're giving advice to someone else who's really digging into this for the first time,
[00:11:21] Renee Boydo: I would think through your process from start to finish. And remember that AI isn't there to replace your recruiters. It's there to think about how you can use your recruiting team from being more transactional to being more strategic, right?
AI might make you move faster, but you should never lose sight of the human side of the hire, so to speak, right? So I always tell my team, think of tech and AI as the engine, but the people are still the drivers. So we use innovation to. To kind of scale that care that we have for our communities.
[00:11:53] Dave Travers: I love that, and I love thinking about how do you've used technology to free people up to be more strategic.
If a year from now you're way ahead in enabling your team to be more strategic than they were a year ago, how would you measure that? Or how would you give confidence to your senior leadership that that is happening?
[00:12:11] Renee Boydo: What new things are we doing? Right. We tend to always think about bringing in AI, and it frees up our people to do the things that they're doing now better. But I always challenge that a little bit because I think that it should mean that we're doing new things that we haven't even thought of. So what new things are we doing with our team that are uniquely human-centered that we are only doing now because that transactional piece is being done and automated with the use of technology?
[00:12:41] Dave Travers: Okay? We always end these episodes with a rapid-fire round. So, I want you to think now about the scenario where you're getting in the elevato,r and the CEO is at headquarters, walks in, and it's just the two of you.
And the CEO says, Hey, Renee, you know, I've been thinking. You're the people expert and the interviewing expert. I interview people all the time, and you do talent acquisition. Give me your one best piece of advice for making me a better interviewer.
[00:13:07] Renee Boydo: Good thing is I talk to my CEO, John Kenning, all the time.
He's fantastic, and I would tell him to listen for alignment [00:13:15] and not just answers. I think a great candidate is gonna echo. You and your company's values and you wanna listen for that alignment.
[00:13:23] Dave Travers: I love that. How would I suss out that somebody has good alignment? Like, gimme a peek into the process. To what should I hear for?
[00:13:29] Renee Boydo: I think when their foundational answers are about the caring for your community or about the safety behind everything, right? Safety really transcends just the safety organization or the safety function. It really goes. In every bit of your organization. I think you can hear that in every answer.
So when you can hear those values kind of embedded in, or when they bring those values to the table and you know that they've done that research for your organization, those are the things that we like to listen for.
[00:14:00] Dave Travers: I love that. Let's do one another a rapid-fire scenario, which is awesome since you have these conversations all the time.
Anyways, CEO, same, same scenario, walks in the elevator and says. Hey, Renee, so much is changing in the world of talent and what we need from our talent. How should we measure the effectiveness of the talent team over the next year or two?
[00:14:20] Renee Boydo: Oh, great question. I would say retention and compliance. If we're keeping our great people and we're getting them started out right, then everything else from safety to good service, I think all of that's gonna follow.
[00:14:34] Dave Travers: Okay. One more rapid fire scenario, but instead of thinking about the CEO, it's a colleague who's switching jobs and interviewing in new places, and making a leap like you made. So they may not have done talent acquisition before. And if you're going in to meet the talent acquisition team at a company for the first time, how would you assess, you know, if you had a day on site, how would you assess?
Quickly, what's the state of the current talent acquisition team? How would you even approach that?
[00:15:03] Renee Boydo: I would be looking for do they have a multifaceted approach? Do they have a good programmatic and job board function? Do they have an entire culture built around the different teams that they have?
And from an experience standpoint, is the processes that they have, are they focused around the experience of the candidate and the applicant and the experience of the employees? Because if the process is just process-driven for efficiency and not about the experience, then that's not the kind of process that you want.
[00:15:35] Dave Travers: I love that. So smart. I really appreciate you taking the time with us today, Renee Bodo.
It is so clear why you were a talent all-star. Thanks so much for taking the time.
[00:15:43] Renee Boydo: Oh, thank you so much, Dave. It was a pleasure.
[00:15:49] Dave Travers: That's Renee Boydo, vice President of HR experience at First Student, North America's largest provider of school transportation. We'll share Renee's LinkedIn profile in the episode description. And just a reminder, you can also watch the full video version of this conversation on YouTube on the official ZipRecruiter channel.
And if you have feedback for us or ideas for future episodes, send us an email at TalentAllStars@ziprecruiter.com. I'm Dave Travers. Thanks for listening to Talent All-Stars. See you right back here next time.