How to Make It to the Top in Tech: Clare Hart Interview in Inc.

Clare Hart, CEO of Sterling Talent Solutions, recently spoke with Wanda Thibodeaux for Inc.com to share tips about how to “make it” in the technology industry. They spoke about a variety of topics from mentoring to the importance of people and striving for balance in a world of technology.

All Encompassing Vision

Clare Hart was appointed the CEO on January 1, 2015, after holding the role of President since May 2013. She is a strong industry leader who activates the strengths of employees, while leading an aggressive growth strategy, vision and company performance. Her unifying vision for the company includes becoming a technology leader in the Human Capital Management space, building a globally recognized HCM brand and transforming Sterling Talent Solutions into an employer of choice. Clare’s technological insights and experience as an application developer has positioned her as a credible leader amongst Sterling’s large engineering and technology teams.

As a result of Hart’s technology vision, Sterling Talent Solutions has grown their suite of employment background screening solutions. Under Clare’s leadership, Sterling moved to the cloud and in September 2016 launched a new cloud-based platform, SterlingONE. This platform optimizes the hiring workflow by streamlining the hiring process, making it easier for HR executives to recruit, screen/onboard and manage their employment lifecycle.

Your People Are Your Base

With 20 offices spanning nine countries, we are growing quickly, and our employees are at the heart of helping us achieve our goals. It is our employee’s passion towards our mission, and the mission of our clients, that continues to spur our growth.

Since October 2015, Sterling Talent Solutions has acquired four companies (EmployeeScreenIQ, TalentWise, RISQ Group and Verified Person) bringing many of the highest performing and industry leaders on board under the leadership and vision of Clare Hart. Our key hires and promotions over the past year allow Sterling Talent Solutions to move closer towards our vision of empowering smarter people to make decisions fuelled by innovation and dynamic technology. These key new hires and promotions, in addition to our executive leadership team, continue to find new areas for success, while motivating their respective teams along the way. Our employees have become such a huge part of our success model that they were one of the major reasons we made the choice to rebrand our organization in June 2016.

According to Clare Hart, teamwork and collaboration are key functions in fast-paced and high-demand technology organizations. While deadlines are important, working as a team to get to get that project completed correctly is the most important. “Deadlines matter because promises are made, and accountability is incredibly important, but dates cannot rule. Instead, quality and plan priorities rule.”

Technology is Essential

Over the past two years, Sterling’s strong investment in technology enhancements continues to increase the quality, stability and agility of day-to-day operations, while fueling faster, more reliable background screening, as well as stronger compliance and security measures for the 80 million screens completed annually.

Hart believes that it is important to keep your eye on the core product of your company. “I have a strong view that technology is essential to business-every business-today. Starbucks, Amazon and Domino’s Pizza [for example], are successful because of their technology. But they each have products that are the real reason people select these companies over their competitors. Leaders cannot take their eye off their core products. [They] must guide people to focus on what must be done and not drift into ‘other cool tech things.'”

Technology plays a part in every field and industry and it is important to keep connected to the changes that are occurring every day. Hart stated in the interview, “There are changes happening. They’re not happening as fast as anyone wants, but they are happening; so I think we should be optimistic about that. And we should look at tech as every company’s a tech company.”

Continuously Improve, Innovate and Learn

At Sterling Talent Solutions, technology is at the heart of everything we do. Our company is committed to delivering the highest quality background checks combined with the fastest service in the industry. To do this, we invest in cutting edge technologies and are constantly innovating new practices and processes at every opportunity. When you unite our industry-leading technologies with the deep expertise of our global staff of researchers and screeners, you get an unmatchable resource for background screening excellence. Find out more about Sterling Talent Solutions by visiting our website.