The world is becoming a much smaller place. Despite a world population that has nearly tripled in the last 50 years alone, new methods of communication, currencies, and trade agreements have come together to forge a new marketplace that is not limited by borders, oceans, languages, or cultures. The trend towards globalization is resulting in a new breed of employees that are not limited by their locations. “Globees”?? employees with practical experience in overseas markets?? are thus becoming an increasingly hot commodity. And recruiting infrastructures and processes are beginning to change dramatically as a result. One Firm’s Approach Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is already one step ahead of the curve. It recently developed a new career website at www.deloitte.com/careers, designed to go well beyond a standard global portal. Deloitte has successfully launched one of the first truly integrated global employment websites. Intended to be the first step in developing their worldwide recruiting force, the impact the website has had on Deloitte’s processes, global recruiting team, and the types of candidates they recruit has been surprising to everyone involved. Kent Kirch, Deloitte’s Global Director of Recruiting, detailed the five main goals Deloitte will be able to accomplish with the new site:
Enhance employer brand consistency. The website presents a consistent employer brand and image across countries, with localized information for each country and office. Companies that present a consistent employer brand have a much better chance of repeating their business model successes overseas, since they’ll be attracting the kind of employees that will fit well with their culture and values. It also gives them a better chance of recruiting the location-independent “Globees,” who often fear encountering vastly different employment experiences across locations and typically don’t find global openings on corporate employment sites.
Reduce redundancies. Deloitte has successfully eliminated many of the redundant investments that are inherent in more decentralized global recruitment models. In the past, Deloitte had separate employment sites for each country: they had over 25 separate employment sites and no central place for job listings. The new site will allow candidates to search for jobs almost anywhere in the world, from one convenient site.
Leverage technologies to create efficiencies. Having a centralized employment site means that all of Deloitte’s recruiters will utilize similar processes and take advantage of the time and cost savings the Internet can provide to a global organization. No matter where a recruiter is located or what division they work within, they’ll be driving candidates to the same place, which will help promote other locations and divisions of the organization.
Employ a user-focused approach. Focusing on users and localization didn’t stop with a simple translation of the site. It was important for the site to make meaningful connections with job seekers in each country. In order to do this, using translation software would not suffice, as branding concepts do not always translate directly into other languages (if you’ve taken a marketing class, you may have heard that “Coke is it” translated into “Bite the wax tadpole” in Chinese). Instead, Deloitte chose to utilize a global copywriting team to ensure that the copy not only translates, but also resonates. The site currently allows users to easily translate the site from English to German or Spanish, with more languages in the works. Another part of Deloitte’s localized strategy presents information on over 350 offices in more than 30 countries. This allows each country and office to show what’s unique about their culture, their countries and the projects they work on, all in support of the global employer brand. To keep candidates from feeling overwhelmed, helpful tools like the “Opportunity Analyzer” allow them to see where they might fit in. And future upgrades will provide even greater opportunities for customization and personalization.
Access the global talent pool. With all of the fundamentals above in place, an organization can position itself to take advantage of the global talent pool and the aforementioned “Globees.” To this end, the new processes, tools, and brand Deloitte has implemented with the website gives them the ability to attract and share candidates across borders.
Getting There Building such an ambitious site was not without obstacles. Chief among them, says Kirch, was showing each country that what the team was trying to accomplish would benefit them individually and Deloitte as a whole. Directly managing job postings, employee profiles, and other country-level content was one way each country took ownership of the project. Building trust and effective working relationships between country team members was the real key. Since the launch, the global recruiting team has been rewarded with a ten-fold increase in site traffic and a significant increase in the amount of time candidates spend on their website looking for opportunities and information. Not only did the effort bring recruiting teams from many different countries together, but also helped reinforce recruiting as a strategic business partner within the organization. As the world economy grows and their organization reaches out into new markets, the global foundation that Deloitte has laid will help them realize a world-class future.