APAC Talent Acquisition Leaders Gather at Microsoft

​The Chapman Consulting Group co-hosted an energised Talent Acquisition Leaders Gathering with Microsoft in Singapore yesterday. We were joined by a fantastic group of regional leaders to discuss the talent acquisition challenges faced today across a wide range of industries. Representatives from a variety of organisations were present including Hilton, Barclays, Google, HP, Cisco, McGraw-Hill, Philips, SAP, ANZ, LinkedIn, Johnson Controls, Applied Materials, American Express and GroupM.

The hosts gave an introductory presentation on how structural changes and business strategy have impacted the staffing function. As a result of this they now need to focus on different streams of talent in a highly competitive market place. We then heard from another technology organisation in regards to how their values were at the heart of the recruitment process and how social media could be used as a vehicle to communicate this. It was agreed that cultural fit was imperative in the selection process, though it is hard to measure. Likewise, evaluating a candidate against the value system was found to be tough, especially in more emerging markets where it was harder to differentiate personalities. The stringent selection process was compared to that of hiring within a small company, even though they are a global MNC.

In this particular organisation transparency was a key value that was communicated to candidates throughout the process. These values were embodied in the hiring process, from hosting virtual sharing sessions, to candidate coaching and ‘hangouts on air’. This led to an interesting discussion on employer branding and the need to tweak strategy to target specific audiences. It was found to be a challenge to maintain a consistent values-based employer brand whilst appealing ubiquitously to a broad target audience. One organisation highlighted the point that if the employer brand was too strong it could hinder the staffing function, as they were not able to be as proactive in searching for the right talent. Hence, they were naturally more reactive as they received more interest.

The debate moved onto metrics and how to best measure the effectiveness of these employer branding initiatives. There is always a need to tie them to a commercial outcome which could be ‘time to hire’ or ‘cost per hire’. However, it still remains a challenge to truly measure success. Other areas affecting the employer brand could be the overall candidate experience, and tied to this, recruiter capability and how they portray the EVP during a process. The overall brand perception could also have an impact, as candidates are consumers in many cases. This topic finally covered how the reputation of certain industries could affect the employer brand. The banking sector has been hit hard on this front and one bank talked through the renewed focus on the core values and behaviors used to build trust with the candidate pool. Evidently this was a challenge for the broader branding teams, as well as for the talent acquisition teams.

The second presentation, from a financial services organisation, talked about how the implementation of a global shared services model has enabled them to further shape and enhance their global talent acquisition function. The balance of global off-shoring and new technology implementations seemed to be delivering success, although not without challenges.

Diversity and Inclusion in the hiring process was also on the agenda. Gender seemed to be key priority and the need to re-engage mothers who may have taken a period of time out of the workforce. One organisation sighted that they are encouraged to have at least one woman on every shortlist to embrace the gender imbalance. An interesting angle was that if you lead with inclusion then diversity will follow, as you will get the right mix of attitudes and styles that should ultimately lead to a diverse workforce. Diversity from a race perspective was also discussed. Emerging markets seemed to be a particularly tough area for TA leaders. The ability to attract, retain and develop top local talent in places such as China and Indonesia proved tricky for all concerned. The group agreed, on both counts, that ultimately the talent pool is small, hence if one organisation wins another struggles. This is a broader issue that needs to be addressed.

It was a great group with some really interesting sharing of best-practice approaches across a range of industries and we look forward to bringing the group together again soon.