Ardent Partners: The Future of Work Exchange Executive Roundtable Event

Andrew Preston

Chief Executive Officer of UK, EMEA, & APAC

Andrew Preston serves as HireGenics’ Chief Executive Officer of UK, EMEA, & APAC.

As CEO, Andrew guides international operations with a focus on expanding the organization’s presence and building region-specific solutions to serve the needs of mid-market and enterprise clients.

Andrew began his career in a role with the NHS, and over the past twenty plus years, he has gained extensive experience in the successful growth and development of FTSE 100 companies, PLCs, private equity backed groups, and private organizations. He is a renowned industry expert and leader in the managed services industry with experience working in managed service, outsourcing, and technology-enabled people businesses.

Prior to joining HireGenics, Andrew served as Chief Executive Officer of Geometric Results, Inc., and over the last decade, transformed the business into a market leader.

Having received a myriad of awards throughout his career, Andrew has been recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Leaders in Europe” and by the Global 100 as both “European CEO of the Year” and “Game Changer of the Year.” His thought leadership has been published by Bloomsbury Professional as part of Doing Business After Brexit: A Practical Guide to the Legal Changes.

Andrew resides in the UK and splits his time between Dubai and the South of France. He has three children and is an avid F1 and football fan.

Art Knapp

Chief Executive Officer of Americas

As Chief Executive Officer of Americas, Art Knapp is responsible for the businesses’ growth and innovation strategies within the staffing and MSP sectors. Relying on his extensive knowledge of time-tested best practices, Art’s main objective is to enhance the acquisition of talent while delivering a lower total cost of ownership.

With more than 30 years of experience in the Human Resources industry, Art has been responsible for over 250 clients and was the first person to develop a shared services off-site model to support on-site teams. He was also the first to establish an innovation and solutions organization within an MSP organization.

After earning a BA degree in Economics from Lafayette College, Art began his career in a sales capacity with Procter & Gamble. He spent 15 years with The Bedford Group, a company he co-founded, which was focused on executive search and human resource consulting. In 2007, Art served as EVP of Global Services for IQNavigator, with his range of responsibilities including oversight of the entire Client Services organization’s Operations, Training, Functional Analysts, and Contracts Administration. Under his leadership, IQNavigator experienced historical growth—tripling its revenue in just 5 years.

Prior to joining IQNavigator, Art worked for Chimes, Inc. in various positions, culminating with his appointment as Chief Operating Officer. Chimes grew to be an acknowledged industry leader, and its revenue expanded by more than 500% during Art’s tenure. His active involvement in the sale of the company in 2006 set a benchmark for valuations in the industry.

A self-described “wine enthusiast,” Art resides in Florida with his wife, Rosemary; they have two sons—Steven and David.

Raj Sardana

Global Chief Executive Officer

Raj Sardana is the Global Chief Executive Officer of HireGenics. He is a successful entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience working with multinational companies across several industries, including investment and workforce management. Raj founded ACS Solutions in 1998 (rebranded to Innova Solutions in 2022); under his leadership, the company has expanded into a global organization that, along with its subsidiaries, employs more than 50,000 professionals worldwide and reports annual revenues approaching $3 billion. Innova Solutions has over 50 office locations in the United States as well as offshore development centers in India, Taiwan, and Mexico.

Throughout the growth of Innova Solutions, Raj has remained committed to giving back to communities around the globe. Along with his wife, Nita Sardana—Vice President of Community Outreach and Corporate Giving—Raj has led Innova in its support of local U.S.-based non-profit organizations, including the YWCA’s Teen Girls in Technology Program, Women in Technology (WIT), and the Atlanta Food Bank. In India—where Innova has several offices and delivery centers—the company supports the Earth Saviours Foundation, an NGO located in Delhi that works to promote social consciousness and environmentalism.

Prior to founding Innova, Raj served as President and CEO of Applied Communications, Inc., a multi-media and technology company in Atlanta, Georgia. He also served as President and CEO of a multi-million dollar private equity group with a diverse and extensive investment portfolio in the real estate, retail, and service industries. Raj also has experience working in the aviation, defense, venture investment, and financial services industries.

Raj graduated from the Delhi College of Engineering with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He also earned a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and an Advanced Management Certification (AMP) from the Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania).

Brian Soderholm

Chief Revenue Officer of HireGenics

Brian is the Chief Revenue Officer of HireGenics. He began as one of the initial founders of HireGenics in 2010 and helped grow the business from a new division to more than $400M in annual revenue. Brian has more than 31 years of experience with leading workforce management and staffing companies. He is responsible for the overall management of HireGenics business growth and both growing existing business and successfully developing sales strategies for new lines of business.

Prior to HireGenics, Brian worked at Chimes Inc. and Bartech, where he executed multiple business development programs to include driving Managed Service Provider (MSP) sales of more than $4B in contract labor spend to more than sixty of the largest organizations in the world. Brian holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Business Administration and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin. As a recognized solution sales leader in the staffing industry, Brian brings a unique understanding to the sales process that is dictated by selling solutions that focus on the success of the client.

Brandon Kahele

Vice President, Program Operations

With over 17 years of experience in the contingent workforce industry, Brandon Kahele brings forth his knowledge and expertise in staffing to ensure an organization is equipped with creative and effective ways to augment their current workforce and the response to rising talent demands. Brandon’s ability to develop strong program teams assists in maintaining the HireGenics support structure, increasing both efficiency and performance within the organization. He partners with each client to build rapport, learn the needs, and understand their business model. While each business is unique, Brandon’s thought partnership and relationship development skills allow him to determine the appropriate team for the client’s culture. Brandon manages, coaches and mentors the team to provide a highly effective support system and customer service level. He participates in regular touch point calls and business review meetings, and develops ongoing program plans to effectively adapt to client needs. While a large focus of Brandon’s role supports external clients, Brandon also develops and standardizes best practices to meet training objectives within ACS Solutions, supporting our internal customers. His commitment to excellence and drive for continuous improvement allows our organization to operate at highest efficiency.

Doña Calhoun

Vice President, Payrolling

Doña has over 20 years of contingent workforce management experience both from the client as well as the delivery perspective focusing on contingent labor, vendor management and customer service. Since joining HireGenics 4+ years ago, her focus has been on developing a team of client centric program managers, creating efficiency through process, and using measurements to identify trends, risks, and successes. Having worked for a leading high-tech company for 18+ years prior to HireGenics, she is well versed in developing creative solutions in record time. She holds both an MBA in International Business, as well as a Master’s in Project Management. Doña emulates the HireGenics motto of giving back by volunteering as a coach at the State level for the Special Olympic equestrian games.

Whitney Cox

Senior Vice President, Workforce Advisory Services

Whitney Cox is a seasoned workforce expert with over 15 years of experience in the labor sector, known for her innovative approaches and strategic insight. Whitney has served in strategic leadership roles on both the buying and service sides, providing strategic thinking and practical workforce solutions to complex and changing environments. She has successfully advised Fortune 500 clients on the intricacies of outsourcing and internal employee markets, helping organizations accelerate and mature. Prior to joining HireGenics, Whitney co-built a workforce advisory services division that offered strategic consulting services, outsourcing solutions, and data intelligence and technology enablement services to clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

Now, as Practice Leader/Senior Vice President of Workforce Advisory Services at HireGenics, Whitney is focused on driving transformation advisory services to the marketplace. Her expertise in providing customized solutions that align with each client’s level of maturity allows organizations to adopt and deploy workforce models that drive their businesses forward. Whitney’s leadership further solidifies the company’s commitment to a holistic approach to talent management, emphasizing the transformational potential of HireGenics’ services. Her innovative vision and approach are set to enhance clients’ competitive edge and redefine the landscape of the talent marketplace.

A key strength of Whitney’s is her ability to navigate the complexities of designing and managing outsourced models to support companies of all sizes and industries. Her experience, coupled with her focus on workforce innovation and outsourcing excellence, positions Whitney Cox as a driving force for HireGenics and its clients through the current and future challenges facing businesses in the labor sector.

In her downtime, Whitney is in perpetual motion, juggling the joys of twin parenthood and cheering from the sidelines at their sports games. Off the clock, she hits the pavement, finding rhythm and balance in long-distance running.

Valerie Quinata

Senior Vice President, Total Talent Acquisition

Valerie Quinata is a senior leader with 20+ years of experience helping great companies and amazing people find each other. She has spent the past 15 years developing and optimizing national and global talent solutions including greenfield business development, solution design, compliance and risk management, and workforce management solutions. In her current role at HireGenics, Valerie leads a team of Client Engagement Directors, whose goal is to partner with Fortune 1000 companies to streamline their hiring and prepare for the future of contingent work.

Valerie has a passion for emerging technologies, especially AI/ML, Autonomous Vehicles, and big data solutions. She believes that the employees who make up the workforces she is responsible for are a source of constant inspiration and she values the opportunities she and her clients can create for them. Her enthusiasm and commitment to creating opportunities for others has resulted in innovative sourcing, recruiting, hiring, and training programs designed to meet clients’ needs for sustainable growth while also encouraging individuals and teams to achieve their dreams.

Valerie earned her undergraduate degree in Technical Education from The University of Akron and her MS, Ed. at The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She resides in Mustang, Oklahoma with her family and a menagerie of dogs, cats, and racing pigeons.

Tiffany Bulowski

Senior Vice President, Workforce Acquisition Solutions

Tiffany Bulowski is Senior Vice President Workforce Acquisition Solutions at HireGenics, bringing more than 25 years of experience in human capital management solutions to the team. She is a highly skilled workforce strategist and takes pride in bringing the right solution to her clients and partners. She leads a team of solutions experts focused on developing new lines of business for HireGenics and Volt Commercial Staffing.

Prior to joining the HireGenics, Tiffany held senior leadership positions where she was successful in selling and leading Fortune 500 client based MSPs, technology projects, direct sourcing solutions, and mid-market RPOs. In her past roles at GRI, LevelUP, and Kforce, she drove client strategy and focused on healthcare and technology verticals. Tiffany is a member of the prestigious CHIEF leadership organization, a private membership network focused on connecting and supporting women executive leaders.

Tiffany is graduate of FIDM and Regent’s University London and lives in Southern California with her son and husband. Outside of work, she has a love for visual arts, particularly painting and photography, and enjoys watching her son play MLS NEXT soccer on the weekends.

Katie Bussey

Senior Vice President and Direct Sourcing Practice Leader

Katie Bussey is a seasoned industry veteran currently serving as Senior Vice President and Direct Sourcing Practice Leader at HireGenics. With a remarkable career spanning 25 years in the Staffing, Managed Service Provider (MSP), and Workforce Solution Space, Katie’s expertise and leadership have made her a trusted figure in the industry.

Over the past three years, Katie embarked on a transformative journey to create a holistic contingent talent strategy, a.k.a. a Direct Sourcing solution aimed to complement existing MSP programs or function independently as the primary workforce solution at an organization. The solution focuses on providing organizations new access points and channels to talent not found through staffing suppliers. Throughout this journey, Katie recognized that many organizations are 100% dependent on filling their contingent roles with third-party suppliers, which is no longer a sustainable talent strategy. In today’s technological age, candidates engage differently to find work. How organizations collect, utilize, and leverage talent is the difference between a good and a transformative talent strategy.

Katie and her team recently successfully launched TalentFusion by HireGenics, a groundbreaking Direct Sourcing solution in the market. TalentFusion represents the convergence of cutting-edge technology and a dedicated white-glove services team. With a focus on talent attraction, engagement, and fulfillment, TalentFusion establishes a private, branded Talent Community for each enterprise, serving as the core foundation and primary repository of candidates.

Already implemented as an enterprise-wide talent strategy by two global, publicly traded organizations, this innovative solution has delivered impressive early results, effectively solving the original challenges it set out to address.

Katie continues to drive transformation and success for HireGenics, providing forward-thinking, innovative solutions that revolutionize how organizations approach talent acquisition and workforce management.

Emily Costello

Senior Vice President, Client Engagement

Emily Costello is Senior Vice President of Client Engagement at HireGenics. Drawing from her extensive experience, her focus will be on elevating and reinventing strategic relationships between HireGenics and its valued clients. Emily brings a unique perspective to these relationships, infusing them with fresh insights and innovative approaches that reflect a deep understanding of the client’s needs and aspirations. Her engagement will transcend traditional methods, ensuring each partnership flourishes in a way that contributes to both client success and the ongoing evolution of HireGenics. Her visionary approach promises not only to enhance client engagement but also to redefine the way the HireGenics team connects and grows in the talent solutions space.

Prior to joining the company, she had a 25-year career at Robert Half. During her tenure Emily had the opportunity to launch many initiatives, lines of business, offices, and special projects. Emily was part of Robert Half’s Strategic Accounts group for 15 years. Most recently she oversaw the management of channel partnerships portfolio as Managing Director of Channel Relationships for the firm.

Emily attended American College in Atlanta where she graduated with a degree in fine arts and business administration. She served three terms as a board member for the Golden Key International Honour Society and volunteers at her church. Emily is the mother of three boys and loves spending time with family and friends and traveling.

John DeWeerd

Senior Vice President, Workforce Acquisition Solutions

John is responsible for strategic client engagement for our workforce management solutions: payrolling, direct sourcing, MSP and independent contractor compliance. John is also involved with continuous improvement for existing client relationships and leading solution design strategies for new clients. Over the past 15 years John has had various leadership roles and experience at leading workforce management, MSP providers and staffing companies including Randstad Managed Services, the Bartech Group, and most recently, as Vice President at Pontoon Solutions. Over the course of his career, John has successfully engaged and implemented some of the largest and most complex MSP and Contingent Workforce Management solutions in the industry. As a recognized contingent workforce solution expert in the industry, John leads our teams with a unique understanding of how to partner and build solutions that focus on creating value for clients and helping them gain a competitive advantage in the talent marketplace. John holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Business Administration from the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University.

Kristen McArdle

SVP, HireGenics Client Success and MSP Practice Leader

Kristen McArdle is a senior leader with over 20 years of experience helping enterprises design, implement, and mature their extended workforce management solutions. Kristen’s strengths are in building scalable teams and frameworks focused on delivering effective, quality solutions that delight customers.

Prior to joining HireGenics, Kristen helped build an industry-changing workforce analytics product and Customer Success organization that delivered intelligence on pricing, performance, and risk to large enterprises. She leverages deep industry expertise, defined customer objectives, and data-driven intelligence to create solutions for enterprises looking to better understand and strategically manage their non-employee workforce.

Bryon Withers

Senior Vice President

Bryon Withers is a Senior Vice President with HireGenics and is responsible for our Alliance Partners Portfolio. He is also involved with continuous improvement and evolving program maturity for existing client relationships, as well as leading solution design for new clients.

Bryon has over 25 years of global workforce solutions experience working in senior management and executive level roles with Adecco, ManpowerGroup, and Kelly Outsourcing & Consulting Group. During this tenure he has worked with some of the world’s most recognized companies, helping them to win their battle for talent. Over the course of his career, Bryon has successfully engaged and implemented some of the largest and most complex MSP, RPO, and Contingent Workforce Management solutions in the industry.

As a recognized contingent workforce solutions expert in the industry, Bryon firmly believes in working with clients to create a workforce solution that delivers a competitive advantage and drives greater shareholder value. Bryon holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Business Administration from Eastern Nazarene College in
Quincy, MA.

Direct Sourcing solutions are an excellent way for organizations to raise their talent game in a short time. However, further explanation about the solution is needed to help stakeholders of all levels understand the features, benefits, and problems this solution solves to gain alignment across all levels before moving forward.

This guide will provide a high-level understanding of the solution and things to think about to build a compelling Direct Sourcing Business Case within your organization.

Please fill this form to download the guide

[contact-form-7 id=”270922″ title=”Building a Direct Sourcing Business Case for Your Organization”]

Your Guide To Company Background Checks

Most people submit a resume or fill out a job application with basic information about skills, education, and work experience. What you may not realize is that your resume and application becomes a living document that is used to verify specific data through a background check – and if you make an error on your resume that results in a discrepancy on your background check your resume will be flagged and someone must decide whether or not that error constitutes pulling you as a candidate.

To avoid this problem, use the Background Check worksheet to submit a fully accurate picture of yourself, your work history, your employment history, and your education history every time you apply for a job. Now you’ve created a competitive advantage for yourself in what can be a very large field of candidates.

Please enter your details and download the template now

[contact-form-7 id=”270711″ title=”Background Check Basics”]

[contact-form-7 id=”270086″ title=”Request Template”]

Steve Kusnit

Sr. Director of Implementation

Steve Kusnit is a PMI Trained, Six-Sigma Certified Services and Solutions Professional with over 25 years in the Contingent Workforce space. During this time he has directed the implementation of, as well as managed multiple MSP/VMS Programs across multiple industries including telecom, energy, transportation, government, healthcare, food and agriculture, pharmaceutical, and retail. Over the past 8+ years he has focused his professional energies in successfully leading the implementation of Payrolling, IC Compliance, Direct Sourcing and MSP Programs for HireGenics throughout the US and Canada.

Jennifer Muller

Vice President of Operations

Jennifer is an expert in workforce solutions, with a focus on total contingent labor program management (CCWP certified), procurement strategy with high regard to cost savings measures, vendor management, compliance, policy, streamlined process, and liability containment. She has 19 years in HR and Procurement outsourced and consulting services. Jennifer was previously with Accenture in their BPO organization as a SME and Consultant for US and Global Contingent Workforce Strategy. She joined our HireGenics Team in 2016 and oversees our Contingent Workforce Program Operations and Implementation Group. She provides oversight and strategy by managing projects and teams to implement cost savings initiatives and procedures to drive compliance for attaining short- and long-term client goals.

Our White Glove Service is designed to take the customer experience to the next level. We have a comprehensive eight-step process to help you meet your specific goals. Starting from the initial contact to understand your assignment, we also offer a two-week checkpoint aimed to answer all your queries. Once you are satisfied, we make ‘Thank You’ calls to ensure mutual agreement at every step. This is followed by a 45–60-day checkpoint and quarterly meet and greet with the team. Our interaction program ensures delivery of client experiences that go above and beyond your expectations.

As an early innovator, our length of experience in the Direct Sourcing space, and the depth of experience of our operations team are clear, competitive differentiators. This includes our extensive experience with automation and direct sourcing technology platforms and using them to create better candidate engagement and adoption. Having the lengthiest tenure of Direct Sourcing platforms, we have been able to operate in these technologies longer than any other partner and have also been able to work closely with our partner’s product development teams to provide recommendations and feedback on features and functionality. This level of partnership has allowed us to influence the platforms and product roadmaps to continue to automate manual recruitment curation activities creating more efficiency and reducing our cost to serve for our clients.

HG Direct: Speed. Quality. Cost.

HG Direct leverages your brand to “directly” attract contract talent in the same manner used to attract full time talent. We partner with best-in-class Direct Sourcing technologies that enable our proven and experienced Talent Curation Program Management Office (PMO) to reach your total talent goals.

Talent Sources

HG Direct allows you to retain known talent and attract unknown talent through your brand. Sources of known talent typically include:

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HR-Silver Medalists

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HR-Silver Medalists

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Job Boards

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Social Media

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Contract Worker Referrals

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Retirees

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Alumni

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Former FTEs

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Interns

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Hiring Manager Referrals/Payrollees

A Win-Win Solution

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Higher Quality Talent

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Better Contractor Pay

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Improved Time to Productivity

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Faster Time to Fill

The Technology

HireGenics partners with several leading direct sourcing technology providers enabling your organization to build out a branded talent portal for contingent labor. This allows you to build out talent communities organized by key hiring attributes. Our Direct Sourcing Technology Partners include WillHire, LiveHire, and TalentNet.

Meaningful Savings with HG Direct

Make the shift from lower quality, higher cost, third party staffing suppliers to higher quality, lower cost, HG Direct contractors.

Our ability to understand our clients’ cultures and the uniqueness of their business to build and integrate our service teams is a significant distinction of a HireGenics program. Our reputation is built on our ability to foster long-term value and relationships with our clients. We become an extension of our clients and their culture. Our understanding and alignment with each client’s culture begins during implementation, continues through solution design, and is ingrained throughout our service and operations teams. HireGenics is also a certified MBE supplier and recognized by the National Minority Supplier Development Council as a National Corporate Plus® member.

As the leader and continuous innovator in the Direct Sourcing space, HireGenics has incorporated a program readiness assessment prior to implementation. The program readiness assessment ensures buy-in from all key stakeholders, specifically Talent Acquisition and HR. By having full alignment with the client Talent Acquisition team and with the client brand, candidates have a better overall experience, candidate response rates are higher, and the overall program performance is accelerated.

HireGenics HGComply™ is a proprietary, web based, Compliance and Life Cycle Management technology solution that automates the entire process from creation of requirement to payment of workers and subcontract firms.

HireGenics’ IC Compliance technology solution is built on our proprietary database which tracks court decisions, employment law, and other statutory requirements to help automate the determination process and to assess the impact on applicable state and federal law.

The IC compliance process is directed by an in-house senior labor and employment attorney. Our IC Compliance Team consists of contingent labor and employment experts in the area of contractor misclassification. Our IC compliance process is led and directed by an in-house labor and employment attorney. Our in-house team is comprised of leading practitioners in the contingent labor industry with significant prior experience litigating and negotiating independent contractor misclassification cases.

HireGenics fully indemnifies our end customers from any liability arising because of a misclassification determination. Because of our proprietary compliance and classification process, HireGenics has been recognized at the state and federal level as the gold standard for IC Compliance.

Other MSP solutions commonly deploy low to mid-level individuals with recruiting backgrounds into their program office. In addition to common procurement and/or recruiting roles, HireGenics deploys subject matter experts that will align you’re your predominant labor categories. As an example, in a heavy IT contingent labor environment, HireGenics deploys former CTO/CIO level individuals who are capable of understanding various scenarios in the world of Information Technology. These individuals partner with various leaders within IT to better understand their needs and then translate those needs to procurement teams and the supplier community.

Unlike most other MSP solutions, HireGenics is a part of a portfolio of specialized companies (ACS Group) with capabilities and experience to perform value-add services such as Business Process Consulting, IT Solution Based Services, SOW, BOT, IOT, Enhanced Staffing, and Off-Shore Application Development. Clients benefit by leveraging our collective experience and knowledge to develop highly customizable labor solutions tailored to our clients’ specific needs.

Most MSP solutions are driven by tactical functions and rely on bill rate management to drive optimization. HireGenics takes a strategic approach like no other in the industry. In addition to bill rate management, HireGenics seeks opportunities to incorporate multi-sourcing strategies and consults on cost benefit analysis in areas like direct sourcing, managed teams of contractors, and on-shore/near shore outsourcing. By truly partnering with business unit stakeholders, HireGenics has the capability to perform true workforce planning.

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