The People Side of ABA: Recruiting, Onboarding, and Retaining Talent with Holli Clauser

Podcast Episode: The People Side of ABA: Recruiting, Onboarding, and Retaining Talent with Holli ClauserIn this episode of In the Field: The ABA Podcast, I sit down with Holli Beth Clauser, founder of ABA C.A.R.E.S. Staffing, the ABA C.A.R.E.S. Conference, and host of The People Contingency Podcast.Holli brings a wealth of experience from her early days as a behavior technician to her current work helping ABA organizations rethink hiring, onboarding, and retention. We talk about how ABA principles can (and should) be applied to the people side of the field, why turnover is a clinical issue, and what ethical, retention-first hiring looks like in practice.Key Topics:The People Side of ABA: Holli shares her journey from direct care to founding ABA C.A.R.E.S. Staffing, and how her passion for improving client outcomes through better staff systems drives her work.Ethical, Retention-First Hiring: Why honesty and clarity during recruitment lead to long-term stability—and how being upfront about the realities of the job helps both candidates and clients.Data-Driven Decision Making: How organizations can use metrics beyond turnover rates to evaluate hiring, onboarding, and employee support.Bridging Operations, HR, and Clinical Teams: Strategies for breaking down silos and building collaboration between recruiters, clinicians, and leadership.Culture, Belonging, and Brand: How small decisions—from who gets celebrated to how feedback is handled—communicate organizational values and shape retention.The ABA C.A.R.E.S. Summit: Holli’s annual conference focused on workforce sustainability, leadership development, and meaningful collaboration across roles in ABA.Key Takeaways:Recruiting is not just filling seats—it’s the first step in delivering quality care.Retention starts before hiring. Being transparent about expectations builds trust and long-term alignment.ABA organizations must apply the same analytical rigor to people systems that they apply to client programs.Collaboration across HR, operations, and clinical leadership is essential for sustainable staffing systems.Building culture is an ethical act: how you treat your people directly impacts how they treat clients.Keywords: ABA Staffing, Retention, Recruitment, Onboarding, Organizational Culture, Workforce Sustainability, HR in ABA, Behavior Technician Hiring, Ethical Hiring, Employee Engagement, ABA Leadership, Holli Clauser, ABA C.A.R.E.S. ConferenceConnect with Holli:LinkedIn: Holli Beth ClauserEmail: [email protected]: ABA C.A.R.E.S. StaffingPodcast: The People ContingencySubscribe to the Podcast: Don’t miss more conversations about leadership, supervision, and workforce development in ABA. Subscribe to In the Field: The ABA Podcast for weekly insights from practitioners shaping the future of our field. Visit www.sidekicklearning.net for resources on fieldwork supervision, RBT® training, and continuing education.Disclaimer:BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.All information and products are for educational purposes only.