How Thermosash achieved 95% faster candidate screening with Recruitment Agent

About the business

Thermosash Commercial Limited is one of New Zealand’s largest specialists in the design, manufacture and installation of curtain wall systems and glass façades. Operating across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, the Group employs more than 550 people in roles ranging from design and manufacturing through to on-site installation. Its teams support the delivery of both major high-rise developments and smaller-scale construction projects, working with property developers, government organisations, public-private partnerships and private sector architects, designers and engineers.

With a workforce of this scale and diversity, recruitment is essential to keeping the business moving. The HR team manages hiring across multiple business units and across a broad mix of roles, each with different levels of complexity and recruitment demand.

Craig Gillett leads recruitment as Group General Manager – People and Capability. Alongside one other team member, he oversees hiring across the entire organisation.

The challenge

Before using Employment Hero’s Recruitment Agent, Thermosash’s previous recruitment was extensive. It involved an initial review, phone screening, coordination of the first face-to-face interview, shortlisting following that interview, arrangement of the second-stage interview, score review, reference checking and briefing Hiring Managers. Even then, there was still a further round of candidate review and final shortlisting to complete. 

At the same time, increasing application volumes were making it harder to identify top candidates at speed. Written screening responses were also becoming less dependable, as applicants increasingly used AI tools to produce polished CVs and refined answers, reducing visibility of genuine capability in the early stages of recruitment. This created a clear need for a faster and more reliable screening approach, enabling the People and Capability team to focus their time on the quality assessment and evaluation of the best candidates.

The solution

To streamline hiring, Thermosash introduced Employment Hero’s Recruitment Agent, adding an automated video interview stage to the early screening process.

After completing the application and screening questions, shortlisted candidates are invited to complete a customised video interview. This gives the team an early opportunity to assess motivational, behavioural, situational and role-specific responses and has largely replaced traditional first-round interviews.

Candidates record responses to tailored interview questions designed specifically for the role. Instead of spending time coordinating multiple live interviews, Craig, his team and the Hiring Manager can review candidate responses simultaneously and independently, allowing for a more efficient and flexible assessment process.

This approach makes it easier to revisit key answers, compare multiple candidates quickly and bring structured evaluation much earlier into the recruitment process. It reduces administration, improves speed and allows the team to focus more of their time on high quality applicants.

By the time candidates move to a formal face-to-face interview, the Hiring Manager and recruitment team already have stronger insight into capability, fit and alignment to the role. This means the final interview can be more targeted, more informed and more effective. The impact on screening speed has been dramatic.

The ROI

The Recruitment Agent has significantly improved how the HR team screens candidates and manages hiring.

• Up to 95% faster screening: From up to one week to process and screen a single applicant to reviewing 10 candidates in under twenty minutes
• Under 30-second initial candidate assessment: Quickly evaluate video responses and identify top talent faster
• Major reduction in recruitment admin: Screening, interview coordination and note-taking consolidated into a single workflow
• Supported growth without adding headcount: Enabling a two-person team to manage recruitment across a workforce of more than 550 employees

Why it matters

Beyond efficiency gains, the Recruitment Agent has helped strengthen trust in the HR function across the organisation.

The recruitment portal has also helped drive broader adoption of Employment Hero across the business.

By removing repetitive administrative work and accelerating candidate screening, the HR team can focus on what matters most – identifying the best talent to support Thermosash’s continued growth.