When Steve Melfi, Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Nordson Corporation, found himself relying too heavily on LinkedIn InMails and expensive recruiting agencies, he knew there had to be a better way. As a $3 billion global industrial company, Nordson needed a more sophisticated approach to finding and engaging top talent.
"Unless you're connected with somebody or they have their contact information visible, you're at the mercy of an InMail," Steve explains. This limitation was becoming increasingly frustrating for Nordson's recruiting team, who often found promising candidates on LinkedIn but had no way to reach them.
Beyond just candidate outreach, Steve had a bigger vision for his recruiting team.
"I wanted our recruiters to be more of a talent advisor, not an order taker," he explains. "To do that, you need analytics, you need insights, you need the right sourcing tools, you need data to be able to take to your customers and show them the strategy. That's how you build confidence. That's how you build that consultative approach."
His goal was to equip recruiters with market intelligence and data-driven insights that would enable them to have strategic conversations with hiring managers from day one.
Finding the right solution
After thoroughly researching and consulting with talent acquisition leaders at major corporations in northeast Ohio, Steve narrowed his options to three vendors. The evaluation process was collaborative. While Steve had his preferences after the demos, he wanted buy-in from his team. "They're the ones that are using the tool," he notes. The team ultimately chose hireEZ for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features.
Data-driven recruitment
HireEZ catapulted Nordson's recruiting from educated guesswork to strategic certainty, with real-time market insights driving every decision and dramatically improving hiring outcomes. Their talent acquisition team now starts each search with concrete market intelligence rather than assumptions.
"A lot of times, what you see in recruiting is everybody waits 60 days, 70 days down the road to say 'I can't find anybody,'" Steve notes. "Why are we saying that 70 days in, when we should have said that from the beginning?"
Instead of discovering derailing factors like compensation misalignment weeks into a search, recruiters get instant salary insights and talent pool metrics. This early analysis revolutionized hiring manager conversations.
Beyond analytics, hireEZ transformed how Nordson's team finds and connects with candidates through direct contact information, automated engagement sequences, and AI-powered recommendations. "The system works for you," Steve explains. "You run a project, save it today, and then go in the next day and see there are 15 more profiles."
The ARAG success story
The platform's full potential became evident when Nordson acquired ARAG, an Italian precision agriculture company, and needed to hire a Director of Sales for their U.S. operation. Starting with 35 target companies, hireEZ's competitor analysis expanded their market map while geographical analytics revealed that the most relevant talent was concentrated in the Midwest. This data-driven approach led to a successful hire within 60 days.
Measuring success
Since implementing hireEZ in late 2023, Nordson has achieved impressive results:
- Discovered more than 2.5 times more qualified candidates
- Reviewed over 7,500 candidates with a 77.5% qualification rate
- Achieved a 74.4% email open rate and 18.1% reply rate
- Created 161 targeted recruitment projects
- Conducted 129 market analytics searches
- Significantly reduced agency spend
The platform's effectiveness is reflected in Steve's own metrics, with an 86.4% email open rate and 18.8% reply rate. Regular performance reviews with hireEZ help the team optimize their usage and continue improving their processes.
A complete solution
Today, Steve feels confident in his team's toolset. "If my recruiters cannot recruit with LinkedIn, Indeed, and hireEZ, then this probably is not the field for them to stay in," he states. Looking ahead, Nordson is exploring additional hireEZ modules, including CRM capabilities. As Steve notes, "I don't need to go out and buy another software ... if I want to add something, I just build off of hireEZ."
The transformation at Nordson demonstrates how the right technology can elevate an entire function and change how an organization approaches talent acquisition. Through hireEZ, Nordson hasn't just found a better way to source candidates; they've found a partner in building a more strategic, data-driven recruitment operation.
Ready to transform your recruiting strategy like Nordson did?
Stop relying on InMails and gut feelings. With hireEZ, you could unlock:
- 2.5x more qualified candidates
- 74%+ email open rates
- Market intelligence from day one
- Significant reduction in agency spend
See for yourself how hireEZ can elevate your talent acquisition team from order-takers to strategic advisors. Contact sales today.
