Flextronics’ recruitment strategy secret unveiled

Singapore – The secret to overcome the recruiting hurdles faced by companies in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry is an integrated multi-prong approach to talent acquisition, reveals Flextronics Asia’s VP of HR.

Recruiting remains a huge issue for companies in the EMS industry as they face challenges such as brand anonymity, low profile on its CSR commitment and low profit margins. Yet Flextronics has successfully managed to grow from an initial 60,000 employees in 2005 to a current figure of 140,000 with more than 50% of the current new hires derived from strategic organic growth instead of traditional mergers and acquisitions.

Besides establishing a centralised team of 40 in-house recruiters to source and select candidates using state-of-the-art leading search firms’ methodology, the successful recruitment numbers are largely attributed to Flextronics’ multi-prong hiring strategies. These include creating a presence at key job portals and especially, creating interest in employee referrals.

According to Richard Wong, the VP of HR for Flextronics Asia, employee referrals now produce 20% of successful hires in Asia,  with certain sites producing more than 50%, all without the use of paid advertising.

Instead, positive branding exposure has been gained from participation in CSR events. Wong says, “We rely on media relations events to establish our brand externally. In China, we’ve been actively working with an NGO to highlight the need for better support for migrant workers, who make up 90% of our workforce.”

Citing Flextronics’ external market research done 2.5 years ago, Wong says while compensation and career development are fundamental job decision factors, talent also wants to work for a company that is highly regarded by the community and its leadership. This further enhances CSR’s credentials as a key component of the employer branding strategy. “Obviously we do CSR because it's the right thing to do for the society. However, it's even better if our CSR efforts can also differentiate the company from other competitors, whether for business or talent.”

Leadership also play a huge role in the recruitment strategies with senior executives being featured as thought leaders on certain key topics with media coverage organised around them. Andy Li, talent acquisition director for Flextronics Asia, says the media coverage attracts talent to join them as they want the opportunity to work under these leaders who would “provide a solid career development platform for employees to unleash their potential”.

“Furthermore, we tap our executives’ contact lists to generate leads for strategic openings,” adds Wong.