Abbe Smith, Senior Talent Enablement Manager at Legend

Adam interviewed Abbe Smith, Senior Talent Enablement Manager at Legend about recruiter enablement. They discussed Abbe's journey from hands‑on recruitment to a strategic enablement role. With a recruitment career spanning several years, Abbe explained that her natural, process‑driven mindset first became apparent when she worked as the sole external hire on a new recruitment team at a charity-her ideas and practical improvements quickly garnered attention. This experience set her on the path to building recruitment functions from scratch and eventually evolving into her current role, where she focuses exclusively on enabling recruiters.
Abbe emphasized that the first step in recruiter enablement is to map out and thoroughly document the existing recruitment process. Whether on a digital whiteboard or on paper, this exercise-gathering input from hiring managers, leadership, and other stakeholders-is crucial to identifying bottlenecks and pain points. With both anecdotal insights and data from their ATS, teams can then prioritize which issues need immediate fixing versus those that can be addressed later.
She also highlighted one of the major challenges in today's recruiting landscape: the overwhelming volume of direct applications, often exacerbated by easy-apply features and AI-generated cover letters. This influx creates logistical difficulties and can dilute the quality of candidate information. Abbe stressed the importance of balancing the use of new tools and technologies with a focus on the bigger picture, ensuring that process improvements are not just reactive to every new “shiny” solution but are based on strategic priorities and thorough analysis.
Furthermore, Abbe noted that as companies grow, there may be opportunities for more specialized roles within talent acquisition. In smaller organizations, a recruiter might cover end‑to‑end processes, while larger companies could benefit from dedicated product managers for areas like candidate experience and assessment. Regardless of the organizational structure, the goal remains to standardize processes, improve efficiency, and ultimately enhance both the candidate experience and the quality of hires.
In summary, Abbe’s insights underscore the critical importance of mapping and standardizing recruitment processes, leveraging data to identify and prioritize improvements, and maintaining focus amidst rapidly evolving tools and technologies. Her experience demonstrates that effective recruiter enablement not only optimizes operations but also builds a stronger, more consistent employer brand across the organization.