Vitra-Verizon Premium Retailer

Rheam Fathy is currently serving as the VP of talent acquisition at Vitra-Verizon Premium Retailer for nearly four years. She is a service-oriented leader with approximately 20-plus years of specialized experience in the wireless communications industry. She possesses a strong field background in sales, leadership development, and a master's in organizational behavior. She is dedicated to inspiring teams to achieve sales targets while providing best-in-class customer service.

How has the telecom staffing and recruiting industry evolved in terms of the latest technological innovations in streamlining operations?

Telecommunications companies were facing numerous hiring challenges pertaining to economic upheaval and technological disruption. Now they are placing more emphasis on new skill sets while quickly rendering others obsolete. To stay ahead of shifting skill demands, HR leaders and hiring managers will need access to data that covers the telecom industry and focuses on how workers' skill sets shift and change over time in response to regulations, innovations, and other changing demands within the industry itself. Many are addressing skills gaps by seeking new workers with the needed skills. While many existing telecom workers already have adjacent skills, these workers are positioned to learn new skill sets and grow into in-demand jobs.

Start Thinking Smartly And Out Of The Box To Successfully Accomplish Any Challenge At Hand. If It’s Never Been Done Before, That Doesn't Mean It Can’t Be Done

Although hiring for tech roles will remain a major concern for telecoms in the near future, technology can also make the hiring process easier. Skills-based analysis and other AI-driven tools can assist telecom companies in seeking and keeping the right people. Transforming the conventional ATS process and leveraging AI enables the streamlining and simplification of the hiring process and makes life easier for hiring managers. Now they are not spending hours on one application but rather getting all the data through automated AI tools. Therefore, technological advancements like AI tools have modernized the talent acquisition space and made the hiring process simpler, more efficient, and cost-effective.

What are the leadership strategies you leverage to bring transformation within the workflow of your organization?

The approach that I leverage to bring transformation is to know and understand the challenges and pain points of our employees within the organization and address or resolve them as much as possible. This has encouraged our employees to be dedicated to their work and do their best in servicing our customers.

With all these transformations and disruptions prevailing in the space, how do you envision the future?

The future would involve more AI and various technological advances to streamline the hiring process. It would take away the human element; rather, AI would help humans simplify operations.

Would you like to share a piece of advice with your fellow peers so that they can improve in the space?

I strongly believe in the quote 'Nothing is impossible.' You just need to have the mindset and strong willpower to make it happen. For instance, we have hired nearly a thousand candidates in a span of 30 days. When my CEO came up with this challenge, initially, I thought this to be impossible, but later, by implementing all the innovative and smart strategies, we were able to accomplish the goal.

My advice to my fellow peers would be to start thinking smartly and out of the box to successfully accomplish any challenge at hand. If it’s never been done before, that doesn't mean it can’t be done.