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Welcome to Hire Grounds! The series where we meet up with the smart, curious humans across HR and TA to swap stories, share lessons, and talk honestly about what’s happening in talent right now.
Today, we’re sitting down with Stefo Johnson, Senior Manager, People Operations at Sendoso.
And our conversation covered it all. Resumes. AI. Skills-based hiring. Coffee orders. You name it.
From building stronger managers to hiring for attitude over experience, Stefo shared the lessons she’s learned working across both operations and HR—and why the best hiring decisions always put people first.
1. You’ve worked across both operations and HR/TA. How has being close to the day-to-day work changed the way you think about hiring and supporting employees?
I think it’s easy to see an open role and want to immediately start the hiring process, opening a job description right away so you can fill that role quickly. But in my role, I get to see and understand a lot of the behind the scenes which allows me to a step back and look at the bigger picture first.
Because hiring isn’t just about filling a role—and doing it quickly. It’s about understanding the operational impact like hiring costs and financial impact, but also how that decision impacts productivity, team morale, and even the customer experience. Once you see how all of those pieces connect, you start approaching hiring very differently.
So instead of immediately opening a job requisition, I want to understand both sides of the equation. Asking things like:
- What does the business actually need?
- And if we do hire someone, are we creating an environment where they can succeed?
I also really make it a priority to ensure that the person will be able to succeed in the role we have open—making sure clear expectations are given to them and understanding what coaching and development will look like.
Whether I’m supporting hourly employees on-site or hiring for remote corporate teams, my goal is the same: making sure our HR decisions are practical and reflect what’s actually happening in the day-to-day business—not just what’s written in a policy.
2. What’s something people outside of HR/TA don’t always understand about what it takes to build and support a great team?
I think people outside of HR don’t often see all the inner workings that go into building a great team. It’s so much more than just making a hire and moving on with your day. You’re thinking about workforce planning, coaching managers, employee engagement, compensation, compliance—all of the things that help someone succeed after they’re hired.
One question I started asking myself this year was, What don’t my hiring managers know that they should? That led us to build a much more structured onboarding experience for managers, with everything from coaching tips and one-on-one guides to budget checks and training plans.
And of course, you can’t talk about building a great team without talking about culture. I think a lot of folks might assume culture falls solely on the HR/TA team but really an employee’s direct manager plays such a significant role in shaping “good culture.” and that doesn’t happen by accident. HR can create the framework, but managers have to be intentional about shaping that day-to-day experience. Our job is to make sure they have the tools and confidence to do that well—not just during hiring, but long after someone’s first day.
3. When you’re hiring for fast-moving environments like warehouses, distribution centers, or operations teams, what matters most beyond what’s written on a resume?
Everything ties back to culture for me. For our warehouse roles especially, I don’t get too hung up on whether someone has done the exact job before. And in fact, we recently revamped our hiring process because we realized you can teach someone how to use a system or follow a process. What’s much harder to teach are things like attitude and accountability.
I want to know if someone is willing to learn, take ownership, embrace feedback, and show up consistently every day.
And you don’t get that insight just by a resume. So I really like asking candidates something simple like, “What’s a fun fact about you?” or “Just tell me something random.”
That gives me such great insight and really can help lead the conversation down a new path.
At the end of the day, you can teach someone a process or how to use a system. It’s so much harder to teach someone how to show up, be accountable for their work, communicate with peers well, and genuinely want to contribute to the team. Those are the things I look for.
4. What’s one hiring lesson you had to learn through experience—not a textbook or training?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that the “how” and “why” behind someone’s career matter just as much as what’s on their application.
Early on, I would get excited about candidates who were amazing on paper. They had all the right experience and answered every interview question perfectly. But once they were in the role, I realized I hadn’t spent enough time understanding how they actually work.
That became especially important as I started hiring for more remote roles. I had a few hires who struggled, not because they couldn’t do the job, but because they had a hard time succeeding in a remote environment. There were attendance issues, distractions at home, and challenges staying focused. Looking back, I realized I never asked those questions during the interview.
That completely changed how I hire today. I spend a lot more time understanding how someone works, what their day-to-day looks like, and whether the environment is one where they’ll actually thrive.
5. What’s a hiring trend everyone’s talking about? And what’s your honest take on it?
Two trends immediately come to mind: skills-based hiring and AI.
Skills-based hiring has been a really positive shift for us. We’ve completely revamped parts of our hiring process to give candidates more opportunities to demonstrate their skills through questionnaires, work samples, practical assessments, and, for some teams, project-based exercises. Instead of relying only on verbal interview responses, we’re asking candidates to show us how they think, solve problems, and approach real work.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that technical skills can open the door, but it’s the behavior behind those skills that determine whether someone stays. Like I said in my other answers, I’d much rather understand how someone works, how they communicate, and whether they’ll be successful in our environment than focus only on whether they check every box on a resume.
We’ve also found that these assessments create a more efficient hiring process. Different teams use them at different stages, but the goal is the same: gather meaningful insight without making the application and interview process scary for candidates.
AI is the other trend everyone is talking about. And I think there is some pretty healthy debate out there—I personally am 50/50. Where I think we have to be thoughtful is making sure we don’t lose the human element of hiring. One thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes the AI will already have gathered great information, but then the hiring manager comes in and asks the exact same questions. Which, as a job seeker, can make you feel like there isn’t a lot of thought and intention being put into the process. And I never want that.
At the end of the day, if I can make my life and job easier and quicker, and AI can help me do that, I’m all for it. But that can never come at the cost of the candidate and their experience. I never want someone to go through most of the hiring process talking to a bot or an agent without ever getting that connection or face time with a person.
To me, AI works best when it helps create more time for those human moments—not less.
6. You describe HR as your passion because you love being a resource for people. How do you balance supporting employees while also meeting the needs of the business?
Being in HR can definitely feel like you need eight heads sometimes, especially on a lean team. But one thing I’ve learned is that supporting employees and supporting the business shouldn’t feel like two competing priorities. In my mind, they’re very much connected.
When people feel supported, have clear expectations, trust their leaders, and have opportunities to grow, the business performs better. For me, it all starts with making sure our managers are supported first. If they have the tools and dedicated space to support their teams, then HR can step in as that overall resource.
It’s not always easy, and of course there are difficult conversations that come with the job. But I’ve found that if I can support my managers well, it becomes much easier to support our employees and the business at the same time.
7. And of course, what’s your go-to coffee order?
I’m pretty easy. Two shots of espresso over ice with a little bit of 2% milk, and I’m happy. Nothing fancy—I just want the espresso!
A big thank you to our special guest, Stefo. And see you next time for another coffee-fueled Q&A.
