Solar Atmospheres: Outsourced Hiring Services Case Study

Solar Atmospheres

People Power: How myHR Partner's Outsourced Hiring Services Helped a Leading Heat Treater/Manufacturer Harness Growth

In 2023, the Solar Atmospheres family of companies —which we'll refer to simply as Solar Atmospheres throughout this case study—was growing rapidly and had an opportunity to reassess who would handle their hiring operaitons going forward — internal personnel or an outsourced recruiting partner. What followed is a testament to the power of a strong partnership between an outsourced hiring firm and internal leadership. Here’s the full story.

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The Story of Solar Atmospheres

The largest family-owned business of its kind in the U.S., Solar Atmospheres offers commercial vacuum heat treating and related services to industries including aerospace, defense, medical, and power generation. Founded in 1983, the company’s nine locations span five states.

In June of 2023, Solar Atmospheres had 380 employees and counting. Its internal HR department consisted of three people: HR Director Chris Schubert, a part-time HR generalist who led hiring, and a full-time HR generalist.

When the part-time HR generalist moved on to puruse new opportunities, Chris recognized this transition as a chance to step back and assess the growing company’s hiring resource needs.

"Hiring is time-intensive in any industry. It’s especially time-intensive in manufacturing,” he explains. “Many roles entail extensive training and require specific qualifications, which can prolong candidate sourcing, screening, and interviewing. Even more, Solar Atmospheres was growing, which meant our HR team would continue to have more on our plates. The change in the HR team presented an opportunity to evaluate our hiring function needs both now and in the upcoming years.”

The Challenge

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Chris sought a solution that would increase hiring capacity, letting the process scale as needed and especially as headcount grew.

One option was to replace the departing part-time employee with a full-time internal hire. However, even a full-time hiring lead would likely be pressed for time as new positions were added company-wide. Even more, getting a new HR hire up to speed requires a sizable investment of time and resources. Last but not least, an internal hire would still leave the matter of coverage when that person was on vacation, sick, or on leave.

“In addition to considering hiring in-house personnel, we thought, ‘Why not consider exploring outside hiring partners to see if it could help us unlock capacity, hit the ground running, and ensure long term continuity in hiring resources and knowledge for Solar Atmospheres?’” Chris said.

With that said, a partner would need to be a culture fit. “Solar Atmospheres values honesty, customer satisfaction, and cooperation. An outside partner would need to reflect those values in every interaction with job candidates and other vendors, not to mention with our internal team.”

Chris reached out to several outsourced firms including, myHR Partner.

“Years ago, in a previous role, I had the opportunity to work with myHR Partner founder and CEO, Tina Hamilton. She was fantastic—collaborative, supportive, and an all-around amazing person—so reaching out to her again was an easy decision.”

myHR Partner’s Process

Feeling great about initial conversations, Solar Atmospheres engaged myHR Partner as their hiring partner in July of 2023.

“The myHR Partner team had the same feel that Tina did when I worked with her years ago,” Chris said. “I also appreciate myHR Partner’s unique pricing structure, which supports finding the right candidate rather than just any candidate. That’s hugely important to us.”

First things first: myHR Partner began gaining an understanding of Solar Atmospheres’ operations, culture, and objective.

The myHR Partner team met with Solar Atmosphere’s HR team and hiring managers to understand individual preferences and regional differences (varying operating hours and shift structures from one facility and market to the next, for example). It was clear that Solar Atmospheres values team attitudes and a willingness to learn, among other principles myHR Partner noted for use in hiring efforts.

Together, Solar Atmospheres and myHR Partner decided that myHR Partner should focus on:

Optimizing Solar Atmosphere’s new Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software
Enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of Solar Atmosphere’s interview questions and process
Refining Solar Atmosphere’s job ads

From there, the two partners determined the breakdown of responsibility within the hiring process:

myHR Partner would create and post job ads, source candidates, review resumes, create customized phone interview guides, execute initial phone interviews, and coordinate interviews with hiring managers- maintaining effective, engaging communication with candidates throughout. Solar Atmospheres would take the baton from there, extending offers, handling background checks and drug screening, and overseeing new hire onboarding.

The Solar Atmospheres team quickly felt confident that they’d made the right choice. “We initially engaged myHR Partner for six months – the time we thought we’d need to determine whether it was a fit. It didn’t take that long for us to see that this was working.”

myHR Partner’s Solution

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The team began harnessing Solar Atmospheres’ new ATS system, fully utilizing its features. myHR Partner’s expertise on the ATS and capacity to support the hiring efforts presented a quick win for the organization. For example, interview notes were now entered into the ATS and emailed to hiring managers expeditiously, giving hiring managers quick and easy access to the information needed to make hiring decisions.

myHR Partner also updated questions asked within phone interviews, ensuring the answers received presented the information needed for a hiring manager to determine whether or not a candiate warranted a live interview. Phone interviews cover objective matters, like skills and experience, while also assessing whether a candidate aligns with Solar Atmosphere’s core values. Right away, hiring managers appreciated the depth and breadth of information they were being provided on candidates- allowing them to decide with greater ease and confidence whether or not to interview a candidate presented to them.

Job ad templates underwent updates. Key aspects of positions are highlighted more clearly. When applicable, today’s postings mention the impactful ways in which metals worked on by employees are ultimately used (e.g., in medical equipment, in aerospace equipment), adding context and appeal. All postings now include information about Solar Atmospheres’ robust benefits offerings.

The tone of job ads was adjusted to be more personal and conversational. Also, hiring managers’ individual preferences are now represented in their respective postings and initial phone interviews. For example, a hiring manager at one facility seeks candidates with machine operating experience; meanwhile, another is open to transferrable production and/or warehouse experience for the same role. myHR Partner knows this and screens accordingly.

All of this is complemented by myHR Partner’s speed and agility. Resumes are reviewed and candidates contacted in a timely manner. Initial phone interviews sometimes occur the same day a candidate applies, with live interviews the next day. In sum, myHR Partner adapts to what’s working to get qualified candidates to Solar Atmospheres hiring managers ASAP.

“We tend to move at a fast pace,” Chris said of Solar Atmospheres. “I was a little concerned that an outsourced partner wouldn’t keep up. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. myHR Partner not only asked about our preferred pace; it was immediately apparent that they could match it.”

myHR Partner's Results

Since myHR Partner has come onboard, Solar Atmospheres has extended over 100 job offers from candidates myHR Partner interviewed and presented to hiring managers. Roles have been filled in manufacturing, shipping and receiving, maintenance, production, labs, IT, delivery, quality control, and inside and outside sales, for example. Many have been hard-to-fill, technical, and higher-level positions.

Hiring managers have improved information on candidates, thanks in large part to myHR Partner’s ability to take time up front to collect candidate information in a thorough screening and interviewing process.

Then there are the benefits for the HR team at Solar Atmospheres. The in-house HR team has been freed up to focus on other key aspects of HR – the onboarding process, for example. “We had wanted to take the onboarding process from paper to digital for years but struggled with having the necessary bandwidth until we engaged myHR Partner for hiring,” he says.

Today, Solar Atmospheres boasts 400+ employees. The company has recently acquired new locations, grown in building size and staff in some locations, and added equipment in others. These new and expanded operations operate 24/7, made possible in part by the new hires at all locations.

“The team at myHR Partner is adaptable, flexible, and helps us move in whatever direction Solar Atmospheres decide to go. When priorities change, they adjust accordingly- and take it in stride.”

myHR Partner manages our hiring skillfully and seamlessly. Their hiring process and expertise, agility, and client service have cemented a partnership with Solar Atmospheres and brings real value to our organization each day.