Why an early-career gig at McDonald’s continues to inspire Deputy’s director of talent of acquisition

Most people don’t dream of a career in HR from a young age.

Many pros, as we’ve covered in past installments of Coworking, got interested in the function either during college or when considering a career change. But Shannon Hilmar, director of talent acquisition at Deputy, an HR software provider primarily for companies with shift workers, said she had a “really early interest” in the profession that emerged during one of her first-ever jobs, working as a shift worker at McDonald’s. Her interest in workplace management was ignited by her fascination with the fast food chain’s approach to workstations that revolutionized the fast-food business.

“It really just ignited an interest in people, our relationship with work, and how meaningful and impactful work can be for a lot of folks,” she told HR Brew. From there, she pursued a career in HR, earning a master’s in industrial and organizational psychology, and working in recruiting across multiple industries, including integrated healthcare, defense contracting, and tech.

At Deputy, Hilmar leads a team of three that handles global recruiting. A spokeswoman for the company declined to share how many new hires Deputy makes annually, but headcount grew by 20% to 380 employees in the last fiscal year. Hilmar said that her past experience as a frontline worker has helped connect candidates to the company’s mission.

“I like to tell candidates, and anyone that’ll listen, that for a lot of us, we either were shift workers or have shift workers that are in our family or our friends,” she said. “Having an opportunity to connect shift workers more meaningfully to their work and create a sense of autonomy and agency, and that communication and connection is just a really compelling vision and something that a lot of us can get behind.”

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s the best change you’ve made at a place you’ve worked?

The most impactful change a recruiting leader can facilitate is transforming the hiring function from a reactive process into a proactive, strategic asset that helps drive business growth. We’re focused on just that here at Deputy, as we look to leverage our values-driven culture and strong employer brand to deliver an exceptional candidate experience while leveraging technology and data-driven recruitment strategies to attract and engage high-caliber talent globally. We want to build a team that empowers our most in-need, frontline workers. We are all deeply committed to helping millions of frontline workers have a better, more fulfilling experience.

What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job?

“Recruiting is just posting jobs and reviewing resumes.” Recruiting is really a dynamic function that requires a lot of strategic intention, care, connection, influence, and creativity. As talent brand ambassadors, we actively source candidates, network, understand market trends, and build relationships to attract and engage top talent.

What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?

It’s especially fulfilling to be in a unique position to drive both personal growth in others and long-term success for the organization. As a lifelong student of the relationship between people and their work, I know first-hand the impact work has on folks and being in a position to create access and opportunity to meaningful work for others is very fulfilling. At the same time, I get to contribute a direct impact to the organization’s growth and success by building high-performing teams, shaping company culture, and influencing business outcomes through strategic recruitment and hiring. It’s the best of both worlds!

What trend in HR are you most optimistic about? Why?

Very top of mind is Al and automation as tools that will not replace our jobs but rather serve to enhance current jobs as they help us streamline and outsource tactical areas of our roles and allow us to focus more on strategic initiatives. Al will help us evolve our day-to-day to more strategic and higher-value delivery by automating the mundane.

Another trend is a doubling-down on employee experience and driving retention through enhancing the employee journey with better onboarding, career development, and implementing continuous feedback mechanisms as some examples.

What trend in HR are you least optimistic about? Why?

Return to office (RTO) mandates. I think it’s an interesting journey that each individual organization is going to have to go through. But I think embracing it as a thing to do as a check the box, as a return to some sort of norm, is probably not the most helpful.

And I think it’s really important to be strategic and intentional about how you bring folks back into the office and making sure that we’re not all sitting in the office on a Zoom because then we’ve missed the opportunity of that in-person connection.