HROTodayGlobal

The APAC Report Access to global talent pools is a "tricky business" for many hiring organisations, says Daley, yet some trends are in play. "Organisations are using market research techniques to understand the size, competition, and motivation of a target candidate pool before investing significant resources to identify and engage them," he explains. "This differs from the macro approach used in the past, where multiple geographies were being targeted with a generic proposition in the hope that something good would come of it. Secondly, organisations are partnering with talent acquisition businesses that have a global capability to help identify talent on their behalf, especially those with a local presence in their target markets." Yet another recruitment strategy is poaching, which Kwek says is rampant in China. "Internationally savvy employees are highly valued in China, and given the shortage in mid- to senior-level management positions requiring specialised skills, talent is often recruited from global multinationals in the region," he notes. "Recently, the president of a U.S. multinational in Asia Pacific moved over to head up a big China technology company as its CEO." Social media is another way of getting the message through to top quality candidates, but is generally limited, Mendes says. "Social media tools are being used to support recruitment activities, but only insofar as local social media strategies," he explains. "Many of the global social media tools that are typically used for recruiting simply aren't accessible in China, where Facebook and YouTube remain problematical." But, Wijsma says that his firm has been successful in posting available jobs in China on more than 300 social media sites globally, "including Weibo (a Chinese microblogging site) and all the job boards you can think of." In cases where advertising is relied on for recruitment, it often creates the need to process an extraordinary volume of responses—"whether they are suitable or not," Mendes says. "To succeed in this challenging environment, companies must focus on active sourcing and workforce planning techniques well in advance of the hiring request. The globally focussed campaigns that have been successful are the ones that were well-planned, structured, and researched." Clayton Hebberd, APAC regional managing director, in the Hong Kong office of TMF Group, a provider of HR and payroll administration services, described some of his firm's recruitment tactics for clients in China. "There is no tried and true method, and it depends on the types of candidates we are seeking, but we will recruit college graduates and lower-level executives through advertising on various Web sites," he says. "For more senior hires, we leverage internal connections and recruitment agencies. Fortunately, talent is becoming available, and we are taking advantage of it." Wijsma concurs that recruitment firms are increasingly assisting companies in China to meet their talent needs. "Both foreign and Chinese companies face a recruitment challenge that they can't face alone; more and more they must rely on partners like recruitment agencies and RPO providers, supported by technology," he says. "For instance, we offer an applicant tracking system in Chinese, with a fully localised team for recruiting. As a result, our business is seeing massive growth." RPO on the Go As the war for talent heats up in China, RPO is expected to play an increasing role, despite the initial misgivings. "RPO continues to grow in terms of appetite and success across the Asia-Pacific region," says Mendes. "There are many recent examples of significant RPO partnerships that have yielded very positive results for companies." For the most part, the RPO delivery model and practices being deployed in China are in line with leading global RPO practices in other countries. Nevertheless, Mendes says there is a constant need for providers to be innovative, due to the significant talent shortages and fast pace of growth in China. "RPO must be perceived as adding value and delivering on customer expectations," he asserts. "Flexibility is another key requirement in China, where long-term business planning is often lacking, yet growth prospects remain high. That said, RPO providers are often leading in China in terms of technology adoption, such as recruitment workflow systems or CRM [customer relationship management] systems." Caleb Baker, Talent 2's Hong Kong-based managing director of RPO & managed services, says that for RPO to be successful in China, providers "must bring end-to-end talent management understanding and knowledge to the table, including expertise in research, recruitment, hiring, and employer branding, in addition to strategic sourcing capabilities across all channels, tools, and platforms." Daley nonetheless cites the opportunities present for RPO. "China provides a perfect environment for RPO to be truly transformative," he says. "Many organisations are having challenges with recruiting and retaining quality talent. The opportunity for a partner to impart expertise and make a step-change quickly is immense." FALL 2011 | www.hroglobal.com [27]

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