Creating & launching a global talent acquisition strategy for Weatherford

Challenges

Multiple talent acquisition models

Weatherford, an international oil and gas company operating in 70 countries, believes that standardizing business operations is crucial for global success. Former Global Director of Talent Acquisition and Employee Experience, Jason Munoz, explains how Weatherford partnered with Cielo to create and implement a global talent acquisition model. 

As Munoz observes, all successful businesses within Weatherford have standard operating procedures and guidelines. These allow for the consistent delivery of a quality product to the end client. Talent acquisition shouldn’t be any different. Because when all business functions operate to the same high standards and rigor, cohesiveness becomes a strength.

Weatherford’s vision was to elevate and globalize the candidate and hiring manager experiences. So, however a candidate encounters the organization, the experience should be the same. This approach ensures brand consistency and inspires trust in the brand. People know what to expect, and that’s exactly what they get through every communication and contact point. One Weatherford experience for all, including hiring managers.

This global approach truly delivers better experiences for hiring managers and candidates. So, when they move around the organization – wherever they come from and wherever they go – they have a familiar experience. They don’t need to relearn or reassimilate with lengthy onboarding processes. Hiring managers can freely support new areas and geographies with the same self-confidence they’d operate under in their home environment.

Weatherford’s previous approach had grown organically and locally from the bottom up. It could feel “sporadic” at times, so the organization needed a global methodology that would still feel local around the globe. For Munoz, the first step to rolling out his global talent acquisition vision was selecting the right partner to make his ambitions a reality.

Solutions

Delivering one global Weatherford talent acquisition experience

Working together with Cielo to manage the global change program was an immense undertaking – made more complex by having to do the whole planning, implementation and go-live virtually due to the global events in 2020.

The first part of the change program for Munoz and Cielo was designing the end-to-end service and enabling the technology – while maintaining the hiring manager and candidate experience at the core of the design process. Translating the solution into policy came next, and leveraging Cielo’s Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) track record to drive change across the organization.

Knowing regional leaders will naturally show concern about their needs being met through a more global model, transparency was key. Munoz set up a steering committee early on, along with an internal project management group to walk through planned changes and be inclusive. Despite initial reserve from stakeholders about the cost of change, he created a business case that showed significant savings.

Munoz identified the company would save over $5.5 million by launching the global RPO model. He generated board enthusiasm for the change by translating that cost saving into the revenue that Weatherford consequently didn’t have to generate – as there were lower central costs that needed to be paid. A bright business case that the board was happy to sign off on.

Results

Successfully launching on time

The dedicated Cielo implementation team worked with Munoz to operationalize the global strategy. The partnership approach established with business leaders early on created a solid foundation for the virtual implementation, resulting in a successful launch that went live on time – and to even more new employees than initially outlined. This proved Munoz’s point in the first year of service: that the global RPO partner, with proven manufacturing industry expertise, would enable Weatherford more flex and agility while delivering a global and locally nuanced service.