From Project Manager to Strategic Advisor: Transforming Talent Acquisition for a Growing EMS Provider
A growing, multi-state emergency medical services provider engaged G1 Consulting Group to help lead the implementation of its enterprise Talent Acquisition ecosystem. What began as a project management engagement quickly evolved into something broader: G1 became a functional expert, trusted advisor, and critical bridge between the client’s business needs and its implementation partner’s technical delivery.
In addition to a successful implementation of iCIMS Talent Cloud, a cloud-based talent acquisition platform, the project established more consistent recruiting processes, improved visibility and efficiency, and built a scalable Talent Acquisition foundation designed to support continued growth.
The Challenge
Modernizing Talent Acquisition across a growing, complex organization
With more than 2,500 employees operating across multiple states and business units, our client needed to create a more consistent and scalable approach to recruiting.
While the primary focus was implementing the iCIMS Talent Cloud, this was not a standalone ATS implementation. The initiative required G1 to help coordinate an interconnected Talent Acquisition ecosystem spanning the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), Candidate Relationship Management (CRM), Text Engagement, Onboarding, reporting and analytics, and integrations with HireRight, Orion Talent, LinkedIn, Indeed, and other recruiting technologies.
Success depended not only on configuring the individual solutions, but on ensuring the technology, business processes, integrations, vendors, and stakeholders worked together as one cohesive recruiting ecosystem.
At the same time, they needed to continue recruiting throughout the implementation.
Recruiting processes differed across business units. Recruiters had varying levels of experience with technology, and requirements continued to evolve as users gained a better understanding of what the new platform could do. The implementation also required coordination across HR, Recruiting, IT, Operations, executive leadership, iCIMS Professional Services, and several third-party technology providers.
The real challenge was creating alignment between people, processes, and technology while keeping the business moving toward go-live.
The organization needed a partner who could provide strong program leadership while also understanding the functional realities of recruiting and translating business needs into practical technology decisions.
The G1 Solution
Start with the plan. Then go where the client needs you.
G1 was initially brought in to provide enterprise project management and implementation support. The team established the governance and structure needed to manage a complex implementation, keeping stakeholders aligned through recurring leadership meetings, issue and risk management, decision tracking, UAT oversight, executive reporting, and cross-functional collaboration.
But as the project progressed, it became clear that project governance alone wasn’t enough.
As G1 developed deeper expertise in the iCIMS Talent Cloud, the team began contributing directly to solution design, configuration decisions, business process optimization, testing, reporting, and user enablement.
The G1 team went beyond managing the implementation and learned the business and technology well enough to help shape the solution.
That shift became particularly valuable as requirements evolved. Rather than recreating existing recruiting processes in a new system, G1 worked with recruiters, HR leaders, hiring managers, and the implementation partner to identify opportunities to simplify workflows, automate manual activities, improve candidate engagement, and create a more effective recruiting experience.
G1 became the functional and program-level bridge across the ecosystem connecting the organization's business teams, iCIMS implementation resources, and third-party technology partners. The team translated business requirements into actionable configuration and integration decisions, validated functionality, helped troubleshoot complex issues, and identified solutions that aligned technology capabilities with operational objectives.
This allowed the organization to make decisions faster, close functional gaps, and maintain momentum without relying solely on vendor resources.
Building adoption into the implementation
Technology only creates value when people are prepared to use it.
Throughout the implementation, G1 worked directly with recruiters, HR leadership, hiring managers, and other stakeholders through collaborative workshops, iterative demonstrations, user acceptance testing, training, and issue resolution.
This approach gave users an opportunity to see how the system would work, provide feedback, and help shape the future-state experience before deployment.
The result was a stronger sense of ownership and confidence as the organization moved toward go-live.
Staying accountable through go-live
G1’s role continued to expand through implementation, testing, go-live readiness, and hypercare.
The team helped identify and resolve functional gaps that could have put the launch timeline at risk and provided hands-on post-go-live support, including issue triage, functional troubleshooting, user guidance, and continued optimization.
By this point, the nature of the relationship had fundamentally changed.
G1 had become an extension of the organization’s Talent Acquisition team.
The Result
A successful implementation and a stronger Talent Acquisition foundation
The organization successfully implemented an integrated Talent Acquisition ecosystem designed to support its current needs and future growth.
The engagement delivered:
A modern Talent Acquisition ecosystem spanning Applicant Tracking System (ATS), CRM, Text Engagement, and Onboarding
Standardized recruiting processes across multiple business units
Greater automation and efficiency through streamlined workflows and candidate communications
Improved visibility through executive recruiting dashboards and reporting
Connected technology through integrations with HireRight, Orion Talent, LinkedIn, Indeed, and other recruiting platforms
Stronger user adoption and confidence among recruiting teams
A scalable foundation for growth, including future technology enhancements and acquisitions
More effective collaboration across HR, Recruiting, IT, Operations, and implementation partners
Just as importantly, the benefits extended beyond go-live. The organization continued using the governance, workflows, reporting, and processes established during the implementation, while G1 remained available to provide advisory support as new enhancements and integrations emerged.
The real outcome: a trusted partnership
What began as a project management engagement evolved as the team developed a deeper understanding of the organization’s business and technology. G1 became a trusted resource for functional guidance, system administration, process optimization, and ongoing support—helping the organization navigate the implementation through go-live and beyond.
The client captured the partnership simply:
“There is no way we could have gone live without G1.”