How Bloom Helped Craft PR Double Its Team in Competitive Talent Market
Growing pains hit different in a global pandemic and tight talent market. Hiring your dream team has never been harder. Craft PR was ready to scale in early 2021, Melissa Retty, a senior vice president at the firm and the company’s HR lead, knew she would need help. And at the firm’s size, hiring an in-house, full-time HR leader didn’t make sense.
Craft PR needed the flexibility to handle the ebb and flow of building a DEI foundation, rebuilding the company’s hiring playbook, then hiring key people to double headcount. Melissa explained why Craft PR chose Bloom to help them scale and the happiness she felt as Bloom became a “true partner” to the company.
Above all, needing flexibility
Like many startups, Craft PR had hired and grown organically, getting to over 10 people and thriving. But when 2020 led to a surge in demand, Craft had a substantial need to hire new team members to meet the growth of its business. Since Melissa helped build the company’s HR infrastructure to date, she was aware it needed a refresh to truly support the company’s goals.
“We built a fair and equitable process for our size, but we knew it needed iteration and evolution to grow with us,” said Melissa. “We also needed to deepen our talent pools, as pulling from our networks alone was not going to bring us the diverse talent we wanted to get to know.”
On top of iterating the company’s existing processes and finding talent, Melissa and the senior team at Craft needed an external advisor. So much of HR balances legal issues, culture issues, protecting employees, and protecting the company, and Melissa and team wanted experts they could chat with on a regular basis.
Normally, this basket of needs — process, advisory, and hiring — would warrant a full-time hire. But the agency world demanded more flexibility than that.
“Our needs ebb and flow,” said Melissa. “We really needed a partner who could scale up and down with us as necessary. We offer that kind of flexibility to our clients for their PR needs, and it was clear we needed the same kind of partnership for our HR needs.”
Getting ready to Bloom
Melissa first heard of Bloom through a former colleague, but did her own research on the company and founder Avery Francis.
“I felt confident that Avery and Bloom knew what they were talking about and I loved that Avery isn’t afraid to share genuine perspectives,” said Melissa. “Plus, Bloom’s embedded HR leader offering provided flexibility and services that covered all of our needs.”
Craft PR eventually hired Bloom for four distinct needs, all through Bloom’s Embedded HR Leader offering:
1. Recruiting: Finding top talent from a diverse pool.
2. DEI Training: Building a knowledge foundation for leadership and employees to help both internal processes and client service.
3. HR process improvement: Building inclusive structures and objective hiring processes that scale easily.
4. Confidential HR advisory: Aiding Melissa and other leaders on any confidential HR questions they had.
A true partner delivering valuable results
Melissa’s confidence in Bloom paid off in a big way. After working together for six months, the results continued to roll in.
- A new employee handbook that makes onboarding simple and scalable.
- New inclusive recruiting processes Craft PR can use in the future.
- New hires and a massive talent pipeline for future talent.
Above all though, Melissa said she valued the feeling of confidence she had with Bloom. It wasn’t just a successful recruiter delivering results, but a “true partner” thinking about how HR can impact overall business growth.
“Bloom didn’t just deliver process improvements and great candidates, but they were and continue to be a true partner for us,” said Melissa. “We often see ourselves as a confidential sounding board for our clients. Bloom became that confidential sounding board for us, and it was amazing. They were easy to work with, were open to talking with us, and we can’t wait to continue working with them.”
