Speed Matters: How Career Sites Can Learn from Formula One with Bryan Adams, Happydance
Ever wondered what Formula One racing and career websites have in common? More than you might think, according to Bryan Adams, CEO and founder of Happydance, who recently joined Bill Banham on the HRchat Show to discuss an innovative new campaign that's bringing F1-inspired competition to the talent acquisition space.
The "Careers Site Grand Prix" pits career websites against each other, measuring their performance in speed, accessibility, and SEO – creating an F1-style leaderboard complete with weekly podiums and seasonal champions. This timing perfectly aligns with Formula One's 75th anniversary celebrations and the iconic Silverstone Grand Prix.
Bryan, a two-time bestselling author with 20 years in employer branding and a past guest on our sister show, the People and Performance Podcast, shared a startling statistic that frames the entire conversation: for every second past three seconds that your career website takes to load, you lose 10% of your audience. "You're not up against other career websites," Adams explains. "You're up against Amazon and Netflix, TikTok and Instagram" – platforms that have dramatically reduced our patience for digital experiences.
The parallels between F1 and talent acquisition run deep. Just as racing teams seek marginal gains through precise optimization and teamwork, organizations must optimize their career sites across multiple dimensions – load speed, accessibility, mobile responsiveness, and personalization – to create winning candidate experiences. As more candidates browse and apply for jobs on mobile devices, meeting them where they are becomes increasingly critical.
What's refreshing about Bryan's approach is his emphasis that creating high-performing career sites isn't just about having Fortune 100-level resources. It's about getting fundamentals right, measuring what matters, and using data to drive continuous improvement, much like successful F1 teams. When asked which F1 team Happydance resembles, Bryan bypassed the obvious powerhouses to identify with teams that "are constantly punching above their weight, constantly relying on ingenuity, creativity, teamwork, new innovation."
Want to see how your organization's career site measures up? Visit gp.happydance.love
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