Building A Talent Pipeline – Interview with Arie Ball of Sodexo
Sodexo
Sodexo Quality of Life Services is one of the world’s largest companies, 18th largest to be precise, with their business of providing services to the healthcare, education and corporate sectors. Their workforce of 419,000 people is larger than some small countries and the challenge of building a talent pipeline and maintaining that workforce through recruitment and employee retention has been the subject of many case studies in the past.
Arie Ball
We had the pleasure of interviewing Arie Ball, who is considered to be one of the foremost practitioners of employer branding and forward thinking recruitment practices in the world. Interviewing the HR Tech guru Bill Kutik recently he suggested that Arie Ball has shown the way to American business on how to do social recruiting well. Since arriving at her role as VP of Talent Acquisition in 2004 she has helped to build a thriving community around the Sodexo brand online.
How do they do it?
Foremost of these online properties is the Sodexo Careers site which forms the fulcrum around which prospective employees can learn about the culture of the company as well as current opportunities. They also have numerous social media properties including Facebook pages, LinkedIn groups, Twitter feeds and many others. When you bear in mind that Sodexo operates in 80 countries worldwide it can quickly be seen that reaching out to prospective employees demands a multi-platform approach, albeit one with a central guiding logic.
Companies that are on this scale must take a very proactive stance when it comes to employee sourcing and retention if they are to avoid major headaches in staffing and there are many lessons to be learned by smaller organisations from them. Despite being a B2B organisation Ms. Ball and her colleagues have managed to craft a very human face to their organisation and in the process have highlighted the value for an incoming staff member of working within this community.
Onboarding
Of course, providing excellent onboarding training and orientation is central to the Sodexo ethos and once new hires have been brought on board they are given every opportunity to grow and develop within the company. Sodexo understand the huge cost of employee turnover to an organisation and so make every effort to accommodate existing staff in their ambitions so as to maintain that human capital and help the business to grow.
Having worked closely with Sodexo to provide orientation training in the UK we have seen first-hand their commitment to their staff and admire their leadership in employee training. Ms. Ball was kind enough to give us an insight into the thinking that underpins the work of her department in the US and we hope it can be of value to your organisation in reaching out to prospective employees.
GoContractor – Sodexo is widely regarded as a leader in talent acquisition, what is the most important thing you do to represent your employer brand online?
Arie Ball – At Sodexo, we use our entire web presence – from our Career Center to individual career microsites to our social media properties – to provide candidates with an insider view of our company culture and values. We try to help them imagine what a career would look like for them at Sodexo.
GoContractor – What were the concrete steps taken by Sodexo to achieve and maintain a pool of available talent?
AB – To be successful in achieving and maintaining a pool of available talent, we regularly review our company’s current and future needs for talent while ensuring that we have the right tools and sourcing strategies in place to build talent pipelines. Using an integrated approach, we develop strategies to meet specific talent needs leveraging technology such as our CRM, ATS and online/social and mobile tools, as well as Sodexo’s employee referral program, sourcing through our Reconnexions program for former employees, direct sourcing of passive candidates and a strong focus on internal mobility for Sodexo employees.
GoContractor – Once you have acquired these talented people what is the number one thing companies need to do to unlock that talent?
AB – Once a candidate is hired, it’s important for a company to deliver on its promises – this may include immediate and continued engagement through onboarding activities and initial training, as well as ensuring that the job responsibilities described to them in the interviewing process are central to the job they are asked to do once onboard. Additionally, offering ongoing professional development opportunities to help advance their careers after joining the company is important for their continued success.
GoContractor- What is the one thing you are most excited about in HR for 2015?
AB – For us, at Sodexo, we are excited not only about the company’s growth strategy that will result in new approaches to recruit but also the many new types of opportunities this will create for our employees and future candidates.
A great talent acquisition and employee retention program begins in advance of social platforms or websites, it is an attitude and a commitment. Arie Ball has managed to build a community around the ethos of the company that communicates to prospective employees clearly the company values in a way that can be replicated by any company. We should all sit up and take notice.
If you would like to learn more about managing the first steps of your new hires do contact us here.
