Why ‘More Tech’ Isn't an Effective Talent Acquisition Strategy

Talent acquisition strategy is where most enterprise hiring investments break down. It happens not in the technology, but in the absence of strategy, process design, and accountability underneath it. Linda Brenner, co-founder and managing partner of Talent Growth Advisors, has spent decades auditing broken talent acquisition functions inside Fortune 500 organizations. Her conclusion is consistent: the ATS is rarely the problem. What's missing is the foundation that makes any technology work. On this episode of Don't Get Played, Sarah O'Melia sits down with Linda to talk about why organizations keep investing in hiring tools without seeing results, how hiring manager autonomy quietly degrades TA functions across the industry, and what it actually takes to build a talent acquisition strategy that holds. Linda draws on 20 years of consulting work to make a case most TA leaders already suspect but haven't been able to prove: the dysfunction is not a technology problem. It is a strategy problem. And the financial cost of leaving it unaddressed is almost always far larger than anyone has calculated. 📌 Topics covered: Why implementing hiring technology without a defined strategy almost always leads to the same result How hiring manager autonomy is degrading the ability of organizations to function What it takes to get the CHRO and executive leadership to own the problem Why the real cost of broken hiring is almost always larger than anyone has calculated What a quick win looks like when you need to move speed and quality of hire fast If your organization keeps iterating on hiring without traction, the question Linda would ask is simple: do you have a strategy underneath the technology, or just more technology? ⏳ In this video: 00:00 - Intro 02:17 - Why hiring technology keeps getting the blame 08:02 - How hiring manager autonomy breaks the system 19:47 - What it takes to get executive buy-in 21:31 - The real financial cost of broken hiring 29:39 - What a quick win actually looks like Learn more about Cisive: https://www.cisive.com