LISTEN: https://www.thepozcast.com/549
Live from RecFest USA 2026 in Nashville, host Adam Posner sits down with Stef Nikitas, Leader of Talent Acquisition at Ace Hardware. Stef shares her journey from joining Ace as a part-time sourcer to scaling a lean, high-performing team of nearly 30 TA professionals across corporate, distribution, international, and customer service divisions. She unpacks how Ace Hardware’s iconic core value—being "the helpful place"—is directly integrated into their recruitment process through curiosity, strong competency models, and human-first candidate touchpoints.
Stef discusses the evolution of their hiring process, including the creation of their standardized "Req to Check" framework ("The Ace Wave of Hiring"). She offers candid insights on leveraging conversational AI and automation for scheduling, sourcing, and recruitment marketing, while maintaining clear guardrails to protect company culture. Finally, Stef offers recruiters actionable advice on overcoming unconscious bias, delivering compassionate rejections, and keeping candidates motivated in today’s job market.
Stef Nikitas is Director of Talent Acquisition at Ace Hardware Corporation, where she leads enterprise talent acquisition strategy, employer brand, recruiting technology, AI adoption, and workforce transformation initiatives. With more than 20 years of experience, she specializes in helping organizations move beyond transactional recruiting to build scalable talent strategies that drive business performance. Stef is a recognized speaker on talent transformation, structured hiring, recruitment marketing, and the future of work.
Connect with Stef: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snikitas/
Ace’s careers page: careers.acehardware.com
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These episodes of #thePOZcast from RecFest USA in Nashville are brought to you by our friends at Dalia. Dalia helps employers convert more career-site traffic into qualified applicants by giving job seekers a universal candidate profile that eliminates repetitive applications and streamlines the application process. Learn more (link below)
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Key Takeaways
Culture Drives the TA Model: Ace Hardware’s store philosophy—starting customer interactions with "What can I help you find today?"—translates to the recruitment process by placing curiosity, helpfulness, and core values at the center of candidate interactions.
Standardization Scaled Success: The TA team developed "The Ace Wave of Hiring," a standardized "Req to Check" framework that aligns recruitment evaluation directly with on-the-job performance metrics and core competencies.
Strategic Use of AI: Ace Hardware uses AI tools (such as Paradox/Grace) for scheduling, communication, image generation, and hyper-specific interview guides, but avoids full automation in interviews to keep human connection front and center.
Overcoming Automation Friction: Shifting to simplified application processes (like Workday/Indeed Easy Apply) significantly increased top-of-funnel applicants, requiring careful adjustments with conversational AI to balance candidate ease with candidate quality.
Unconscious Bias Awareness: True bias reduction in recruiting stems from self-awareness, continuous team training, and evaluating talent strictly based on skills, experience, and core values rather than names or backgrounds.
Compassionate Candidate Experience: Delivering rejections with empathy and clear feedback turns a difficult moment into a constructive experience for job seekers, reinforcing brand loyalty even when candidates aren't hired.
Chapters
00:00 – Introduction & The Ace Hardware "Helpful Place" Brand
01:03 – Extrapolating Core Store Values to the Talent Acquisition Process
03:26 – Steph Nikitas’ Journey & Overview of Ace's TA Structure
04:18 – Storytelling and Impact: What Draws Candidates to Ace Hardware
05:27 – Building TA from the Ground Up & "The Ace Wave of Hiring"
07:05 – Top-of-Funnel Friction, Easy Apply, and Implementing Paradox (Grace)
09:14 – Navigating AI for Interview Scheduling & Human Control
10:58 – The Role of AI vs. Automation in Preserving Human-Centric Culture
12:29 – Practical AI Use Cases: Recruitment Marketing, Sourcing & Interview Guides
14:21 – Defining the Modern Recruiter: Storytelling, Judgment & Unconscious Bias
17:17 – Team Spotlight: Celebrating the Deployment of the Ace Wave Project
18:25 – Managing Candidate Rejections with Compassion and Empathy
19:47 – Golden Advice for Job Seekers & Where to Connect
