Brandon Hall Group’s Excellence in Technology Awards 2025

Personegy Platform Recognized for Transforming High-Volume Hiring at Follett Higher Education and Caliber Collision

The 2025 Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards™ are given for work in Learning and Development, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Human Resources, Sales Enablement, Future of Work, and Education Technology.

NXTThing RPO, a leader in innovative and advanced recruiting technologies, earned two Brandon Hall Group Silver awards for the company’s Personegy hiring platform: one for excellence in the Best Advance in Candidate Experience Management Technology category for its impact on high-volume hiring for Follett Higher Education and one for excellence in the Best Advance in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Technology category for its impact on high-volume hiring for Caliber Collision.

These recognitions celebrate NXTThing RPO’s deployment of Personegy, the company’s next-generation recruiting platform designed to simplify frontline and high-volume hiring at scale. Personegy has helped transform two large, decentralized hiring environments into streamlined, technology-enabled recruitment models, helping both organizations meet seasonal and year-round workforce demands while improving speed, quality, and candidate experience.

Impact at Follett Higher Education

Follett Higher Education, which staffs more than 1,000 campus stores nationwide, partnered with NXTThing RPO to modernize its seasonal hiring model. Personegy replaced a decentralized, store-driven process with a centralized and automated workflow designed for speed and consistency across locations.

“Partnering with NXTThing RPO completely transformed our seasonal hiring strategy. Their ability to scale, combined with automation and candidate care, enabled us to significantly reduce time-to-hire, improve our first day show rates, and relieve our store managers from the burdens of recruitment so they could focus on driving the business,” said Lori Hensler, CHRO, Follett Higher Education. “What sets NXTThing apart is their true partnership mindset. From candidate experience to sourcing innovation, they brought fresh thinking, consistent execution, and transparency to every step of the process. We didn’t just solve a hiring challenge, we elevated our entire approach to talent acquisition.”

Specific outcomes included mobile-first quick apply, automated interview scheduling, more than 250 candidate-experience automations, faster time-to-hire, turnover reduction of more than 40 percent, and a 50 percent return of store manager time back to in-store operations.

Impact at Caliber Collision

Caliber Collision, one of the largest collision repair providers in the United States with more than 1,800 locations, needed a scalable solution to support more than 12,000 open roles at any given time. Before Personegy, candidates faced long application times, slow interview scheduling, and inconsistent experiences across disparate systems, contributing to high turnover in frontline roles.

“What used to take days now happens in minutes, and the automation frees up our recruiters to focus on building real connections with candidates,” said Jim D’Amico, Vice President Talent Acquisition, Caliber Collision. “Since adopting the platform, we’ve seen faster hires, fewer drop-offs, and a noticeable improvement in candidate satisfaction. Combined with NXTThing’s recruiting expertise, we now have technology and services working together to deliver outstanding results.”

Personegy delivered a bilingual mobile quick-apply flow, automated scheduling, integrated CRM-to-Workday workflows, and powerful automation tools that returned an average of 15 hours per week to each recruiter. Candidate satisfaction rose into the 90-95 percent range, and turnover dropped by more than 20 percent across several functions.

“Receiving two awards from Brandon Hall Group really means a lot because it highlights the real improvements our clients are experiencing,” said Jamie Minier, President of NXTThing RPO. “Follett and Caliber may be very different organizations, but both needed a hiring process that was quicker and more candidate friendly. Personegy helped them get there, and our teams partnered closely to make it work. These wins show the power of strong partnerships and the effort our team puts into every project.”

“The Excellence in Technology Awards celebrate the most forward-thinking innovations shaping the future of learning, talent, and human capital management. This year’s winners exemplify how technology can unlock new possibilities – improving performance, enabling smarter decision-making, and transforming how organizations support and develop their people,” said Rachel Cooke, Brandon Hall Group Chief Operating Officer and leader of the Excellence Awards program.

Entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran, independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group analysts, and executives based upon these criteria: fit the need, program design, functionality, innovation, and overall measurable benefits.

Excellence Award winners are scheduled to be honored at Brandon Hall Group’s HCM Excellence Conference, February 9-12, 2026, at the Hilton West Palm Beach, Florida. Select winners will also serve as presenters in breakout sessions, sharing their leading practices during the conference.

“Our Technology Awards are built on a rigorous evaluation framework that measures true innovation, functional excellence, and quantifiable business impact. The organizations recognized this year reflect the highest standards in the industry,” said Mike Cooke, Brandon Hall Group Chief Executive Officer.

About NXTThing RPO

NXTThing RPO, part of Employ Inc., delivers innovative recruitment process outsourcing solutions across industries including manufacturing, life sciences, and retail. With expertise in high-volume hiring, executive search, and recruitment marketing, NXTThing RPO partners with organizations to optimize talent acquisition strategies and elevate the candidate experience. For more information, visit https://nxtthingrpo.com/contact/

About Brandon Hall Group™

Brandon Hall Group™ is the home of the HCM Excellence Awards® – the most prestigious and sought-after awards in Human Capital Management. For more than 30 years, these awards have recognized organizations for innovative and effective HCM practices across learning, talent, leadership, DEI, HR, sales performance, and technology. Known as the “Academy Awards of Human Capital Management,” the programs attract entrants from organizations of all sizes around the world.