Client brief introduction:

Proton was launched in the summer of 2014. Since then, it has grown significantly,
becoming the world’s leading privacy company, used by more than 50 million people
globally. It provides free encrypted email, calendar, drive, password manager and
VPN services.

The Proton team comprises over 500 people, many coming from top academic
institutions and organizations, including CERN and MIT.

Key data:

• Time on assignment: 4 months
• Hirings done: 8 (3 Tech & 5 Non-tech)
• % Reacted to HR screen: 76 %
• % HR screened to Hiring Manager interview: 63 %
• Time to hire: 24 days
• Time to find a hire: 18 days
• Time to fill: 42 days

Client testimonials:

‘’The communication and level of service provided by Tribe XYZ have always met our
high expectations. I especially appreciate the flexibility and execution speed of Petr
and Lukas, which have been crucial for our productive cooperation. I look forward to
our fruitful collaboration in the future.”

Ondřej Illek, Talent Acquisition Lead

Context:

This case study outlines the successful collaboration between Proton and Tribe.
The project started in 2022, when we were engaged for a 4-month period, delivering
significant results within this timeframe. Due to the successful outcomes achieved
during the initial engagement, Proton reached out to Tribe again in 2023 for further
support.

Tribe team has consistently met Proton’s expectations, contributing to the
accomplishment of the company’s projects and objectives.

The second collaboration between Tribe and Proton proved pivotal during a critical
phase of their organizational growth. Upon Tribe integration into Proton, the internal
TA team faced a transition as one member left the company, leaving the team with
only 2.5 FTEs. With ambitious hiring goals looming, including over 20 priority roles
spanning IT and non-IT sectors, Proton needed an external partner capable of
managing the non-IT recruitment landscape.

Tribe stepped in seamlessly, assuming responsibility for the non-IT segment (with few
roles in IT as well), allowing Proton’s internal team to dedicate their resources entirely
to the pressing IT roles. This strategic division enabled Proton to streamline its hiring
processes and focus efforts where they were needed most.

The success of this partnership was evident as it extended into the following year
(2024), with Tribe becoming an integral part of the early distribution of Proton’s new
hiring plan. By leveraging the expertise of Tribe in non-IT recruitment, Proton was
able to execute its hiring strategy efficiently, driving the company’s growth and
ensuring the fulfillment of critical organizational needs.

Need analysis:

Challenges:

• Lower brand recognition in some markets
• Lack of streamlined interview process
• Difficulties in boosting candidate pipeline
• Hiring managers’ lack of time & involvement

Opportunities:

• Revamping employer branding strategy
• Reviewing recruitment process
• Realigning expectations
• Empowering hiring managers

Action plan & Implementation:

Challenge: Lower brand recognition in some markets

Our TA deepened company’s description in InMails when approaching candidates in
those regions. Also, they dedicated more time to introduce the company to the
candidates during the interviews. Thanks to these actions, the conversion rates
increased. In particular, we managed to reach 76% of transformation between
‘’Reacted’’ to ‘’HR screen’’.

Challenge: Lack of streamlined interview process

The TA team identified the need to streamline the interview process, in order to
facilitate quicker decision-making.

In particular, our consultants:

• merged all interview rounds with the same purpose
• scheduled several rounds of interviews on the same day back to back to speed up the process
• started doing the offer preparation right before the final round to be faster when extending the offer.

Thanks to these actions, we managed to reach:

• 24 days of time to hire
• 18 days of time to find a hire
• 42 days of time to fill

Challenge: Difficulties in boosting candidate pipeline

Recruitment team was facing some challenges in sourcing a sufficient number of
qualified candidates for open positions. That’s why our TA took time with hiring
managers to reevaluae the requirements of the roles. This helped them to better target the candidates, resulting in a lower number of approached candidates with
higher quality.

This was done mostly by reviewing the candidates together with the hiring managers,
setting up the right questions for interviews and constant communicating with the
hiring team to align/adjust better.

Challenge: Hiring managers’ lack of time & involvement

The TA advocated for swift decisions in cases where Hiring Managers lacked time or
interest, indicating a challenge in ensuring timely decision-making throughout the
recruitment process.

When the assignment ended, Tribe left thorough analyses and an advice-guide to the
internal TA team, on how to involve hiring managers more and keep them engaged.

The overall conclusion highlights the challenge of empowering Hiring Managers with
trust and autonomy in decision-making processes, which is crucial for enhancing
recruitment efficiency and meeting growth targets effectively.

Results & Reflection:

The recruitment efforts conducted by Tribe at Proton yielded significant engagement
and successful outcomes:

• 8 hirings done
• 100% offer acceptance rate
• 1823 candidates contacted on LinkedIn > 163 interviews > 103 candidates progressed to the next round, showcasing a strong selection process

Tribe worked on 12 roles in total, demonstrating a broad scope of recruitment efforts
within the organization. However, it’s noteworthy that three of these roles were
canceled during the ongoing recruitment process due to deprioritization. While this
presents a challenge, it also reflects the Tribe team’s agility in adapting to changing
organizational needs and reallocating resources effectively.