Making grand slam hiring more inclusive and empathetic

Too many resumes, too little diversity

The governing body for tennis in Australia has to increase its workforce sevenfold for its annual Australian Open tennis tournament. To achieve this it has to manually sort through thousands of applications each year.

Tennis Australia has a positive staff-retention rate, but the organization was keen to take advantage of the tournament recruitment process to increase the diversity of its workforce.

• 3,000-4,000 roles to fill per year
• 83% of roles were filled by returning team members
• 7,000 work hours per year spent manually sorting resumes
• An application process that wasn’t candidate-friendly

The challenge

Before implementing Sapia, the HR team manually sorted through thousands of resumes each year, spending in the order of 7,000 hours to fill 3,000 – 4,000 roles. In addition to improving hiring efficiency, Tennis Australia wanted to continue driving their focus on diversity and inclusion both in their workplace and to elevate the experience for patrons of the event.

“Tennis Australia and our events should be places of enjoyment and comfort for everyone, where people from all walks of life get to know each other without fear of judgement or harassment. Inclusivity is at the very core of what we do, and that also involves creating an environment where people feel safe and comfortable to be themselves,” shared Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley.

A board member suggested automating hiring with Sapia, and as Chief Diversity and People Officer Anna Livingston shares, “the product speaks for itself. It was such a perfect fit”.

The solution

What candidates get

Every applicant starts with a Sapia AI chat interview specifically designed to screen out human bias. Unlike most high-volume recruiting, the AI actually provides positive feedback and insights to each and every candidate, even those who aren’t offered an in-person interview. Candidates were
enthusiastic, saying they found the questions interesting and how much they enjoyed answering them.

What hiring managers got

Sapia.ai’s Smart Interviewer analyzes each chat, creating a shortlist that includes candidates the recruiters describe as “well-rounded, intelligent and competent”.

The recruitment process was far more efficient and the diversity of the workforce rose dramatically.

A better talent pool for less effort

Tennis Australia has processed thousands of applications and confidently made quick hiring decisions since implementing Sapia.ai.

By using Sapia.ai’s automated system they were able to get out of old ruts and bring in staff who better represented the diversity of the country they served.

“When we talk about trying to foster diversity, breaking the mold can be quite difficult. This has helped us to ensure that the injection of new talent is diverse. It’s been a very positive experience for us” – Anne Livingston. Chief Diversity & People Officer, Tennis Australia.

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