How HR Tech Can Radically Transform Hiring and Employer Branding: A Q&A with MetLife’s Gema Fernández
What happens when you introduce a revolutionary new talent scouting technology into an organization?
HR Manager Gema Fernández, who helps organize the graduate trainee program at multinational insurance corporation MetLife, found out firsthand and now has a story to tell.
Having worked in HR for 18 years, Fernández is no stranger to the transformations occurring in the sector throughout the tech boom. Her team embraced beWanted — a technology that allows companies to seek out and invite best-fit candidates to their job opportunities. The adoption of the platform came at a pivotal time, and as she reveals in detail, it paid off in unexpected ways.
In this chat, JOIN Capital spoke with Fernández about how talent scouting platform beWanted took an already successful program to new heights — all the while ushering in a new era for the company’s employer branding in Spain and Portugal. We learned about how the adoption of technologies can vary between localized markets of global companies, depending on the company’s regional hiring goals (startups, take note!). Finally, we agreed with Fernández’s conclusion about technology and human interaction in the future world of recruitment.
What have you witnessed in the last few years in terms of the evolution of HR, and more specifically, in the program you help run at MetLife?
I have this view about the past and about 4–5 years ago, how things were then and how they’re now. It’s much different and much better now. When I imagine my time starting in HR, it seems like another life. We did everything manually. Now everything is done with technology.
In the trainee program at MetLife, Academia de Talentos, we started with a standard way of recruiting. The results were okay but not great. We accomplished our goals and we had all the candidates onboard in the timing we wanted, but we realized we weren’t doing a process that matched the way our target audience was behaving. It was like we, and our candidates, were at two different speeds. We were doing the process in a traditional way while our targets were in another world. We decided to change the process and began using beWanted two years ago.
Everything changed radically. The improvements were amazing. Normally we’d been onboarding all trainees in September, with the hiring process starting in May. When we sat down to plan with them, they asked, “May? Are you sure? That’s a long time.” We insisted that we need a lot of time! But we ended up doing our hiring in less time than ever. In 3 weeks, we had all the positions closed. Also, in terms of quality, the profiles are much better. We’ve gained efficiency in timing, costs and quality.
What are the biggest hiring challenges for you at MetLife? How is technology helping you solve them?
I think for this trainee program, it’s our attraction and employer branding. Our employer brand awareness in Spain and Portugal is low, and sometimes we have difficulties because of this. These trainees that we aim to hire are the world’s new talent, so everyone is fighting for them. With beWanted, the process is fair for everyone. If a profile fits with our need, I’ll send an invitation.
The first edition we did with beWanted was perfect in terms of cultural fit and retention. Everyone was very integrated into the company and activities, and they left the program at the right time when they found opportunities in the market. We did have a challenge with Portugal in the first edition — it’s more difficult for us there — but we overcame that in the second edition. All the analytics and data help us plan better and learn from our mistakes.
How has working with the technology changed your mindset?
We’re in the continuous improvement mindset with beWanted. We can add more value. It’s more than recruitment, more than scouting. We’re thinking about how to improve our employer branding and candidate experience. For example, we had a sudden open position in finance. Within one hour, there were good candidates according to our ideal profile. So, now, in less than one morning, you can have interviews scheduled for tomorrow.
How have job seekers changed their job search behavior in recent years?
Today’s candidates demand more things from the companies and we are always working on that. They want more information, and they want it 24/7 — about everything. I remember when I started, I couldn’t ask for holidays or timetables, for example. Now it’s expected for us to tell them — and not only about job responsibilities, but activities outside of work. They also want to have more information about the business and industry, and to be connected with the company mission, values and culture.
What is the process that needs to happen in order for a company like MetLife to begin using a particular HR tool or software?
We’re from the States, and present in more than 40 countries. Normally the team in New York provides us with the technologies and the systems we use. In this case, it was something so specific for our program and not universal in MetLife, so we could decide to adopt it in a more local sense.
How do you envision the recruitment and hiring landscape five years from now?
There are going to be so many more changes that we can’t even imagine now. We live in an amazing moment. There are two options: to be scared, or to be fascinated. I’m fascinated. We’re seeing more new things like this than any other generation. I think it will be a very fertile landscape. But I think in the end, the deciding factor will always be on the individual, human element. Technology will transform our ability to tap into the global workforce — for example, if I want to hire someone in Singapore to work in Madrid, it’s going to be easier. But the human variable will be the same. There will still be a personal interview with the candidate, and in that moment, the final fit is decided.
I don’t see a situation where technology does all the processes. For example, if you have a new member of the team coming on Monday and you haven’t had any human involved in their hiring — I don’t see that happening.
The final decision will be human, but the candidates will be perfect for the position with the help of technology.
Don’t be shy: Ask us anything about the changing HR landscape. Drop a line to hello@join.capital.
