September 2, 2020 is our third year celebrating #GlobalTADay! Recognized by more and more companies around the world, this day allows us to acknowledge the impactful contributions and thoughtful influence our Talent Acquisition (TA) teams make every day, to bring world-class talent to their organizations.
As with so many industries right now, recruitment has taken a significant detour from everyday activity, so this celebration is a much-welcome chance to reflect. For Western Union, our temporary hiring pause earlier this year allowed us to effectively monitor the COVID-19 situation, while maintaining our priority on our employees' safety and the well-being of those impacted globally. During this unprecedented time, our Talent Acquisition team continued driving our business forward. We launched a new Applicant Tracking System and devised global team projects for improving some of our existing TA processes, all driven by our passion for building a better candidate experience for those pursuing opportunities at Western Union.
Another impactful change has occurred since in that time: we welcomed our new Global Head of Talent Acquisition, Deb Howington. For this #GlobalTADay, I asked Deb to reflect on how the last few months have been, joining Western Union and leading a global TA organization amidst such a new and unknown environment.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to recognize our global Talent Acquisition team's significant contributions at Western Union! Coincidentally, I'm also celebrating my six-month anniversary with the company. To say that this time has been full of massive change and volatility is an understatement. In March, after just one full week of onboarding and introductions, COVID-19 entered our lives in a significant way, driving immediate changes for our recruitment efforts, our Western Union business, and nearly every industry around the world. These changes merged our personal and professional lives while learning to manage our fears and anxieties for ourselves and our loved ones. Within our own business, we've had to find effective ways to attract, engage, and offer candidates who are also wrestling with similar challenges.
In addition to the changes Tiffany mentioned above, Talent Acquisition has taken steps to develop our global sourcing team further and pipeline our critical roles during the pause, ensuring we had a strong network of talent when it was time to start recruiting again. We are thrilled to be back to our regular recruitment efforts—and we are ready! I am ever impressed with the team's fortitude, strength, commitment, loyalty, strategic thinking, innovation, and capability. After these last few months together, I am proud to say that we've been thoroughly tested – and have passed these tests with flying colors. I'm incredibly honored to be part of this Talent Acquisition team and am looking forward to what the future holds for us."
In preparation for this day, I wanted to hear directly from our exceptional Recruiters, Sourcers, and Coordinators around the globe. I asked them how they think recruitment practices will continue to adapt for a COVID—and hopefully—post-COVID world.
- “Redesigning the interview processes, incorporating virtual augmentation, and adopting new ways of engaging candidates like on-the-go recruitment.” – Renuka Pardeshi (Associate Recruiter) Pune, India
- “Given that most of our candidates are now online, we need to pay extra attention to our candidate experience and employer brand positioning.” – Rodrigo Villa (Sourcer) Manila, Philippines
- “Virtual recruitment will be our go-to method to keep the hiring processes moving while helping protect both recruiters and candidates.” – Niharika Rajput (Associate Recruiter) Pune, India
- “Candidates have been extremely active on their social platforms, so further engagement in this space to showcase our workplace, culture, and Western Union as a great career move.” – Aubrey Lou Reanzares Maldonado (Sourcer) Manila, Philippines
- “Giving an equal opportunity to women, encouraging diversity, and educating teams on unconscious bias.” – Tannia Oliveira (TA Supervisor) Pune, India
- “The industry, as a collective, should look to streamline the lengthy interview process. With often long wait times between application and final offer, candidates lose interest in the opportunity. Often, this can lead to the loss of trust in the hiring process altogether.” – Renuka Pardeshi (Associate Recruiter) Pune, India
- “Rather than homing in on "skills" and "years of experience", companies should focus on the bigger picture, understanding that some trainings will be required, rather than expecting candidates to come with every skill needed on Day One.” – Austin Lear (Senior Recruiter) Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
- “Recruiters and Sourcers should be viewed as strategic advisors, with less focus on the operational functions of recruitment.” – Bernice Sebastian Walit (Sourcer) Manila, Philippines
- “Given the new environment, we have built a lot of trust in the virtual interview process. This trend should become the norm as it helps with broader outreach to candidates and has proven to be more time-effective for all involved.” – Renuka Pardeshi (Associate Recruiter) Pune, India
- “Regular catch up and feedback meetings are a big help for Sourcers, to ensure expectations and support are happening.” – Aubrey Lou Reanzares Maldonado (Sourcer) Manila, Philippines
- “Proper training of players to professionalize the recruitment practice and continuing to build a strong employer brand as integral parts of the recruitment industry.” – Ed Alvarez (TA Manager) Manila, Philippines