Field notes on hiring people for frontline work.
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The 8 priorities separating high-performing talent acquisition teams in 2026
Based on research with 200 talent acquisition leaders and analysis of more than 200,000 candidate assessment journeys. The hiring conversation in 2026 has been dominated by AI. But when ThriveMap surveyed 200 talent acquisition leaders, a more grounded picture emerged. The highest-performing teams aren’t chasing speed. They’re investing in hiring accuracy: improving quality of hire, […]
Why your pre-hire assessment isn’t working
Nobody invests in pre-hire assessments because they enjoy adding steps to the hiring process. They invest because they want better hires. Better retention. More confidence in decisions. Less of that sinking feeling six months in. And yet many organisations never stop to ask the most important question: is our assessment actually improving quality of hire? […]
GDPR Article 22 for hiring: Automated decision making explained
In March 2026, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office warned employers that many automated recruitment processes may already fall within the scope of GDPR Article 22. The concern is: hiring teams increasingly rely on AI and automation to reject, rank, and filter candidates before a recruiter ever reviews them. Under GDPR, that creates legal risk if […]
AI hiring tools FCRA compliance: why the Eightfold case changes everything
In January 2026, a class action lawsuit fundamentally shifted how organisations need to think about AI hiring tools for FCRA compliance. Not because it proved algorithms are biased, but because it argues they don’t need to be biased to be unlawful. The case redefining AI hiring risk In Kistler et al. v. Eightfold AI Inc., […]
2026 Pre-Hire Assessment Spend: The Data Breakdown
Companies are investing heavily in evaluating candidates before they even make an offer. But exactly how much are they spending, and where are those budgets going? If you want to understand the modern hiring landscape, you need to look at the numbers. At ThriveMap, we recently surveyed 200 talent acquisition leaders to uncover exactly how […]
AI is “breaking” online assessments? Not quite.
There’s a narrative building in hiring circles right now: AI means candidates can cheat on assessments. Take a photo, upload it to ChatGPT, get the perfect answer. Therefore, online assessments are broken. It sounds urgent. It’s also not really true. Candidates have always been able to cheat. They could ask a friend to sit the […]
AI Screening Bias Problem: Why Fairer Hiring Still Fails
Why “Fairer” Hiring Still Fails to Deliver Better Outcomes There’s a growing belief in hiring: ? AI will solve bias. And on the surface, that’s happening. AI screening tools can: Compared to manual CV screening, that’s a clear step forward. But focusing only on bias misses a bigger issue. ? Because even if hiring becomes […]
Why Not All Realistic Job Assessments Are Equal
You set up a realistic job assessment for your latest open role. Candidates log in, answer a few scenario-based questions, and receive a score. You get a neat dashboard showing who performed best. The process feels efficient. But are you actually evaluating if the candidate fits the reality of the job, or are you just […]
Work sample assessments: why they outperform traditional hiring methods
Most hiring assessments try to predict performance. Work sample assessments don’t predict it.They observe it directly. And the data is increasingly clear: candidates trust them more, see them as fairer, and perform better when they’re used properly. What is a work sample assessment? A work sample assessment is a hiring method where candidates complete tasks […]