As a global leader in workplace experience and facility management, ISS North America (NAM) operates on a simple but profound belief: people make places. With a massive global footprint and a workforce of over 350,000 employees, ISS NAM is the engine behind the world’s most efficient offices, hospitals, and airports. To maintain this level of service, the company hires thousands of new team members every year in the U.S. alone, necessitating a recruiting engine that is as resilient as it is expansive.
But ISS NAM’s hiring process lagged at the exact moments it needed to be frictionless. Burdened by manual screening and interview scheduling, recruiters didn’t have the opportunity to progress candidates through the process quickly. As a result, the organization's time-to-hire stretched to 65 days, and ISS NAM became understaffed.
This challenge was further compounded by the diversity of ISS NAM’s workforce. Many candidates have limited technology literacy or English proficiency, and ISS NAM wasn’t offering an experience that made applying easy—costing the company thousands of candidates every month.
ISS NAM could no longer afford to do nothing. They sought a hiring process that was fast, accessible, and genuinely welcoming to all.
People are everything. All of the touchpoints of your recruiting process need to be working together in harmony.
Chief Information Officer, Americas
Meeting candidates where they are with AI.
ISS NAM completely transformed their hiring with Workday Paradox Conversational ATS, an end-to-end hiring platform powered by Iris, ISS NAM’s new AI agent. Iris automates everything from a candidate experience perspective, including screening, interview scheduling, and onboarding, freeing ISS NAM’s recruiters to focus on high-value human interactions.
At the heart of ISS NAM’s transformation was a radical commitment: technology would serve people, not the other way around. In that regard, ISS NAM and Paradox co-designed an experience as simple and familiar as texting a friend. Candidates can apply for jobs, answer screening questions, and schedule interviews all via text message—in their preferred language and without needing logins or passwords.
“We wanted to create a sense of belonging,” said Alice Fournier, ISS NAM’s Chief Information Officer of the Americas. “We wanted to make sure no one felt left behind.”
Accessibility was the guiding principle in ISS NAM’s implementation. The team ensured that every step of the process was mobile-friendly, available 24/7, and compliant with digital accessibility standards. Iris is designed to respond naturally to candidates in multiple languages, creating a frictionless experience for everyone.
With Workday Paradox we knew we had something where candidates feel comfortable. It’s very easy. It’s really quick. It’s all mobile.
Chief Information Officer, Americas
Faster, simpler, more inclusive hiring.
The implementation of Workday Paradox has fundamentally accelerated the ISS NAM hiring engine. By automating the administrative work, ISS NAM has since reduced frontline time-to-hire from 65 days to less than 10, ensuring that essential facility sites remain fully staffed and operational.
But the results go beyond mere efficiency; they touch the core of the employer brand. HR teams, once bogged down by manual administrative work, are now free to focus on high-value human engagement, ensuring that the transition from "candidate" to "colleague" is seamless.
“Our candidates initially felt marginalized because of their discomfort with our old technology,” said Fournier. “Now we have the right experience. We have something where candidates feel that they belong.”
Workday Paradox has driven solid ROI for us.
Chief Information Officer, Americas