Archives for February 2019

Global talent acquisition: how to compete with astonishing growth

February 28, 2019 by Content Team

Blogs & Articles

Global talent acquisition: how to compete with astonishing growth

Content Team

February 28, 2019

Global talent acquisition is growing at an extraordinary pace. Among global professionals, 70 percent of people in professional services work remotely one day per week, and more than 50 percent work remotely at least half the week.

Those insights may astonish workers and managers who still operate within a traditional work environment. Nonetheless, they come from a detailed global study conducted by IWG in 2018.¹

Needless to say, the implications are extraordinary. Perhaps top of the list, enticing levels of flexibility are being offered to compete for the best talent worldwide.

As we deepen our understanding of the rapid growth in global hiring, we must also equip ourselves to compete effectively.

The recommended approach includes a global talent acquisition strategy.

A global approach to talent acquisition enables your business to capture a wide-angle view of all the far-flung pieces. It lets you observe what’s working, what’s missing, and how to bring it all together—now and in the future.

The rise of global talent acquisition

Before we act, let’s make clear the necessity, based on a review of global talent acquisition growth trends.

Businesses of all sizes are entering or expanding their reach in the global marketplace. The number of Fortune 500 companies based in global emerging markets is expected to exceed 45 percent by 2025, according to research by management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company.²

In the United States, 70 percent of employers consider a global workforce “very or extremely important” to their talent strategy, according to a 2018 Harris Poll for Envoy, a global immigration services firm.³

Furthermore, just under 40 of US hiring managers expect employees will do the majority of their work remotely in the next ten years, according to a 2018 survey by freelance website Upwork.⁴

All of these figures point in the same direction: With the rise of a global workforce, we renew our commitment to cross-cultural communication and engagement strategies. This applies to the full life cycle of talent acquisition, but it begins with your candidate engagement strategy.

Talent acquisition takes its pulse from your EVP

A positive, dynamic workplace culture is the bedrock of effective global talent acquisition. Seek to provide candidates in your target markets and around the world with a clear view of your team culture, day-to-day vibe, and long-term career opportunities.

Important windows into your employee value proposition (EVP) may include:

A regional careers website
Global-focused company pages on LinkedIn and Glassdoor
Local social media recruitment campaigns
Regional job fairs
Outreach to local universities and professional associations

Workplace adaptations for a global talent force

A successful on-boarding process is key to the long-term success of remote employees. It can also help shape an effective, collaborative environment that spans time zones, geographies, and cultures.

Worldwide, employees and employers are in the midst of a workplace sea change. Increasingly, team members join meetings and contribute via cloud-based project management tools and video conferencing.

Keep your current employees in mind when developing or evolving your employer brand. They help sustain your value proposition and keep you honest if the EVP doesn’t translate to their experience.

Effective hiring, retention, and workforce engagement depend upon an authentic employer brand and supportive communication channels.

Want to learn more about talent acquisition?

Click here for more information about Hudson RPO Talent acquisition.

Sources

¹ Browne, Ryan. “70% of people globally work remotely at least once a week, study says.” CNBC. Web. 30 May 2018.

² McKinsey Global Institute. “Urban world: The shifting global business landscape.” Web. Oct. 2013

³ O’Donnell, Riia. “How to recruit in a global talent market.” HRDive. Web. 29 Nov. 2018.

⁴ Dishman, Lydia. “Remote work is “the new normal.”” Fast Company. Web. 28 Feb. 2018.

Hudson RPO

Content Team

The Hudson RPO Content Team is made up of experts within the Talent Acquisition industry across the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions. They provide educational and critical business insights in the form of research reports, articles, news, videos, podcasts, and more. The team ensures high-quality content that helps all readers make talent decisions with confidence.

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Government sector recruitment: 3 tips for process improvement

February 28, 2019 by Content Team

Blogs & Articles

Government sector recruitment: 3 tips for process improvement

Content Team

February 28, 2019

Government departments are facing increasing pressure to perform effectively and efficiently.

Hiring quality talent is the key lever for these departments to be able to achieve the agility they need, and appropriate scrutiny should be applied when reviewing the selected resourcing model.

Over the past 25 years, we’ve served clients in both government recruitment and the private sector. We understand how to create efficiencies, leverage the latest HR technologies and innovations and create streamlined, scalable solutions for our client partners.

As an experienced talent acquisition specialist, these are the three key areas that I recommend you focus on.

Whether you’re in government or private sector, rigorous recruitment processes are key. Candidates, for their part, expect a high-touch experience.

To compete for talent, government leaders are increasingly embracing an agile government resourcing model underpinned by process efficiency and new technology.

Recruitment tip 1: streamline talent processes

When it comes to securing top talent, speed to market and speed to response are critical.

To add value and manage budget accountability, begin by reviewing your recruitment processes. Identify the bottlenecks that may be preventing your division from hitting key targets. Reporting can help you understand if the organisation is meeting critical performance requirements.

Ensuring that the most relevant and streamlined processes are in place when it comes to recruitment mean that you have the best chance of securing the right talent at the right time for the right roles.

We recently partnered with one of our Government clients to review, streamline and manage their recruitment processes as part of a major transformation program

To enable efficiency, we replaced traditional face to face interviews with video interview technology. This helped reduced costs and time required and enabled our recruitment specialists to focus on key priorities for their stakeholders.

Here’s an example:

One of our government clients recently reviewed and streamlined their recruitment process.

In the first three stages, internal employees had to reapply for their own jobs and be reassessed for suitability. They could also apply for another job at their same level or similar. In the final stage, we looked externally for compatible talent.

Behind the scenes, we revised each stage while also delivering at the next stage, in accordance with government guidelines for compliance and risk management.

Recruitment tip 2: focus on candidate experience

As with private sector enterprises, candidate experience is a hot topic and one that can make a huge difference to the success or failure of a recruitment project or campaign.

With so many different career options available, having an effective and high-touch candidate experience that reflects a modern, forward-thinking and fast-responding business can prove essential.

Candidates seek a detailed and authentic insight into employers. This helps them determine whether the relationship could be a good fit.

Recently working with a large education Government client, our teams were able to not only review and streamline the recruitment process, but also rewrite job descriptions and ads. This helped ensure the content was targeted and engaged the right calibre of candidates required.

Providing a high-touch approach and experience for candidates meant that they felt positive about applying for roles and understood the next steps.

A fast and efficient candidate experience and process helps reduce the number of candidates abandoning the recruitment process. As a result, you’ll be hiring better-quality people.

Recruitment tip 3: select best-fit technology

Having recently placed more than 2,000 people (both internal and external) in nine months for a government client, we can vouch for the importance of using best-fit technology.

The right technology for government recruitment creates efficiency. It allows you to streamline the recruitment process and can also transform the perception of slow service encumbered by red tape.

We recently managed a volume recruitment project for a client that required us to assemble a delivery team of over 50 people in just six weeks.

The 9-month project timeline to fill over 2,000 positions was ambitious. The use of several online recruitment tools helped ensure successful and timely delivery.

For example, by using Xref, an online reference checking software solution, our team conducted more than 4,500 references efficiently with compliance requirements fully met.

Implementing tools like this helped ensure a highly efficient, positive candidate experience. It also meant that business leaders in HR, Operations and Procurement could trust us to manage their recruitment activity, freeing them to pursue other critical business initiatives.

We recently oversaw more than 15,000 applications by assembling more than 50 project team members in just six weeks. A number of online tools helped make this possible, ensuring successful and timely delivery.

Plus, by using video interviewing instead of traditional face-to face-interviews, the client saved considerable time and cost. By using Xref, an online reference checking software solution, our team conducted more than 4,500 references within challenging timelines.

Hudson RPO

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Talent sourcing: what does it mean to source talent?

February 26, 2019 by Content Team

Blogs & Articles, Video

Talent sourcing: what does it mean to source talent?

Content Team

February 26, 2019

How does sourcing differ from recruiting? Watch the mini video now, or read more below.

Talent sourcing: what does it mean to source talent in the work world? Is it really all that different from candidate recruitment?

Sourcing is the practice of finding candidates who are not actively seeking new roles, but who have the preferred skills, aptitudes, and experiences to excel in an open role.

When approached, these candidates are not usually considering a job change, or even aware of the vacancy.

Active candidates, however, tend to show interest in new opportunities by submitting applications, registering with job boards, or contacting recruiters or hiring managers. These types of candidates go through the recruitment process. In that process, a job is advertised and active candidates apply.

Passive candidates will not usually have applied directly to a vacancy or initiated contact with talent managers. Technically speaking, they aren’t recruited into a role. They are sourced.

Here’s another way to think about sourcing, vs. recruitment. In traditional recruiting, candidates typically present themselves to the opportunity. In sourcing, however, the opportunity presents itself to the candidate, vis-à-vis a sourcer.

What do sourcers do for talent acquisition?

A person who proactively contacts passive candidates about new career opportunities is known as a sourcer.

Sourcers are responsible for filling the vacancy, or vacancies. When sourcing candidates, the sourcer initiates contact with passive candidates. These candidates may already be in another role, or they may not yet have entered the workforce. They may be based locally, or, in an increasingly global economy, they may be based in another region or country. Every situation is unique.

The technical and creative skills of a sourcer are often required to fill roles that require specialist abilities. Big data and search technology help sourcers to map candidate pools and identify exceptional candidates. Sourcers can then deep-dive into how candidates and competitors operate in a given market.

Here’s an excellent step-by-step explanation of how sourcers transform a search into a hire.

Sourcing plays a key role in filling vacancies that are niche in nature, such as technology and pharmaceuticals, or for roles that are unique in scope or location.

Sourcing roles can exist within a company, or they can be outsourced and accessed via an on-demand model.

What are the benefits of talent sourcing?

“Sourced candidates are more than two times as efficient as candidates who apply” directly, according to Lever’s Recruiting Benchmarks Report 2016.

Strategic talent sourcing also helps you identify highly qualified candidates earlier in the process. More than half of people who apply for a job are under-qualified, according to the same study.

When you aim to deliver against time-to-fill metrics, you can’t afford to waste resources on shifting through unusable résumés and CVs.

Sourcing allows you to begin a more focused conversation with vetted candidates. At the start of this conversation, you can align the employer value proposition to the values and goals of your prospective candidate. Equally useful, you can quickly identify whether there’s a fit at all.

With sourcing, you can use personal messaging to reach the closest-fit candidates. Custom messaging is likely to drive higher engagement throughout the process. It’s also likely to help distinguish your employer brand from a sea of prospective employers.

Some roles are so unique that you may not find the right candidate through traditional recruitment. When that’s the case, specialist talent sourcing allows you to dig deeper and avoid mediocrity.

It also helps you avoid those uncomfortable conversations with stakeholders about why you failed to identify the right talent, when and where it was required.

Want to learn more about sourcing?

Click here for more information about sourcing services with Hudson RPO.

Hudson RPO

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Nailed it! Five tips that help lead RPO implementations to success

February 20, 2019 by Content Team

Blogs & Articles

Nailed it! Five tips that help lead RPO implementations to success

Content Team

February 20, 2019

Implementing recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) on a global or multi-regional scale can be mega-complicated.

But with the right approach, it can also be wildly successful.

You’ll likely encounter legal, cultural, operational, and commercial variations. To smooth the process, think glocally. By combining a global mindset with local awareness and sensitivity, consistent and custom service can be delivered.

A single project management methodology and framework can also help align regional processes and establish standards.

An implementation toolkit and a phased implementation approach — one which draws on prior learnings — can help drive best practice. We call this flexibility within framework.

This approach does mean a heavier reliance on the necessary resources to achieve local engagement and global process alignment. But it pays off.

Discover five tips for RPO implementation success.

Top 5 tips for your global RPO implementation project

#1. People must be your No. 1 priority. From selecting your project team, to identifying who will provide ongoing service delivery, great people will help unify your team. Selecting the right-fit team will help ensure cultural alignment, commitment, capability, and collaboration.

#2. Governance creates clarity. This defines the what, whom, when, where, and how. Who is responsible for what activities? In what time frame?

#3. Contracts take time. You need to account for different legal jurisdictions. You should also factor in for the different legal expertise and styles of people involved. This may include non-legal staff, in house council, or external legal advisers.

#4. Trust is earned. It can sometimes be difficult for trust to be given in an implementation where there is often no track record, nor an existing relationship. Quickly forming a joint project team, and mastering early-stage implementation on the first attempt, can help you build track records and earn trust.

#5. Strong communication and change management skills drive implementation. Global projects sometimes require you to do things in person. Take these opportunities to begin nurturing solid relationships.

RPO implementation leaders on the Baker’s Dozen list

As of 2019, we rank No. 1 for RPO implementation in the HRO Today Baker’s Dozen Customer Satisfaction Ratings. The ratings reveal that 100% of our clients describe our RPO implementations as on time, on budget, and acceptable in terms of disruption to the business.

When it comes to successful RPO, a great start is the only start.

Hudson RPO

Content Team

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A poor workplace culture? Talent leaders take note: danger ahead

February 10, 2019 by Content Team

Blogs & Articles

A poor workplace culture? Talent leaders take note: danger ahead

Content Team

February 10, 2019

Workplace culture drives employee engagement. It can send a company performance skyrocketing, or nosediving.

A great workplace culture cultivates highly engaged employees. Without a motivated workforce, productivity suffers. Your bottom line suffers. Employees and customers suffer.

A poor workplace culture? The ramifications are huge.

“Having a 1-star higher rating on Glassdoor predicts about a 1 percent higher annual return on company assets,” according to statistically significant research on Glassdoor.

But the results don’t end there.

The same research identified an annual alpha (or, extra stock market return) of 16 percent on average for an equally-weighted stock portfolio at companies with higher employee satisfaction.

Shocked? Surprised? Dismayed? Delighted?

Whatever your reaction, if business leaders look the other way when corporate culture is crumbling, your talent function will suffer in a big way. The wider market will take notice. Your vacancies will remain vacant longer, and when you do manage to fill them, they won’t stay that way for long.

Is your workplace culture hiding some stinky secrets?

Here’s the thing: a poor workplace culture can no longer be contained within the walls of your business premises.

Thanks to sites such as Glassdoor, the stench of a bad place to work wafts well beyond the domain of current employees, and into the minds of prospective candidates.

So, for example, if bullying is commonplace, and no one’s doing anything about it, you’d better believe the wider talent pool will be quick to catch on. These issues, if indeed they hold an element of truth, tend to reveal themselves in recurring themes on employee reviews.

Even a smattering of reviews throwing up red flags can be enough to scare away some of the really great people who would otherwise help rocket your business to the moon. There must be enough good stuff in these reviews to balance any overtones of a poor company culture.

Prospective candidates, whether they come from active or passive pools, will evaluate these views and ask: do I want to find myself in the same situation as the writer(s) of these reviews?

Top candidates tend to have the luxury of choice, particularly in competitive markets where key skill sets are niche. There would have to be a seriously compelling incentive on the table to counteract the detracting vibe of a negative work culture.

After all, the digital representation of a negative workplace culture can spook candidates into ghosting the application process.

Unfortunately, when you’re responsible for attracting and retaining top talent, a stinky workplace culture is bound to hamper your efforts and add a certain amount of unnecessary strain to your life at work. It’s so desperately not cool, isn’t it?

Except, at least, it doesn’t have to be desperate.

And, as an incredible people leader, you can definitely do something about it.

Workplace culture: the path towards change

Workplaces can change. They can improve. They can reform.

But you need to first understand the change required. Speak with your employees. Survey their views. Assess their priorities. But — and this is key — only do so if you plan on doing something about what you’re about to learn. Anything else is a waste of everyone’s time and effort. If we fail to take action on these valuable insights, we risk causing serious harm to our departmental image across the business.

While it’s true that some people simply long to have their views heard and acknowledged, it’s just as important that they understand the role that their views have played in shaping a brighter future. If, as a result of this process, nothing of consequence changes, they need to understand why that is as well.

The process of participating in a transformation of workplace culture is critical. If we do it right, and if we do it before an employee posts a public review of the workplace, then it’s entirely possible that the review will reflect your workplace in a more positive one.

At a minimum, the reviewer may be more inclined to project a certain perspective of understanding. The review may also include more reflection on the merits of your workplace.

Workplace culture: we’ve got to get it right.

Depending on the maturity of your business and other factors, it may not happen overnight. Nonetheless, identify the levers you can pull, and begin pulling them today.

Both the near-term happiness of your people, and the long-term success of your enterprise, are at stake.

Hudson RPO

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Building a conscious organisation at HRD Summit 2019

February 5, 2019 by Content Team

News

Building a conscious organisation at HRD Summit 2019

Content Team

February 5, 2019

What a memorable day at the HRD Summit! It’s been a privilege to participate in this phenomenal annual event.

So many passionate members of the talent community sharing wisdom and discovering solutions through deep discussions and interactive sessions — it’s truly fantastic.

I’ve been inspired on a personal level, which is why I wanted to share my initial thoughts at the end of the HRD Summit’s first day.

Following on from a tremendous keynote speech from Ruth McGrath, I am already identifying the reds from the greens. We’re talking about challenging business issues which need to be addressed in order for an organisation to survive and prosper.

After the keynote, I had the honour of chairing four fabulous presentations from some extremely inspirational individuals.

Here are a few highlights from that experience.

Fostering a creative and productive culture: Bruce Daisley

I first introduced Bruce Daisley who I think was basically saying I am doing pretty much everything wrong in terms of maximising my creativity and productivity! Bruce is an inspirational author and VP at Twitter.

He is telling me that I need to eat more lunch, for heaven’s sake get to bed earlier, hang out more with the friends that make me laugh, lie down and don’t stand up whenever possible and don’t be tempted to take the stairs ever!

I’ve got to tell you, it makes perfect sense to me!

Thank you Bruce Daisley. I have signed up to “Eat, Sleep, Work Repeat”!

Employer branding: Eurostar

Following this, and a sprint to the Blue Theatre, I introduced Gerard Jacques. Wow! What a brave position he has taken with his graduate intake at Eurostar! If you want to see and hear about a unique and novel approach to employer branding, you need look no further.

Gerard Jacques has recognised what Ruth McGrath described as the “insight and change from the edges”. In other words, the snow effect.

He recognised that in some respects the least qualified are the most qualified. By allowing fresh external perceptions to impact how the employer brand is represented, the messaging carries forward real honesty and excitement.

The grads themselves were clearly empowered and excited about their task and the results are mind boggling! Congratulations Gerard Jacques and your team.

Technology: SpeakAp

Now in a firm base, and having got my breath back, we moved to a piece of tech genius. Genius really in its simplicity. Guy Chiswick is the MD of SpeakAp.

We were presented with some clear and concise research. The numbers really did speak for themselves and the loud and clear message to me was that we are all using “consumer” social media at work to enable communication as we just don’t engage in the same way with business apps.

The question is, is this a risk to business? If I am honest, I think the jury is out but what is clear, SpeakAp provides a genuine, consumer-centric alternative. Integrating with all your HRIS / ERP tools, this is a fabulous way to control comms with your remote workforces, and in my opinion your non-remote workforces as well. There is a lot to this piece of tech and the development road map is very exciting.

Data: Anglo American

My final session of the day was quite close to my heart. My career began in mining, Consolidated Goldfields in fact, and it was my huge pleasure to introduce Dominic Podmore who is the Head of HR Analytics, Data Governance and Talent Management at Anglo American.

Dominic Podmore is all over the data, but what came across most in his presentation was the care that he was taking to ensure the people in his organisation understood the value and how to interpret the information this new way of working was driving.

By implementing Visier, he has been able to consolidate data from multiple sources into a single data pool. And that is where the excitement begins! We weren’t showered with stats, this was a human conversation. This was all about making informed decisions that impact on the lives of their employees.

It was heart-warming, inspiring and I think we were all left thinking that to hear about some of the outcomes in a year’s time, would be fascinating.

Final thoughts as chairman of the talent stream

That’s my summary. I have thoroughly enjoyed my day of chairing. I have met some amazing people as a result.

It was a little nerve-racking and I think I stumbled over a few words, but I really enjoyed my stream and I am very much looking forward to the second day of HRD Summit UK.

If you’ll be at the summit tomorrow, please do stop by and say hello to us at stand 90.

Stock up on Fox’s biscuits, courtesy of our partnership with 2 Sisters Food Group, and don’t forget to grab a free umbrella. (It is after all raining talent at Hudson RPO!) Top your visit off with a great variety of inspirational talent case studies, gorgeous red pens, and more.

Archives for February 2019

Global talent acquisition: how to compete with astonishing growth

The rise of global talent acquisition

Talent acquisition takes its pulse from your EVP

Workplace adaptations for a global talent force

Want to learn more about talent acquisition?

Content Team

What is RPO?

What is MSP?

Related articles

Government sector recruitment: 3 tips for process improvement

Recruitment tip 1: streamline talent processes

Recruitment tip 2: focus on candidate experience

Recruitment tip 3: select best-fit technology

Content Team

What is RPO?

What is MSP?

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Talent sourcing: what does it mean to source talent?

What do sourcers do for talent acquisition?

What are the benefits of talent sourcing?

Want to learn more about sourcing?

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Nailed it! Five tips that help lead RPO implementations to success

Top 5 tips for your global RPO implementation project

RPO implementation leaders on the Baker’s Dozen list

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A poor workplace culture? Talent leaders take note: danger ahead

Is your workplace culture hiding some stinky secrets?

Workplace culture: the path towards change

Content Team

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What is MSP?

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Building a conscious organisation at HRD Summit 2019

Fostering a creative and productive culture: Bruce Daisley

Employer branding: Eurostar

Technology: SpeakAp

Data: Anglo American

Final thoughts as chairman of the talent stream

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